312 THE VILLA GABDENER. 



trees, but have their young shoots projecting out like a camellia hedge ; and the intensely 

 dark green of then- leaves, and the profusion of flowers v^hich they produce under this 

 treatment, show how well it is adapted to them. In general, it may be observed that 

 these conservatories exhibit the true kuid of beauty which a conservatory ought to pro- 

 duce ; viz. free, luxuriant, and seemingly uncontrolled growth ; presenting everywhere 

 a picturesque appearance, and directly opposed to the beauty of the green-house, in 

 which the plants are kept in pots on stages, and in which trimness, neatness, and the 

 close training of climbers (in a word, the gardeuesque), ought everywhere to prevail. It 

 may be useful, both to amateurs and to gardeners, to bear in mind these distinctive 

 characters of the conservatory and the green-house. The orangery presents an aspect 

 somewhat different ; because the plants, instead of being in small pots on stages, are in 

 large pots, boxes, or tubs, and, for the most part, placed on the floor : but still the 

 arrangement of the interior is everywhere guided by the principles of the gardenesque. 



o, Vinery and plant stove. 



P p P, Rock-walk, giving a general view of the rockwork garden. 



q q &c., Beds of prepared earth, raised above the surface, and supported by large blocks 

 of stone, forming an ireegular rocky margin to each bed. 



r, A well, or basin, supplied by a spring, and furnishing abundance of water for watering 

 the plants. 



r s. Direction of an excavation of 8 or 10 feet, forming an irregular precipice on the side 

 next the house, with a bottom sloping in the opposite direction, from which all the rock 

 was obtained for paving the rocky walk, and enclosuig the raised beds. In the views 

 from the vrindows of the house, none of this rockwork appears ; the ground dX 1 1 1 being 

 sufficiently high to carry the eye over it to u. The plants in the rocky beds are partly 

 half-hardy ; such as fuchsias, myrtles, and other shrubs generally planted against conser- 

 vative walls ; magnolias ; a fine collection of azaleas and rhododendrons, particularly on 

 the rocky precipices ; Berberis, Mahonia, Garrya, and, in short, all the finer shrubs that 

 are rather tender, and some of the more rare trees. There are also some fine specimens 

 of perfectly hardy shrubs ; such as of Cotoneaster UVa-ursi and Juniperus Sabina 

 rfepens; the latter covers an entire bed. , Among the more rare trees in the rocky lawn, 

 Jig. 194., was one of Plnus sinensis, raised by Mr. Wells from seeds imported from China 

 in 1829, and which had attained the height of 16 ft., and produced cones, before it was 

 killed by the severe winter of 1837-8. Araucaria Lmbricata is here quite hardy; and 

 Picea Wehhiana has attained a considerable size, though much injured by the same 

 winter. There are also remarkably fine specimens of ^^bies Douglasi/, and of various 

 other species of pines and firs. There are some remarkably fine young cedars, which, in 

 1837, when measured for the Arboretum Britannicum, were from 36 ft. to 5'2 ft. in height. 

 One of these, which had been raised from seed exactly twenty years before, the cone 

 having been purchased in a London seed-shop in 1816, was, in 1836, 36 ft. high, and the 

 girth of the trunk, at 3 ft. from the ground, Vi^as 4 ft. 6 in. Another, 27 years planted, was 

 52 ft. high, vsdth a trunk of 5 ft. 6 in. in circumference at 3 ft. from the ground. Among 

 the herbaceous plants were most of the Californian annuals and heartseases, and all the 

 finer half-hardy plants, such as petunias, lobelias, &c., and a great variety of pelargoniums. 

 In short, if the reader imagine all the plants introduced into this country that it is desir- 

 able to cultivate in a flower-garden, or against a conservative wall, and in a select 

 shrubbery, he will form a good general idea of what were planted on the rocky lawn at 

 Redleaf. 



V, Engine-house, fixed over a pond, for throwing up water to the house. 



w to. Wood, in which many species of exotic trees and shrubs are introduced among the 

 native kinds. 



X X, Wire fence, which separates the mown lawn from the pasture lawn. 



y. Pasture lawn ; the surface of which is beautifully undulated, and finely varied by groups 

 of oaks, thorns, and other trees. The thorns are, in some instances, of great age, and are 

 often covered with a profusion of mistletoe, which in the winter season gives them the 

 appearance of evergreen trees, and in spring interferes with that general covering of 

 blossom, which, from its uniformity and whiteness, sometimes gives a large liavvthoni the 

 appearance of an immense cauliflower, or gives a spotty appearance to the landscape. 

 We may observe, here, that there are various scarlet thorns distributed througli these 



