FLOWER GARDEN. 241 



on the style and situation, we shall treat of the compo- 

 nent parts of flower gardens, their various decorations, 

 and of floriculture. 



The designing of flower gardens unquestionably be- 

 longs to the fine arts, involving in it the exercise of in- 

 vention, taste, and foresight. Its principles are more 

 vague and evanescent than those of any of the sister 

 arts. The hand of the designer is not here guided by 

 the imitation of Nature, for his work is wholly artificial 

 in its arrangements and appliances ; neither does utility 

 come in, as in architecture, to supply a form and frame- 

 work, which it is the artist's part to adorn. "As flower- 

 gardens," says Mr Loudon, the best authority on this 

 topic, "are objects of pleasure, the principle which must 

 serve as a guide in laying them out must be taste. 

 Now, in flower gardens, as in other objects, there ar^ 

 difl'erent kinds of tastes ; these embodied are called 

 styles or characters; and the great art of the designer 

 is, having fixed on a style, to follow it out unmixed with 

 other styles, or with any deviation which would inter- 

 fere with the. kind of taste or impression which that 

 style is calculated to produce. Style, therefore, is the 

 leading principle in laying out flower gardens, as util- 

 ity is in laying out the culinary garden. As objects of 

 fancy and taste, the styles of flower gardens are vari- 

 ous. The modern style is a collection of irregular 

 groups and masses, placed about the house as a medium, 

 uniting it with the open lawn. The ancient geomatric 

 style, in place of irregular groups, employed synrmetri- 

 cal forms; in France, adding statues and fountains; in 

 Holland, cut trees and grassy slopes; and in Italy, 

 stone walls, walled- terraces, and flights of steps. In 

 some situations, these- characteristics of parterres may 



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