THE ROSE GARDENS OF HERTFORDSHIRE. 67 



On the upper bank was a group of mixed Roses, 

 principally standards, supported at the back with laurels, 

 the outline beautifully irregular. In the front grew scarlet 

 pentstemons, antirrhinums, and the Double White Fever- 

 few, forming a most agreeable mixture. A small hexagon 

 bed, planted with that lovely Moss Rose Celina, the 

 ground beneath covered with the Lobelia erinus, was a 

 perfect picture. How beautiful were the crimson flowers 

 of the Rose ! and how admirably were they set off by the 

 azure tint of the lobelia glistening through the openings 

 of the foliage ! As we gazed on the Rose-buds just 

 opening to the sun, the " flowers yet fresh with childhood," 

 while the songs of innumerable birds arose from the copses 

 and trees which surrounded us, the words of the Eastern 

 poet crossed our mind " The nightingales warbled their 

 enchanting notes, and rent the thin veils of the Rose-bud 

 and the Rose." But the beauties of this spot were not 

 wholly of Roses. There were also clumps of verbenas, 

 scarlet geraniums, and other gay plants in full bloom, 

 relieved by the occasional introduction of raised rustic 

 baskets. At the bottom of this garden is a second bank 

 of Roses facing a walk, tall standards at the back, with a 

 gradual descent towards the walk, until the front row are 

 dwarfs. These are also the popular kinds, planted pro- 

 miscuously, and very thick, so as to present a mass of 

 colour. This point is thoroughly gained, and a row of 

 seedling calceolarias, planted just within the box-edging, 

 gives a charming finish to the whole. 



HODDESDON. Proprietor, JOHN WARNER, Esq. 

 Gardener, Mr WILLIAMS. This beautiful garden is about 

 a mile from the Broxbourne station on the Great Eastern 

 Railway, and is remarkable for the diversified surface 

 it presents. On the lawn fronting the house is a row of 

 tree paeonies, and fine specimens of the weeping elm, the 

 Abies deodara, Daphne pontica, Fern-leaved Beech, and 

 other ornamental trees. On the upper end of the lawn is a 



