SUBURBAN GARDENS 157 



This is said to protect against the Evil Eye, and is a 

 superstition that reminds somewhat of our own, that a 

 house-leek planted upon a roof preserves the house from 

 lightning. 



The Italians decorate theirs with prettier things than 

 sempervivums, however, and to gain a few ideas for our 

 own country let us recall some of the balconies, loggias, 

 and tiny piazzas belonging to Siena houses. These 

 varying garden-bowers are placed in gradations according 

 to the size of the rooms. 



The top floor of a house has only a balcony ; the next 

 one below boasts a loggia, where a small party of people 

 have room to sit and drink tea ; the best floor, the one 

 which belongs to the drawing-room, possesses what in 

 England we should call a " piazza." It is square, and is 

 paved with red bricks. In the centre there is room for a 

 group of ivy-leaved geraniums in flower-pots, and a big 

 orange-tree in a pot is at each of the corners. The 

 paving is so arranged that there is a slight fall towards 

 the centre, where the small gutter and a hole carry off 

 all moisture from the flower-pots. A three-feet wall, 

 painted a delightful warm pink colour, is along the front, 

 and upon this can be stood all sorts of treasured little 

 plants in boxes and in pots. The real joy of this 

 delightful open-air drawing-room consists in a tunnel- 

 shaped recess, formed in the walls of the house. Here 

 the sun seldom penetrates, for this shadow passage runs 

 back about ten feet from the end of the piazza, and leads 

 through a door into the drawing-room within the 

 house. Owing to it the room itself is kept cool, and 

 from its grey framed arch we look out upon the little red- 

 paved piazza. Beyond, above all the bright flowers 

 upon the little wall, is the sparkling gem-like black and 

 white marble cathedral, which rises upon the hill opposite, 

 and at all times of day, and in different lights, forms one 



