92 The Public Gardens and Parks of Paris. 



headed subjects, as many do with us, they placed in the centre of 

 each a medium-sized plant of the New Zealand flax, with its long 

 and boldly graceful leaves, and then set geraniums, &c., around, 

 finishing off with the ivy-leaded geranium, and the Tropaeolum for 

 drooping over the margin. 



In these gardens the Oleander is grown into large bushes like the 

 Orange-trees, and put out with them during the summer months 

 They become perfect beds of flowers. I have seen plants or rather 

 trees of those oleanders in flower here, quite ten feet through, and 

 with the flowers as thick upon them as on a bed of geraniums. 

 They are simply treated like the orange trees, the culture of which 

 is fully described elsewhere in this book. We do not know if the 

 plan would succeed in England, but it is worth a trial. The 

 Oleander is not often flowered well with us, though quite worth the 

 trouble of cultivation. 



On the ^th day of July they were busily employed moving large 

 chestnut and plane trees in full fresh leaf in these gardens. They 

 take them up with immense balls and powerful machinery, and very 

 successfully, but it is not a system that should be pursued more than 

 is barely necessary in private gardens. It may be very desirable for 

 La Ville de Paris to move ordinary trees of goodly size to complete 

 and rearrange its straight avenues here and there, but it is a thing 

 that should be attempted as little as possible. Such trees are not 

 worth the expense in any other case. The roses used to be very 

 good about the Luxembourg, and they are so still, though the fine 

 old rosary is done away with. The grass banks that surround the 

 geometrical garden such slopes as may be seen in most places of 

 the kind are not left naked, but planted with two rows of nice 

 dwarf rose bushes, and the effect of these is very charming. There 

 seems no particular reason why like spots should be left naked with 

 us. Let us pass by the fine collection of orchids, camellias, &c., and 

 some other interesting features, and come at once to the style of 

 decoration in summer, which is distinct, good, and well worthy our 

 attention. Continuous borders, not beds, run round the squares of 

 grass, &c., and from the dawn of spring to the end of autumn, these 



