288 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



t October IS, 1878. 



the cenotaph,,/^. 1, designed from the choragic monument of I ing a very novel and qnaint appearance. Along one side d 

 Lysicrates, of Athene. The bust is that of Charles, sixteenth | the pathway, running parallel to the wall, was a broad ribbon 



Earl of Shrewsbury, dur- 

 ing whose life these gar- 

 dens were principally 

 formed. The circular 

 stone at the base of the 

 columns bears the pithy 

 and appropriate legend, 

 " He made the desert 

 smile." The position of 

 this appropriate memorial 

 is well chosen ; standing 

 out in bold relief from 

 the dark background of 

 Pinnses, it greets the visi- 

 tor on entering the gar- 

 dens, and thus the me- 

 mory of one who did so 

 much for the advance- 

 ment of horticulture re- 

 mains evergreen. 



The walk from the en- 

 trance gates takes a bold 

 sweep past the cenotaph, 

 and on the semicircular 

 space of turf oppoeite 

 is a small but very pic- 

 turesque flower garden. 

 Its design is Bimple ; it 

 consists of a large circu- 

 lar bed, belted in front by 

 a row of smaller circles, 

 outside which is a broad 

 ribbon border ; next to 

 this is a very broad band 

 of Cerastium tomentosum , 

 ont of which springs a 

 continuous line or chain of 

 semicircles of that excel- 

 lent dwarf Lobelia Trent- 



The Cenotaph. 



ham Blue. Next this comes an equally broad band of the 

 dwarf orange scarlet Pelargonium Harry Hieover, a perfect 

 sheet of bloom, better 

 than I ever saw it before ; 

 then two rows of Dactylis 

 glomerata variegata, next 

 Colons Verschaffelti, then 

 Mrs. Pollock Pelargonium, 

 with Amy Hogg inside. 

 This arrangement had a 

 fine effect, and the appear- 

 ance of the entire border 

 was very satisfactory. The 

 small circular beds con- 

 tained dwarf bush Roses, 

 and standard Roses spring- 

 ing out of a fine mass of 

 Asters were the occupants 

 of the large circle. 



Behind this group is 

 the enclosing wall which 

 passes along from the en- 

 trance gates ; the form of 

 this wall is so singular as 

 to be worthy of descrip- 

 tion. Instead of the usual 

 flat surface, the top is 

 built in the form of a num- 

 ber of raised curves, the 

 graceful outline of which 

 is in fine keeping with the 

 irregular undulations of 

 the pleasure grounds. Be- 

 tween each pair of these 

 curves was a vase of suit- 

 able size containing a fine 

 mass of scarlet Pelargo- 



border of about 100 yards 

 long, and on the other 

 side a number of detached 

 beds, some of which con- 

 tained a pretty mixture of 

 Purple King Verbena and 

 Koniga variegata. The 

 ribbon border was very 

 brilliant with a somewhat 

 complicated mixture of 

 various Pelargoniums, Co- 

 lens, Golden Pyrethrum, 

 blue Lobelia, and Ceras- 

 tium. From here a walk 

 leads directly to the upper 

 terrace, past the grand 

 conservatories, and then 

 to a small circular Grecian 

 temple standing invit- 

 ingly at the extremity, and 

 which forms an appropri- 

 ate finish to this pleasant 

 promenade. 



Some fine views of the 

 varied and picturesque 

 scenery with which the 

 gardens abound present 

 themselves very agreeably 

 from this point ; one of 

 the most striking is that of 

 the Gothic temple, fig. 2, 

 a lofty and elegant struc- 

 ture finely situated on the 

 left side of the valley. 

 Wildly beautiful, yet with 

 an air of grace and refine- 

 ment, is the aspect of the 

 scene before us. Shrubs 

 growing in all the wild 



Fig. 



niums, and growing from the ground upwards to the base of 

 the vase was a Cotoneaster micicphylla, kept pruned to the 

 width of the square base, thus serving to convey the idea of a 

 column on which the vase appeared to rest, altogether present- 



luxuriance of nature, contrasting with others kept pruned to- a 

 more formal outline ; vases, tazzis, statuary, and architectu- 

 ral embellishments, in- 

 termingled with bright 

 masses of flowers, or with 

 stately -foliaged tropical 

 plants, and with fountains 

 as varied in force and form 

 as are their situations 

 — some near lofty trees 

 throwing theirwaters high 

 in the air, the spray glis- 

 tening in the sunshine^ 

 and blown perchance by 

 the breeze among the 

 surrounding branches, a 

 cloud of sparkling mist - r 

 whilst others placed in 

 some secluded nook only 

 have a play of a few feet 

 high, but which is quite 

 as charming in its way as 

 that of their more im- 

 portant neighbours — all 

 these are spread around in 

 such profusion as almost 

 to bewilder one. 



Let us now turn to the 

 conservatory range, a sin- 

 gular structure, or rather 

 series of structures, 300 

 feet in length, consisting 

 of a grand central house 

 with a smaller house on 

 each side, and connected- 

 with it in one straight line 

 3.— The Conservatories. -fry open corridors, fig. 3. 



The central part of this striking and novel range has a lofty 

 glass dome, with a smaller one on each side, supported by 

 massive stone columns, the chief recommendation of whieh 

 must have been their great strength. The sight of these huge- 



