July 25, 1888.] 



Garden and Forest. 



255 



The Gardens of the Alhambra. 



IN our studies of landscape architecture we are so in- 

 cHned by influence and tradition to turn to French, 

 English or Italian examples for inspiration and guidance, 

 that much of the work in other countries is lost sight of 

 or neglected, although affording excellent opportunities 

 for study. Spain, in particular, is almost unknown to the 

 landscape architect of to-day ; yet the work which the 

 so-called barbarian Moors left behind them in that won- 

 derful country is, in some respects, hardly excelled any- 

 where in the world. The Alhambra of Grenada is the 

 best known and one of the most pleasing examples of 

 the manner in which the. Moors could treat a site with 

 little natural promise. The city of Grenada is built in a 

 ravine, following the course of the Darro, and spreading 

 out into a plain at the foot of the Sierra Nevada. The 

 last spur of the mountains was utilized by the Moors in 

 the creation of a palace and gardens so beautiful of their 

 kind that even the builders were fain to claim a celestial 

 interposition in their behalf 



The street leading to the Alhambra turns from a broad 

 plaza and winds up to the monumental gateway marking 

 the entrance to the palace grounds. Inside of the portal 

 the busy world and its cares seem to disappear, and one 

 breathes the atmosphere of a fairy land which only Irving 

 could rightly describe. Indeed, when in the midst of the 

 gardens, it is at first difficult to say in just exactly what 

 the charm consists. There is certainly no attempt at reg- 

 ularity. On the contrary, there is a studied irregularity 

 observable on all sides. There is a wealth of green foli- 

 age, which is carelessly massed about the roadway so as 

 to half disclose its charms and awaken the imagination, or 

 scattered in a seemingly thoughtless manner along the 

 base of the beetling cliff, or clustered on the brow of the 

 steep, inchned roadway leading to the towers. Even the 

 water, which is such a necessary adjunct to all Moorish 

 work, is introduced in an irregular manner. On each side 

 of the road is a dancing, babbling brook, cooling the air 

 and cheering the senses, while tiny vi'aterfalls shoot out 

 unexpectedly from the side of a cliff, to suddenly disap- 

 pear into a yawning underground conduit. All this work 

 is entirely artificial, but it is so completely in accord with 

 its surroundings, so thoroughly artistic in thought, that it 

 possesses the unstudied charin of nature's best examples. 



Altogether, the outer gardens of the Alhambra are as 

 delightfully planned an entrance to a realm of fairy land as 

 could be imagined. The Moorish landscape work and 

 the picturesque mysteries of the palace are revealed little 

 by little. There is no general vista, no all-embracing view, 

 hut the imagination is left to picture what is dimly revealed 

 through the trees and across the fountains and under the 

 wide arches, while, as in all Moorish work, the attention 

 is held by unexpected beauties and half-disclosed attrac- 

 tions. This is the key note of the whole arrangement : 

 to awaken interest by unexpected surprises and half-con- 

 cealed vistas. 



The gate-house at the entrance to the inner portion of 

 the Alhambra is an ingenious bit of Moorish arrangement, 

 grand and imposing in general aspect, but adapted to its 

 semi-military purpose. The passage makes two sharp 

 bends in the thickness of the ponderous mass, so as to 

 effectually mask the way, and emerges beyond the gate- 

 house into a steep roadway flanked by heavy battlements, 

 disposed in such a manner as to block the view on all sides 

 except towards the summit, where the Vermilion Towers 

 close the vista with their picturesque solitude. The road- 

 way ends in a broad, open terrace, with the old Moorish 

 Wine Tower on the right and the ugly Renaissance struc- 

 ture erected by Charles V. blotting out the site of the orig- 

 inal entrance to the Moorish palace, while all across the 

 front of the terrace is a magnificent prospect over the 

 ravine and along the banks of the Darro towards the vega. 



It is impossible to say exactly what wis the original 

 plan of the Alhambra gardens. Undoubtedly the terrace 



was much larger and there was a more magnificent en- 

 trance to the palace ; but the large terrace, with quiet, 

 shady avenues leading from it, was probably then, as 

 now, the central feature of the scheme. The Moors had a 

 rare faculty for understanding how to adapt their work to 

 natural possibilities. They never neglected an opportunity 

 to make nature help out art, and with their keen, poetic 

 appreciation of beauty of form and color, it is not sur- 

 prising that the Alhambra should be so. wonderful in its 

 charm. C. H. Blackall. 



Boston, Mass. ■ 



Foreign Correspondence. 



London Letter. 



THE most fashionably attended flower show of London 

 is that of the Royal Botanic Society, Regent's Park, 

 but yesterday's exhibition offered a new proof that while 

 great floral exhibitions are increasing in popularity in pro- 

 vincial -towns, their glory in London is fading before the 

 increasing counter-attractions on every hand. The chief 

 features were, first, the Orchids, which have seldom been 

 seen in greater abundance or of better quality; and sec- 

 ondly, the hard)', herbaceous flowers, which made quite as 

 fine a show, and certainly seemed to have a greater at- 

 traction for the crowd. 



For many years these summer exhibitions at Regent's 

 Park have carried the palm for tasteful arrangement and 

 splendid specimens. But I looked in vain for the fine 

 Clematises of Jackman, the gigantic trained Roses of Tur- 

 ner and the Pauls, the huge specimen New Holland plants 

 from Jackson and others, and many more fine things which 

 used to adorn these summer shows. Exhibitors say it no 

 longer pays to show these things, and, therefore, we must 

 be content with more easily grown plants, such as Pelar- 

 goniums, tuberous Begonias, Calceolarias and Petunias. 

 The present all-absorbing interest in Orchids is, no doubt, 

 largely accountable for this state of affairs, and this ex- 

 plains why many persons here would not grieve if the 

 Orchid fever should subside a little. 



New and rare plants are generally sent in large num- 

 bers to this society's show, because exhibitors believe their 

 plants stand a better chance of receiving certificates than 

 at the Royal Horticultural Society, where the judges are 

 more numerous and more critical. New Orchids were very 

 plentiful, no fewer than nine winning certificates, and 

 out of these I select a few of the best. An extremely 

 pretty new Phalaenopsis named KimhaUiana (after one of 

 your orchidists) was shown by Messrs. Sander, St. Albans. 

 To describe it one must compare it with P. Sumalrana. It 

 has flowers about one and one-half inches across, yellow se- 

 pals, and petals heavily marked with irregular, transverse 

 bands of coffee brown, while the narrow, woolly-surfaced 

 labellum is stained with purple. This is an exquisite 

 little Orchid and was well worthy of the award. 



A variety of P. speciosa named Imperatrix won many ad- 

 mirers, as it was so beautifully colored, the whole flowers 

 being uniformly tinted with crimson carmine. The spike 

 was unusually long, and branched, and carried numerous 

 flowers about one and one-half inches across. This is 

 quite a gem in Phaltenopsis. 



Some superb Cattleyas were shown by Low, of Clap- 

 ton, chiefly varieties of C. Mossice and C. J\Iendelii. The 

 deepest and most richly colored form of C. Mossup I ever 

 saw was named Claptoniensis. The flowers were above 

 the average size, petals and sepals intensely deep rose- 

 purple, lip almost a crimson, without veins or spots, and 

 no trace of yellow or white whatever. A form of C. J\Ien- 

 rfe/;'/ called Firthii is a decided "break "in this species, as 

 the broad, white petals have a conspicuous blotch of pur- 

 ple crimson (much after the same style as Backhouse's 

 C. TriancE), while the lip is very large, broad and superbly 

 colored. Another form of C. Mossice named Gigantea was 

 certificated, its chief merit being its large size, but a varietj' 

 of C. ]\Iendelii named H. Little struck me by the splendor 



