30 THE PAEKS AND GARDENS OP PARIS. [Chap. II. 



will aid him as much in this direction as anything that requires 

 either tropical or subtropical temperature. 



The fault of this " subtropical gardening," as hitherto seen, 

 is its lumpish monotony and the neglect of graceful combinations. 

 The subjects are not used to contrast with or relieve others of less 

 attractive port and brilliant colour, but are generally set down 

 in large masses. Here we meet a troop of Cannas, numbering 

 500, in one long formal bed ; next there is a circle of Aralias, 



Isolated Fenila, on Grass [Decaisne and Nattdin), 



or an oval of Ficus, in which hundreds of plants are so densely 

 packed that their tops form a dead level. Isolated from every- 

 thing else, as a rule these masses fail to throw any natural grace 

 into the garden, but, on the other hand, go a long way towards 

 spoiling the character of the subjects of which they are composed. 

 For it is manifest that we get a far superior effect from a group 

 of such a plant as the Gunnera, the Polymnia, or the Castor-oil 

 plant, properly associated with other subjects of entirely diverse 



