82 



THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. II. 



fine-leaved plants with the brilliant flowers. A quiet mass of 

 green might be desirable in some positions, but even that could 

 be varied most effectively as regards form. The combinations of 

 this kind that may be made are innumerable, and there is no 

 reason why flower-beds should not be as graceful as bouquets well 

 and simply made. 



Fine effects may be secured, from the simplest and most 

 easily obtained materials, by using some of our hardy trees and 





Aralia japontca [Hori.). Hardy shrub with fine leaves. 



shrubs in the picturesque garden. Our object generally is to 

 secure large and handsome types of leaves ; and for this purpose 

 we usually place in the open air young plants of exotic trees, 

 taking them in again in autumn. As we usually see them in 

 a diminutive state, we often forget that, when branched into 

 a large head in their native countries, they are not a whit 

 more remarkable .in foliage than many of the trees of our 

 pleasure-grounds. Thus, if the well-known Paulownia im- 



