ascend ; flanked by two statues, one of Apollo, the other of Daphne 

 from whose extremities the laurel leaves sprout in the most realistic 

 fashion. 



This terrace is divided into two main plots, which are again 

 subdivided, the centre of each plot being occupied by the Garzoni coat 

 of arms, with coronet and mantling outlined with box, and filled in with 

 marble of approximately correct heraldic colours. Around this are set 

 four knots, as the old gardeners called them, laid out in box and framed 

 with simple straight line work, the device of the inner filling being 

 somewhat more complex than that of the outer. These knots are said 

 to date back to the eighteenth century ; certainly some of the box 

 edging is almost solid with twiggery and has the appearance of great age. 

 All the beds, with the exception of that occupied by the coat of arms, 

 are filled with flowers ; the outer border with pansies, gaillardias, bell- 

 flowers, carnations, pinks, and other low-growing things ; the more 

 central beds with taller plants such as delphiniums, fuchsias, phloxes and 

 some tall bushes of tea rose. 



At the time of the writer's first visit to this villa, a great many years 

 ago, some of the beds were filled with ranunculus (rosellina the gardener 

 called it) of every conceivable colour, from white through yellow and 

 orange to richest red, and growing with the utmost luxuriance. Such a 

 remarkable show is rare, if not unknown, in England, where, as a rule, 

 this lovely flower does not receive the attention it deserves. This 

 second parterre is laid out on a decided slope, and its design is seen to 

 advantage from the entrance gate. Above this the terracing begins in 

 earnest. Three terraces follow in succession, the sustaining walls being 

 separated from each other by a space of little more than thirty feet, and 

 thus concentrating the stairways within a comparatively small space, 

 which gives the effect of one grand stair rather than of three separate 

 stairways. 



Much ingenuity is shown in the disposition of these stairways. The 

 first leads off on either side of a fountain niche and is carried to right and 

 left in a single flight of some eighteen steps which land directly opposite 

 the commencement of the next flight. An extensive and somewhat 

 elaborate grotto is entered by an archway beneath the second flight, the 



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