82 Arrangement of Flower Gardens. 



foliage contributes to the brilliancy of their colors. The bolder 

 flowers should be half obscured by shrubs, for, by being but par- 

 tially seen, their effect is materially heightened. The smaller 

 flowers must occupy the sloping sides of banks, because they are 

 then brought near to the eye, and they will generally be found 

 growing naturally in such situations. A greater part of the earlier 

 flowering plants may be set under the branches of shrubs and 

 trees, as they thus fill up spaces that would otherwise appear 

 naked in the spring, and their decaying state is veiled over in 

 the later season by the foliage of the boughs. The same arrange- 

 ment should be made in small gardens, by covering the ground 

 under rose bushes and other shrubs, which blossom in the sum- 

 mer, with the earlier flowers of the year, such as snowdrops, 

 crocuses, &c, which are rather benefited than injured by the 

 partial shelter; and the space of ground they would otherwise 

 require in the parterre may be allotted to those plants that will 

 not flourish in such situations. 



The error most frequently committed in planting the parterre, 

 is the inattention shown to the succession of the flowering of 

 plants ; but without a perfect knowledge and due regard to this 

 material part of the art of gardening, the parterre will frequently 

 become destitute of flowers at different seasons of the year; 

 whereas, the desirable object of continuing an uninterrupted suc- 

 cession of gaiety in the flower garden, may be attained by atten- 

 tion in the selection and planting of flower roots. Our first step 

 in this case should be to collect a sufficient quantity of those that 

 blossom earliest in the spring, as, at this time, the number of spe- 

 cies is not large, and each sort should therefore be planted in 

 greater abundance, so as to give effect by a mass of color. A 

 want of attention to render the parterre gay, at this period, is the 

 great defect of most gardeners. No flowers are more delicately 

 beautiful than those which blossom at this season of the year, 

 when they are received with a double welcome, because their 

 appearance seems, in some degree, to banish the dreary months, 

 and thus to prolong the duration of Flora's cheerful reign. 



A very essential part to be attended to is, to observe that the 

 plants of the spring, sucn as the hardy and early kinds of nar- 

 cissus, anemones, snowdrops, crocuses, double daisies, &c, 

 should be planted in considerable quantities in one spot ; for, 

 when they are divided into little clumps, they make no striking 



