THE BOIS DE BOULOGNE. 



27 



the plants themselves^ while one garden or pleasure ground 

 need no more resemble another than the clouds of to-morrow 

 do those of to-day. 



In the rich alluvial soil in level spots, near water or in 

 some open break in a wood_, we might have numbers of the 

 fine herbaceous families of Northern Asia,, America, and 

 Europe. These, if well selected, would furnish a type of 

 vegetation now very rarely seen in this country, and flourish 

 without the slightest attention after once being planted. 

 In rocky mounds quite free from shade we might well 

 display true Alpine vegetation, selecting dwarf shrubs and 

 the many free-growing, hardy Alpines which flourish every- 

 where. To turn from the somewhat natural arrangements, 

 as the years rolled on, occasional plantings might be made to 

 show in greatest abundance the subjects of greatest novelty 

 or interest at the time of planting. In one select spot, for 

 example, we might enjoy our plantation of Japanese ever- 

 greens, many of them valuable in the ornamental garden; in 

 another the Californian pines; in another a picturesque 

 group of wild roses ; and so on without end. Were this the 

 place to do any more than suggest what may be done in 

 this way in the splendid positions offered by our public 

 gardens and parks, I could mention scores of arrangements 

 of equal interest and value to the above. If the principle 

 of annually planting a portion of a great park or garden of 

 this kind were adopted instead of giving all the same routine 

 attention after the first laying out, I am certain it would 

 prove the greatest improvement ever introduced into our 

 system of gardening. The embellishment of the islands in 

 the Bois de Boulogne is very successful, but it is merely 

 one of many fine results that artistic planting would secure. 

 Plantations as full of interest and beauty might be made in 

 other portions, and the fact is the vegetable kingdom is so 

 wide that, although the combination of plant knowledge and 

 taste necessary to success might not often be found in the 

 designer, the materials for any number of varied pictures 

 in vegetation could never fail. 



The principle here advocated should not only be applied 

 to the details of one garden, but on a greater scale, and 



