50 



PARKS AND PLEASURE-GROUNDS. 



The American Garden is anotlier special department 

 of the flower-garden^ and is consecrated to the growth of 

 those shrubs and other flowering plants which thrive best 

 in a peaty soil. It by no means holds good that all these 

 plants are natives of America^ thongh undoubtedly the 

 greater part of them come from that continent. We 

 refer to the rhododendrons^ azaleas^ kalmias^ andromedas, 

 etc., which, growing spontaneously in the temperate 

 regions of both the old continent and the new, and being 

 sufficiently hardy to endure the climate of Great Britain, 

 contribute very largely to the beauty of our gardens and 

 dressed grounds. It is desirable that they should have 

 a separate department allotted to them ; but they should 

 not be confined to it, for they may be scattered through- 

 out all the shrubberies in the place. When in a dis- 

 tinct locality and well arranged, the American garden 

 may be made the most permanently evergreen portion of 

 the grounds, and therefore may not inaptly be denomi- 

 nated the Pleasure-ground Winter Garden. As such, it 

 should contain glazed structures, in which the heaths of 

 the Cape, the rhododendrons of India, and the azaleas of 

 China, may find a climate and receive a culture suited to 

 their natm'al habits. Many plants in the American 

 garden do not necessarily require a moist peat soil ; they 

 may be grown to great perfection in a heathy sand, in a 

 sandy loam, or sandy clay, or in a vegetable earth com- 

 posed of the decayed leaves of trees. They do not thrive 

 in common garden-soil. The American garden may be 

 either a section of the flower-garden, or may be formed 

 in some detached spot on one of the lawns. If the site 

 is naturally suited for this class of plants, some expense 

 may be saved in the formation of a proper soil. Portions 

 of the site may be slightly shaded with advantage, but 



