CONTINENTAL GARDENS. 
311 
decorative objects of winter, intermixed with 
those cornels [Cornus] whose branches appear 
like corals during the severe weather of win- 
ter. Nearly all the trees that are common to 
the north of Europe are grown in the Thier- 
garten, but the greatest number consists of 
oak ; beech is common, and the alder attains 
a great height ; the elm, maple, and weeping 
willow, are intermixed with pines, firs, pop- 
lars, planes, Gleditsehia, and everything is 
suited to bear the long winters of the north 
of Prussia. The same good taste in the 
ornamental arrangement is carried out in the 
garden of the king at Potsdam ; but that 
establishment is more favoured by soil, site, 
and water. 
POTSDAM. 
At Potsdam the gardens of Sans Souci and 
those surrounding the Palais-neuf are parti- 
cularly deserving of attention, especially that 
of gardeners. Here the grounds are laid out 
in lawns, clumps, and avenues, and planted 
with various trees and shrubs, around which 
Pelargonium zonale is grown in rings or 
garlands ; and large spaces were covered 
with Sedum Sieboldii. The vine is often 
employed as an ornamental plant ; the large 
leaved variety, especially, is planted at the 
foot of trees. In the avenues it is trained in 
long festoons, resembling the twining and 
climbing plants in the forests of the New 
World. Sometimes long walks are covered 
with a canopy formed of vine branches trained 
to a sort of trellis-work, under which one is 
apt to lose himself in shady labyrinths. The 
several kinds of grapes, too, with their differ- 
ent colours, are skilfully arranged, and which, 
though they seldom ripen, have a very agree- 
able effect, until the approach of the autumn 
frosts, presenting the spectacle of a hanging 
vintage within the 52° of latitude. Various 
kinds of the cucumber family are employed 
like the vine to cover large trellises, and often 
the supports disappear altogether under the 
large leaves of Cucumis and Lagenaria. It 
is curious to see the various forms of gourds 
suspended from these trellises during the au- 
tumn ; some too that are not unfrequently 
exhibited at our shows as curiosities or arti- 
cles of food. These trellises trained over- 
head form a kind of parody to the fable of 
La Fontaine, where it is easy to recognise the 
work of man and not that of nature. Never- 
theless, nature has suspended these fruits so 
well, that the gardener might fall asleep in per- 
fect security under the singular shade, without 
fearing the moral of the fable. Here the most 
common plants are successfully employed in 
decoration, in a country where the winters are 
generally long, and every resource is made 
available in order to increase the enjoyment 
of fine weather. Thus Ilortensias are grown 
everywhere in profusion, and trained so as to 
conceal the tubs or boxes of the orange-trees ; 
they are distributed in all the clumps and 
plots, and on the first of October during my 
visit, they were still in flower. The Arundo 
or Phragmites (common reed) formed groups 
planted along the ditches with the Culama- 
grostis colorata still waving its flowery pani- 
cles in the north wind, the precursor of snows. 
In the midst of these gardens of the Palais- 
neuf is a charming retreat — a kind of Italy 
in miniature under the cloudy skies of Brande- 
bourg, viz. the Royal Baths, which are con- 
structed after the model of those of Pompeii, 
and where some of the richest extracts from 
the Roman city have been brought together. 
Frescoes are placed on several points of the 
monument, [a sort of monumental spire or 
column raised considerably above the front 
part of the building,] on the walls of the 
rooms, and the vestibules, bringing to mind, by 
the style, those which are found to have been 
so frequent in the town of Pompeii. A bath 
formed out of a single block cf the green 
jasper of Siberia occupies the centre of the 
building. It is a gift of the Emperor of 
Russia, and is said to have cost 500,000 
francs. Near this is the king's bath, a half- 
circular basin, which is descended by steps of 
marble, and round which grow a number of 
exotic ferns, whose graceful and slender 
foliage is relieved by the flowers of Fuchsias. 
A portico ornamented with columns separates 
the bath from the Viridarium, a garden 
similar to those that the Romans possessed at 
Pompeii : it is a space enclosed by walls ; or 
rather it is an uncovered apartment laid and 
hung with verdure. The walls are covered 
with ivy and cissus, which climb and twine 
on an imperceptible wire trellis. The floor, or 
ground, is formed of beautiful turf, garnished 
with a fine green moss. It is difficult to 
form an idea of the beauty and freshness of 
a place so exquisitely formed, when Fuchsias 
and some sorts of the red flowering currants 
are trained among the branches of the ivy; 
when the reddening leaves of the vine hang 
down in purple festoons, and Begonias dis- 
color and manicata shed their rosy flowers 
on this natural drapery. The humble daisy 
is only admitted after having acquired in the 
gardens the fine form and purple colour which 
renders it desirable ; while the Hortensia adds 
its delicate tints in harmonious contrast with 
the two complementary colours. 
The palace of Sans Souci is a building of 
a single floor, having a pavilion at each of its 
extremities. It is situated on an eminence, 
and the gardens are formed in terraces. Ma- 
jestic fountains play to a great height, in the 
