346 LONDON PARKS © GARDENS 
finest was blown down some years ago, and the timber 
afforded panelling for a large room and many pieces of 
furniture. Perhaps the most beautiful of the trees is 
the copper or purple beech. Not only is it very tall 
and has a massive trunk (14 feet 6 inches at 2 feet from 
the ground), but the shape is quite perfect, and its 
branches are furnished evenly all round. There are 
also good evergreen oaks, elms, chestnuts and Scotch 
firs. There is a large collection of flowering shrubs, 
which are in no way affected by the smoky air. Standard 
magnolias, grandiflora, conspicua and stellata, many 
varieties of the delightful autumn-flowering plant, the 
Hibiscus syriacus , known to older gardeners as Althaa 
frutex , and recommended under that name by Fairchild 
in 1722 as suited to London, Crataeguspyracantha^ Choysia , 
Pyrus spectabilis , and many other equally delightful shrubs 
all appear most flourishing. These, together with her¬ 
baceous plants and ornamental trees, well grouped in a 
garden of good design, with the river flowing at the foot 
of it, make the grounds of Broom House rank among 
the most attractive about London. 
A few of the gardens, like this one, have succeeded 
in keeping the real stamp of the country, in spite of the 
encroachments of the town and the advance of trams and 
motor omnibuses, but they are every day becoming more 
scarce. Hampstead and Highgate have many such, and 
here and there, to the north and on the south of the 
river, such delightful spots are to be found, although the 
temptation to cut them up and build small red villas on 
the sites is very great. Towards the north of London 
there are many small gardens which are bright and attrac¬ 
tive, and without going so far as Hampstead, pleached 
walks and small but tastefully arranged grounds are 
