BEAUTY IN FLOWERS.

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 18571, 22 December 1925, Page 5

BEAUTY IN FLOWERS.

A TOWN OF MANY GARDENS. The cities and towns of New Zealand iro famous for'their fine public parks ind gardens and extensive recreation reserves, which are recognised in niodirn town-planning as being essential to he health and well-being of the inhabitints. The necessity for breathing ipaces is receiving more and more attention, and in almost every town of assize tree-planting is being carried out, Afhilo waste areas are being taken over 3 y the municipalities and converted nto flowering oases, which stand out iresh and beautiful amid the brick and :oncrctc of modern' building construction. The suburban garden, too, is jeing given more care and attention, ,vith the result that cosy, bungalow tomes iu trim, beautiful settings are becoming a feature of the towns of the Dominion. No whore is this modern tendency towards the beautifying of the town more ,pparent than in Timaru, with its hunlreds of pretty homes and gardens full if faultless blooms, and wide, well-kept frects ' There are three public parks, ■wo of which, the West End and Ashiurv Pa* B . havo oUly rcccut, y i b i cc | l urehased, and arc as yet uncompleted Pho Botanie Gardens, situated in tho fouth end of the town, are at all times f the year a delightful picture, and ouiparo more than favourably with Soot many larger and older towns are S4 acres m extent, and

a fine motor drive gives visitors the opportunity of seeing every corner. Inside, tho main gates is u fine statue of Eobcrt Bums, presented to the town by the Hon. James Graigie, M.L.C., a, former Mayor. Further along aro the tennis courts and bowling green, and a spacious cricket ground. Bock-border-, ed flower beds and well-kept lawns slope down to a.green valley, at the bottom of which lies a chain of artificial lakelets, reflecting in their calm surface the trees and shrubs which grow down to' Hie water's edge. On the southern slope of the hill, below the main drive, is one of the finest collections of native shrubs in the Dominion. On the ponds are graceful black 3wans and grey and mallard ducks. A charming, creeper-grown rustic bridge leads aeross the lower lake towards an enclosure containing a number of stags and hinds, and a. little further round one comes upon another enclosure, behind which several dignified emus stalk up and down. Returning towards the entrance, by way of pretty tree-shaded walks, lined with oaks and larches, past the children's playing area, and down the central drive, one conies to one of the outstanding attractions of the Park —the famous Begonia House, an artistic building in brick and glass, which contains one of the finest showings of begonias to be seen in New Zealand. Tho rich collection of delicately-tinted blooms is a joy to every lover of flowers, and one might spend hours in admiring them. The spacious lawns, tho blaze of flowers down the drives, the vistas of leafy beauty opening out 011 to blue skies, tho undulating hillsides with their clustered shrubberies, are the pride of the people of Timaru, and after an inspection of the Park one realises what it means to have so beautiful a breathing space in the very heart of what will some •J" - " a great city.