IMPROVING THE PARKS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14587, 25 January 1911, Page 8

IMPROVING THE PARKS.

DECORATIVE FLOWER BEDS.

The agitation which is at present going; on for the acquisition of more breathing spaces for the city and suburbs is, no. doubt, entirely proper, but it cannot bo denied that the people of Auckland have every reason to feel proud of the parka they* now possess. Albert Park and the Domain are especially pleasing to the eye just now, for they are gay with many-* hued flowers, and bright patches of colour} nestling in the green sward greet the eyej everywhere. Very helpful contributors to the colour scheme in the Domain are celosia (a sort of plumed coxcomb, which gives a great 1 variety of colour, and has a sub-tropical effect), petunias, marigolds, and phlox drnmondii. The borders round the circle are devoted principally^to annuals and herbaceous plants. The border in Albert Park adjoining Princes-street has been carried out in ribbon effect, and is bright, with salvias, geraniums, msens,. begonias, etc. A more subdued effect,; but one of the most, charming in the'park,has been obtained in the vicinity of the fountain. Four beds have been laid out on the circumference of a circle of which the fountain would be the centre, and they have been filled with a delightful variety of decorative and flowering plante.i There is not a great deal of colour in the beds,.but the' graceful stems and foil-!. j age with which they are adorned make ! a pleasing rest for the eye during the hot weather, when even the grass loses its greenness and freshness : and the becte harmonise excellently with the fountain I thev Hank. The edges of the beds are I principally occupied by _ polens, dracena, i asparagus" Australian silk oak, Cretans, 1 bouvardias, and fuchsias. In the centre ' are Persian bananas, cawi. asparagus, ! bronze flax, begonias, aloes, and varieties. | of echeverias from the broad tabulated forms to the neat Echoverias seecuncti.