THE CITY PARKS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23273, 16 February 1939, Page 17

THE CITY PARKS

DISPLAYS OF FLOWERS INFLUENCE OF SEASON Tfc appearance of flower beds in the city parks and gardens gives an indication of the unusual summer that Auckland is experiencing. Some classes of flowers have relished the conditions and sye blooming well past the time when normally they would have finished, but others have suffered. The weather lias suited the roses in the Parnell Rose Garden, and there is still cjiiite a good display, while the healthy appearance of tho shrubs and the budding suggests there will be an unusually good blooming in autumn. In Albert Park, the pattern beds are not yet ut their best because of the unseasonable weather. Nor are sueb types of (lowers as zinnias. .On the other hand, some of the beds are filled with masses of colourful blooms. The Princes Street border strikes the eye with its profusion of flowers, the scheme being greatly assisted by thick borders of coltness gem dahlias in red and yellow. The larger types of dahlias are also flowering well. One of the features in the park,'us in past summers, is provided by the can'nas, the diversity of hues and the abundance of the flowers, drr ving enthusiastic comment from visitors. Among the flower beds in the Domain gardens, phlox and. verbena provide dominant notes, but it is the assortment of flowers in the winter garden that is the chief attraction. In the cool house, streptocarpus in blues, white and pinks, campanula pyramidalis. humea elegans and begonias, with achimene in baskets, are making a fine show of blooms, while decorative foliage in the tropical house is at its best.