Much of the gardening and botanical interest of all pleasure-grounds consists in the exotic trees and shrubs which they contain. There are some fine specimens of this kind in these gardens: one of the oldest plants of the Magnolia tripetala in England [in 1836, 14 ft. high]; a very large Magnolia grandiflora [one against a wall, 50 ft. high]; and some of M. conspicua in the open air: but the largest plant was in the Chinese conservatory; where, however, it has not a tenth part of the room requisite to its attaining its full size. There are some magnificent and venerable plants of Rhododendron, Azalea, and Andromeda. The American plants, in general, are grouped together in dug masses, surrounded by turf; and they have grown to such a size as totally to cover the margin of the dug space around them, and to form a broken picturesque outline on the turf. Roses and ornamental flowers are also disposed in masses, much in the same way as at Cobham Hall, in Kent. Some are enclosed by basket-work, others trail over rocks and fantastic stones; some of the rockeries have a margin of curious Derbyshire spar, and others are entirely of plum-pudding stone. There are groups of large shells (Chama gigas), corals, corallines, madrepores, tuffa, lava, petrifactions, ammonites, and different sorts of scoria, all curiously intermixed with flowers and plants. There is a picturesque aquarium, the sides of which are finely ornamented with rockwork and American evergreens. There is a conservatory with an opaque roof in the ancient style, with the piers between the windows externally clothed with rare exotic creepers, and the interior of the house decorated with rustic props, and green trellis-work. At one end is a sort of banqueting-room, carpeted and furnished with couches, sofas, tables, musical instruments, books (especially on botany and landscape), mirrors, and a variety of other things.
