The scarcity of flowers and the preponderance of evergreens is very significant in most of the gardens of Nippon, though the people exercised a greater freedom in choice of trees and shrubs in olden times. In modern gardens simplicity is sought rather than gaiety, restraint rather than showiness, and constancy rather than too great a variation in different seasons of the year; subtle gradation of the colours of the foliage rather than a complete change of shape and form caused by deciduous trees. However, there are exceptions: marked partiality is shown towards a certain group of trees such as maple, enkiathus perulatus, ilex serrata, etc. The first in a great variety, for the changing colours of their leaves, the second, though with delicate blossoms, are mainly for the beauty of autumnal tints, while the last is for the tiny red berries when the leaves are gone. The deciduous trees welcomed in the garden are those whose trunks and branches are beautiful even when stripped of their leaves. Monotony is despised, and quiet and pleasing variation is sought. The beauty must not be too apparent: it must be so reserved that the observer may discover it and enjoy the thrill of so doing.
