254 



GARDEISERS' CHRONICLE 



Autumn Glory at Englishton Park 



HELEN ORR ENGUSH 



RETURNIXCi tn the country late in tlu' Aiumnn after 

 an enforced sta\- during a large part of the Summer 

 in a town apartment has the same effect upon me 

 as when I receive the first Spring flowers from my garden 

 after a long, cold, dreary Winter in town. The imutter- 

 able jov of returning to find the house overflowing with 



'^^ 



/111 c.iW'IL-iit I'lt'iL' ()/' the rock garden at Englislilon Park. 



the results of years of past study to see that it has been 

 kept in one's absence the same as when present, groinids 

 and home perfect in their Autumn glory, a tribute to 

 gardener and housekeeper. I cannot but speak of the 

 faithful caretaker of this particular home, whose daily 

 pleasure it is to concoct, if one may use such a word in 

 horticulture, such lovely arrangements for my enjoyment. 

 Years ago I remember so well her bringing me in from 

 the northern wood a handful of wonderful, odd, and 

 unusual berries and leaves. It was not familiar to me but 

 after a little searching among my hooks, to my joy I 

 found it to he the bluest berried plant, whether wild or 

 cultivated, that grows, and which I had never seen but 

 had read so much about, Clintonla horealis. 



After this little digression. I shall now write of the 

 things which give me so much delight, for I am longing 

 to tell those who love Nature of the Ijeauties awaiting me 

 both in and out of doors. .V return at tliat time of the 

 year to the lover of the all year round garden is an in- 

 spiration for future work, and T am filled with a desire 

 to imbue others with my love of gardening and to impart 

 any knowledge 1 may have gleaned from years of experi- 

 ence. T never really know what to plant for i'all efi'cct 

 until I see the beautiful flowers, branches of trees and 

 berried shrubs that 1 can have in late October and Noven\- 

 ber, many of which will remain during the Winter to cheer 

 the glooniv days. The little known .\utumn crocus, Col- 

 ch'icitm aiitiiiinialr. continues to bloom laic in its somewhat 

 desolate surroundings of \irginia Willow iltca '-ir- 

 f^iiiica). which have yielded of their glory for weeks in 

 the preceding May and June. This late straggler makes me 

 'hink of the Indian Pipe ( Moiwtropa iinitlora), which T 

 have seen by the hunrlreds growing out of rotted trees and 

 leaf mold in the dense woods fif Michigan, a little ghost- 



like tlowcr, and without odor. I'or the first time, when 1 

 saw the mass of crocus at my feet, I unconsciously connec- 

 ted the two. The Spanish liayone or Vticca, "Our Lord's 

 Candles,"' of a very dift'erent family and far from being a 

 fungus or parasitic growth, as the Indian Pipe is properly 

 classed, has that same deathlike, odorless whiteness. I do 

 not know why I associate these three different plants — 

 one a bulb, one a fungus growth, and the last a native 

 of hot desert sandy lands, transplanted to our gardtns, 

 but there must be a similarity for me to do so. 



The wonderfully colored leaves of the "Winged Straw- 

 berry'" {Eiioiiyiiiiis alatiis). and its cork wood branches 

 make a fine showing as a background for the lily pond 

 several himdrcd feet away from the house. In the garden 

 this group immediately attracts the eye and holds it; while 

 indoors, when mixed with the dainty, feathery sprays of 

 Spircca Tlinnbcrgii, the "Winged Strawberry" is attractive 

 beyond words. It is just as lovely when combined with 

 the stout stiff' branches of the dark green Mountain Pine. 

 Spircca Thiiiibergii planted out of doors with Kcrria 

 japoiilcii. single Cnrclionis, is a combination no garden 

 should be without if only for the ball effect and contrast 

 of the two during the entire Winter. The red leaves of 

 Khiis oroiiiatica (Aromatic Sumac), rivals the Euo)!yiiius 

 and I for one would not be without this especial variety. 



The huge beds of annual scarlet sage are brilliant in 

 .\ugust and September. It is so common and deplorably 

 overdone and over-rated in the cities that I plant it very 

 sparingly and then only for the pleasure that the brilliant 

 mass gives to passers-by. Its short lived beauty passes 

 entirelv at the touch of the first early frost and becomes 

 just a brown dead mass. Why will not the masses appre- 

 ciate the pleasures to be derived from hardy gardening? 



Till- drlTi-uiiy. To llic right Inrrgroiiiid is a riir^ curled ti'illotc 

 (i'li/i'.r aiiiiiilaria) , an oddity. 



The home attests to the hardiness of my garden. It glows 

 wilh the scarlets and golds and greens of the varied plant- 

 ings whose beauty t shall attempt in a feeble way to 

 picture to my readers. 



Different from the .-irrangemcnt nf I'liniiyiiiKS and 

 dwarf Swis- Mountain Pine mentioned abdve. and as 



