THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA. 



27! 



Ill bunches, and souii to be at their best for flowering. 

 These were from a sowing made last fall. Clarkias 

 (Sutton's Salmon Rose variety) had flowered them- 

 selves to death in pots, and were highly prized for their 

 decorative effect and for use for cutting. They are 

 certainly very dainty and elegant, as well as rich and 

 wonderful in their colors. 



The old-fashioned but little seen Throatwort 

 (Trachelium caeruleum), a tall, branching plant with 

 pale blue terminal clusters of feathery bloom, also 

 filled a bench and was another favorite. These and 

 several other special lines of greenhouse stock were a 

 welcome and gratifying change from the all too com- 

 mon Cinerarias. Calciolaries, Geraniums and such like, 

 good and useftil though these are. 



Lastly there were the Peach houses and vineries. 

 reminding one of the best examples of these in English 

 and northern European gardens. The trees in each 

 instance were young, fresh, clean, vigorous and well 

 cropped. 



Not far to the west of Madison, N. J., lies the ex- 

 tensive and beautiful estate of Mrs. McK. Twombley, 

 one of the most varied and noble as to scenery that is 

 surely to be found anywhere in the Eastern States. 

 Far-flung views meet the eye on all hands, and espe- 

 cially looking to the north, where the sky-line forms a 

 bold and rugged contour over the Ramapo Hills. The 

 intervening distance is composed of wood and vale 

 and meadows over many scores or hundreds of acres. 



The estate of Mrs. McK. Twombley has as its cen- 

 terpiece a magnificent classic mansion and splendidly- 

 kept grounds. One carries away distinct impressions 

 of the colonnade of noble Cedars that form a very 

 telling vista from the south front of the house im the 

 lawn, and terminate in Grecian columns and architec- 

 tural pieces. From whatever angle or point of view 

 these tall, trimly, pyramidal Cedars are seen, they are 

 notable adornments, and never more so than when 

 trul}- silhouetted against the sky looking eastward. 

 The front and grounds around the house were the con- 

 ception of Alfred Parsons, the English landscape ar- 

 tist and painter, the practical application of his ]ilans 

 being carried through by Alfred Herrington. 



The mansion stands high and the area on the south 

 front is composed of a superb lawn and terrace. On 

 at least two sides there are sunken walled-in gardens, 

 one being devoted to geometrical beds filled with 

 spring and summer bedding plants ; the other, whicli 

 is contiguous, being a Rose garden. The terrace walls 

 are balustraded. There is also a very fine hedge here, 

 formed of Hemlock spruce, which flourishes. The 

 lawn is graced with some shapel}- deciduous trees, and 

 a broad and well-ke])t carriage and automobile drive, 

 well lighted at night with handsome arc lamps, sweeps 

 easily up the slope and outward to the west. The 

 lawns are the especial pride of Mr. Robert Tyson, the 

 superintendent, who has been eleven years here. A 

 steep bank, heavily clothed with plantings of Ber- 

 berises in several kinds. Lilac, Dogwcjod, rugosa Roses 

 and other dwarfed subjects, supports one side of the 

 terrace garden, and on the other the land slopes grad- 

 ually from the walls into the picturesque park. Road- 

 ways, drives and pathways open up other scenic fea- 

 tures of the garden and grounds. Everywhere one is 

 struck by the finished a]5pearance, the splendid keep- 

 ing and the possibilities of the place on its periphery 

 for furtJier good gardening. It may not be giving 

 any secrets to say that Mr. Tyson cherishes the de- 



sire to have Mrs. McK. Twombley develop an arc of 

 a shrubbery slnjjc here into a modern rock garden. 

 We venture to suggest that no finer site for an Amer- 

 ican rock garden could be chosen than the one here 

 referred to, and if the owner's consent is obtained, 

 Mr. Tyson will assuredly create something that his 

 lady and her friends will be proud of and will greatly 

 enjoy. For the sake of the advancement of this lovely 

 feature of gardening, as yet so new and little under- 

 stood among us, one hopes to see the idea put into 

 practical shape. 



Two of these fine outdoor features deserve mention 

 especially, one being the naturalization of May- 

 flowering Tulips in the grass, where it was said they 

 succeed year by year ; the second being an extensive 

 planting of Lily of the Valley under shrubs, the latter 

 very openly planted. The "Valley" has become thor- 

 oughly naturalized, indeed to such an extent that the 

 plants run out into the grassland that lies beyond. As 

 the plants were heavily sprinkled with their fragrant, 

 pearly-white flowers, the beauty of this large colony 

 can well be imagined. Thirdly, as a termination of 

 the terrace vista, through the statuary, there was a 

 charming mass of pink and white Dogwood, so finely 

 placed and so well developed that nothing seemed 

 wanting to the c<impletion of this remarkable cameo 

 of garden scenery. 



The kitchen or vegetable garden is finely walled, 

 the paths being of grass, very fine, smooth and in no 

 way showing any appearance of being worn or 

 patched. The crops were all in excellent order. The 

 -Asparagus beds were notably vigorous. 



The range of glasshouses, including vineries. Melon- 

 houses, Peacheries, Palm house, warm plant house 

 and others devoted to flowering subjects are in the 

 best of keeping. The "glass" is somewhat extensive, 

 and there are five trained assistant gardeners besides 

 Italian help. The gardeners have comfortable quar- 

 ters close by, each man having his own dormitory, and 

 there is a general reading room and recreation room. 



.\mong the plants that are well and liberally grown 

 are Cattleyas, Gloxinias, Crotons (very fine), Adroin- 

 tum Farleyense, Rhododendrons and Azaleas, in huge 

 tubs. The largest plants are 12 feet across the head. 

 They are housed, together with many other similar 

 summer specimen plants, in a big shed, something like 

 a huge garage, which is heated in winter. At the pres- 

 ent season they occupy positions out of doors. Hy- 

 drangeas are also among these stately specimens. 

 Carnations are grown in benches, and as soon as the 

 winter crop is through, say by the end of April, the 

 \'Oung plants are immediately substituted and are 

 grown on under glass all summer. Allamanda flour- 

 ishes here, and we noticed the pretty Reidia glauces- 

 ccns as well. The fruit crops were tip-top, including 

 a house devoted to Melons. These are topped when 

 one fruit has been set, and this alone is left to develop. 

 It was a truly beautiful sight to see a long line of 

 handsome, fragrant Melons there, the variety being 

 Sutton's Jubilee. Out of doors by the glass ranges the 

 reserve flower borders are arranged, as well as hardy 

 liorders and flower beds for spectacular effect. One 

 came away from one's all too hurried call timroughly 

 gratified with the Twombley gardens and their beauti- 

 ful setting, and feeling that here, as in similar well- 

 developed places, there is a vast fund of pleasure af- 

 forded to their owners — not forgetting the more solid 

 and material comforts — and satisfied to think that so 

 many are allowed to share it with them. .Such |)laces 

 enrich a whole countryside. 



