Gardens Around Philadelphia 



A friend who had visited the Cahfornia Exposition and 

 the convention of the Societx- of American [•'lorists in San 

 Francisco this summer, ami who had been whirled about 

 from ]ilace to place with much rapidity over a period of 

 from three to four weeks, said on his return that his 

 mind was full of rather amorjjhous impressions of the 

 many scenes and places and incidents of the journey. 



To some extent that is the condition nf my mind 

 after a flying visit, lasting onlj- four and a half daN's, 

 to two of the best-known gardens in the neighbor- 

 hood of Philadelphia, to several gardens in the Lenox 

 region of the lierkshire Hills in Massachusetts, em- 

 bracing a trip u\) the Hudst)n River, and lastly to the 

 rock garden and fernery which John Huss has charge 

 of at Hartford, Conn., and to I'^lizabeth Park there. 



The visit to the Philadel])hia places was on the rainy 

 Saturday morning of October 4. when Mr. John Wana- 

 maker's estate, Ly-ndhurst, at Wyncote, was seen, and 

 Mr. Joseph Widener's place in the same neighborhood. 

 P,ach of these lies a few miles to the eastward of Phila- 

 delithia. The W'idener estate is the more extensive 

 of the two, embracing several hundred acres, but as 

 Lyndhurst, which John Dodds sujiervises, was the first 

 to be visited, it is fitting that the ncitcs thereon should 

 be kept in their proper order. 



r.YXDIIURST. 



Looking liack, the outstanding impressions of tliis 

 trimly and well-ke])t demesne are the new Italian gar- 

 den, not entirely completed yet as it is intended it will 

 be, but ver}- beautiful ; the many excellent groups of 

 choice evergreens, some of the trees representing the 

 most perfect specimens of their kind we have seen ; 

 and thirdly^ the plants under glass. 



The glass range is neither considerable nor incon- 

 siderable, and some of it may be demolished to con- 

 form to the ground alterations that are in contempla- 

 tion in connection with the Italian garden develop- 

 ments, but whatever glass was taken away would be 

 restored in a new and up-to-date form. 



One of Mr. Dodds' specialties is Dracaenas of the 

 broad-leaved terminalis type, and he is the proud jjcjs- 

 sessor of quite a batch of jjromising seedlings. It was 

 a treat to observe his wonderful enthusiasm over these 

 plants, a class that receives comparatively too little 

 attention in the way of hybridization frnm even the 

 trade growers, let alone the professional garflener. 



It was here that the bright yellow form of Pandanus 

 Sanderiana originated, a specimen of which won the 

 $200 first prize for the best new plant of this descrip- 

 tion at the National Flower Show in New York in 

 1913. The stock was purchased by Robert Craig Co., 

 Philadelphia, who unfortunately lost their plants, and 

 all that remains of this very fine decorative warm- 

 house subject are a good-size plant here at Lyndhurst 

 jyid several ofl:'-shoots that have been rooted from it. 

 Mr. Dodds strokes these lovingly, and feels assured 

 that this good thing has not passed out of ken 3'et. 



Another chief specialty in the indoor jdant line was 

 an uncommonly fine batch of Cyclamens in 6-inch pots, 

 these having a spread of 12 inches to 14 inches at 

 the time of my visit, and were, one is almost safe to 

 say, the finest batch anywhere to be found along the 

 Atlantic Coast. There was too little time to question 

 Mr. Dodds as to his method of treatment, and that 

 may be left to the editor to inquire of him. 



Bush Chrysanthemums in benches and single- 

 stemmed ones were each of the highest quality. 



Batches of Prinuda malacoides and the I'.aby Prim- 

 rose, Forbesi, gave ])romise of elegance and brightness 

 in the darker months ahead. 



Most of the other ])o])ular classes of plants are here 

 grown in fine condition, including Orchids. The mag- 

 nificent collection of palms in the large house is also 

 deserving of special mention. 



It will serve as an index of the mass cjf soil used in 

 the benches and in potting annually, u hen we say that 

 a thousand loads are required. The soil, if I remem- 

 ber rightly, is prepared somewhere on the estate by- 

 having a liberal quantity of manure plowed in in the 

 fall, this soil tlu-n being collected for use when wanted 

 the next year. 



Roses, all on their own roots, furnish a regular sup- 

 ]i\y of long-stemmed flowers the season through. 



One smaller ^pan-roofed house also is given over 

 to winter Tomatoes, the variety being Lolliard. These 

 are sown at the end of July, and are grown out-of- 

 doors until they are housed at the end of September, 

 when about 2 feet or a little more in height, being 

 very short-jointed and having fruiting trusses quite 

 low down near the pot. These trusses set. and the 

 plants are kept in large pots all winter, only being 

 top-dressed and fed with liquid manure. 



Passing to the open air, some evidence of the enor- 

 mous amount of work that Mr. Dodds had in grading 

 up the slopes on the north side toward the railroad, 

 was brought to notice, but, as he said, days, weeks 

 and months of labor look like nothing in operations 

 of this descrii)tion. There are dr3--stone retaining 

 walls to be built, hundreds, or it may be thousands, 

 of loads of soil to be carted ; big trees to be trans- 

 planted, and lesser ones brought from a distance and 

 jiut here; turf to be laid down; roads and walks to 

 be made, and made properly, so that they will be 

 sound, dry, and wear well ; and lastl}' no less an un- 

 dertaking than the entire removal of a dwelling house, 

 with a stone basement was necessary, this being 

 brought from the main entrance upon rollers, a dis- 

 tance of perha])s 150 to 200 yards. To shift a modern 

 villa like this seems like a tall story, yet it was done 

 without a crack or twist. 



Outside the gates are groups of choice Conifers, 

 as well as sinuous masses of them on either side of 

 the fine swee]) of driveway. .As 1 will have occasion 

 to refer to similar evergreens in the other notes in 

 this series, the kinds need not be named at present. 

 It was a great pleasure, however, to see so many 

 evergreens so splendidly planted, and one will go far 

 before seeing these Conifers used to so good advan- 

 tage. Any gardener who has much work of this de- 

 scri]ition to undertake in the near future, and who 

 doubts his own ability to carry it through successfully, 

 would certainly obtain some admirable lessons in the 

 gardens at Lyndhurst. There was no p)atchwork about 

 the planting, no monotonous grou])ing and "knotting" 

 of set forms or tyjK's, but j^et a well-balanced and ele- 

 gant, varied mingling of kinds of Arborvitae, funipers, 

 Retinisporas anci Pines. 



The lawns are extensive and undulating, while there 

 is a nice furnishing of the large deciduous trees 

 throughout the grounds. That great pest of so many 

 gardens. Fall Grass, however, was too conspicuous to 

 be desirable. Much jiains are spent in trying to get 

 rid of it, and Mr. Dodds finds his greatest success 

 in keeping it down has resulted since the introduction 

 of heavy motor lawn mowers. 



