HORTICULTURE 



August 28, 192U 



RAMBLING OBSERVATIONS OF 

 A ROVING GARDENER 



I am told by one of the ladies who 

 has been making the rounds of the 

 most famous gardens in the vicinity of 

 Boston, through an arrangement with 

 the American Civic Federation, con- 

 siders the Larz Anderson garden, in 

 Bro'okline, the finest of all which she 

 saw. with the Brandegee garden at 

 Faulkner Farm, also in Brookline. 

 next. Of course this is only one 

 woman's opinion, and other visitors 

 may have thought differently, because 

 tastes do not run alike in these mat- 

 ters, any more than they do in any oth- 

 ers. As one thinks over the gardens 

 around Boston, one is surprised at the 

 wide diversity in character and interest 



which they show. Also it seems diffi- 

 cut lo understand how anyone can 

 make the sweeping statement, as I 

 understand some of the women who re- 

 turned to Chicago after the North 

 Shore Convention did make, that the 

 Chicago gardens are more attractive 

 than those of New England. Truth to 

 tell, it is very difficult to make such 

 comparisons. Probably the purely 

 formal garden is more in evidence in 

 the Middle West than it is in New 

 England, where even the so-called 

 formal gardens often have a sugges- 

 tion of informality quite commonly 

 associated with the New England 

 States. 



In tlie Greater Boston district there 

 certainly is little comparison to be 

 made between such gardens as that on 

 the Anderson estate, where Italian fea- 

 tures prevail to a large extent, and 

 which is impressive largely on this 

 account, and say the Hunnewell Gar- 

 den at Wellesley, with its topiary e£- 

 lects, or the Crane Garden at Ipswich, 

 or course, the Wellesley estate Is 

 famous the country over, but more 

 especially for its trees and its shrubs 

 than for its perennials. Indeed, the 

 pinetum here is one of the most noted 

 of those to be found on any private 

 estate. 



The most delightful feature of the 

 Crane place is the rose gardens. The 

 setting is admirable, there being an 

 enclosure which gives a most delight- 

 ful feeling of privacy and intimacy to 

 the garden. The roses are in great 

 variety and carefully kept. They 

 thrive far better, too, than one might 



Corner of tlie Bayard Thayer Garden at Lancaster. Mass. 



