iugust. 1916. 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



195 



The Garden of a Summer Cottager 



By the Late W. J. Stubbs, Peterboro, Ont. 



'"From shapeless roots and ugly 



bulbous things, 

 ivVhat gorgeous beauty springs! » 

 '^ueh infinite variety appears, 

 i\ hundred artists in a hundred years 

 sbould never copy from the floral world 

 JThe marvels that in leaf and bud be 



curled. ' ' 



—Ella Wheeler Wilcox. 



"Come into my garden and sit with 

 me," is an invitation seldom given in 

 3toney Lake, for the very good reason 

 that gardens are a luxury in that part 

 9f Kawarthadom. They are about the 

 only thing lacking in the equipment of 

 the ideal summer homes that there 

 abound. Therefore, those who are the 

 proud possessors of a productive plot of 

 ground, whether natural or artificial, 

 enjoy it to the full. 



One of the most unique, and at the 

 same time the most extensive gardens 

 in the Kawartha Lake District is that 

 in connection with the beautiful sum- 

 mer home of Mr. James Eakins, near 

 Mt. Julian. It has for its presiding 

 genius Mr. G. E. Oxley, Mr. Eakin's 

 son-in-law. 



Five years of careful study and plan- 

 ning on the part of Mr. and Mrs. Oxley, 

 have transformed the virgin plot into 

 a most charming spot. Irregular 

 mounds of earth have been levelled, 

 and valleys filled in, until the greater 

 part of the property, consisting of over 

 nineteen acres, reflects the general 

 scheme of transformation so ably car- 

 ried out. 



The bungalow, thoroughly modern in 

 every respect, faces the large expanse 

 of water in Stoney Lake towards Juni- 

 per Island and Eagle Mount, while the 

 garden lies to the rear, and is separated 

 from the "cottage" by a narrow inlet, 

 which is spanned by a rustic bridge one 

 hundred and ninety feet long, lighted 

 by acetylene gas from a one hundred 

 and twenty-five light system. 



Mt. Julian, up which the property ex- 

 tends to within sixteen feet of the sum- 

 mit, not only provides protection from 

 the north and east, but creates a gentle 

 slope to the south and west, and gives 

 the necessary elevation for a huge 

 water tank, containing four thousand 

 two hundred gallons, with a forty 

 pound pressure in a distributing sys- 

 tem of one thousand eisrht hundred feet 

 of iron piping, and two hundred and 

 twenty-five feet of garden hose. Water 

 is forced up the mountain by a hy- 

 draulic pump, driven by a three and 

 a half horsc-powor gasoline engine. 



The first evidence of the great abund- 

 ance of flowei'S grown last summer, was 

 a large bed of gladioli, containing one 

 hundred and sixty bulbs of four main 

 varieties, located north of the cottage ; 

 but not till the rustic bridge was cros- 

 sed and a winding path threaded, did 

 the full beauty of the situation flash 

 upon the visitor. 



The- view that greeted the eye was 

 one not soon forgotten. Stretching 

 out in a fine sweep towards the moun- 

 tain, was a tennis court two hundred 

 feet by sixty. To the right, along the 

 south side, and up the east end, extend- 

 ed a thick border of the stag-horn su- 

 mach. To the left a few large maple 

 trees and an open view of the lake and 

 Mill Bay. On the opposite side ran a 

 border of perennials two hundred and 

 forty feet long, (with a cedar hedge as 

 background) containing a wealth of 

 color in forty-nine varieties, with 

 crimson, lavender, blue and white pre- 

 dominating — but no red, that color 'be- 

 ing fully represented in the rose garden 

 to the left of the tennis court. 



The rose garden measured sixty by 

 eighteen feet, and contained one hund- 

 red and sixty bushes : seventy Killamey 

 brilliants and whites, fifty Richmond 

 reds, twenty Royal Sunsets and tweutv 

 Madam Tafts. The rich glowing shades 

 of brilliant scarlet, and sparkling white 

 and pink, and the pungent perfume 

 made one think instinctively of some of 

 the noted rose nurseries. Over two 



thousand blooms were taken from this 

 bed alone last season. 



Beyond the perennial border and 

 cedar hedge lay the vegetable garden. 



Cucujnbers grown by Mr. G«o. BaWiwiim, To- 

 ronto, In his homemade greenhouse. See article 

 on other page. 



systematically arranged to produce the 

 best results. Another border of 

 flowers extended along the garden side 

 of the hedge, consisting of zinnias. 



A spot wliere llower.s bloom in .Mr. Kakin's Stoney Lake garden. 



