THE GARDEN AT ORCHARD HOUSE 



Turning from the garden with its hint of coming 

 autumn, in budding clematis and aconite, one 

 looks out across the undulating lawn, shadowed by 

 the old trees which give Orchard House its name, 

 and visualizes the spring, for here are the collec- 

 tions of lilacs, flowering apples, cherries, peonies, 

 and other choice shrubs. One boundary is planted 

 with the newer Japanese quinces — scarlet to 

 palest yellow. Under the flowering trees and in 

 all the shrub borders, many kinds of early bulbs, 

 crocus, scilla, daffodil, are followed by collections 

 of cottage and Darwin tulips, glorifying the or- 

 chard in May. 



Perhaps, instead of describing color combina- 

 tions and isolated pictures, I should tell you of 

 what the paths are made and how many beds make 

 up the formal design. But the things which char- 

 acterize Mrs. King's garden are not bricks and 

 mortar, nor geometric forms. Well-thought-out 

 color groupings, the clever choice of form, shown 

 in the juxtaposition of feathery and solid masses, 

 the predominance of silver-gray and blue-green 

 foliage, the use of annuals (be it tall Lavatera or 

 dwarf Ageratum), the right one for its place — re- 

 straint in the use of plants, for, given her knowl- 

 edge, what a temptation to use many new and 

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