BEAUTIFUL GARDENS IN AMERICA 



not photographed for the public is that occasionally people 

 are found who will not share their blessings with others 

 less fortunate; who jealously keep in seclusion all the 

 wealth of nature's sweetness contained in their garden 

 plot. 



After all, is not the delight which belongs to a garden 

 but a bit of borrowed glory from the Creator of sunlight, 

 and of the kingdom of flowers? If a garden is worthy of 

 showing to our intimates, can we close it to the stranger 

 who may need even more to breathe inspiration from its 

 peace and loveliness? The foreign custom of opening the 

 fine places to the public on stated days is one that we 

 should freely emulate. And to those who may not come 

 to the gardens, what a boon is photography, especially in 

 color, placing in our very hands the beauty that we crave! 



The views contained within this book show gardens 

 that were planned, with but few exceptions, by their owners, 

 earnestly laboring to express their sense of the beautiful 

 in these their outdoor homes. And so great is the individ- 

 uality evinced in most of them that there are hardly two 

 gardens that resemble one another; for the differences 

 in gardens are as many as the endless number of varying 

 characters written in the faces of men. Both are stamped 

 with the spirit behind them. In visiting gardens it is not 

 difficult to distinguish between the ones fashioned by 

 "love's labor" and those made by the practical gardener. 



More and more we are getting away from the cold, stiff 

 planting of Canna, Coleus, and Salvia. Few of us can 



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