1 8 The American Flower Garden 



lawn and garden than the continent of Europe, where we have 

 looked too long, not only for models of design, which may be 

 sometimes desirable, but for the plants to execute them, which 

 most often are not. 



Where is that nurseryman's catalogue so frankly honest that 

 the novice may learn from it what not to buy ? It is safe to say 

 that millions of dollars worth of plants die for the lack of intelligent 

 selection, planting, or care. Decidedly, for economic reasons as 

 well as artistic, we Americans are sorely in need of more disinter- 

 ested, expert advice. But beware of the adviser who has an axe 

 to grind. There are some excellent men connected with nursery 

 establishments of the highest class, but the frequent tendency is 

 to retain "landscape gardeners" of little or no artistic training 

 whose real business is to sell plants for their employers. Naturally 

 the temptation is to load the client with as much stock as possible, 

 regardless of its value to the general effect of his place. " Plant 

 thick; thin quick/' is a popular saying in the trade. The 

 disinterested professional, with no commercial connections, makes 

 it his business to secure for his client the best stock that may be 

 purchased anywhere in the open market and at the lowest price. 

 Likewise beware of the landscape gardener who does not insist 

 upon studying the garden problem on the land where it is to be 

 worked out; who would attempt to furnish a design from a few 

 photographs of your grounds at his office desk, or copy another 

 garden that he made successfully elsewhere. Ninety-nine chances 

 out of one hundred it will not suit your place; perhaps not a 

 single feature could be transferred to advantage. It is easier to 

 copy than to originate, but rarely satisfying either to the aesthetic 

 or to the moral sense. 



The architect of the house, who very often essays the role of 



