38 The American Flower Garden 



Age undoubtedly enhances the beauty of a garden planned on 

 noble lines, but it can completely obliterate the poorly planned 

 one that is dependent upon constant care ; and after centuries the 

 best Italian gardens have preserved their charm. Our summer 

 skies are as blue as the Italian, and our spring and summer climate 

 is not unlike that of Italy. We have our choice of a score of ever- 

 greens and a hundred flowers for every one that was known to the 

 garden designers of the sixteenth century. Pyramidal junipers and 

 other columnar evergreens may be used in the Eastern United 

 States, and the less hardy yews and cypresses in the South, as the 

 tapering shafts of cypress were used in Italy; Lombardy poplars 

 thrive here as well as there; retinisporas, magnolias, rhododen- 

 drons, laurel, boxwood, bay, and a host of other possibilities are 

 perfectly adapted to our needs. Certainly, there is no lack of wealth 

 at the disposal of American home-makers, nor can it be spent in a 

 better way to bring health and pleasure to a family than upon a 

 garden. Many kinds of labour-saving devices, unknown in Europe 

 three centuries ago, now help to lessen the expense of garden- 

 making and maintenance. Fountains, sundials, garden seats, bal- 

 ustrades, steps, and other garden accessories are by no means 

 essential to a lovely garden, but if one wants them, and cannot 

 afford stone or marble, excellent reproductions in a special prepa- 

 ration of cement may be had at a small fraction of the cost of 

 classic models. Thus a man of very moderate means may enjoy 

 a duplicate of the fountain of lions at the Vatican ; and the birds 

 that come from the woods to his very door to bathe in the spray 

 and drink from the basin, where goldfish play hide and seek under 

 the lotus and lily leaves, show constant appreciation of his taste. 



It is painfully true that we Americans, like the English, are 

 too Teutonic to be an artistic people. Yet here and there among 



