AN IRIS GARDEN 



to the house, and they give some idea of the abundance 

 of its bloom; but it is the water-color illustration 

 (plate Ivi.) that represents its charm of color and the 

 sultry, poetic mist in which it is usually enveloped. 



This garden has so completely embellished a low, 

 far-stretching strip of marshy ground that it has become 

 one of the most notable examples of iris planting in 

 this country. It is a beacon light, attracting visitors 

 from many directions; a water garden as well as an 

 iris garden. 



At the termination of a broad lawn sloping down- 

 ward from the house, the garden is entered. Not by 

 any conscious act, however, merely it begins where the 

 lawn ends. And since, in truth, it is a water garden, 

 its paths are raised banks or dikes flanked by irises. 

 The water ways are spanned by bridges. It is then 

 at the end of these separate paths that two tea houses 

 are reached, inviting repose and a calm contemplation 

 of the regal flowers. 



This water garden is, besides, so skilfully planted 

 that it appears replete with bloom from early spring 

 until the autumn. Its bloom, therefore, covers the 

 usual months of seaside residence, and during that time 

 it is so satisfying, so enchanting as a whole, that it 

 has banished the wish for other flowers. 



Naturally, there is a time when the garden is more 

 laden with blossoms than in the late season, when it 

 is produced sparingly. At its high tide it seems to 

 have sacrificed every thought in the world to sumptuous 

 beauty. Then, the mistress of the garden relates, 

 each morning her gardeners take off about fifteen 



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