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THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



January, 1916 



fall and is literally a gleaming, snowy mass 

 of blossoms in July and part of August. 

 Because of the rich ground in this border it 

 grew between four and five feet high; in 

 poorer soil it reaches three feet. 



Of pink Phlox we planted Elizabeth 

 Campbell and Gladstone; for red, Coqueli- 

 cot and Lothair; for white, Bridesmaid, 

 Andrew Hoff er and the marvelous late white 

 Jeanne dArc. , The florets of this variety 

 are incredibly large and each of its great 

 panicles is a boquet. The Phlox lasted 

 .well through September. The Cosmos 

 started in hotbeds in March, began to 

 flower in August with its myriads of airy 

 flowers, so the border was a sight those two 

 months. After the first year small hem- 

 locks with hardy Hydrangeas in front of 

 them replaced the Cosmos, but it certainly 

 rose to its opportunity for display that year, 

 and won extravagant praises. 



Back of the Peonies in lines now thick, 

 now thin, we planted Lowerie Asters, the 

 New England Aster and wavy leaf Aster 

 (A. Undulatus) and behind these Helenium 

 orgyalis or lance leaved sunflower. Both 

 Asters and Sunflowers are the hardiest 

 of perennials. In October the sunflowers 

 stand seven feet high, thickets of small 

 blossoms of palest yellow, cheek to cheek. 

 Winds do not break them, they sway so 

 obligingly, nor can cold seem to dismay 

 them, for the last of their cheery bloom is 

 sometimes cut for the Thanksgiving dinner 

 table. Below these and all about them 

 surge the blue and violet seas of Aster 

 bloom. The Lowerie is pure blue. The 

 New England Aster has larger florets and 

 in this rich ground, with plenty of water, 



blooms in the richest purples imaginable. 

 The wavy leaf Aster grows only three feet 

 high, holds to violet tones in its wealth of 

 flowers and keeps the brave sunflowers 

 company to the very last. 



In beginning the long boundary border 

 we arranged for white and yellow Tulips 

 and Daffodils for a foot back along the edge, 

 to be put in in the fall where dwarf annuals 

 would provide cover for the bulbs and color 

 for the eyes all summer. A fixed rule to set 

 no perennial within eighteen inches of the 

 edge protected the bulbs from spade and 

 trowel. To help out the Tulip bloom we set 

 the Easter blooming English Primroses, 

 hardy yellow Alyssum and white creeping 

 Phlox; and wild Marsh Marigold (called 

 Cowslip Greens by many) to hold its shining 

 clusters of gold cups with the Daffodils. 

 Though "a waterside character" like 

 Rogue Riderhood, Marsh Marigold will 

 bloom beautifully in gardens and its foliage 

 is unusual among spring flowers. 



For May flowers we chose cream and 

 white German Iris, Forget-me-nots of early 

 and late sorts, big white English Daisies 

 and the dainty pink Bleeding Hearts. An- 

 other part, away from the blues, held the 

 purple velvet Irises, Lupines and many 

 white Columbines. Here we found a plant- 

 ing of the lovely white candidum Lilies 

 (that someone had set out in September) 

 that remained as the chief glory of June, 

 helped out by Sweet Williams and Canter- 

 bury Bells in pink and white. We kept 

 strictly to things easy to grow and generous 

 of bloom; Delphiniums were regretfully 

 ruled out as prey to disease and tender 

 Roses as too exacting. It was a pity the 



Lilies were not planted against the hedge; 

 but this was a well established, healthy 

 planting and a wise gardener lets such alone. 



For midsummer white we planted 

 meadow rue (Thalictrum aquilegifolium) for 

 its fleecy foam, Yuccas for their stately 

 spires of creamy bells, with large colonies 

 of Hollyhocks and brilliant clumps of Tiger 

 Lilies. In July the annuals joined the 

 parade and we had the very best annuals 

 for garden show and house adornment. 

 The Shirley Poppies flamed for three weeks 

 of this month in their silken ballet dresses 

 of tender tints. Drummond Phlox (var. 

 grandiflora.alba) spread a snowy carpet of 

 enormous florets in clusters over part of the 

 bulb edging, and California Poppy did as 

 much for another part. 



No attempt was made to keep perennials 

 and annuals separate. Behind the masses 

 of white Meadow Rue blazed the panicles 

 of feathered red Cockscomb. Hardy Carna- 

 tions, the lovely clustered Marguerite Car- 

 nations that bloom two seasons and the an- 

 nual Fireball and Snowball Pinks, bloomed 

 all together. The Bachelors Buttons (Cen- 

 taurea) that blooms till snow, we sowed with 

 the Poppies. When the Poppies were 

 pulled up the Centaureas covered the 

 ground. We had single Petunias by the 

 hundred, pale pink and white from selected 

 seed. 



In September Boltonia shakes her thou- 

 sands of white Daisies against the hedge 

 where Hollyhocks towered in July. In 

 front of the hardy yellow Chrysanthemums, 

 grown outdoors from cuttings that bloomed 

 the first fall, grow brown velvet French 

 Marigolds. 



What I Want and What I Can Afford — By Fletcher Steele, 



A FEW QUESTIONS THAT MUST BE DECIDED BY EVERYONE BEFORE THE GARDEN IS 

 ATTEMPTED — HOW ARE YOU TO DETERMINE THE LAYOUT OF THE NEW HOME? 



Landscape 

 Architect 



DO YOU intend to improve your 

 place? You want a pleasant 

 house with fitting grounds, you 

 say — a unified work of art, the 

 expression of your individual ideas in which 

 you can comfortably live and have your 

 being. Let us analyze the problem, first as 

 a whole, lest piecemeal undertakings result 

 in finally a patchwork quilt instead of a 

 tapestry. 



There are two introductory factors to be 

 determined. The first is what you want: 

 the second, what you can pay for. The 

 character of the artificial environment and 

 the existing natural conditions are fully as 

 important but they can wait until later 

 articles of this series. 



An American with a formal layout in 

 mind has the best native precedents. All 

 our Colonial gardens were laid out on formal 

 lines, generally with strong axes and often 

 symmetrically balanced. For the medium- 

 sized or small place there is the old 

 fashioned northern arrangement which 

 was convenient and intimate. The house 

 was built near the street. A small yard 



Washington's plan for Mt. Vernon reproduced from the 

 "Georgian Period in America" which copied it from draw- 

 ings in the Toner Collection in the Congressional Library 



adjoined it on the rear. In early examples 

 this was for service. It provided circula- 

 tion between kitchen, well, smoke-house, 

 and woodshed; it served as bleaching and 

 drying yard. Under the shade of a grape- 

 arbor at one side the women spun, sewed, 

 and gossiped on hot summer days. Later 

 with wealth came servants. My lady 

 escaped menial usefulness, finding time to 

 become fastidious. The yard was divided. 

 The bleaching lawn and other strictly 

 service appointments were put next the 

 kitchen and screened by trellis or bushes 

 from the yard next the living room. Here 

 sewing and gossiping were the only original 

 functions still exercised, but they must have 

 found it suited to their needs, as no Colonial 

 mansion was without it. In size and shape 

 it irregularly fitted house and lot, boundary 

 limitations. Shrubs surrounded it forming 

 a barrier against the garden just beyond. 



A straight path which cut through the 

 shrubbery opposite the rear door of the 

 house extended the length of the garden 

 which was generally arranged with formal 

 beds on simple lines. It was a useful spot, 



