September, 1910 



T II E G A R 1) P: X M A G A Z I X K 



69 



Four beds, lo x 20 ft. each, divided by 

 paths and a small central pool, with trian- 

 gular beds about it, form the middle part 

 of the garden, and in them the color scheme 

 is carried out. 



The southwest bed, blue and yellow 

 begins its bloom in May with Celeste and 

 late yellow tulips, daffodils, and hyacinths, 

 soon followed by Coreopsis lanceolata and 

 grandiflora, and beside them Platycodon 

 grandifloriim opens its big bells, blossoming 

 until October if all dead flowers are re- 

 moved; Baptisia australis, sky-blue lark- 

 spur (which seeds itself), Canada lilies, 

 blue cornflower, and delphinium — three 

 successions of bloom. Alas! the ground 

 mice like delphinium as well as lilies, pinks, 

 and chrysanthemums, so I use mouse-traps 

 baited with cheese. 



The central plants are Anchiisa Italica 

 (Dropmore variety), which grows six feet 

 high, blooms in July, and has spikes of blue 

 flowers, and Helianthus rigidus, whose 

 starry flowers come in August, and are a 

 delight for weeks. 



Here lemon African marigolds blend well 

 with the great Lobelia syphilitica, followed, 

 also in September, by sky-blue Salvia 

 azurea, set in its sage-green leaves. This 

 grows four feet, and is a Joy until blighted 

 by frost. 



Toward the east are the showy red and 

 white flowers — red tulips and blackberry 

 lilies, Iberis, Hesperis, columbine, and 

 scarlet lychnis; single and double Achillea, 

 well-pinched back, is a mass of blossom all 

 summer on stout, self-supporting stems; 

 Monarda didyma and white platycodon and 

 Veronica, Calliopsis atrosanguinea, Liliitm 

 tigrimim, cardinal and white zinnia, Funkia 



siibcordata, tall white phlox and scarlet 

 Coquelicot and big clumps of cardinal flower. 



China asters repay care. We even dig 

 them up when in bud and wash off the blue 

 beasts that attack the roots in spite of wood 

 ashes and tobacco-water applications! 



In September an old variety of Pyrelhrum 

 uliginosum blooms, its sturdy branching 

 bushes between clumps of Salvia splendens 

 and red monarda. 



Small beds — two of yellow and two violet 

 — around the pool have rows of German iris, 

 with Japanese iris behind them for July 

 bloom; one named variety in each bed. 

 The space left was filled with dark French 

 marigolds and Calendula, but they are 

 untidy, and next summer will find Mathiola 

 there instead. 



Beyond, on the West, the pink and white 

 bed was not so successful, as many of the 

 pinks did not harmonize. Here are tulips 

 again, and Hesperis, sweet William and 

 young plants of Dianthus latifolius, lupine, 

 Dictamnus (pink and white), Dianthus 

 plumarius, single and double; Margaret 

 carnations, white Spanish iris, white Stokesia 

 cyanea, phlox, (both white and pink) peach 

 color Balsam, pink Bergamot and Gypso- 

 phila. 



Opposite, the violet and yellow blossoms 

 make a more unusual combination. These 

 are: tulips. Calendula, Hesperis, Viola 

 cornuta, Coreopsis, Funkia and violet 

 Stokesia (more robust than the white and 

 flowers larger), Liatris, sulphur and gold 

 zinnias, and purple balsam. 



Surrounding these beds are grass walks 

 broadened at the south end to thirteen feet, 

 and from here rough stone steps lead to the 

 green above. On each side of the steps is 



a retaining wall "laid up dry," and, beneath, 

 narrow beds planted with hollyhocks. 



Opposite the red and white bed flourish 

 white, buff, and various reds, while near the 

 blue and yellow bed are shell-pink and rose. 

 .\s the hollyhocks began to bloom, it occurred 

 to me to experiment by picking off the seed 

 vessels, and the.se plants put out three and 

 four more sets of blossoms; a few blossomed 

 late enough to be coated with ice. 



Along the garden's north end lies a bed 

 twelve feet deep, with a cedar pergola eight 

 feet wide built out over the central path. 

 Here are wild laurel and wild rhododendron 

 and two cultivated varieties, wild Clethra, 

 and a few late flowering shrubs; anemones, 

 a few moccasin flowers and rows of Liliiim 

 speciosum, var. nibnim, while vines of native 

 yellow and coral honeysuckle, Lathyrus, Co- 

 hoea scandens, Virginia creeper, and Clematis 

 panicidata grow on a high wire netting — 

 left from the old tennis court — and nastur- 

 tiums, four colors only (peach, cream, pale 

 yellow, and deep red) cover the low wire that 

 fences in the east side. 



Border beds, nine feet wide, lie the length 

 of the garden, a rose arch for Clothilde Soup- 

 ert on the east side, and an arched gateway 

 on the west, with Yellow Rambler and 

 Dorothy Perkins. 



Colors are arranged not to clash with neigh- 

 boring beds, edgings of one kind of plant 

 keep the borders trim, while clumps of one 

 variety of plant at stated intervals give 

 method to their appearance. 



Clumps of white Boltonia, seven feet high, 

 are planted along the east border, and are 

 cut down after flowering to give scope to 

 hedges of chrysanthemums of several colors, 

 which grow in both borders. 



This garden was planted for color effects all tlirougli the season. There are four main beds, two on each side of the walls 



