A Garden Made in Fifteen Months -By Emily Rhodes, r, e ;r 



A PRACTICAL DEMONSTRATION OF WHAT ANY AMATEUR CAN DO TO IMPROVE THE 

 HOME GROUNDS AND HAVE A SUCCESSION OF BRIGHT FLOWERS FROM SPRING TILL FROST 



the plants to the new home began. All 

 were of proven hardiness, for they had lived 

 out five winters without any protection 

 beyond a few dry leaves and some stable 

 litter in a few cases. I had only four weeks 

 in which to move my plants, and did the 

 work myself with the help of an odd man. 

 Each day some were dug up, taken to the 

 new place and at once planted. Plenty of 

 earth was also taken and in this way the roots 

 did not have time to dry out. I did not 

 lose one plant ; they all ' went on growing, 

 and bloomed that year as if they had never 

 been moved. 



Roses and different kinds of vines were 

 put on the wire fence. These included the 

 Farquhar rose, a Clematis paniculata, Crim- 

 son Rambler rose, English ivy, then other 

 roses. I am fond of vines and so put more 

 on the front of the house: wistarias and 

 Gardenia roses on each side of the front door, 

 Clematis paniculata and Jackmanni on the 

 north end of the house, and Farquhar rose 

 on the end of the porch. The wistaria and 

 Gardenia rose (which is yellow in bud, 

 changing to cream white as it opens) bloom 

 together in June and make a delightful 

 harmony. The Farquhar rose blooms two 

 weeks later, and the two kinds of clematis 

 bloom one in July and one in August, so I 

 always have something in bloom on the 

 front of my house. 



I chose Gardenia rose because it retains 

 its leaves until nearly Christmas, and the 

 foliage is beautiful after the flowers have 

 gone. Moreover, it is a vigorous grower 

 and climbs along for at least twenty 

 feet in one season. The Farquhar rose 

 also grew over twenty feet in one season, 

 and its leaves are glossy and pretty until 

 the snow comes. The flowers are a lovely 

 pink and last over a week in the house in 

 water. 



The border was planted in the conven- 

 tional style of "the tallest-growing plants 

 to the back." These in many cases were 

 such as hollyhocks, Physostegia Virginica, 

 plume poppy, Boltonia asteroides and latis- 

 quama, Helianthus multiftorus, and Soleil 

 d'Or and several kinds of meadow rue in 

 many colors — white, purple, yellow and 

 pink. Bright spots vrere lent by groups of 

 Lychnis Chalcedonica, four or six plants 

 together. In the foreground are the lower- 

 growing plants such as Funkia subcordata, 

 low and spreading. At intervals I put peo- 

 nies and irises, of sorts — German, Japanese 

 and Spanish. About every four feet is 

 placed a plant of a large-flowering, hardy 

 chrysanthemum, so that in the fall, when all 

 else is done, my border is as bright as in 

 summer, for these plants do not begin to 

 bloom until October. Gaillardia grandiflora, 

 Delphinium belladonna, columbines in a 

 variety of colors, and foxgloves, each bloom- 



All the plants in this mi STi border were moved here in the spring ing in their turn, keep a Continued change of 



302 





Lilies are the feature of the borders along the grass walk leading to the road 



I THINK the accompanying photographs 

 abundantly prove that a garden need 

 not long be a bare spot and an eyesore. 



In May, 1908, we came into our present 

 place; the house had just been built, the 

 grass had just been planted and the rest 

 was bare — no flowers, no vines! The first 



thing was to prepare a place for my plants. 

 It took the form of a border dug around the 

 outer edge. First well-rotted stable manure 

 was spread thickly over the grass and then 

 dug in deeply, burying the grass as well as 

 the manure. The ground was then thor- 

 oughly raked over, and then the removal of 



