10 



The Garden Magazine, August, 1919 



a level bit of sward, a few such records and a phonograph one 

 has all the elements of the garden the dansant — a strictly mod- 

 ern innovation. By setting this back a few hours and 

 masking the dancers, a revel with the true Elizabethan 

 flavor, notwithstanding its music and dances, is arrived at. 

 And of course music that is strictly in keeping with the Eliza- 

 bethan period may be obtained in the same convenient des- 

 sicated form, if one is a style purist and wishes to go in for 

 the real thing; while as for the dances of then, they are easy! 



Taking a page from our allies of the orient, the Japanese, 

 and turning from music to the garden's own particular embel- 

 lishment, not to say element, the flowers, what lovely occa- 

 sions of special observation are not immediately discerned? 

 A Lilac-flower fete in one garden, a Peony feast in another, 

 a Rose soiree in another; and so on, according to the special 

 thing for which each garden is distinguished. Innumerable 

 motifs will suggest themselves, if they are given a chance. 

 The summer meetings of garden clubs at members' homes 

 may well pave the way for this sort of observation of special 

 floral displays; for of course these meetings are timed to 

 bring them to each garden when it is at its best, as nearly 

 as it is possible to do so. 



In this connection it has been here and there remembered 

 by a June bride that June is also the month of Roses; and 

 rose-garden wedding break- 

 fasts have been the delight- 

 ful result, which will doubt- 

 less lead to further outdoor 

 wedding parties, if not to 

 weddings themselves being 

 staged out of doors. Surely 

 a garden is of all spots the 

 most appropriate for mar- 

 riage vows; and for the 

 Southern bride why not a 

 wedding among the outdoor 

 orange blossoms? 



FINISHED dramatic per- 

 formances offer difficul- 

 ties in some places that are 

 of course insuperable; but 

 living pictures may be made 

 more effective in a garden— 

 or in an outdoor setting, if 

 no real garden is attached to 

 the home — than anywhere 

 else, providing suitable sub- 

 jects are chosen. One such 

 function on a fairly large, 

 though not for that reason 

 any the more elaborate scale, 

 gave "The Tempest" in a 

 series of its essential scenes 

 and incidents posed as tab- 

 leaux, while extracts from 

 the text and especially writ- 

 ten explanatory clauses that 

 welded the fragments into a 

 whole, were read by the 

 Muse of Poetry, standing at 



a tall lectern placed 

 enclosed the pictures. 



at one side of the frame which 



(© Mattie tdwards Hewitt) 



A LIVING PICTURE OF CLASSIC SIMPLICITY 

 Almost any garden affords a setting equal to backing up the modest 

 demands of a big picture frame and such groups as may be shown within it 



NATURALLY the thought of "As You Like It" comes 

 to mind as particularly suited to such interpretation; 

 and there are so many stories, plays and poems, old and new, 

 that lend themselves delightfully to picture presentation that 

 any situation and circumstance may be appropriately met. 

 It is worth noting, by the way, that by- focussing attention 

 on a particular place or bit in the garden, as the frame does 

 wherein pictures are shown, unsuspected beauties are revealed 

 therein and scenic character brought out amazingly. There- 

 fore in a garden that may at first seem to lack possibilities 

 for any sort of entertainment, it not infrequently happens 

 that living pictures may be given with a high degree of success. 

 This is especially true if the time chosen is evening, for illu- 

 sions of distance and forest within very small area are often 

 only a matter of clever lighting. 



Open air theatres aspermanentfeatureshavebeen construct- 

 ed in comparatively few gardens; but where space is availa- 

 ble and proper conditions exist, such rendezvous are as de- 

 lightful a feature as a garden can have, quite apart from their 

 purpose as dramatic settings. And whether the players be 

 amateur or professional, there is no doubt but the play is 



everywhere the most popular 

 and generally enjoyed form 

 of entertainment that can 

 be chosen or offered. The 

 earliest instinct remembered, 

 if we trouble ourselves to 

 remember, is the instinct of 

 " let's pretend ! " — and no one 

 ever grows so old that it is 

 not still next in liveliness to 

 the instinct of self-preserva- 

 tion. Indeed it may very 

 possibly be that it is a part 

 of this — but that, of course, 

 is another story. 



To dress up and be in im- 

 agination someone else, how- 

 ever, starts in the nursery 

 and carries straight through 

 life; hence to be able to give 

 one's guests the chance to 

 do this themselves, or — lack- 

 ing the temerity if not the 

 impulse — to enter in as in- 

 timately as garden dramatic 

 performances allow them to 

 while others create a little 

 world of make-believe, is per- 

 haps the surest way of pro- 

 viding them with the real 

 pleasure that every hostess 

 wishes and aims to give. 



A permanent garden 

 theatre is not by any means 

 essential to outdoor play 

 presentation, for many gar- 

 den corners afford conditions 



