"POMPE Y'S GARDEN" 



MARY HARROD NORTHEND 



An Inhospitable Spot in the Days of Long Ago When, for Pure Love of Them, a Slave Planted 

 and Tended Here the Flowers of Bygone Generations. This Has Been Developed into a 

 Garden of Unique Beauty Through the Use of the Very Rock That Made His Work Difficult 



^JHE value of native stone for garden use is well 

 shown in a small, formal plot which has been designed 

 * by Mr. Quincy A. Shaw on his estate "Pompey's 

 Garden" at Prides Crossing, Massachusetts. This 

 little informal garden lies back from the main road and is in- 

 teresting not only on account of its rock treatment but be- 

 cause of the tradition associated with the site. Long 

 ago — long before summer guests had discovered the shore — 

 there dwelt on this particular spot a farmer's family who 

 owned a slave named Pompey. Fond of flowers, this slave 

 made on the rocky land an old-fashioned garden in which 

 he planted the great-grandmother's favorite plants. All 

 through the countryside it came to be known as Pompey's 

 garden; and to this day the old name is kept, with the differ- 

 ence that now it applies to all the ground, and not simply 

 to the spot where the slave tended his flowers. 



There is no hint of it as we turn into the gravelled avenue 

 that winds past masses of Rhododendrons and Azaleas, backed 

 by lofty trees, on its way to the house. This is located on the 

 crest of the rocky headland, far enough back from the water 

 to have a restful stretch of green between it and the shore. 

 There is no special planting here either, save masses of 

 gorgeous Rhododendrons and Azaleas which, with flaming 

 colors during the season of their bloom, lighten up the shade 

 of the trees and the green of the grass. Locust trees inter- 

 mingling send their pungent sweetness through the air; 

 and all is so cleverly planned that it seems like Nature's 

 handiwork. 



LEAVING the driveway at the left before reaching the 

 j house, one finds himself in a grassy little pathway 

 which leads between trees to the garden. English stepping 

 stones define this path to where it ends at the low stone wall 

 through which one comes to the garden proper. A turn in 

 it and there is a glimpse of the garden, at its lower level — 

 an enticing aspect as one gazes through the half open gate 

 to the still little pool, and on to the woodsy windbreak of 

 trees that shelter the tender plants. 



Here we have an example of stonework that is most ef- 

 fective. The stones, gathered on the ground, have been 

 fashioned with the help of white mortar into the low wall, 

 with long slabs to form a coping. Stone posts define the 

 gateway and iron gates swing open on to the sward that en- 

 circles a broad flower border. Inside of this is a circle of 

 velvety grass, centered on a very simple pool with a fountain 

 statuette in bronze — a boy stooping over a turtle. There is 

 no border around the curbing of this pool, but casual little 

 patches of Iris give a dash of color in their season. Directly 



opposite the entrance is a second gate opening into the grove 

 of trees that lead down the hill to the water's edge. 



IN THE border have been planted bulbs and flowers for 

 a continuous bloom, which commences in the early spring 

 with the dainty Lily-of-the-valley. This is followed by 

 Anemones and later on come Foxgloves, with Lupines, 

 Dictamnus and a host of others, and Iris and Heliotrope to 

 add to the color note and shed a fragrance in the summer air. 

 Back of the wall is a planting of Rhododendrons, Azaleas, 

 and Laurel, the Azaleas ranging in color from deep orange to 

 flame. This makes a charming background together with 

 the stone, which runs the scale of color from soft gray to 

 brown and from red to green. 



At the farther end of this lower garden, which is only 

 twenty-five feet square, is a recess into which a seat has been 

 fashioned by supporting a stone slab on large rocks, the back 

 being the stone wall. Here this is topped with the low-lying 

 branches of a Hemlock at the rear. Irregular slabs pave a 

 perfect semi-circular floor under and before the seat, and 

 here on a hot day one comes to rest and enjoy the multi- 

 colored blossoms, the play of the fountain, and the gossip 

 of the birds that cluster about to drink or bathe and preen 

 themselves. 



DIRECTLY opposite this seat is the entrance to the upper 

 level, which is by stone steps that are flanked on either 

 side by ornamental Bay-trees set in green wooden tubs. The 

 upper garden is forty feet long and twenty-five feet wide, 

 and fragrant with Heliotrope and Locust scent, mingled with 

 the salt tang of the sea. A straight path leading through it 

 is interrupted by a solitary tree Heliotrope at its centre, 

 which stands four or five feet in height. Around this the 

 central beds group. At either side in two long Box-bordered 

 beds that extend practically the whole length of the upper 

 garden, are white Geraniums — an unusual planting of rare 

 charm, its green-and-whiteness backed by the Ivy-covered 

 wall where tendrils shade into the gray of the stone. 



The centre of this garden's design is four plots which sur- 

 round the tree Heliotrope. Each one of these is outlined 

 with low Box and treated with a well thought-out combina- 

 tion of plants. And against the wall, white Phlox, Peonies, 

 Foxgloves, and Roses have been banked as a background. 



TUCKED into one side in a niche purposely designed 

 for it is a low wall-fountain hewn out of a rough rock. 

 There are plantings of Sedums and other rock plants around 

 it and on it and Forget-me-nots by its side; and the blue 



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