

The Garden Magazine, December, 1919 



in 1 83 1, and sown at Melville in Fifeshire, at Dropmore, 

 "and elsewhere. In 1841 it was introduced in quantity. 



On the continent of Europe the Cedar of Lebanon is much 

 less plentiful than in England, owing largely to the less con- 

 genial climate. The tallest is said to be on the grounds of 

 Madame Chauvet at Beaulieu, near Geneva. It is about 

 102 feet by 16 feet with a spread of 102 feet. Many state- 

 ments have been made as to the date of the Cedar's intro- 

 duction to France, but it is now pretty well accepted that it 

 came by seed carried in 1735 from England, by Bernard de 

 Jussieu ; and that the historic tree in the Jardin des Plantes at 

 Paris was of this origin and was planted in 1 736. From this 

 seed was also derived the tree at Beaulieu and another at 

 Montigny which is considered to be the finest in all France. 

 This is about 26^ feet in girth of trunk 6 feet from the ground. 



In this country (except in California) the Cedar of Lebanon 

 is rarely seen and no specimens comparable with those in 



183 



England exist. In the New England states the typical form 

 is not hardy and the winter of 19 17-18 played havoc with the 

 odd trees which have existed with a struggle for a number of 

 years. For that matter it did the same with the Atlas Cedar, 

 which is the more hardy. When the Cedar of Lebanon 

 was introduced to this country is not known but in the most 

 interesting "Memorials of John Bartram and Humphrey 

 Marshall" by William Darlington, published in 1849, is 

 printed a letter to John Bartram from Peter Collinson, dated 

 from London on February 12, 1735, in which the following 

 occurs: "The Lebanon cone, with a knife carefully pick out 

 the seeds; sow in a box, put large holes in the bottom and 

 cover with shells, in sandy light mould. Let it only have the 

 morning sun." Whether Bartram succeeded in raising any 

 plants and if so what became of them is not known; no men- 

 tion is made of the Cedar of Lebanon in reports of his 

 historic garden. 



FLOWER-BEDS AT SHAKESPEARE'S 

 NEW PLACE GARDEN 



WARREN H. MILLER 



Where the Best Spirit of the Old is Kept Alive by Utilizing the 

 Best Modern Material in Carrying Out the Plans of Forgotten Days 



IHE beds described herein are from the gardens of 

 New Place, the home which Shakespeare built 

 lH after fame and money were his. The manor has 

 long since disappeared, but the foundations have been 

 religiously preserved and the gardens maintained, though 

 the present beds are of course, modern. They are the design 

 of Mr. Jackson, the head gardener, to whom I am indebted 

 for the specific names of the plants used. 



In America we have been wont to regard the floral bed as 

 a garden banality, a stiff and ugly affair, hideous in design 

 and execution, and therefore a thing to be abandoned to the 

 dvic centre and railroad station gardener. Our high priests 

 of floral design have warned us against the wrath to come that 

 will overtake all who dare plant such an outrage on an other- 

 wise innocent lawnscape — and I confess to having indorsed 

 this view unqualifiedly until I saw in England the actual 

 possibilities. We in America lack imagination — that is all. 

 And I submit that these beds at New Place prove it; and 

 hope that the sketches here given may help to convey some 

 idea of how surpassingly beautiful a formal bed can be if 

 the master hand of an artist works over it, using plants ex- 

 actly as if they were raw pigments. The real trouble with 

 us possibly has been that we have shunned the whole subject, 

 and left it to those who cannot be expected to handle it, 

 instead of putting our own brains to work upon it; and the 



result is that a fine field has been frightfully exploited, and 

 consequently an eruption of floral atrocities has disfigured 

 our land. 



Bed number 1 is some twenty feet long by four feet wide, 

 curved on about an 80 ft. radius to fit the walk. It is set 

 in a sap-green turf as fine as any Wilton rug, and is an ex- 

 ample of what can be done with Kochias and Cinerarias con- 

 trasted with scarlet Begonia. The Kochia or Belvedere is 

 generally well known I think — a large bushy plant of fine- 

 bladed foliage, compact and egg shaped in form, sap green 

 in midsummer, turning later to a deep red. Its popular 

 name is inevitably "burning bush." Five of these are ar- 

 ranged down the centre of the bed, in a sea of scarlet Begonias, 

 while along each flank and across the ends are spaced the 

 large silver-white feathery-leaved Cinerarias, also sur- 

 rounded by the Begonias. The Cinerarias (maritima) are 

 about a foot in diameter while the Kochias stand perhaps 

 two feet high. The border of this beautiful bed is solid 

 white, of dwarf Alyssum. (See following page). 



More delicate in coloration is bed number 2, a straight 

 bed with incurved ends. The centrepieces of this are three 

 large bush Fuchsias, flanked on either side by three silver- 

 white Cinerarias; the filler is double pink Geraniums, a 

 variety having peculiar light green leaves bordered with 

 pale brown. The border of this bed is delightful, being of 



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