THE POPULAR conception of the old-fashioned 

 garden is a distorted one and, unfortunately, its 

 effect on contemporary garden making is generally 

 reactionary. The present number of The Garden 

 Magazine is offered as an interpretation of the 

 actual facts about old gardens and the materials used in 

 them, in the firm conviction that it is desirable to dissipate 

 the clouds of retrospective haze that enwrap the old in a fog 

 of sanctified mystery. They are able to do this of course 

 only because the truth is not read aright, though it is 

 there for all who look intently. 



Because it was (in its day) the expression of the newest 

 thing in the world, the thing that we now revere as the old- 

 fashioned garden was in that day a success; and made a per- 

 manent record for itself. It molded for itself a niche in 

 the gallery of fame because it was intrinsically important, 

 and progressive; and our present day garden can indeed gain 

 not a jot by ignoring the present and lamenting the glory of 

 the days that were! The gardens of another generation have 

 left us a heritage, which properly interpreted should stimulate 

 us to progress, to all possible ventures into the new, for 

 that indeed is what "made" those old gardens. People of 

 any given period are prone to become more concerned with 

 the material remains of the dead past than with the soul 

 that gave that past life — which is like studying the frame in 

 an effort to discern the picture that it once held. 



In the several articles that appear elsewhere in this num- 

 ber an effort is made properly to coordinate these thoughts, 

 and to bring a more intelligent analysis to bear on the 

 glamour of the old garden, that it may lead into a fuller appre- 

 ciation of the mission of the new. Our cover illustration, 

 which is redrawn from one of the best known books of early 

 English gardens, is a good portrayal of what was typical of 

 the gardens of the seventeenth century — that being the day 

 before the "landscape" style was developed, and distin- 

 guished by extreme precision of design. The modern pop- 

 ular conception of the old garden's style — for which there 

 is no possible warrant — is the direct antithesis of this and 

 finds expression in the sort of planting shown on page 165. 

 "The Dear Old-Fashioned Garden" is discussed in more 

 detail on page 171 and is presented as a concise summary of 

 what it seems to us is the correct attitude toward the fact 

 and spirit of the old garden. 



NEXT month's Garden Magazine will be the Planning 

 Annual and as in other years will deal definitely with 

 the problems concerned in deciding the programme of work 

 for the season that approaches. Gardeners more than most 

 people perhaps have to be forehanded if they would be really 

 successful. During winter a plan of operations must be 

 adopted, for spring always comes with a rush and brings 

 with it duties that crowd each other for immediate attention. 

 Anything that can be done now in a leisurely way is a great 

 saving of time a couple of months later. One feature of the 

 January issue will be "Tackling the Plans for the Year," 

 others practically helpful will deal with the desirable varieties 

 of flowers and vegetables for seed sowing, etc. Mr. Wilson's 

 article in that issue deals with the Yews, and will have 

 some strikingly interesting pictures that will possibly be 

 a surprise. The cover suggestion of the coming of spring 

 shows two of our most beautiful flowers of the early out- 

 doors — Golden-bell and Magnolia. 



THE OPE^C OLUM: K^ 



Readers' Interchange of Experience and Comment 



Helleborus DERHAPS Mrs. Wilder might like to 



Niger *■ add Helleborus niger to her list of 



winter flowers. Whether or not the date 

 when its beauty was revealed to me was 

 exceptional, I cannot now be sure; but the event took place one 

 Christmas eve, many years ago, when the snow lay on the 

 ground, deep, and crisp and even. Just as the dusk was gathering 

 on that wintry afternoon, we stood around a little well of snow, 

 looking down in wonder at the waxy white flowers touched with 

 dull pink, and feeling almost as if a quiet churchly service were 

 going on about us! — A. K. 



What Shall 

 We Call It? 



WHAT shall we call the Pogoniris of 

 the botany? Everybody will banish 

 "German." Nobody seemstoconsider their 

 true name Pogon or Bearded Iris. French 

 seems unnecessary (perhaps some of us who have been over do not 

 appreciate French) and as little in accord with facts of origin as 

 German was. Flag, of course, was a term applied indiscriminately 

 to native Iris, to Cat -tails, to Acorus, to Sea-weeds, anything ap- 

 pently with sword-shaped leaves, ultimately by derivation to that 

 which "flutters in the wind" (see Century Dictionary). Flag, like 



187 



