AN ACTUAL WINTER GARDEN 



GRACE SMITH 



President of the Scarsdale, N. Y., Garden Club 



Where There is Shelter and Snug Comfort for Man and 

 Bird in Addition to a Rich and Varied Evergreen Planting 



|HY not a winter garden? Not a heated glass- 

 enclosed space devoted to beautiful plants from 

 warmer climates, but a protected place where the 

 trees, shrubs, and plants that seem to enjoy cold 

 weather and refuse to shed their 

 foliage, may cheer us through the 

 winter with their green or colored 

 leaves and bright berries. A place 

 enclosed and filled with our own 

 hardy shrubs and plants that re- 

 quire no coddling to do their best. 

 Of course no really well recom- 

 mended foreign applicants will be 

 refused admission, but they must 

 be hardy as well as handsome! 

 Only the rugged considered! 



The only such garden I have 

 ever seen was designed and ex- 

 ecuted by Mother Nature, and I 

 first came on this one cold, bright, 

 early spring day. There was no 

 sign of spring but the Pussy- 

 willows. Even the Skunk Cab- 

 bages were waiting for better 

 weather before unfolding their clear 

 green leaves, and with the excep- 

 tion of some groups of old Hem- 

 lock trees and scattered Cedars, 

 the whole landscape could have 

 been painted in tones of Quaker grays and browns. Every- 

 thing was dreary, colorless, desolate, as we went up a narrow 

 winding path that climbs a hill. Then suddenly we were in 

 a different country and climate: as we looked up the blue sky 

 showed between the tall tops of cheerful Hemlock that in- 

 tensified its color, making us think of Italy; as we looked 

 down, everything was beautifully alive, with quantities of 

 Evergreen Ferns and Partridge-berries, the gray rocks decor- 

 ated with delicate Mosses and Lichens; on every side masses 

 of Mountain Laurel, glistening in' the sunlight. It was like 

 an enchanted wood in a fairy tale: and excepting when covered 

 with snow, it must have been like that the whole long, cold, 

 dreary winter; all green, sweet scented and glowing in the 

 sunshine. 



AVERY good use of a winter garden would be to make 

 it a spring one! Our early bulbs would all be improved 

 "by a good setting for their delicate loveliness, and it is often 

 hard to give up a place in the regular garden for their all too 

 short period of blooming. The tall Darwin and May- 

 flowering Tulips would find their beauty doubled by the 

 deep green background, and could ripen their bulbs undis- 



WITHIN THE SHELTER OF EVERGREENS 



Proper selection and arrangement will produce 



a living wall which no wind can penetrate 



(Planting by Jens Jensen, L. A., in Illinois) 



turbed without spoiling the effect of a flower border. Masses 

 of the dainty Spanish Iris, too, would be much more effective 

 coming through good evergreen ground covers like Iberis, 

 Christmas Ferns, or English Ivy, which last, by the way, 



grows much better on the ground 

 in our trying climate than it does 

 on a wall; in Spain the Iris grows 

 naturally in thick sod, where their 

 meagre supply of foliage is not 

 noticed, and their clear bright 

 colors gain in beauty from the effect 

 of the supporting grasses. The 

 Oriental Poppy is another good 

 applicant for admission, not only 

 for its lack of foliage during the 

 summer months, but because its 

 most characteristic shades — the 

 brilliant orange and scarlet reds — 

 are too gaudy for most flower 

 borders. But what a gorgeous 

 color picture a good group of them 

 would make, framed by the deep 

 evergreens! And such a garden 

 would also be an ideal spot for our 

 winter birds to enjoy; in fact you 

 could not keep them out. Of 

 course they will eat the red berries 

 that have been planted for decora- 

 tion, but plant more! Enough for 

 both provender and decorative purposes. 



Besides English Ivy to keep the walls green and climbing 

 Evonymus and Hall's Honeysuckle, there is a vine, the hardy 

 yellow Jasmine, for the very cosiest corner. Although not 

 an evergreen its health}' good green stems are very numerous 

 and decorative, and you will be surprised some sunny da)' in 

 early spring to find your little garden filled with the delicious 

 fragrance of its starry flowers. 



w 



ELL did Solomon the Wise know what he was about 

 when he sang of his " garden inclosed " — and the winter 

 garden should be. A winter house should be a feature, too, 

 facing south with windows on the east and west that may be 

 closed in winter to keep out the wind, and open at other 

 seasons to admit it. The entrance to such a garden 

 contemplated is closed by a gate of weathered oak planks 

 and has old-fashioned strap hinges. The path is of brick 

 laid herring-bone style, as that seems to adapt itself to the 

 circular pool; it is of a soft shade of pinkish red that does not 

 conflict with the colored flowers and yet adds a pleasant 

 warm note to the winter picture. As the trees, shrubs, and 

 plants to be used are nearly all native, the design is as simple 



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