October, 1905 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



245 



more truly than the cultivated garden, is a summer calendar, 

 recording by its flora the progress of the season; and, turn- 

 ing its pages one by one, the reader will find it the chron- 

 icle of an ever-changing story, imbued from start to finish 

 with deepest interest. 



It is, in a measure, this changeableness which makes a 

 rock garden so alluring. The wild flowers show to a sur- 

 prising degree a will of their own, and manifest in then- 

 short lifetimes an amazing amount of independence. Some, 

 for example, do not appear at the scheduled time, lagging 

 behind or rashly preceding their brethren. Others will not 

 stay where they are placed, but year after year perversely re- 

 plant themselves in awkward but 

 more congenial positions. Away 

 off among the ferns in June 

 you may find, guiltily blooming, a 

 truant sweet william, planted 

 months before at the other end of 

 the garden; or some early spring 

 morning, when the frosts are still 

 imminent, you may discover a 

 venturesome little rose blossoming 

 in the open. There is a chapter 

 sometimes of accidents, but always 

 of surprises. 



But it must not be imagined that 

 a rock garden resembles in any re- 

 spect a flower garden, or is even 

 primarily dependent upon its blos- 

 soms for its charm. Though Mrs. 

 Richardson has in her garden sev- 

 eral hundred varieties of flowering 

 plants, there is never a time when 

 the blossoms force the attention of 

 the visitor. Even at the time of 

 greatest abundance they reserve 

 their beauty for those who seek 

 them, and in this wise heighten 

 their interest and intrinsic worth, 

 something vastly impressive in a mass of blossoms — in a riot 

 of floral color — but Nature rarely paints with a lavish palette, 

 and when left to her own devices produces daintier, more 

 moderate themes. One may find sensuous delight in a bed of 

 gaudy poppies, of marigolds, of phlox; but when peeping 

 under a bush you find a truss of red, wild strawberries, or, 

 parting some twigs, you come unexpectedly upon a wind- 

 blown brier rose, your joy will be of deeper root and partake 

 of the ecstasy of a discoverer. 



All the blossoms in the wild garden are not, it is true, 

 hidden away. Many are frankly in evidence, and present 



A Rustic Summer House in a Shady Nook 



There is, undoubtedly, 



from time to time brave fronts of color. But they are not 

 separated from their environment, as in a house garden, and 

 therefore, to a casual observer, become a part of their sur- 

 roundings. Such a garden is, by turns, a gray or green or 

 golden picture, in the composition of which the flowers play 

 a small but definite part. 



And in connection with the green picture it will be well 

 to turn aside momentarily and observe the ferns. Of them 

 Mrs. Richardson has made a specialty, getting together 

 nine native varieties and massing them, individually and with 

 flowers, to charming effect. Beneath one splendid white 

 beech she has planted maidenhair, until the entire ground 



is carpeted with it as for a fairy 

 revel. To these and to the iris she 

 has given the glade, shading them 

 on the open side with a privet 

 hedge. High up on the hill, 

 forming a central mound, she has 

 planted her rhododendrons, and 

 off to one side she has made a 

 Japanese point, with stunted trees 

 and shrubs brought from the land 

 of the Mikado. It is constantly 

 not only changing but growing. 

 Year by year the garden receives 

 new treasures and presents addi- 

 tional features. It has taken both 

 care and time to order and direct 

 its development; for, in spite of 

 its name, it has needed much at- 

 tention. It is not easy to keep 

 wild things within bounds : the 

 strong must be prevented from 

 overpowering the weak, and new- 

 comers proving desirable must be 

 succored against those which 

 come unbidden and manifest 

 themselves to be unworthy com- 

 panions. Mrs. Richardson has done much of this work 

 as well as the planning herself, but it has been done 

 gradually, and for every effort expended the garden has 

 returned her fourfold. It has proved a perennial pleas- 

 ure, a restful retreat and a charming botanical treasure 

 house. It is unique but not distorted; large but not lavish; 

 a work of combined skill and patience which, given the 

 same physical conditions, might be readily duplicated; but 

 above and beyond all these it is a beautiful adaptation of 

 nature. This, after all, is the finest success to achieve 

 with a garden, and to it must be added the great 

 novelty this garden possesses. 



The Country Home of John R. Sherman, Esq. 



Concluded from page 240 



The library is trimmed with oak, treated with a Flemish 

 brown. This room is an attractive apartment, with windows 

 at either end fitted with paneled seats, and an open fireplace 

 furnished with facings of Caen stone, with a carved keystone 

 showing a crest. The walls are paneled from the floor to 

 the ceiling, and the latter is beamed, forming deep panels. 

 There are bookcases built in. The mantel is handsomely 

 carved with a paneled and carved overmantel, and it forms 

 the important characteristic of the entire room. 



The dining-room is trimmed with red mahogany. It has 

 a paneled wainscoting, above which the walls are covered 

 with green silk. The ceiling is beamed, forming deep panels; 

 the spaces between the beams being finished with a gold 

 treatment. The open fireplace has marble facings and 



hearth and a paneled mantel and overmantel; both are orna- 

 mented with brass in the Empire style. 



The second floor is planned with five bedrooms, boudoir, 

 breakfast-room, three bathrooms, besides four servant bed- 

 rooms and bath, which are placed over the extension. This 

 floor is treated with white enamel, and the doors are one panel 

 and are of mahogany. The boudoir has walls covered with 

 blue silk, with curtains to match. The walls are paneled; 

 some of the panels are filled in with plate-glass mirrors. The 

 fireplace has a facing and hearth of Pavonazetto marble, and 

 a mantel with overmantel paneled and with the spaces filled 

 in with mirrors. 



Mr. Henry C. Pelton, architect, 1 1 33 Broadway, 

 New York. 



