AMERICAN 
HOMES AND GARDENS 
March, 
POl2 
Everyman s Garden 
By Gardner Teall 
Photographs by Jessie Tarbox Beals and Nathan R. Graves 
q)| HERE is a lovely garden nestling in a quiet 
|| valley of the Connecticut countryside that I 
shall call Everyman’s garden, because here 
one finds, season after season, a world of 
delight in the delectable array of blooming 
things dear to the heart of everyone who 
holds close to him the memory of Hollyhocks, Larkspurs, 
Columbines, Marigolds, Cockscombs, Poppies, Asters, Fox- 
gloves, Canterbury Bells, Love-in-a-Mist, Mignonette, 
Sweet William, Petunias, the Zinnia, and all-the other beau- 
tiful flowers we have called old-fashioned because we love 
them best. Here one finds no orderly array of stiffly de- 
signed flower beds, looking for all the world like a patch 
quilt for keeping Nature covered up. Instead, great banks 
of Phlox, clumps of Peonies, trellises of Sweep Peas, and 
banks of Nasturtium hold almost riotous sway over the do- 
main that stretches from doorstep to the gate, which seems 
always swinging open to welcome you to the wonderland 
it gives access to. When you see the gorgeous blaze of 
wonderful color before you, as though all the gems at Alad- 
din’s command had been strewn by careless but generous 
hand just there, you will rub your eyes to make sure you are 
not dreaming; that this little paradise is real, after all. 
Whatever notions you may have entertained about stiff 
borders, symmetrical edges and formal garden lay-outs will 
vanish utterly under the spell this garden casts around one, 
There is probably no man the whole world over who would not long for a garden like this and find it a thing of beauty and a joy forever 
