September. 1906 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



161 



Stately Trees Beyond the Northern Hedge Screen the Garden Wholly from Without 



bounded on two sides by a brick wall and on the third by a 

 hedge. In the center of the formal garden is a sun-dial, on 

 a low raised circular platform, in the midst of broad paths 

 crossing at right angles. 



And then flowers, flowers everywhere. And all, if you 

 please, hardy plants! For this is the great distinction of the 

 garden of " Avonwood Court," that it is a garden of hardy 

 flowers. The statisticians of the estate will inform you that 

 there are upward of two hundred varieties of hardy plants 

 within this garden. The information is of moment as ex- 

 pressing the great variety of such plants available for decora- 

 tive purposes. But as a matter of fact the mere number is 

 a point of comparative insignificance. The real matter of 

 interest is the beauty of the blooming, the skill in the ar- 

 rangement, the utilization of the various kinds of plants, 

 trees, shrubs and bushes. 



All these matters have been well developed here, for a 



true succession of bloom has been arranged, so that from 

 earliest spring until latest fall there is never a time without 

 flowers, never a time when the garden, or any part of it, is 

 bare and dead. It has required very good art to obtain this 

 result, an art that must be studied, yet which gives no evi- 

 dence of the care taken to obtain it. 



The boundaries of the garden completely hem it in and 

 surround it, but they do not shut out the beauty without. 

 A beautiful garden is insufficient without beautiful surround- 

 ings. These the Mather garden have in abundance. Great 

 stretches of green roll out on every side, bordered in the 

 distance with stately growths of trees. The house over- 

 looks a valley, spacious in size and gentle in its coverings. 

 The garden is, in short, a beauty spot in a beautiful en- 

 vironment, a spot planted with exquisite taste and main- 

 tained in fine condition. The charming outlook, it is but 

 simple truth to add, increases charm of the garden. 



