326 



AMERICAN HOMES AND 



GARDENS September, 1907 



surely required rare skill to put so much 

 of interest into so small a space and ar- 

 range each separate part as a distinct con- 

 tribution to the effect of the whole. 



It is not until you have walked down 

 the narrow path to the bounding sea-wall, 

 and peeped over its upcurved top, that you 

 discover that it is practically all made 

 ground, held within a stoutly built retain- 

 ing wall, of which the one you are leaning 

 upon is the crown. And why not? Surely 

 all this lovely flower growth must have 

 earth in which its roots may feed, and the 

 sharp decline of the natural coast line of- 

 fers little enough in the way of a garden 

 site. So this jut of rock — for it is little 

 else — was walled around on its exposed 

 sides; the space thus formed was filled in 

 with earth; and then, on the level ground 

 thus gained, the garden was laid out. 



It was walled with cemented borders; 

 paths were laid down according to a set 

 diagram ; terraces were contrived of stone 

 and cement; two great columns, with a 

 pergola trellis were stood up in the cen- 

 ter of one wall; the furthest wall was 

 treated with upward curves, with cemented 

 vases directly on the sea; a stone arch 

 served as the exit or the ingress, according 

 to your own direction, at the end of an- 

 other path; and then the center was filled 

 with flower beds — all cement bordered — 

 and the whole was ready for the planting. 



I suppose it would not be quite right to 

 say that every blooming plant was taught 

 to bloom here, but I can not be far wrong 

 in such an assertion. The garden fairly 

 blazes with green and color, great masses 

 of bloom overhanging the paths and run- 



Italian Jars on the Stone Terrace-wall 



Flowers and Paths by the Sea 



