September, 1907 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



327 



ning riot at every point. I was not for- 

 tunate enough to see the garden from the 

 water, but surely it must make a note of 

 wonderful color seen from without, a 

 brilliant beacon of light on this grass- 

 grown, tree-bordered coast. 



Fortunately I need not enlarge on the 

 beauties of the garden, since the accom- 

 panying photographs make that clearer 

 than any words of mine could. At the 

 most I can but speak briefly of it, and 

 roughly describe its situation. It is an 

 open garden without a tree, that is to say, 

 no tree grows in the garden Itself. But its 

 borders are not treeless. Just without it, 

 near the house, are some fine old trees, and 

 a giant oak overhangs the boat landing. 

 This foliage gives the garden an abundant 

 frame of green, and leaves the whole of 

 the garden space free for the planting of 

 flowers and the cultivation of brilliant 

 natural colors. The great jars which stand 

 atop the uppermost terrace, just below the 

 house, undoubtedly add largely to the 

 south Italian character of the garden and 

 from whence it derives its descriptive name. 

 Pots and jars and vases of various sorts 

 are stood upon the paths and along the 

 walls, so that no single spot is without its 

 own plant, no opportunity wasted that 

 plants may grow and flowers bloom. 



Of all the qualities that go to make a 

 garden, that of novelty is distinctly the 

 least important. A garden is not made 

 because it is something "new," but because 

 it is something beautiful. Mrs. Norman's 

 garden is unquestionably novel, but its 

 novelty lies wholly in its situation and in 

 its architectural framework. As a garden 



An Outlook Over the Water The Path Below the Upper Terrace 



