The Home-Grounds 



parts of an American garden if it has any 

 design — any character — at all. 



I do not mean to disparage the cultiva- 

 tion of rare or novel or conspicuous plants, 

 whether native or exotic. It is a delightful 

 task to collect plants for their own sakes, 

 without any reference to their relation with 

 the surrounding scenery. But collections 

 should be arranged on spots specially set apart 

 for them, where they will not injure the main 

 picture formed by the general environment of 

 the house and the encircling landscape. As 

 regards the grounds — the ' ' garden ' ' in its 

 wider sense — they will assuredly be most 

 beautiful, interesting, and enjoyable when 

 both native and foreign plants have been 

 used in tasteful combination. But, if con- 

 fined to one of these classes, it would be 

 much worse to choose ^'plants not in our 

 woods and fields and mostly from countries 

 not our own," than to choose our own. 

 Using native plants alone, one would miss a 

 thousand chances to secure a delightful va- 

 riety. But using the others alone, there 

 would be the certainty of an inharmonious 

 whole — a garden filled with beautiful plants 

 (I 



