THE GARDENS OF NEWPORT— IV. 



CCORDING to the 

 elder Pliny, " Epi- 

 curus, that con- 

 noisseur in the en- 

 joyments of a life 

 of ease, was the 

 first to lay out a 

 garden at Athens ; 

 up to his time it 

 had never been 

 thought of, to dwell 

 in the country in 

 the middle of the town." But in these days, that is 

 just the mode of life in Newport — a city by the sea, 

 with its 25,000 inhabitants. While there are a few 

 business thoroughfares and a considerable number 

 of narrow, crooked streets, which took form long 

 before the Declaration of Independence and with- 

 out the services of engineer or road-builder, that 

 are destitute of trees and without ornamentation, 

 the city in its modern dress is an aggregation of 

 forest, lawn and garden, each in its highest perfec- 

 tion. Here, as perhaps nowhere else, almost every 

 one may dwell in the country, though in the heart 

 of a town, and it is to enjoy such a life that so many 

 families of wealth and culture come from all parts 

 of the country and establish their summer homes. 



Gardening has here been reduced to a fine art. 

 It would be of little purpose to compare these crea- 

 tions with the famous gardens of antiquity, of which 

 so much has been said in praise. In those combin- 

 ations the useful was always blended with the beau- 

 tiful ; or perhaps it would be more just to say, a 

 tree or plant was not esteemed less ornamental be- 

 cause it served a useful purpose in the affairs of 

 every day life. In the finest gardens of ancient 

 Rome, cabbages were grown as freely as roses, and 

 Cato speaks as highly of their excellences. Fruits 

 and vegetables of every desirable sort helped to 

 make up the arrangement, and, as Pliny represents 

 the case, no one thought less of things because they 

 were common and utilitarian. 



From what we have already written about the 

 gardens of Newport, one might be led to infer that 

 to secure a beautiful display of foliage and flowers, 

 the owner must have broad acres at command. 

 But I propose now to give some account of a most 

 attractive place where the work has been confined 

 to a limited space, and original conditions were by 



no means especially favorable. It is the summer 

 home of Arthur B. Emmons, of Boston, situated 

 on the side of the hill sloping toward the water, 

 and in full view of Newport's famous bathing beach. 

 The house stands below the principal street, on a 

 miniature plateau made by grading and leveling, 

 the space so treated being barely sufficient for the 

 residence, with a small semi-circular carriage way 

 in front on the upper hillside. This leaves a de- 

 clivity at an angle of about 45 degrees in front, 

 which becomes gradually less on the two sides as 

 the hill slopes downward. The entrance is from a 

 side street, a little below the highest point, about 

 60 feet from the house, the whole width of the lot 

 being 200 feet, and the depth of that portion of 

 which I am to speak, about 60 feet. Under ordi- 

 nary treatment, this might be as uninteresting and 

 cheerless a spot as are hundreds of which the 

 reader, as well as the writer, must have knowledge. 

 Let us see what there is here to admire. 



On either side of the gate, as one enters, are 

 three medium-sided maples of the variety known as 

 Acer Schwerdlerii, whose foliage — bright crimson in 

 early spring — changes gradually to bronze, and later 

 in the summer becomes dark green. On the left is, 

 first, a border of spireas, 5. Thimbergii, than which 

 there is scarcely a more beautiful species of low- 

 growing foliage shrubs. Its numerous slender 

 branches are crowded with intermingled leaves of 

 green and gold through the late summer and au- 

 tumn, and are all that can be desired. As a foliage 

 plant, no other spirea can compare with it, though 

 its blossoms, which appear in spring in advance of 

 the leaves, are of but little account. Behind this 

 bushy hedge stand a taller group of golden spireas, 

 S. opiilifolia aitrea, occupying the hillside, and far- 

 ther on, double lines of Hydra7igea panicu lata grand - 

 iflora. These occupy the declivity up to the privet 

 hedge, which marks the line of the street. 



On the opposite side of the path, near the maples, 

 stands a deciduous or bald cypress, a group of ret- 

 inosporas, spireas, variegated weigelias and numer- 

 ous spruces, firs, etc, extending to the rear of the 

 estate, which constitutes the southern boundary. 

 On the northern side a hedge of tall golden spireas 

 extends the whole distance, with numerous smaller 

 plants in front. We have thus an outline of three 

 sides, the dwelling, with its tracings of Japan ivy 

 {^Ampelopsis Veitchii) constituting the fourth. 



