THE GARDEN 
INDOORS AND OUT 
EDITORIAL FOREWORD 
r r 
G ardening as a conscious, 
organized movement is still 
— comparatively, at least — in its 
infancy; for this reason we are 
perhaps more keenly aware than ever before of the 
strength and scope of its influence. More, too, than ever 
before do we need in our whirring, crowded existences the 
refreshment of spirit which the garden bestows; and, aware 
of this need, we are in our businesslike, modern fashion 
deliberately setting out to supply the demand. Hence the 
lightning popularity of solarium and sleeping-porch; the frenzied build- 
ingof rock gardens, naturalesque pools, and perennial borders; the outcry 
for planting the city backyard. All these are expressions of the healthy, 
human delight in growing things, and as such deserve every encourage- 
ment. The terms of expression are negligible; whether the perennial 
border and the rock garden are merely fads or something more funda- 
mental that have come to stay, does not matter at all ; what does matter 
is that men and women everywhere are finding it worth while to cultivate 
the friendship of the garden. 
In all sorts of unobtrusive ways the garden colors our lives. Quietly 
it has stepped from outdoors in, gradually taking possession of our 
homes till now we find its bright finger-prints everywhere — in chintzes 
and gaily flowered wallpapers; in floor coverings, whether Chinese or 
Colonial; in window boxes cheerily ablossom upstairs and down; in the 
feathery ferns and trailing green- 
ery of braziers. And, like all 
really vital conquests, this con- 
quest of the house by the garden 
has been pervasive rather than aggressive in character, 
evolutionary rather than revolutionary in method. 
The household gods have nearly always been garden 
gods as well — the pottery, tapestry, and rugs of cen- 
turies back testify to this. All sorts of floral motifs are 
rooted in the misty, very early days, and it is inter- 
esting to follow their development, transformation — oftentimes 
transfiguration — at the hands of different peoples in their passage 
through the ages. Some have reached us quite unchanged, others 
display immense variation, and each nation and each generation has, 
of course, added something to the total of such decorative motifs until 
our present choice seems almost limitless. 
In response to the interest nowadays of so many people in everything 
which offers beauty and wholesome living, this series — “The Garden 
Indoors and Out” — has been prepared; and the quality of their work, 
already well known, makes the tribute of these decorators and land- 
scapists to the gospel of gardening indisputably convincing. 
Mrs. Wickware’s article will be followed in June by Miss Agnes 
Bowman’s “The Garden and The Living Room,” and in subsequent 
issues by articles on other phases of the subject by various authors. 
I.— THE GARDEN AND THE SUN PORCH 
MARGERY 'SILL WICKWARE 
Consulting Decorator 
FpjraHE sun porch is winning wider recognition daily, for it 
mm combines beauty and utility and enables one to place 
|*.jj f the emphasis on that very important feature in the 
eFIrlp making of a real home, the garden. Trees and shrubs 
are no longer regarded solely as an outdoor setting for the home, 
but are rapidly becoming a factor in planning interesting interior 
compositions. The problem is how best to bring the garden 
with its wealth of decorative possibilities indoors. 
In the evolution of this idea the old-fashioned veranda had 
its place, but its drawbacks are also obvious. Too often the 
windows opening on it had to sacrifice their rightful share of 
sunshine twelve months of the year in order to provide a retreat 
for hot summer nights or sultry afternoons during the brief 
summer period. Instead of allowing the rooms overlooking 
the garden to spread over a larger area by lessening the feeling 
of boundaries and seeming to include part of the outdoors, 
the veranda pushed the garden into the background and made 
a barrier between the two. It had no apparent relation to 
the comfort of the house within, or to the charm of the garden 
without. It stood, a thing apart, and was most inadequate for 
the requirements of family life. It is now, happily, being re- 
placed by the enclosed veranda or solarium. 
This room, indeed, has become a most important feature in 
modern building. It is the half-way room between the house 
and the garden; usually opening off from the living room, it leads 
out to the garden. It should have all the comfort of a living 
room, but yet be treated with a freedom and gaiety of spirit that 
make it seem, indeed, to be a part of the outdoor world. With 
its many windows and subsequent flood of light and sunshine, 
it offers infinite possibilities for garden effects, still often dimly 
perceived and not fully realized or developed. 
And what a great variety of things we have to work with in 
order to attain these results. Such interesting stains can be 
used on the plastered walls, such delightful color and design 
can be found in tiles for floors and fountain. There is, too, 
an almost endless choice of pottery and wrought iron of both 
antique and modern design. Then, for floor coverings, the 
heavy woven fibres from the South Seas that come in such good 
colors and are so interesting in texture. 
The walls of the enclosed veranda should be painted, stippled, 
and stained, or else left in the natural rough-finish plaster which 
always affords a sympathetic background for the green of grow- 
ing plants. There are remarkable results to be attained with 
the use of stain over painted, plastered walls. Some light, 
neutral tone, either ivory or putty, is best for the painted surface 
over which a clear color stain should be applied. This stain 
can be wiped off until the desired depth of color is reached and 
then stippled to an even tone. It is astonishing how vibrant with 
light and life, color applied in this way becomes. 1 recently 
used a bluish-green stain on walls painted light ivory. After 
this stain was rubbed and stippled it gave to the room a feeling 
of great space, atmosphere and light, like a deep Italian sky. 
The wall space was framed by woodwork and trim of a subdued 
putty color. 
The floor in this case was tiled in large squares of dull burnt 
orange and warm brown which, when waxed, were so interesting 
and finished in appearance that rugs seemed superfluous. The 
curtains were of the simplest — a heavy casement cloth of deep 
ivory, made to draw across the windows so that they could 
easily be adjusted to temper the glare of light. 
Two doors led from the solarium to the living room, at the 
opposite side of which a double French door of glass opened into 
