The Garden Club of Evanston 
The Garden Club of Evanston, Illinois, steps modestly- 
forward and makes her little curtsy to the Garden Club op 
America, fully realizing that reciprocal responsibilities accom- 
pany the privileges recently accorded her. 
It is only six years since a little group of garden lovers organ- 
ized our club. Our active memberships are now limited to fifty. 
Climate, soil, contour of land and environment presents many 
perplexing conditions in city gardens such as ours. To turn the 
attention to the city back-yards problem and develop its possi- 
bilities, we offered a prize of fifty dollars last winter for the best 
design for a garden on a lot 40 x 70 feet. 
Through the publicity given by the Mid- West Branch of the 
Woman's National Farm and Garden Association, under whose 
auspices the exhibit was shown in the Art Institute, Chicago, 
in April, wide interest was aroused. Plans were submitted by 
amateurs, professionals and landscape architectural departments 
of several colleges. Twelve states were represented. 
Inspired by the exhibition, the art teacher in our local public 
school suggested to the children of the seventh grade the desir- 
ability of beautifying this dear country of ours by making each 
home and its surroundings as lovely as possible. A plan was the 
first step towards accomplishment. 
Each child was provided with a board 12 x 18 inches, a pound 
of plasticine and coloring matter. Great enthusiasm prevailed, 
wonderful the results of self-expression. 
Grounds were planned to scale. Bungalows, thatched cot- 
tages, every style of architecture appeared. Paste board shaped 
into little houses covered with paste and sprinkled with sand 
produced realistic plastic effects. 
Tiny lakes composed of gelatine were held in bounds by 
miniature walls of plasticine. Ponds made of tiny mirrors 
reflected diminutive trees and gardens where perfect cabbages 
smaller than dimes, head lettuce, bulbs and flowers of all kinds 
and colors flourished, modeled by little fingers. 
Stone walls of pebbles set in plasticine surrounded some of 
the gardens. Sprigs of box simulated green hedges, tooth picks 
formed rail fences or lattice work, while red walks carefully 
marked off like brick led the way under arches or pergolas to a 
house or garage. 
The tip of a pine bough formed a tree about eight inches 
high, its branches cradled a nest of hair containing two navy 
beans. In a hedge a smaller nest w^as discovered with two tiny 
pearls of tapioca for eggs. Surely something original should 
hatch out of such ingenuity. 
A few of these models were displayed in our Public Library ; 
later they were all sho\^Ti in our Garden Market. 
Martha H. Hildreth. 
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