Indian Stone Gardening 
These interesting gardens are named in honor of 
the American red men and from the fact that the 
Indians used these stones for making utensils for vari¬ 
ous uses, and where they are found lots of them are 
natural gardens in themselves, being covered with 
wild Columbine Ferns and other wild plants. 
The stone is called soap stone, from the fact that 
they feel like soap, but in reality they are a form of 
volcanic ash, hardened by the elements where they 
are exposed, into a beautiful rustic color. They come 
in sizes from one pound up to several tons. They are 
easily worked and the smaller ones can be made into 
miniature gardens by boring holes in them, filling 
with dirt and planting with wild Columbine Sedum, 
house leaks and various other miniature plants. They 
are also useful for indoor ornaments, for they are 
ideal containers for cactus and other succulent plants. 
The medium sized ones can be made into rustic bird 
baths by setting any ordinary stone on end and 
mounting them on top and hollowing out and plant¬ 
ing around the edge with sedum. The larger ones 
from one ton up, you can hollow out and make into 
lily pools in different sections connecting these pools 
by tunnels, leaving natural bridges and other beauti¬ 
ful sections of the rock in its natural state intersper¬ 
sing, here and there, with dwarf evergreens, and other 
rock garden plants. 
You can purchase these stones already designed 
and planted, or you can purchase them in their nat¬ 
ural state and design them yourself. If you design 
them yourself, in making the holes they should be 
placed so as not to mar the beauty of the stone. 
