334 
The Garden Magazine, February, 1924 
with the thing as a whole that lack of entrance display is not felt. 
Intrusion of the garden on the river views is prevented by the 
contours supported by shrubs. Views of the river are well 
framed by trees and, although only five minutes by trolley from 
the business center of the city, too much of the city is shut off 
bv friendly branches. You may sit on the ground-level porch 
at night enjoying the dancing reflections of the bridge lights 
yet most of the bridge is hidden. Looking up stream, a well 
framed portion of the river reflects the rising moon with an al¬ 
most wilderness setting. The brow and side of the twenty foot 
bank is clothed with shrubs and vines while below a canoe waits 
in the Willows by the river path. 
The garden is one that attracts the casual visitor and is doubly 
attractive to those who are fond of our native plants whose 
quiet beauty does not flaunt itself, yet speaks loudly to some. 
Here there is a subtle charm due to compositions loose in texture, 
flowing lines, quiet colors. Without the irregular shaped pool 
(see opposite page), much would be lost. It makes a perfect scale 
of plant material from aquatics to that of woodland shade and to 
dry rocks, with the intermediate plants which we usually think 
of as growing in watered regions. The pool also brings by re¬ 
flection that blue of the sky for which there is no substitute, it 
also brings life, water life, with the song and flutter of bathing 
birds. There is a satisfaction in seeing wild birds confidently 
bathe within a few feet of you: catbirds with their varied song, 
the domestic robin, flashes of the blue jay with his mischievous 
ways, thrashers with pied breasts, and the wood-thrush, owner 
of those matchless liquid notes. 
T he Rock River flows here in a limestone region where flat 
faced and eroded cliffs record the water action of ages past. 
It was therefore fitting that a miniature cliff and water edge of 
limestone appear by the pool on one side of the ravine. 1 con¬ 
fess it deceived me the first day into thinking it had merely been 
uncovered in an original setting. Limestone steps of the moss¬ 
gathering kind lead out of the garden in two places. The soil 
here is, of course, hostile to ericaceous plants. In the region 
of Dixon there are areas where soft sandstone is dominant 
but the greater part of the region is limestone soil. There 
is a marked difference in the flora of these two soils. You 
will find, for instance, Lupins in the sandstone outcrops but 
they are scarce elsewhere; Campanulas, too, are always found 
in the crevices of sandstone cliffs, likewise Ferns such as Pellea 
atropurpurea, but not elsewhere. 
A portion of the lot is used for vegetables without much dis¬ 
turbance to the landscape. Another portion, well hidden by 
shrubs, permits the small boy to experiment with things which 
concern only boys. 
There is a circle of White Pines about fifteen feet high which 
have developed a good forest floor. You may sit within the 
dense shade and be reminded of the wonderful grove near by in 
Ogle County, the most southern Pines in this region. On one 
side of these Pines is a bank of Prairie Roses nearly ten feet high 
for which the evergreens are a good foil. 
For a small place Mr. Howell's is extraordinary in its variety 
of contours and aspects, in the blending of the house with its 
setting, in the use of native stone and plant material and the 
introduction of water. The fact that its care—except for grass 
cutting- is well within the spare hours of a business man, afford¬ 
ing recreation and healthful exercise, marks it as an example 
which many might profitably follow. 
FRIENDLY SOLITUDE WITHIN FIVE MINUTES OF A CITY BUSINESS CENTER 
Dogwood, Privet, and Prairie Rose behind the bench; backed by Pines which stand on a level several feet above. Mock- 
orange, Lilacs, Lemon-lilies, Iris, Poppies, and Forget-me-nots throw color and scent into the lap of this quiet, sunny spot 
