May, 1914 
HOUSE AND GARDEN 
383 
garden level, behind this rose bed, com¬ 
pletely shut in the view of the summer 
house from the street, though its roof can 
be seen peeping invitingly above the heavy 
screen of foliage. It nestles into the hill¬ 
side comfortably. 
With this bare skeleton, as it were, of 
the garden assembled, the planting was 
accomplished by midsummer. A bank¬ 
rupt nursery nearby furnished many full- 
grown specimens of stock. Therefore, we 
labored well into July transplanting peren¬ 
nials and shrubs to soften the hard lines 
of the new garden. In passing, it may be 
well to say that we did not lose a single 
plant out of more than 800 which were 
moved. Incessant watering and attention 
was the reason. 
The pictures show the progress made 
from May Day till August, when the pho¬ 
tographs were taken. The retaining walls 
were planted in September with Alpine 
plants and wichuriana roses, and these 
will produce their abundant bloom this 
year. The garden is by no means a finished 
product. Much planting remains to be 
done on the wooded slope, where the 
chestnut blight has made ravages. In order 
to save a fine group of trees from further 
destruction, we built a stone seat over the 
decayed roots and stumps of the dead tree. 
This “wishing chair,’’ as it is called, commands a magnificent 
view, not only of the whole garden and grounds, but over the 
Washington Valley and the mountains to the north of Morris¬ 
town. It proved a favorite resting place for the family at sun¬ 
set. A slight platform is built beneath it 
to hold a table, and later a planting of 
shrubbery will be made at the base line. 
The seat holds six persons comfortably. 
Much of its charm rests upon the acci¬ 
dental use of a natural site, and it is cer¬ 
tainly more pleasing and durable than one 
of flimsy, rustic construction. 
As it will be observed from the photo¬ 
graphs, the garden and its environment 
follow the precepts of no specific school. 
Whenever an obstacle was in the way it 
was overcome in the most simple and di¬ 
rect manner possible. The whole scheme 
is straightforward, yet has occasional ele¬ 
ments of surprise in it which are delight¬ 
ful. No idea of the wealth of detail which 
is crowded into such a small space can be 
obtained from the pictures. 
Despite prolonged droughts, the peren¬ 
nials bloomed profusely all summer long, 
and great quantities of roses and chrysan¬ 
themums were cut until Christmas. A 
second crop of the Ivelway hybrid del¬ 
phiniums was secured by cutting the flower 
stalks back in July. 
Birds and children splashed indiscrimi¬ 
nately in the pool, which was six feet 
across and rimmed with cool, blue flag¬ 
stones. At night the fountain rose and fell 
softly amidst the aroma of thousands of 
Where the stairway reaches the garden level by the summer house the rock work 
in place of the temporary substitute, portulaca 
nil bear Alpine plants 
blossoms. Lured by the garden atmosphere, many breakfasts and 
suppers were taken under the unpretentious roof of the tea house 
by the family, and a grove of black locusts on the eastern side 
gave us a sense of perfect peace and security. 
The rustic house over which vines will creep, the simple rose arbor, the pool and sundial are all constructed outi 
of native materials and at a very slight cost 
