WORTHY OF GENERAL CULTURE. 
all combine to make a fine bit of gardening, which our illustration shows far better than we can describe. Small ponds 
of stagnant water are not a desirable addition to any grounds, but many places admit of the free use of aquatics, and where 
they can be used nothing has greater qualities of picturesqueness. The superb Egyptian Lotus (Nelumbium speciosum), 
which is as easily grown as our common Pond Lily, the pink and blue varieties of the Pond Lily and the noble 
Japanese Irises, which may be treated as semi-aquatics, are a few examples of the wealth in this class of plants. The 
Hibiscus moscheutus, which grows so abundantly in some of the Jersey swamps, is well worthy a place in any collection 
of aquatics. I think the great masses of its rose-colored bloom in the Newark Meadows are easily among the finest floral 
sights I ever saw. We caught but a partial view of Colonel John Hare Powell’s grounds when driving past, but this 
glance revealed such surpassing loveliness that we sent a photographer there afterward, and one of the views taken 
is the frontispiece of this article. The dead trunk of a tree covered with Trumpet Creeper and Clematis Jackmani 
the Clematis in full bloom, made a most beautiful object. The original cost of planting these was perhaps two dollars, 
yet the loveliness of the effect produced could not be equaled by the most lavish expenditure on bedding plants. What 
possibilities of beauty there are in the climbers when used in a free and natural way ! The Clematis family alone, if 
freely used, would redeem the most formal garden. Not only the large-flowered varieties with their masses of pink, purple, 
or white bloom, each flower like a large butterfly, but the small-flowered sorts as well, such as Clematis vitalba, Clematis 
flammula, and Clematis viticelli, which literally produce showers of odorous white. Fine trees there are in abundance 
at Newport, and nowhere finer than at Oak Lawn, which belongs to the estate of the late Charles II. Russell, Esq. A 
Weeping Oak is the finest specimen I ever saw, and there are many noble Purple Beeches. A large Salisburia adiantifolia, 
the Ginko or Maiden Hair Tree, is of much finer form than that tree is usually seen. The Fern-leaved Beech is a 
notable and noticeable tree at Newport. There is a fine specimen of it in the grounds of Redwood Library, and, being 
in such a prominent position, cannot escape the attention of the visitor to Newport. It is really a tree of very great beauty, 
and should have a far greater recognition. Among the beeches are many of our finest lawn trees. The Common Beech 
of the woods is a fine tree, and the Weeping Beech is one of the most strikingly-picturesque trees grown. The place 
of Mr. Ruthven II. Pratt is a good example of what can be done on a city lot. The house lines are but a few feet from 
the sidewalk, yet the effect produced is suburban and good. The walls partly covered with Ampelopsis Veitchii, the lot 
surrounded by a neatly-kept Privet hedge, a mass of shrubbery at one end of the house, and two large Hydrangea Ilor- 
tensia in tubs on either side of the entrance steps are the horticultural features. Hydrangea Hortensia is quite as common 
at Newport as Paniculata. It is not quite hardy, but is grown in tubs or pro¬ 
tected in the open ground, and it is well worth the little trouble of either these __ _ 
methods to have its grand display of bloom in the summer. There are hundreds 
of splendid specimens at Newport ; one notably fine one we photographed on 
Mr. Louis Lorillard’s grounds. It was over six feet across and had over two 
hundred immense blooms that were six or seven inches in diameter. The hedges 
and stone walls of Newport are a feature worthy of note. The hedges are almost "SSStS&k ' 
all California Privet, and the walls very often covered with Ampelopsis Veitchii, 
A BIT OF MR. CORNELIUS VANDERBILT’S GARDEN. 
