SEPTEMBER I, 1902. 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
i3 
¢<¢ vanhoe” is the su- 
burban residence 
of the Hon. George 
Brookman, member for 
the Central District in 
the Legislative Council 
of South Australia. Mr. 
Brookman is one of 
several weathly, pub- 
lic-spirited and phil- 
anthropic gentlemen 
who have graced the 
public and private re- 
cords of South Aus- 
tralia. It is not our 
businessto attempt any 
detail of hislife’s work, 
which, by the way, he 
seems to thoroughly 
enjoy (long may he 
continue), that being 
the function of the 
daily Press, but 
amongst many other 
excellent qualities he 
has always been an 
_enthusiastic gardener, 
even in his young days 
taking prizes at a juve- 
nile floral society. The 
particular feature of his 
garden which he most 
enjoys is the Palms. 
This not so much be- 
cause of his own suc- 
cess in growing them 
as by reason of the 
fact that his enthu- 
siasm has spread so 
extensively. The cul- 
tivation of Palms 
' is now not only a fea- 
ture of many private 
gardens in the beauti- 
ful suburbs of <Ade- 
laide, where they were 
comparatively un- 
known twenty years 
ago, except with spe- 
cialists, but all the 
public squares and 
plantations are now 
beautified with this 
handsome and _grace- 
fulfeature of landscape 
gardening. Safe to say 
that the surroundings 
of “beautiful Adelaide” 
derives a good deal of ’} 
its present gracefulness ° 
from the miunificence _ 
of Mr. Brookman in 
supplying many of the » 
Palms, both on order 
from a nursery and 
from his own raising 
at ‘‘Tvanhoe.” 
Weshall notattempt 
._ in the space allotted to 
-give a description of 
the garden in detail, 
but chiefly confine our 
attention to the main 
features. In the first 
place we givea picture 
of “Ivanhoe” as it ap- 
peared shortly after it | 
Residence of the Hon. George Brookman, Gilberton, South Australia. 
VWiIEw rT 
ve 
+k “IVANHOE” & 
TAKHN IN isss. 
was built, and before 
anything is showing 
in the designs of the 
garden which was to 
be. The second pic- 
ture is an illustration 
of the same place after 
14 years of growth. 
It is hardly conceiv- 
able that after such a 
comparatively short 
period there should be 
a growth of Palms that 
almost hides the house 
from view when one 
stands at the gate. To 
get any view at all of 
the house the photo- 
grapher was obliged 
to erect a high staging 
on the opposite side 
of the road. On en- 
tering the gate with 
the genial and hospit- 
able owner of “Ivan- 
hoe” at your elbow he 
starts off with that 
wonderful glibness of 
tongue acquired in the 
marble halls of legis- 
lature to explain the 
whole plan of the gar- 
den, giving the visitor 
the impression that he 
lives there in prefe- 
rence to any other 
lounge of luxury. He 
explains that the gar- 
den is designed to have 
plenty of sun and air, 
wide drives and paths, 
and that his success 
depends upon keeping 
the ground always on 
the move, “ pricking 
it,” he calls it. 
Surrounding the 
whole garden is a very 
finely-grown and well- 
kept Rhamnus, buck- 
thorn (from a Celtic 
word rham,a tuft of 
branches) hedge. —Im- 
mediately on the right 
and left of the en- 
trance is a pair of 
Cordylines, stricta, the 
club Palm from New 
Zealand, supported by 
two fine specimens of 
Jacaranda Mimosifolia, 
and the shrubs and 
plants in close proxi- 
mity on the right” are 
Hibiscus grandiflorus, 
Yucca aloifolia, Prunus 
(J apanese white 
plum), Cactus (opuntia) 
Indian flg, Strelitzia 
(traveller’s tree), and 
the smaller growths of 
Diosma, Roses, &c., 
with annuals in the 
foreground, and the 
whole backed up by a 
dense mass of foliage 
of oranges, cumquats,. 
