Old-Time Gardens, Newly Set ForthEarle, Alice Morse
History
Old-Time Gardens, Newly Set Forth
Earle, Alice Morse
Gardens; Landscape gardening
The garden of Secretary William H. Seward (in Auburn, New York), so
beloved by him in his lifetime, is shown on page 146 and facing page
134. In this garden some beds are edged with Periwinkle, others with
Polyanthus, and some with Ivy which Mr. Seward brought from Abbotsford
in 1836. This garden was laid out in its present form in 1816, and the
sun-dial was then set in its place. The garden has been enlarged, but
not changed, the old "George II. Roses" and York and Lancaster Roses
still grow and blossom, and the lovely arches of single Michigan Roses
still flourish. In it are many flowers and fruits unusual in America,
among them a bed of Alpine strawberries.
King James I. of Scotland thus wrote of the garden which he saw from his
prison window in Windsor Castle:--
"A Garden fair, and in the Corners set
An Herbere greene, with Wandis long and small
Railit about."
These wandis were railings which were much used before Box edgings
became universal. Sometimes they were painted the family colors, as at
Hampton Court they were green and white, the Tudor colors. These
"wandis" still are occasionally seen. In the Berkshire Hills I drove
past an old garden thus trimly enclosed in little beds. The rails were
painted a dull light brown, almost the color of some tree trunks; and
Larkspur, Foxglove, and other tall flowers crowded up to them and hung
their heads over the top rails as children hang over a fence or a gate.
I thought it a neat, trim fashion, not one I would care for in my own
garden, yet not to be despised in the garden of another.
[Illustration: Garden of Mrs. Mabel Osgood Wright, Waldstein, Fairfield,
Conn.]
A garden enclosed! so full of suggestion are these simple words to me,
so constant is my thought that an ideal flower garden must be an
enclosed garden, that I look with regret upon all beautiful flower beds
that are not enclosed, not shut in a frame of green hedges, or high
walls, or vine-covered fences and dividing trees. It may be selfish to
hide so much beauty from general view; but until our dwelling-houses are
made with uncurtained glass walls, that all the world may see
everything, let those who have ample grounds enclose at least a portion
for the sight of friends only.
In the heart of Worcester there is a fine old mansion with ample lawns,
great trees, and flowering shrubs that all may see over the garden fence
as they pass by. Flowers bloom lavishly at one side of the house; and
the thoughtless stroller never knows that behind the house, stretching
down between the rear gardens and walls of neighboring homes, is a long
enclosure of loveliness--sequestered, quiet, full of refreshment to the
spirits. We think of the "Old Garden" of Margaret Deland:--
"The Garden glows
And 'gainst its walls the city's heart still beats.
And out from it each summer wind that blows
Carries some sweetness to the tired streets!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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