Evening star., 1902-03-01
Revival of Interest in Flow
ers of Sentiment.
ASHAKESPEARE BORDER
FAVORITE PLANTS THAT THRIVE
IN THIS CLIMATE.
Some Pertinent Points About Making
Garden and All About
Roses and Lilies.

Written for The Evening Star by Julia schayer.
This has been called the day of fads.
Probably it is no more so than many
other periods in history. People of wealth
have always been on the watch for some
thing, anything that would enable them
to get rid of their ennui and their, surplus
dollars at one and the same time
Often their efforts contribute much to
the gayety, If not Of nations, of multi
tudes, but now and then they hit upon
something really commendable.
The revival Of interest in landscape gar
| dening and Horticulture among our financial
| magnates Is certainly an admissible mani
! festation. In some instances the results,
| considering the short time that has elapsed
since the beginning Of the undertaking.
are nothing short of marvellous. Oh! the
magic of money!
l remember once gazing cnviously at a
beautiful piece of lawn in front of rich
| mans house.
Even nature is kinder to the rich than
to the pOOr,' l remarked.
An old man at work on the lawn looked
up quickly.
"'Taint that. man," said he TITS ma
In other words. it is unstinted inte1li-
gent cultivation that produces these glori-
Gus results
, 4He dEI oI SaFueHIilS IS All ancient anu
| honorable one among all civilized people,
Probably no nation excelled the Italians
| In the management of pleasure gardens
All the fine arts united to produce the most
| exquisite effects. Grottoes and fountains
flights of steps leading from terrace to ter
race pergolas. colonnades. statues. carved
seats. all of gistening marble and set in
luxuriant foliage, combined to create
| beauty, and over all was the sky of Italy!
| imagination cannot conceive of the lowell
| ness of these old gardens, though some
| traces of them still excite the admiration of
| travellers France and England went far in
| the same direction. but the difference in
| climate must always have been a him
drance.
Some Of our American plutocrats have
| laV1Shed enormous sums upon their country
| seats in the way Of landscape gardening
| and especially in the reproduction of the
! flower gardens of olden times. Such is the
garden at Drumthwack. the home of NJ.
! Taylor Pyne, esq, Princeton, n. J.. and
| that of Avonwood Court, the country seat
| of c. E. Mother. esq. Of Philadelphia, and
the gardens on the Rockefeller estate near
| New York
But probably the most beautiful achieve
| ment Of all is the rose garden at Yaddo,
| Saratoga, the country seat of Spencer
! Irask. esq. This garden comprises ten
| acres, and, combining great natural advan-
| tages with every charm that wealth, taste,
| skill and affection could bestow. 1t is tudg-
| Ing from descriptions. such q dream of
earthly loveliness that death must be a
|
| lady for whom this pleasure was created.
Reviving a Long Neglected Art.
| The world owes much to those whose
| wealth Is expended in the production Of
| such beauty, and not the least of its debt
is due for the impetus given to a long-ne-
elected art. Our ancestors in this coun-
try gave landscape gardening and floricuI-
| ture a high place In their esteem, as is
| evidenced by the fine old parks and gar
| dens still cherished by their descendants
| IN some parts Of the south and east, but
for long time past there has existed a
curious Indifference to horticulture and an
! all-prevailing ignorance as regards even the
| names OF the commonest plants and trees
| that are truly surprising.
However. we are now In a hopeful state
| OF renaissance. Books on gardening are in
| increasing demand, the florists catalogues
/ comprise many DID, forgotten favorites and
even lectures on gardening becoming
| popular. With many 1t will prove pass
ing craze or fad, but with others 1t will de-
velop into lasting and benefcent pursuit
| The fancy for collecting od-time plants
| and laying out the formal, sbox- -bordered
| beds and borders so dear to our ancestors
is now very pronounced The writer Of this
article began five years ago, before the
| idea had become fashion, to collect such
| plants in a small way, and it is amusing
now to recall the half-wondering, half dis
dainful looks with which visitors beheld
| the sweet Williams and southernwood and
| other ''Old things that were their owners
pride and joy.
A Shakespeare's Border.
| Out OF this revivified love for the favor
| flowers of olden times has sprung up the
pretty fancy Of laying out a border or bed
! or, where possible. an entire garden. filled
| with the plants. flowers, herbs, etc. men,
| toned In Shakespeare's works. 1t is by no
means the easy undertaking some might
| fancy.
| 1t may be tri1e discouraging to dis
| cover at the start that Shakespeare men,
| tiOns more than two hundred plants. trees,
flowers. etc. But inspection reveals that
| many OF them are out of the question, for
| climatic and other reasons, still others are
! wild flowers that refuse to flourish in gar
| dens: some are well-known common trees
| and vegetables: SO that by the time the
| sitting process has proceeded to the end the
list Of practicable plants Is not so formid
| able after ALL
Happy the woman-for it is generally
| woman to whom the Shakespeare border
idea appeals-happy she who has already
| q lawn and garden of some sort under cul-
! tivation. Still happier II It chances to be
| one Of those neglected old garden plots
that may often be seen In the suburbs of
| Washington. and scattered everywhere
| through Maryland and Virginia. pathetic
| survivals Of the old days. How lovely they
are-these neglected old gardens-in early
| spring and summer. with their great un-
| trimmed clumps of Towering shrubs. box
edged walks and matted beds of dafrodils.
lilies of the valley and periwinkle! Having
such a garden to enrich the beds and bor-
| ders and fill with the plants and flowers
| known and loved in Elizabethan days
would be the most delightsome task. Fail
| ing this, one must begin at the beginning
| alas, and patiently await the passage of
time that will bring the desired result
| Whether it be one single bed in q city
| yard or a more or less extensive suburban
| or country garden. no one need be dis
| heartened. If space and means are large
| the services of professional gardener will
be found essential And perhaps right here
| something concerning the arrangement Of
| the flower garden in Shakespeare's day
| would not come amiss.
| An Elizabethan Garden.
From pictures and descriptions we learn
that 1t was very different to the flower
garden of today. or even to that of our
| colonial ancestors. The garden attached
| to- the residence of any well-to-do subject
| Of Queen Bess was, first of all, a square.
| No other shape was in favor. 1t was in
| closed by q wall or thick hedge often nine
feet high. broad walk ran entirely
| around this square, and was generally bor-
dered on both sides by trees and shrub