Rocky Ford enterprise. (Rocky Ford, Colo.) 1887-1950, 1911-06-09

average sort, inasmuch as most Of the nowers
that have place in a colonial garden are Of the
oldfashioned hardy sort. There are. however.
some features of the layout Of the flower beds
that render the colonial garden distinctive. and
particularly is this the with the neatly
trimmed little hedges that serve as borders for
the various flower beds and In many instances
supply screens and boundary markers for the
garden.
In the case Of many Of the older gardens all
or portion Of these hedges are formed OF the
richly tinted and sweet scented box. Indeed It
is the presence Of this shrub which 10 likely to
distinguish a genuine colonial garden from the
newer sort Of floral setting. For be II known the
box Is very dinicult to transplant successfully
some say impossible-and It Is OF very slow
growth. So much SO, indeed. that . handsome
hedge of box is more likely than not to represent
the fruits Of century or more Of care and attsn-
ton withal the box will grow fairly well II left
to itself and only given time. but the watchful
Of q gardener 10 required II 1t is desired
TO restrict II to certain limits as for instance
the borders Of flower beds.
In the days preceding and following the Revo-
luton there were colonial gardens in all the thir
ZEN original states, but the finest OF these were
located in virginia Nor was this to be won.
9hed at for the Old Dominion was at that time
the seat Of the most notable country seats In the
world. History tells Of the magnificent es-
tates maintained by George Washington. Thomas
Jefferson, Madison, Monroe and other prominent
Virginians of that period. but there were dozens
Of other wealthy landed proprietors who. though
perhaps not nationally as prominent. lived In the
same baronial style on their expansive planta-
tons and had the slave labor that contributed so
much to the development Of such estates Co
lonial garden was not only an inevitable adjunct
Of q Virginia estate In those days OF lavish Nv
Ing but 1t was in many instances the special
pride and hobby OF the lord or mistress OF the
manor house.
Now, strange to say. surprising number OF
these old colonial gardens retain to this DAY
much Of their oldtime splendor We say surpris-
Ing because It must be remembered that when
the devastating tide OF our great civil war swept
Virginia 1t played havoc with many an an
cestral estate and It would be too much to expect
that the gardens should not suffer as did the
mansions Furthermore, many OF the old VIZ
gnia families have been in greatly reduced cir
cumstances since the and have not had the
means to maintain the old gardens In the man.
that their ancestors did. That in spite OF
these conditions the colonial gardens IN the state
known as THE Mother Of Presidents retain SO
much of their beauty and fascination is tribute
the advantages of this form OF gardening
There are some formal gardens IN OLD VIZ
Enia, but for the most part the gardens are what
known as Informal suggestive OF natures
own arrangement rather than masterpieces Oh
tho fancy gardeners ingenuity Only in rare In
stances do we see the box or other hedge shruDs
trimmed and fashioned into fantastic shapes 10