The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1911-06-09

average sort, inasmuch as most OF the flowers
mat have place in colonial garden are of the
old-fashioned 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 case 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 is likely to
distinguish genuine colonial garden from the
neIer sort of floral Setting. For be it known the
box Is very difficult to transplant successfully
some say impossible land 1t 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 atten-
ton. Withal the box win grow fairly well If left
TO itself and only given time but the watchful
care of gardener is required if it is desired
to restrict 1t 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
teen original states. but the finest of these were
located In Virginia. Nor this to be won
dered at, for the Old Dominion was at that time
the seat Of the most notable country seats in the
new 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 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. A CO.
ionial garden was not only an inevitable adjunct
Of a Virginia estate in those days of lavish liv-
ing. but it 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 1t must be remembered that when
the devastating tide of our great Civil war swept
over Virginia 1t played havoc with many an
cestral estate and 1t would be too much to expect
that the gardens should not suffer as did the
mansions Furthermore. many of the old vir-
gtnia families have been in greatly reduced cir
cumstances since the war and have not had the
means to maintain the old gardens in the man
ner 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
70 the advantages of this form OF gardening.
There some formal gardens in old Vir-
gnia. but for the most part the gardens are what
are known informal, suggestive OF natures
own arrangement rather than masterpieces OF
the fancy gardeners ingenuity Only in rare In
stances do we see the box or other hedge shrubs
trimmed and fashioned into fantastic shapes to