Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1911-06-09

average sort, inasmuch as most of the flowers
mat have place in colonial garden Of the
old-fashloned 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 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
newer sort of floral setting For be it known the
box is very difficult 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 a century or more of care and atten-
ton. Withal the box will grow fairly well if left
to itself and only given time, but the watchful
of a gardener is required if it is desired
to restrict it 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 was this to be won
dered at, for the Old Dominion 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
Virgnians of that period, but there were dozens
of other wealthy landed propretors who, though
perhaps not nationally prominent, lived in the
same baronial style their expansive panta-
tons and had the slave labor that contributed SO
much to the development of such estates. CO.
lonal garden was not only an inevitable adjunct
of Virginia estate in those days of lavish l1v'
ing but it was in many instances the special
pride and hobby of the lord mistress of the
manor house
Now, strange to say, surprising number or
these old colonial gardens retain to this day
much of their old-time splendor. We say surpris-
ing because it must be remembered that when
the devastating tide of our great Civil war swept
over Virginia it 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 V1r-
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
ger that their ancestors did. That in spite OF
Rlese conditions the colonial gardens in the state
known as 1.-THE Mother of Presidents retain so
much of their beauty and fascination is tribute
to the advantages of this form of gardening.
There are some formal gardens in Old VIZ
gnia but for the most part the gardens are what
are known as informal, or suggestive of natures
own arrangement rather than masterpieces or
the fancy gardeners ingenuity. Only in rare IN
stances do we see Ahe box or other hedge shrubs
trimmed and fashioned into fantastic shapes to