The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1912-04-05

the island. And surely nowhere can
earth present fairer scene. Far away on the
western horizon, the dim outlines of the Ponza
Islands are visible. Ischia floating in the golden
haze of the dying day, seems linked by Proc'da
and Nisida to the mainend, and the eye travels
slowly eastward Posilippo and Naples to
where Vesuvius brooding and silent since the
great catastrophe of five years ago keeps watch
over the city 1t has so often threatened with de-
struction Still further east the distant peaks OF
the great Apennine Range appear almost to fringe
the sunlit waters of the Bay of Sorrento whose
cliffs dotted with pink and white walled houses,
are dominated by the rugged mass of SAINT
Angelo and the hills which guard Ravello and
Salerno's gulf.
Wellnigh two thousand years have come and
gone since Augustus Caesar, wearied by the
splendors Of imperial Rome first gazed on the
matchless beauty Of this scene; small wonder
that the magic spell which Capri throughout the
ages has cast upon the stranger within her gates
should lose none of its potency till mems hearts
shall cease to care for beauty. Since my garden
first came into being, have often analysed how
imperous is this love of beauty, for, from a
purely gardening point of view, no one would
select a spot exposed to all the winds of heaven
and bereft of water on springless island. AND
yet Nature supplies the compensation in having
provided such a background to the picture that
she must continue to dominate it, making amends
for the inevitable failures which the gardener
is forever encountering And if the growing"
period is short in this sun-baked land, yet again
It is prodigious in result while 1t lasts. Gardening
In Italy teaches one Of many lessons; namely to
avoid the temptation arising from the desire for
quick effect-that Of planting trees and shrubs
too large in size the smaller ones establish
themselves and go ahead In half the time, making
compact and sturdy growth, and also avoiding
the necessity for unsightly stalking. Six years
ago the hill Of San Michele little more than
barren rock, clothed in parts with vineyards and
olives. Approaching Capri from Naples it is cas-
fly discernible as it rises midway between the
preclpitous cliffs at the eastern end and Monte
Solaro the highest summit of the island; this
exposure to all points of the compass is being
utilized to advantage, the difference between
the north and south aspect amounts to fully a
fortnight in the Towering season.
The modest little house-originally the Colonos
Lies at the base of the hill on the southern side.
The vineyard which surrounded 1t has been
cleared and terrace and parterre substituted;
here in the spring months Darwin and Cottage
tulips faunt their painted faces In the sunshine;
freesia, narciss ixias and sparaXis (for Capri Is
a bulb-soi par excellence roses are rapidly COW
ering the columns and wreathing the olive trees,
all grated the Banksan rose, that boon to the
gardener in the south. Beyond the parterre, in
the lower garden, a long tank, fanked by
expresses on either side holds the beautiful Mel
umbium-the Lotus of Old Nile-speciosum ro
scum rubrum, Shiroman and Osiris-a feast for
the eye denied to the gardens of the north.
Will you come with me pilgrimage up the
hill through the old lemon garden, where the
trees, once perishing from neglect but now we'll
screened from their cruel enemy, the south wind
are bearing thousands of yellow fruit, and the air
is laden with the scent of blossom? AS we as
cend, each successive terrace holds its quota Of
bulbs and iris under the silvery sheen Of the
olive trees, until reach at length the rose
garden, and here 1t is well to rest a while. The
Southern Sea stretches below US, with the pic
turesque ruin Of Castiglione in the middle dis
tance. Against background of tall bamboos, at
feet bloom the for which Capri Gas
Paestum was of old is famed. What would have
been the feelings Of Virgil, could he have looked
on the goody array to which rosarians
accustomed Mime. A. Chatenay, the Lyon rose
Richmond, Betty Marquse de Ganay, Nine. Leon
Pain, in addition to all the older favorites such
as Anna Olivier Nine Ravary Caroline Testout
to say nothing Of pillars wreathing themselves
with Sinica Anemone, transmission, Ideal and
the Michuraianas From the garden the
circllng Of the hill commences; a broad path
planted on either side with Towering shrubs
wigelas, lilac, syringa, deutzias, pomegranates
and guelder roses-eads to the vineclad per-
Incompatible Bay of Naples greets the eye. All
available ground on the hillside is being utilized
for shrubs and plants, with wind breaks of Gu
pressus macrocarpa and Pinus halepensls, which
grow at a surprising rate in this sandy soil. Here
to be found the Towering crabs, thorns and
almonds while Japanese naples and Rosa
gosa give feast of color in the foreground in
terspersed with tenderer shrubs, such as Fabiana