The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1922-04-25
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
FREDRRIO }. HAsKN. DareCbor.
Washington, d. Q.
THE WHITE HOUSE GARDENS.

known as the gardens of the presi-
? dents wife.
The First Lady of the Land is al
ways consulted as to the gardening
plans for the entire White House
grounds. but these two gardens have
been the especial care of the wives
of presidents ever since Mrs. Roose-
Welt had them laid out 1t is becom-
ing custom for each presidents wife
to give full expression to her taste in
flowers and landscape gardening in
| these plots.
/ The gardens are the more personal
to the mistress OF the White House
because the public is not allowed to
! enter them. The grounds back of the
! executive mansion are thrown open
| to the public every Saturday after
noon during the summer, when the
| Marine band gives a concert People
! wander freely about the presidents
broad lawn and park and sit on the
grass under the trees.
On Easter Monday, too, the grounds
are open. this time 70 the children for
/ the annual egg rolling. Forty men
| are put to work after this celebration
/ is over, to clean the grass of egg
| shells, papers. mangled toy rabbits.
remnants of lunch and other souvenirs
/ of an exciting day.
From these occasions the public is
pretty well acquainted with the White
to the. house and bound by high
hedges. are not open. They would
scarcely survive the inspection of
few thousand people in an afternoon.
The gardens now are as Mrs. VIII
son left them. Mrs. Harding has
found time to put bird houses around
the White House grounds and to plant
a num- Der of trees-only short time
ago she planted a magnolia. But she
has ordered no important changes in
the private gardens as vet.
First Signs. of Life.
Just now. the gardens are beginning
to show signs of life. White narcis- !
suses. pansies. and pale tinted flags !
promises a wonderful array of color |
in a few weeks.
Originally, Mrs. Roosevelt planned |
the two plots as colonial gardens. and |
and variouSly shaped flower beds !
filled with roses and hardy perennials. |
The first Mrs. Wilson is remem-
bered as one of the most ardent flow
err lovers who ever lived in the White
House. When she was consulted as
to changes in the gardens she eX-
pressed a desire to have the two plots
different in character. She had al
ways taken a great interest in the
grounds of her home, and she had
skilled landscape gardeners work on
the plans for the gardens as she
wished them to be.
Mrs. Wilson did not live to see the
remodeled gardens completed. How
ever. up to a short time before her
death she liked to sit among the
flowers.
The gardens now are as Mrs Will
son planned them. Both are long |
rather narrow plots of ground, small
only in comparison to the spacious
ness of the White House lawns. The
east garden is laid out with a wide
border of flowers around the edge in
side the tall hedge and a largo nlnf I
of grass in the center, also bordered
with flowers A pool in the center
OF the grassy plot is the feature of
this picturesque retreat. In the sum-
pink AMI white water lilies bloom on
the surface of the water.
Formal Effects Secured.
The walk between the center plot
and the margin of flowers is cut in ,
straight lines, with rather formal eff
feet. Old stone benches and quaint !
chairs to match, that have stood ,
around the grounds for years, are con- !
placed for quiet tete-a-tetes.
A number of golf balls are some :
times seen on these chairs and it is
said that the president occasionally
practices golf shots a bit in the
privacy Of the garden enclosure
There are no shade trees in the east G
garden The only trees are small :
evergreens artiseically placed. The :
landscape architect who designed the I
plot for Mrs. Wilson planned to have !
all Virginia cedars used, but the ex-
oense of obtaining them was too great :
md smaller trees were substituted T
without serious change in the desired
fleet. J
The flowers of this garden are such a
ielicately colored blooms as the OAR
win tulip, large, pink variety; white
md pale purple iris; and later, y
'eonies, larBspur. pinks. candytuft. n
orget- me-nots. sweet-william, and
so gay red or yellow blossoms are ad- y
nitted to this pastel group of flowers
The west garden is laid out along
ines similar to those of the east plot. a
4ere. however, roses are the only .
lowers featured. Spring bulbs are u
tut in to brighten the enclosure be- II
ore the roses bloom. At present
here is a thickly blooming border of d
Fhite poets eye narcissuses, but by t.
he middle of May the bulbs will be
one and red. pink, and pale yellow 81
oses will begin to bloom. A few of 81
he varieties which adorn the White 81
louise rose garden are pink Killarney, p
ink radiants, yellow sunburst- F
Rose Garden Arch. d.
The attraction in this garden. aside a.
rom the roses. is an arch ut the far :.
nd. formed by the privet of the az
edge. English ivy on the lattice be- y
cath this arch forms soft back az
round for small statue. Here "a
gain, economy is noticeable in White
louise management. The plan called W
or a marble statue. but plaster of ~
'aris had to be substituted to fit the o.
ind availab bic. The statue. a grace Il
al flute boy, Is now undergoing a sa
oring renovation before il is set out re
Dr. the garden season. U
Between the garden hedge and the az
ouse runs a beautifully laid out walk re
nat is really a continuation of the p'
ose garden. Eight rose trees line the pc
rass on either side of the walk and -,
privet arch forms the gateway at tn
ther end. This is called the Presi- ~
ent's Walk, because il is a short out IN