The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1922-04-25

WASHINGTON, D. c., April 20. -
Two formal gardens close to the south
portico of the White House are known
as the gardens of the Presidents 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. Roosevelt
had them laid out. 1t is becoming a
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 per-
sonal to the mistress of the White
House because the public is not al
lowed to enter them. The grounds
back of the Executive Mansion are
thrown open to the public every Sat
urday afternoon during the summer,
when the Marine Band gives concert
People wander freely about the Pres
ident's broad lawn and park and sit
on the grass under the trees.
On Easter Monday, too, the grounds
are open, this time to 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 ex-
citing day.
From these occasions the public is
pretty we'll acquainted with the White
House lawn. But the gardens, close
to the house and bound by high he'd
ges, are not open. They would scarce
ly survive the inspection of few
thousand people in an afternoon.
The gardens now are as Mrs. Wilson
left them. Mrs. Harding has found
time to put bird houses around the
White House grounds and to plant \
number of trees-only short time
ago she planted a magnolia But She
has ordered no important changes in
/ the private gardens as yet.
First Signs of Life.
| Just now, the gardens are beginning
to show signs of life. White narcis
suses, pansies, and pale tinted flags
are out, and profusion of buds prom
| Uses a wonderful array of color in a
| few weeks.
Originally, Mrs. Roosevelt planned
the two plots as colonial gardens, and
| they were laid out with curving walks
and variously shaped flower beds
| filled with roses and hardy perennials
The first Mrs. Wilson is remember
| ed as one of the most ardent flower
| 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 always
| taken a great interest in the grounds
| of her home, and she had skilled land
! scape gardeners work on the plants
! for the gardens as she wished them t.
| be.
| Mrs Wilson did not live to see the
remodeled gardens completed How
ever, up to a short time before hel
death she liked to sit among the flow
ers.
The gardens now are as Mrs. Wilson
planned them. Both are long, rattle.
narrow plots of ground, small only II
comparison to the spaciousness of the
/ White House lawns The east garden
/ is laid out with a wide border o.
| flowers around the edge inside the
tall hedge and a large plot of grass
/ III Tie GeulGT, also UOTucTeu WIFI
flowers. A pool in the center of the
grassy plot is the feature of this pic
! turesque retreat. In the summer
| goldfish swim in the pool and pinl
and white water lilies bloom on the
surface of the water.
The walk between the center plo
and the margin of flowers is cut il
straight lines, with rather formal eff
feet. OLD stone benches and quain
chairs to match, that have stooC
around the grounds for years, are con
veniently placed for quiet tete-a-tetes
A number of golf balls are some
times seen on these chairs and it i.
said that the President occasional!
practices golf shots bit in the pr
vacy of the garden enclosure.
There are no shade trees in tn,
east garden. The only trees are small
evergreens artistically placed Tn,
landscape architect who designed tn,
plot for Mrs. Wilson planned to hav,
tall Virginia cedars used, but the ex
penses of obtaining them was to,
great and smaller trees were substitu
ted without serious change in the de
sired effect
The flowers of this garden are sucl