File:American homes and gardens (1908) (17531534034).jpg

Title: American homes and gardens
Identifier: americanhomesgar51908newy (find matches)
Year: 1905 (1900s)
Authors:
Subjects: Architecture, Domestic; Landscape gardening
Publisher: New York : Munn and Co
Contributing Library: Smithsonian Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

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Garden Lilies Are Particularly Desirable for Close Window Outlook bustle, how much can be accomplished by utilizing the shrubs and flowers found in the woods and fields adjacent to the home site. Elaborate growths with amazing names, im- ported from famous gardens, possess a certain amount of charm—if properly disposed in the garden arrangement. The difficulty in this regard lies in the fact that such plants are so often out of place in the modest acre of the every- day country home. Too often they remind one of the woman who wears a style of hat or bonnet because she ad- mired it upon some one else, forgetting that to her it may be wholly unbecoming. We may borrow much, in beautifying the home acre, from the pretentious displays characteristic of elaborate grounds wherein the professional landscape gardener reigns. In doing so, however, we should always remember that it is merely a solution and not the full strength of the original essence that we desire to obtain. A common error grow- ing out of forgetfulness of this fact is the planting of fancy roses as a part of shrubbery. These would be better grown, if utilized at all, on a trellis, or in a regular rose garden, where they can receive the atten- tion they require. On the other hand, the wild rose may be cultivated with other bushes with excellent effect. Let the place conform to the spirit of its surround- ings. Above all things, the bushes should not be sheared. Primness is never wanted in the country home. When a bush is sheared it no longer exists in itself, but merely as the representation of the shear- er's idea. While native shrubs can be grown more easily than others, if one must turn to other material there is noth- ing better than the calceolaria and the rhododendron. Both are hardy and possess similar traits, although from dif- ferent sections of the world. The yellow, white and purple two-lipped slipper-shaped flower of the calceolaria forms a most beautiful and unusual thicket growth. If the flower be spotted, as in some varieties, the effect is even more striking.

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