Garden Ornaments Part 7

Possibly there is no place for your garden pool. In that case why not use half barrels or tubs? They have the advantage of taking up very little room, can easily be sunk in the ground and are really well worth the trial. Nothing should be used that has a diameter of less than two feet and the greater the surface s.p.a.ce the better will be the result.

Tub culture requires two-thirds filling of soil and covering with sand to have it the right depth. If more than one tub is used, why not make a rockery between? It has the advantage of making another feature for your garden, besides adding picturesqueness.

There are two ways of planting as well as two kinds of tubers. They can be put directly in the soil, or they can be planted in tubs or boxes that can be sunk, but the latter recommends itself as more practical.

The reason for this is that they are easily removed in winter and the water is kept much cleaner when the earth is free from tubers. It must be remembered that each plant requires from eight to nine square feet of surface room so that it would be bad taste to allow too many for an individual pool. If you wish, you can make the boxes yourself, using pieces of board for that purpose.

Next come the gold fish. For a tub, only two are necessary, but for a pond one hundred feet in diameter, twenty-five should be used. These fish sp.a.w.n in June and have been known to breed enough to stock a large pond. There is an old theory,--doubted by many, that the old fish turn cannibals and devour their progeny. These people advise the putting of roots and stock into a tub, this is so the egg may be attached, removed, and hatched separately. In cases like this the small fish are allowed to grow considerably before being returned to the tub.

There are two kinds of tubers, the tender and the hardy. The latter require practically no care during the winter months, that is, always provided the water is deep enough to allow no freezing of the crown of the plant. They should be planted about the first of May and both varieties can be given the same treatment, with the exception that the hardy variety do best when planted in soil two feet deep and covered with six inches of water.

All pools should have planting in addition to the tubers of submerged plants. This is to aerate the water and keep it pure and sweet. The best kinds to be used for this purpose are Anacharis Canadensis Gigantea, and Canbomba Viridifolia, ten of them being enough for a large pool. The former is a giant water weed with dark green ovate leaves and light stems. It is a quick grower and considered by authorities to be one of the best oxygenators in existence. The latter, sometimes known as Washington gra.s.s, is also popular. It has brilliant glossy green leaves, fan-shaped and more beautiful than a delicate fern. In addition to this why not use the Ludwigia Munlerti, which is one of the prettiest submerged plants. It shows small ovate leaves that are green on the upper side and pink on the under. This makes it distinct from any other aquarium plant.

A great help in the way of nourishment for these water lilies is the application when first planted or in the early spring of dried blood manure. The proper way of using this is to broad cast it on the surface of the water, using one pound to every ten square feet of surface.

Too many people make the mistake of keeping the water too cold. This necessitates the filling of the pool and the leaving it to grow warm through exposure to the sun for several days before planting. When additional water has to be added, it should be some that has stood in the sun for several days, as cold water injures the growth. The condition for growth is the same for both the tender and the hardy Nymphaeas with the exception that the former should not be planted until after warm weather sets in. It is well, however, to grow them in pots so that they will be of fair size by June first when the weather has become suitable for their outdoor existence.

If the pond is to be large, why not use groups, but if small, single ones will do. For their planting, the hardy variety can be sown in either fall or spring, as one fancies. They should have a small hole cut through the sh.e.l.l of each seed with a sharp knife that they may do better. For the tender kind, do not put them out until they are well started. They should be sown in pots or pans, covering the seeds with one-fourth of an inch of sand, giving them a thorough watering and allowing them to drain for an hour. Then submerge them under two inches of soil at a temperature of seventy degrees. These can be removed into separate pots when they have shown two leaves. This kind is very desirable for cutting, the best for this purpose being the night-blooming varieties.

The Pygmaea hybrid type and the Laydekri, as well, are desirable for hardy variety. The former is the smallest water lily in cultivation, a free bloomer showing white flowers, one and a half inches in diameter, while the Pygmaea Helvola, yellow in coloring, is very dainty. A combination of these two colors is always interesting, while if you wish the latter kind, why not try the Laydekria Rosea, which is a French hybrid and one of the earliest in introduction. Only a few specimen plants are found cultivated at the present time. The flowers are of delicate pink with a deep golden center that deepens into a dark shade of rose, presenting a novel feature in that it seemingly is one plant showing different colors. Another variety of this same order is the Laydekri Lilacea, three to five inches across, shading from rosy lilac to bright carmine and sending forth a fragrance like a tea rose. The Sultan is also very valuable on account of its free flowering, the plants showing never less than six flowers open daily. These are of good size Solferina red with white shading and yellow stamens. This is very rare and therefore brings a high price.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THERE IS AN EVER-CHANGING BEAUTY TO A GARDEN WHOSE PATHS ARE BROKEN HERE AND THERE BY POOLS]

Of the day-blooming varieties, we find the Capensis with flowers of rich sky blue. This planted in contrast with the Ovalifolia, a new variety from East Africa, produces flowers eight to ten inches across of deep creamy white, faintly tinged with blue that deepen until the tips are a light corn flower blue with sulphur yellow stamens. The charm of this flower is its petals which are long and narrow, giving it a pretty star shape.

For the night blooming Nymphaeas, why not use the Dedoniensis, which throws out large, pure red flowers often showing from twelve to eighteen blooms at a single time, also the Dentata whose white flowers measure from eight to twelve inches in diameter and open out horizontally.

Do not forget in your collection to include the Royal Water Lily. Of these, the Victoria Regia is a well-known species. While the plants are expensive, the seeds can be bought for a much more reasonable price and are more interesting as one can watch them from their start until blossoming. The Victoria Trickeri is also desirable. In good condition its leaves are from four and a half to five and a half feet across, a single plant having from twelve to fifteen leaves and producing three or four flowers in a single week. These flowers are picturesque, being white at the time of opening and changing to deep rose pink, admitting a strong fragrance not unlike that of a ripe pineapple.

In addition to water lilies one should plant different aquatics, to make a variety. There is the Sagittaria Montevidensis, which attains gigantic proportions, growing four or five feet high with leaves fifteen inches long, the flower towering above, the foliage white with dark blotches at the base of each petal. Then there is the b.u.t.terfly Lily, a tender sub-aquatic plant that forms a dense clump three to six feet high bearing ma.s.ses of pure white fragrant flowers that look like large white b.u.t.terflies borne in large terminal cl.u.s.ters.

The Water Poppy must not be forgotten. It is a very pretty aquatic plant with floating leaves and large yellow poppy-like flowers, and a continual bloomer.

The border of the lily pond is of almost as much importance as the flowers themselves. Iris makes a good setting. Of these, the Iris Hexagona, or Blue Flag, is interesting from the fact that it is a hardy Southern kind, showing rich purple and blue with yellow markings three to four inches across and resembling the costliest and rarest orchid flowers. The Dalmatica is one of the finest of the German type. It grows four feet high with exceptionally large flowers of fine lavender, the falls shaded blue. The j.a.panese Iris is the grandest of all the hardy ones and the best are the double varieties with six petals. Kokinoiro, a rich royal purple with white veining is very satisfactory in growth.

Combine it with the Sano-Watashi, which is white with canary yellow center, and the Tokyo, a magnificent large, white flower, and you will find one of the best combinations possible.

Ornamental gra.s.ses are very effective for this use. Of these, there are so many varieties it would be impossible to name them all. One of the most ornamental kinds is the Zebra gra.s.s, which has long, narrow green leaves, striped white and feathery plumed. Mix it with the Pampas gra.s.s and you will note the artistic result. This grows very rapidly from seed planted in the spring and is useful for decorative purposes. The Feather gra.s.s, growing two feet in height, fits into this scheme as does the Tricholaena Rosea, which is rose tinted, making a color scheme when ma.s.sed with the other ornamental gra.s.ses that is most fascinating.

The form and surroundings of the pool, carefully thought out, make it a most desirable feature for both small and large gardens, and everyone, no matter how limited their means, can indulge in one if they wish.

THE SUN-DIAL IN THE GARDEN

[Ill.u.s.tration: GRa.s.sY PATHS LEAD PLEASANTLY TO THE SUN-DIAL]

CHAPTER IX

THE SUN-DIAL IN THE GARDEN

The life story of the sundial reads like a fascinating page from some old romance of an early century. The first record of its use was in the eighth century before Christ, when it was employed by the Babylonians for the purpose of marking time. Later on, it came into use in England, attached to public buildings. One of the most interesting was shown late in the sixteenth century on the Belton House, Lincolnshire, England. It was a representation of old Father Time and Cupid cutting stone.

A pa.s.sing fad at one time was diminutive sundials, so small that they folded and could be used much as watches are to-day. They soon became very popular and attracted the attention of royalty, when Charles I was seated on the throne. His collection was the largest in existence and represented all sorts of odd shapes and forms. The Stuarts were all interested in sundials, and Charles II had a large one designed and placed in the garden at Holyrood.

While the first invented were crude, yet, as time went on, they became more popular, and different materials were used, such as wood, bronze and metal. The hour s.p.a.ces were computed to comply with the locality in which they were placed. This required a great deal of thought and it was necessary to employ an expert workman.

Flowers and hedge plants were occasionally used to represent this idea.

One of these stood between the "Shakespeare garden" and the "garden of friendship" at Lady Warwick's summer home. The gnomon being of yew while the dial was worked out by the use of box, the lettering was outside and spelled the following motto--"Les Heures Heureuses ne se comptent pas."

This, as far as we know, was the first attempt at the use of floriculture in time pieces.

Sundials might be divided into two kinds, the perpendicular and the horizontal. Each one of these has its own special place, the former being used on buildings while the latter was for garden purposes solely.

In New York, one of the old perpendicular dials may still be seen on the Dutch Reformed Church.

The horizontal was extremely popular in both England and Scotland, so much so that no garden of any pretention was considered complete without one or more of these ornamental time-keepers. The high favor in which the "simple altar-like structure," with its "silent heart language," was held in England was well expressed by Charles Lamb, who said of the sundial, "It stood as the Garden G.o.d of Christian gardens."

It is the revival of this old-time custom that has given a delightful touch of sentiment to the gardens of to-day, where sundials have become, more especially of late years, a permanent fixture. Many of these have interesting mottoes, some repeating the legends of other days, while later designs bear on their face a modern inscription.

"_Let others tell of storm and showers, I'll only count your sunny hours._"

"_Time goes you say--ah, no!

Time stays, we go._"

"_I mark the time, dost thou?_"

"_Tyme pa.s.seth and speaketh not, Deth cometh and warneth not, Amend to-day and slack not, To-morrow thyself cannot._"

By the time the American colonists had leisure to devote to the laying out of beautiful gardens, the day of the sundial was drawing to a close.

The introduction of clocks had done away with the necessity of depending upon such fair-weather time pieces, and furthermore, they were no longer popular in other lands. So, despite its charm and value as an ornament, it was not widely adopted in this country. Of late years, however, in the general revival of old-time customs, this interesting feature for gardens has come into favor.

The making of one of these time pieces can be carried out by a village carpenter, but the purchasing of an old one had better be done by an expert as there are so many reproductions placed to-day on the market.

All that is essential in order to work out proper results is that the dial should have a firm and absolutely level base to rest on, and that the gnomon should point directly towards the North Star, so that time may be accurately computed. A stone pedestal is correct, although concrete is often used.

The design depends largely upon the type of garden and the owner's taste. The beautiful, carved pedestals imported from Italy are suitable only for the formal garden, and for our simple, less pretentious ones, wood or stone can be used, although cement has become very fashionable.

To soften the lines of a severely simple column, Ivy and other clinging vines can be placed around the base. The location is a matter that requires some thought, as the sundial's charm depends upon harmonious setting. It should be exposed to the sun continuously and placed far enough away from trees or buildings to preclude the possibility of its being shaded.

There is no set rule that can be laid down for its placing. One is usually safe, however, in locating it at the intersection of two paths near a vine-clad pergola or within sight of a summer house or garden seat. Formal gardens use it frequently as a central feature. If, however, a water garden takes this central place, the sundial should be at the end of some alluring path surrounded by ma.s.ses of bright bloom.

The chief fault that we find in contrasting the sundials of a century ago with those of the twentieth century is that there is now too much sameness. They seem to follow the same lines, more perhaps, than any other form of garden furniture.

This can be overcome by designing them yourself, working out new ideas in the decoration and its motto. Here the gnomons offer a chance for variation for instead of a plain, simple shaft, it can be changed into an ornamental design that helps out in changing it from monotony to originality.

For the simple garden, why not make one yourself? It is not a hard matter, that is if you have any ingenuity. The only thing we must consider is to have it set perfectly even, to be sure the pedestal is carefully laid so that it will not tip and spoil the marking of the hours. There are so many materials that you can construct one from, there is no need of sameness. The most inexpensive is the rustic sundial. This is made from a small tree trunk. It should be about six to eight inches in diameter, tapering at the top, and show branches irregularly cut within three or four inches of the main trunk. There is a reason for this; it adds picturesqueness to the effect and gives pegs for the vines to climb over. Do not top it with a wooden dial. They are never satisfactory, for they are apt to warp and thus ruin the entire scheme. You need not go to great expense to procure a satisfactory one, for there are many materials to draw from, iron, bra.s.s and slate being the most desirable. The latter are not expensive as they cost simply the price of the material and engraving. It takes a piece that ranges from an inch to an inch and a half in thickness and should not be more than a foot square. For this, one should not pay more than seventy-five cents, although if it is cut round it will be a little more expensive. If you prefer to use bra.s.s it costs more and needs a machinist who is used to handling this material to put it together for you and burnish the surface. You must remember that this applies to the dial only, the pedestal being a separate proposition.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE SUN-DIAL IS A FEATURE IN ITSELF]

For a little inexpensive time piece for your garden you can make one of wood, coloring it any shade that you like but so that it will contrast prettily with the flowers. The only thing that you must bear in mind is that care should be taken in its setting. If it is out of plumb it will not keep good time. Should you, by chance, be able to procure an old mill stone, it serves two purposes, first it is a practical foundation and second it lends an old-time setting that is appropriate. For a simple, every-day foundation, stones can be laid about six inches deep and filled in with mortar. Cement is also appropriate and oftentimes bricks can be used to good advantage.