Stranica 290 [290]
PEO LID E WATER LD RATL
Mignonette, heliotrope, four-o’clocks, lady-slippers, and blue Can¬
terbury bells came year after year. The larger varieties of lilies
were there with stocks and hollyhocks for background, while many
roses flourished in the mild climate, especially the musk rose, the
salmon-tea and the microphylla. Geraniums were used in the beds;
in the large rustic baskets, too, and, in the autumn, chrysanthemums
and other late flowers bloomed often as late as Christmas. Pert¬
winkle covered what might have been bare spaces, and over the
numerous arbors were trained white-star jasmine, yellow jasmine,
honeysuckle—white and coral—in contrast to climbing roses. And
over some, grapevines grew, affording a deep and grateful shade.
The outer boundary of lawn and garden, which were as one,
was formed by the blue waters of North River. The completed
work was marked by the simplicity and harmony that belong to
nature itself, arranged with a taste so remarkable that many ob¬
servers who visited Belleville have left their testimony that both
lawn and garden were glorious in beauty and symmetry.
In a large octagonal summer-house, near the river bank, the
ladies of the family were accustomed to sit on bright mornings
with their sewing and embroidery, while some one read aloud a
pleasing book.
To Mrs. Henry Alexander White, daughter of Susan Talia¬
ferro and Judge Beverly Wellford and granddaughter of Mr. and
Mrs. Warner Taliaferro, of Belleville, I am indebted for facts con¬
cerning this garden.
ANNE SEDDON RUTHERFOORD JOHNSON.
Boyd