CRYSTAL AND GREEN

Evening Post, Volume CXVIII, Issue 23, 27 July 1934, Page 7

CRYSTAL AND GREEN

A GROTTO-FERNERY

COLOURFUL WATER GARDEN

A PLACE/OF ILLUSION

■What is a grotto ferneiy1} It is a. fernery equipped with what a stage manager would call scenic and lighting effects. And it/is more than that. The modern stage manager knows how to use coloured .electric, globes and. floodlights, arid he knows how to group on':the stage vegetation that is artificial. But, except on, rare occasions, he does not use water. It would not dp to have fountains and waterfalls and fine vapour-producing jets drench-' ing a stage. ' . ,But this abundant supply of water and water vapour is all to'the good in' a.grotto fernery", because the ferns and allied vegetation need it—love it. The grotto fernery '• artist <■ is dealing with living plants, pot with the artificial' things of ther stage. He must supply all the soil and all the moisture that luxuriant green growth requires. About that there is nothing artificial at all. A' grotto fernery is first and foremost a. fernery. " ■"'-■■■' ■ And the .water of the fountains and waterfalls, when it escapes therefrom,' has not finished its work. It forms cascades aild lakelets on the descending slope. Ultimately it brings moistture, which is life, to the things that grow. It may also provide ther home of goldfish. , ■: Of "course, to do some of these things, 'it' has to be -water at pressure, but only such pressure as the Wellington city water : supply provides. 1 .GREEN DISTANCES. What is described above is, indeed, a Wellington accomplishment,' designed fty a landscape architect and carried out as an adjunct to the home of Mr. B. Sutherland, "Homewood," Homewood Avenue,' Karori Until lately, ' the dining-room of " Homewood' * looked out on e^ winter garden, and through the garden, down a shrubbery slope to a big tiled swimming bath. This shrubbery slope has now been con verted ' into the glass-covered grotto fernery described above. The result —there ?ire 'finishing touches to be addedrf-is a 'transformation. Between dining-room and bath there are now winter-garden and grotto fernery, with plate-glass v intervening windows, with mirrof/.efEects in the glass-covered area, and,' beyond it, the natural reflections in. the. water of the bath The change consists of "fitting green "canopies and f ountain-lens|es into1; the middle part of the'vista,, r. '-' ■;". ' .-. ' One effect is greatly to enhance the vista by giving the illusion of distance. This illusion remains, whether it is the day-picture (sun shining through mossgreen glass;1 with occasional panels of colourless glass, giving variegated light and' shade); pr,:,whether it. 4a 'the night picture, when electricity is:king.' All fountains ana water effects and all lighting being controllable by hand, either the day pietrire 01. the night picture .can:, bo. rapidly, transformed. At night the changes range all the way from an enchanting twilight to a multicoloured^ blaze; fronv misty vapour jets to full-flowing waterfalls; from- grottos that seem-to slumber to grottos ring ing with the, music of falling water. There1-axe-grottos-that can be green, or; red, or. mystic blue in turni Their rock structure and pendant masses of stained , stone r are not .less beautiful than their^-green : ferns, .creepers,. and bushyi^plants>-<-y*fri;js- * .!•'j.- '~ -. ., -■- FBOil iQAUNTIcAVE TO. FAIEV v' • >;i:f. ■' '.'. \y'~'\ Who would dream that these grottos were all built in the. first place—much as the framework of a house is built— of beams' and-rafters composed of rein forced Btone-studded. Only a little'time '^ ago; the gaunt skeleton looked no£ like.a- fairy>bower : but iike, a.cave-man dwelling. Then the grotto skeletons took into their cunningly . contrived cavities enough soil to nourish (with.water and humid atmosphere) the ferns and creepers that-now already garland the walls and cover the rafters and beams. The higher rafters and beams, well above the grotto roofs, arecainpuflaged. ,with; ; gnarled bark of the Spanish cork-oak, which gives the appearance of. age. It is seen best in the day picture, when the sunlight coming through moss-green glass gives the bark that delicate shade, alternating with plain grey. But the cork bark, surmounting the wealth of green, is also a feature of the vari-coloured night picture. Notes of many charming nooks must be discarded, for there is hardly space left to describe main features. Of the various fountains, two stand out as the visit* r surveys the scene from the high point (the "look-out") of the grotto fernery. On the right is a fountain gushing forth (at will, of course) at such an angle as to cross the circular path before falling into its lake and consequent lakelets; at garden parties the guests may walk under this projecting waterfall and remain' dry. Then there is a central waterfall in three falls or cascades,'less turbulent/and charmingly set amid the] vegetation, a picture in crystal and green. When the fountains are flowing, this fall is the centrepiece of the ivhole —that is, to anyone taking the view from the dining-room window. The illusion of distance is then at its best. The green-mantled waterfall is seen as something . nearv and • yet remote, real and yet fancifuL At an appropriate degree of lighting,, it is easy to believe that one's view is being directed into a dream-world, semidetached, i HOW THE REAL BECOMES IDEAL. Indeed, one outstanding impression . of the whole performance is the combination of the real with the ideal, as exemplified in a beautiful miniature rustic bridge. A fortnight ago - this bridge was reinforced concrete. Now it is green-mossed and aged, and ap-. pears to be really a'rustic bridge of old wood. Anywhere the eye takes yon as you walk through the grotto fernery, you appear to be looking into distance. The impression of vistas (deeper than the. stage vistas in "As You Like 'It" and other woodland stage plays)f"is so great that the imagination easily over-estimates the actual superficial area. covered by the /grotto fernery." A feature not.to be forgotten is the production of stage-thunder, followed by rain, which sends; the guests post haste to .a rainless quarter. Another feature is glass-panelled aquaria : and aviaries. On each flank of the grotto fernery will be an aquarium and an aviary, with brilliant goldfish and and melodious birds. But the prevailing voice will bo the varying tones of falling water, than which •what can.be sweeter 9 An illusion; aimed at, and likely to bo consummated,- is cloud effects, blowing to and fro. The prevailing colour tone of the vegetation is green (it is expected to have every fern-that is obtainable in New Zealand), but a few flowers will give colour relief. Quite a sensation is likely to be produced by a glow-worm cave, now being excavated.

The essay competition in connection ■with an exhibition of fancy pigeons made by a •well-known Wellington fancier at the Hutt Valley Poultry, Pigeon, and Cage Bird Society's recent show, was won by Miss Doreen Tomkins, a pupil of the Hutt Valley rHigh, .School....The .test: was. pno-of observation. * ■ •