Wiedorn in Kansas III

In 1924, landscape architect William S. Wiedorn published an article intended for Kansas property owners desirous of improving their yards. "Beautifying the Home Grounds of Kansas" included general advice and a comprehensive planting list. For those struggling to design their gardens, Wiedorn offered the advice of K-State Agricultural College's horticultural department provided inquiring parties supplied a plat.

A LIST OF TREES, SHRUBS AND PLANTS FOR KANSAS HOME GROUNDS

TREES FOR STREET PLANTING

White elm
Pin Oak
Silver maple
Hackberry
Sycamore
Honey locust

TREES FOR YARD PLANTING

Basswood
Tulip tree
Green ash
Osage orange
Russian mulberry

SHRUBS

Japanese barberry
Van Houtes spires
Common privet
Armur river privet
Buckthorn
Bush hydrangea
Butterfly bush
Tamarisk
Fragrant sumac
Staghorn sumac
Indian currant
Japanese quince
Golden bell
Morrow's honeysuckle
Red-twigged dogwood
Common lilac
Rose of Sharon
Mock orange

VINES

Bittersweet
Japanese clematis
Jackman's clematis
Five-leaved ivy
Climbing roses: Dorothy Perkins, Crimson rambler, Climbing American Beauty, Tausenschon

EVERGREENS

Trees

Scotch pine
Austrian pine
Jack pine
Bull pine
Red cedar (best evergreen for Kansas)
Douglas spruce

Shrubs

Fragrant honeysuckle
Low juniper

Vines

Memorial rose
Hall's honeysuckle

ROSES

Prairie Rose

FLOWERS

Bulbs (Spring)

Crocus
Narcisssus
Tulip
Hyacinth

Bulbs (Summer)

Tiger lilies
Dahlias
Gladiolus
Cannas

PERENNIALS

English daisy
Periwinkle
Columbine
Bleeding heart
Iris
Goat's beard
Sweet William
Foxglove
Oriental poppy
Garden pinks
Oriental larkspur
Hollyhocks
Carpathian harebells
Hardy phlox
Peonies
Asters
Evening primroses
Gaillardia
Coreposis
Shasta daisies
Yucca filamentosa

From:  W.S. Wiedorn. "Beautifying the Home Grounds of Kansas." The Biennial Report of the Kansas State Horticultural Society. Topeka: Kansas State Printing Plant, 1924, pp. 150-156.

Wiedorn in Kansas II

A previous post introduced William S. Wiedorn's work while employed as an assistant professor of landscape gardening at the Kansas State Agricultural College. During this period, he published "A Brief History of Gardening" and "Beautifying the Home Grounds of Kansas" for the state's horticultural society.

He began his historical essay with Sir Francis Bacon's On Gardens:

"Men come to build stately sooner than to garden finely; as if gardening were the greater perfection."

His survey introduced ancient gardens and exalted the urban ones that had been discovered at Pompeii (Plate I, above). He equally favored the Islamic gardens of southern Spain and those of Louis XIV (Plate II, below).

For early American architecture, his essay highlighted "Spanish" gardens in the South, "High English" gardens in Virginia, "Catholic" ones in Maryland, "Quaker" and "German" in Pennsylvania, "Swedish" in New Jersey, "Dutch" in New York, "Puritan" in New England and "French" in Canada. He included his 1922 sketch of the Patio Royal in New Orleans (Plate III, below) to illustrate the southern garden, which he equated with violets, heliotropes, carnations, lobelia, iris, lilies, tulips, hyacinths, roses, oleanders, rose bay, myrtle and jasmine.

Reflecting on the modern American garden of his day, Wiedorn emphasized an increased formality in design and a growing attention to urban parks:

"The American is becoming more and more a city man, and his civic pride runs high. Evidences of this are seen in our new parks, cemeteries and garden cities. The American thinks and works in larger areas than flower gardens; he is more interested in open lawns, lakes, trees and shrubs. Flower gardening, unlike the European practice, is the last phase to be developed. The American excels in developing parks and is laying the foundations for the finest natural park scenery in the world. Our cemeteries are being treated as natural parks. Garden cities or land subdivisions, in which every house and garden is part of a large unit, are being built everywhere. Such divisions as Forest Hills (Queens), New York; the Country Club District, Kansas City; and Roland Park, Baltimore, have set standards which others are adopting."

Johns Hopkins doctoral candidate Paige Glotzer has been documenting Kansas City financial connections to Roland Park and the subdivision's influence on other real estate developments and federal housing policies. 

More on Wiedorn's Kansas planting recommendations later.

Images and quoted matter (unless otherwise indicated) from:  W.S. Wiedorn. “A Brief History of Gardening.” The Biennial Report of the Kansas State Horticultural Society XXXVII. Topeka: Kansas State Printing Plant, 1924, pp. 127-137. University Archives, Kansas State University Libraries.

Wiedorn in Kansas

New Orleans landscape architect William Wiedorn (1896-1990) taught landscape gardening at Kansas State Agricultural College from 1920-1924. During part of that time, the college advised on more than 201 landscape gardening efforts in 32 counties. While some 18% were public parks, the vast majority were private residential beautification projects.(1)

Wiedorn worked with horticulture professor Albert Dickens to supervise the improvement of the state capitol grounds in Topeka. They installed an underground irrigation system and recommended turning under an expanse of Sudan grass followed by a blue grass sowing. (2)

Dodge City hired the young landscape designer to superintend the planting of nearly 800 trees and shrubs in its Wright Park.(3) Other projects included the Augusta High School, Kansas State Penitentiary (Lansing), the Osawatomie Hospital and the Kansas State Tubercular Sanitarium (Norton). The latter is shown below.

The former tuberculosis hospital is now home to the Norton Correctional Facility.

(1)"College Lends Aid in Kansas Landscaping." Industrialist 18 October 1922.

(2)"Dickens and Wiedorn Help Beautify Capitol Grounds." Industrialist 28 September 1921.

(3)"Farmers as Guests." The Hutchinson News 13 April 1922.

Images above:  "William S. Wiedorn" in The Royal Purple. Detail enhanced. 1922; The Royal Purple. Detail enhanced. 1924. "Landscape Gardening" in Sixth Biennial Report of the State Sanatorium for Tuberculosis, Norton, Kansas for the Two Years Ending June 30, 1924. Topeka, 1924.

Roof Gardens

Roulhac Toledano has been researching French and Spanish influences on Louisiana gardens for her forthcoming book with Mary Lou Christovich. She recently mentioned the fact that the flat-roofed dwellings that once proliferated in the Vieux Carré accommodated roof top gardens. Grace Dunn's 1895 New Orleans: The Place and the People featured Frances E. Jones' illustration of two such adjacent houses on Dumaine Street (shown above). Only one of the two flat-roofed structures is extant.

In the early twentieth century, roof gardens were largely associated with hotels. In 1918, the Grunewald Caterers of the Roosevelt Hotel established its roof garden on West End Boulevard. When it opened, the venue was geared towards autoists, with the caterers advertising that they would deliver sodas, ice cream and sandwiches to customers' automobiles. Early motorists could then board the West End-Mandeville ferry for touring wooded areas on the north shore. By 1919, the West End Branch Roof Garden (as it was called) was a popular dining and dancing venue during the hot summer months. The elevated space accommodated refreshing lake breezes. Various New Orleans jazz musicians recollected performing at the "West End Roof," and some of these accounts are now available online through Music Rising.

Architect and early auto enthusiast Leon Weiss was a patron at the West End Roof, where he took his future bride, Caroline Dreyfous. When the Jung Hotel was considering a roof garden in 1927, Weiss accompanied clients Peter Jung, Jr. and Leon Jacobs to the newly constructed Markham Hotel in Gulfport, Mississippi. The Markham -- designed by the Chicago firm of Marshall and Fox -- featured a roof garden, and Jung and Jacobs sought first-hand assurances that the band noise would not prove objectionable to hotel guests desiring sleep. Writing to Caroline in July 1927, Weiss conveyed that he and his clients had dined on the roof, listened to music and watched couples dance, while cooled by Gulf breezes. Jung and Jacobs slept soundly, their fears assuaged.(1)

When Weiss drafted his specifications for the Jung Annex's 16th-story roof garden, he required a terrazzo floor on concrete insulated with two thicknesses of Celotex. The space had a movable skylight, so that whatever the weather conditions, dancers would be able to enjoy themselves. The large arched windows -- modeled after those at Versailles -- were designed to "disappear" during mild weather, providing a plein-aire view of the city. For its grand opening in late November 1928, musicians John Hyman (aka Johnny Wiggs) and Joe Loyocano (amongst others) performed from the mezzanine. Weiss's roof garden scheme was somewhat reminiscent of the one erected on the Pythian Temple. Other nearby venues with roof gardens included the St. Charles Hotel (New Orleans), the Eola Hotel (Natchez), the Bienville Hotel (Mobile), the Grunewald Hotel (New Orleans, below), the Young Men's Gymnastic Club (New Orleans), and the Murdock Restaurant (Galveston).

In 1928, Kansas City architect Alonzo H. Gentry renovated and expanded Joplin, Missouri's Connor Hotel. The Bal Moderne, its remodeled roof garden, could seat 500 and provided a "high-ceilinged" dance floor illuminated through amber-tinted glass.(2)

During World War II, Gretna was home to Nelson's Roof Terrace and Rhumba Room, at the corners of Kepler and Monroe Streets.(3)

In 1901, The Daily Picayune reported on the growing popularity of roof gardens in New York City.(4)  Hoteliers in the Gulf South touted roof gardens as a means to entice tourists during the steamy season.(5)


(1) Leon Weiss. Letter to Caroline Dreyfous.   19 July 1927. Writings of Leon Weiss, Vol. IV. Weiss, Dreyfous and Seiferth Office Records, Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries.

(2)"Lighting System a Big Part of Annex Decoration Plan." Joplin Globe 3 February 1929.

(3)Nelson's Roof Terrace. Advertisement. Jefferson Parish Yearly Review. 1942, p. 144. URL: http://www.jeffersonhistoricalsociety.com/VirtualArchives/jpyr/1942b.pdf

(4)"Growing Popularity of Roof Gardens." The Daily Picayune 21 July 1901.

(5)"Hotel Business a Good Barometer." The Times Picayune 1 September 1901.

Images above:  Frances E. Jones. "Spanish Houses on Rue Du Maine." In Samuel Wilson, Jr.'s copy of Grace King's New Orleans: The Place and the People. New York: Macmillan, 1895. Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries.

"The West End Branch Roof Garden." The Times Picayune 23 September 1919.

"The Jung Roof Garden." The Times Picayune 24 November 1928.

"The Grunewald Hotel Roof Garden." The Lumber Trade Journal 58 (15 October 1910).

NOLA Victory Gardening

In January and February 1944, New Orleanians were thinking about Victory Gardens. US Department of Agriculture Chairman of the Victory Garden committee, H.W. Hochbaum, led a two-day Victory Garden Conference at the St. Charles Hotel that was attended by participants from Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi and Alabama. After the 1943 gardening effort resulted in lower yields than had been hoped, states were encouraged to develop their own programs to suit local needs and conditions.

Participants adopted a resolution sanctioning  the planting of green leafy and yellow vegetables and tomatoes, and the selection of high yield, insect- and disease-resistant seeds. Camilla Bradley, the editor of the New Orleans magazine Home Gardening for the South considered the conference a stimulating one, and encouraged her readers to increase the nationwide gardens from 20 million to 22 million:

"The need for civilians to grow and preserve their own food increases as each new front is opened. For every soldier overseas a 270-day food supply must be in reserve. The total reserve assumes staggering proportions when we realize that one third of our fighting forces are  already out of this country and plans are underway to double the number by the end of this year. We on the home front must not become complacent while the war news is good, but must realize that as new countries are freed our burden of feeding the liberated populations grows heavier."

Feature writer Ninette Carter developed spring planting recommendations, advocating the immediate planting of beets, carrots, spinach, mustard, lettuce, endive and cabbage. She advised readers to make planting lists and plan and space rows accordingly. She gave instructions for butter and snap bush bean rows, and the application of commercial fertilizer.

The magazine's advertisers focused on Victory gardening and the New Orleans Public Service Department provided "Victory Tips for Kitchens on War Schedule" with a menu and the following recipe:

Salmon with Biscuit Topping

2 cups seasoned white sauce (see below)
1 tall can salmon
3/4 cup grated cheese
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper

Biscuit Recipe

2 cups sifted flour
4 tsp baking powder
4 tsp fat
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 to 1 cup milk or water

Sift dry ingredients; cut in fat until mealy. Add milk gradually to make a soft dough. Knead lightly for a minute on a floured board. Roll to 1/2-inch thickness.

For white sauce, melt 4 tablespoons butter or fortified margarine in saucepan. Blend 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon pepper and 4 tablespoons unsifted enriched flour, add melted butter, stirring constantly. Add 2 cups milk gradually, stirring until sauce thickens. Pour off liquid. Remove all skin and bones from salmon. Combine salmon, white sauce, cheese and seasonings. Pour into greased casserole. Cover with biscuit topping and bake in preheated oven at 425 F., 20 mins.

Images and quoted matter above from:  Home Gardening for the South IV:2 (February 1944). Garden Library of the New Orleans Town Gardeners, Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries. A full run of the journal is also available in the Louisiana Research Collection.

To read more primary source material about the Victory Garden program,note that Edmore Loomis Davenport Seymour published a special edition of his The New Garden Encyclopedia in which he outlined the history of the federal program, and gave planting, dehydrating and canning guidance. A copy is located in the Garden Library of the New Orleans Town Gardeners at Tulane University.

New Orleans parking entrepreneur Harry J. Ducote planted a Victory Garden on his Iberville-N. Peters Street lot after gasoline rationing adversely affected his business. In just eight months, he had a healthy crop of cabbages, radishes, lettuce and tomatoes that garnered the attention of LIFE Magazine. An Associated Press photograph of Ducote and his garden -- flanked by the Customs House -- was published May 3, 1943.

From Bicycle to Automobile

An earlier post addressed New Orleans architect Rathbone De Buys' 1921 proposed Canal Street parking skyscraper. Five years earlier, Gustav Stickley's journal The Craftsman featured a review of the American Architect's publication, Garages, Country and Suburban, a series of ... articles on the structural features of the private garage and its equipment, the care of the car, the safe handling of gasolene and topics of interest to the owner and driver (New York, 1911).

The Craftsman extensively quoted the book:

"The coming of the automobile has introduced a new phase into the architect's daily work. The smart, shining, highly developed machine, quick, accurate and efficient, full of the very essence of modernity, with its irrepressible and confident chauffeur, seems to require more 'chic' accommodations, than did even the smartest horses and vehicles of the last generation. The age of the automobile is the age of cement, of high efficiency electric lighting and of the banishment of germs and crevices which harbor them. The garage must be modern, light, shining and not only clean, but free from any possibility of harboring dirt in any form. So, though the architect may still affect the homely and reliable bicycle as his own personal mode of locomotion, he enthusiastically approves the change in habits of clients which make necessary the designing and providing of a new type of building."

The reviewer seems to have been especially drawn to those garages that were portable, functioned equally as garden trellises and/or chauffeur's lodging, and one that served the purposes of the aviator as well as the motorist:

"The combination garage and hangar floor foretells the future form of this new, almost indispensable adjunct of the country house, for man must soon mount to the skies as well as skim the surfaces of the earth."

The airplane pictured above looks like the Bristol Box Kite, invented seven years after the Wright flyer, and used by the Royal Naval Air Service (U.K.), the Royal Romanian Air Force, and the Australian Flying Corps.

For aviation history buffs, the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) manages an aircraft museum  that includes a replica of the 1903 Wright Flyer and holds its popular annual airshow in Oshkosh, Wisconsin every July.

Images above: "Book Reviews." The Craftsman XXIX: 4 (January 1916): pp. 440-443.

Shannon Lee Dawdy MacArthur Recipient

University of Chicago anthropologist Shannon Lee Dawdy has received a 2010 MacArthur Grant in recognition of her scholarship. In recent years, her work has largely focused on New Orleans. Read more/watch a video here.

Building the Devil's Empire: French Colonial New Orleans is available through Tulane University Libraries.