yews were employed for the same purpose. Beautiful flowers both wild and cultivated adorned beds separated by greenery. There would likely have been a garden feature of some sort, whether an arbor, pergola, bench or fountain, or perhaps a round planting bed with a sundial. Small topiaries, spiral trees or other pairs of plantings often flanked entryways and garden gates. Symmetry never wavered in its popularity.


For families living in private homes and apartment buildings, public parks and other civic green spaces provided for picnics and game space. Lawns were lush and plentiful. Greenery was everywhere! Families embraced lawn games like croquet and lawn bowling, and long before fire pits were de rigueur the campfire was a popular evening ritual. Backyards were a mix of private space and service area. Garbage cans and clotheslines for laundry were often tucked away behind the home. Backyard lawns may have hosted family parties and accommodated playing children, sometimes behind a screen of green bushes to shield families from the sun and offer some privacy. People often used front yards as public space, so fencing was rare in front of homes. Outdoor furniture made of wicker and wrought iron was both fashionable and serviceable. People enjoyed sitting in


44 | COMMON INTEREST®


rockers and swings


on front porches to visit with neighbors.


In both modest and fancy garden settings of the time, florals flourished. Roses, hollyhocks and lilacs returned to fashion. Bulbs were densely planted so beds erupted in spring color. Perennials like foxglove, poppies, irises, phlox and Canterbury bells were also used to line paths and driveways. Annuals were added for summer color, and may have included petunias, strawflowers, marigolds and snapdragons. While primetime for 1920s gardens might be the spring and fall seasons, winter interest often appeared in the form of twig dogwoods with red and yellow branches.


Birdwatching was increasingly popular in the 1920s, following a decade of landmark conservation actions that included the 1913 Weeks-McLean Act that banned the springtime hunting of migratory birds and importation of


• Spring 2023 • A Publication of CAI-Illinois Chapter


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