Garden History Matters

Historic French Walled Gardens Destroyed in Montreuil

2012-05-23T12:47:00.001+02:00

A sad story (in French) from Sara concerning the demolition of walled gardens in Montreuil that since the middle ages have been used for the cultivation of peaches to supply markets in Paris. No doubt all in the name of progress.

Some of the stories behind our Fruits & Vegetables

2012-05-23T12:26:00.001+02:00

Just want to share a short video which tells the stories behind a handful of the edibles that feature in Heritage Fruits & Vegetables.

Please do also have a look at the Facebook group (you will have to sign into your own Facebook account) and share with us any stories, recipes, ideas, questions etc. that you have.

Growing your own in early Chicago

2012-05-23T11:15:00.000+02:00

Chicago History Museum has posted a fascinating article on its blog entitled ‘Gardening as a civil duty’ which discusses how early settlers had to grow their own edible crops, as they were unable to rely on provisions shipped west by very primitive methods.

Fort Dearborn in 1808 - community’s garden in the foreground. (attrib. iCHI-37865)

One of the illustrations (shown here) is a 1808 plan of Fort Dearborn, including the designated area of the community’s garden in the foreground. Fort Dearborn was built by Captain John Whistler and his troops in 1803 beside the Chicago river in what is now the city of the same name. The original fort was destroyed following the Battle of Fort Dearborn in 1812, and a new fort was constructed on the same site in 1816 .The fort was de-commissioned by 1837, and parts of the fort were lost to the widening of the Chicago River in 1855 and a fire in 1857; the last vestiges being destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. The site of the fort is now a Chicago Landmark, part of the Michigan–Wacker Historic District.

Ancient Bablyon under threat

2012-05-21T15:00:00.001+02:00

How it may have looked

According to RT the remains of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon in what is now Iraq, are under threat.

Certainly the remains of the ancient city are situated near present-day Al Hillah in Babylon Province south of Baghdad and the country has long been trying to get UNESCO World Heritage status for what was once one of the Wonders of the Ancient World.

But now it appears that there has ben a volte-face for the Oil Ministry now plans to lay an oil pipeline right through the archaeological site from north to south.

No doubt that this is a potential catastrophe for the heritage of Iraq, but it may not in fact damage the remains of the Hanging Gardens, for it has never been definitely proven where the garden was in fact constructed.

The Hanging Garden at Nineveh

In fact, the general consensus is that the garden was constructed by king Sennacherib (r.701-681 BC) and not Nebuchadnezzar II (r.605-562 BC) and in Nineveh rather than Babylon.

Sadly, just as the remains of Ancient Babylon are under threat, so are those of Nineveh. Saving Our Vanishing Heritage a project under the umbrella of the Global Heritage Fund, an ‘international conservancy that has worked for nearly a decade to protect and preserve the most significant and endangered cultural heritage sites in the developing world’ has Nineveh listed as a site on the verge of ‘irreversible loss and destruction’.

For those wish to know more about the question of Nineveh and the Hanging Gardens, the following article has much more information, but I can't find a link for it: ‘Nineveh, Babylon and the Hanging Gardens: Cuneiform and Classical Sources Reconciled’ by Stephanie Dalley and published in the journal Iraq: vol. 56 (1994), pp. 45-58.

London Historic Garden Walk

2012-05-20T18:04:00.001+02:00

Tom Turner, Principal Lecturer in Garden History at the University of Greenwich’s School of Architecture, Design & Construction and the driving force behind gardenvisit.com has has created a 20 mile walking tour of London’s secret gardens to celebrate the inaugural Chelsea Fringe, the off-shoot of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.

The walk, which can also be followed by bike, stops at 40 points through London, following a loop covering over 3,500 years of history, from Henry VIII’s hunting grounds to Roman gardens and a modern city farm.

Visit London Gardens Walk for the route and for more information. There is also an e-book available for Kindle - and today it will be free to download.

The Chelsea Fringe Festival runs until 10 June.

Restoriang the Nehrling Gardens in Gotha, Florida

2012-05-20T14:03:00.000+02:00

Henry Nehrling (from Nehrling Gardens)

Another garden restoration story, but this time form the other side of the Atlantic. According to ClickOrlando the historic garden of Palm Cottage Gardens, which is the former home of famed horticulturist Henry Nehrling, is on a fundraising drive in order to restore the gardens.

Site Plan (from Nehrling Gardens)

According to Nehrling Gardens - there is much more on the man and his gardens on the website - Henry purchased the property in 1885 and established a garden where he could experiment with tropical and subtropical plants year round. He quickly transformed the property in to a working laboratory, testing more than 3,000 plants for the USDA.

The house & garden today (from Nehrling Gardens)

After Henry's death in 1929, the 60-acre property changed hands several times. Although on the National Register of Historic Places, the estate, which now stands at 6 acres, is in need of repair and restoration - and of course, funds.

Restoration of Wepre Park

2012-05-20T12:24:00.000+02:00

The house has sadly been demolished (image from BBC News website)

The BBC News website is reporting that Flintshire County Council in north Wales has secured funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund to develop a restoration plan to conserve, restore and improve the historic gardens of Wepre Park.

The Council provides a brief history of Wepre Park which notes that: 'At the southern end of Wepre Park are the remains of Ewloe Castle which was built in 1210 and extended by the Welsh Princes in 1257, it is a scheduled ancient monument. Wepre hall itself was built in 1770 and in the 18^th century formal grounds and gardens were laid out and then further extended in 1880. The estate at that time would have covered over 30 hectares including some of the farms which are next to the park and much of Connah’s Quay. After the First World War the estate was broken up and sold, eventually to Connah’s Quay Urban District Council. Following the Second World War the Hall was used for council housing with the external building being used for the council’s Park’s and Gardens department. By 1960 the house had fallen into disrepair and was demolished. During the 1970’s and 1980’s the site was developed into a country park. Today you can still see the remenants of the landscaping from the 1800’s around the visitors centre.'

The gardens in the C.18 & C.19 (image from BBC News website)

The cost of the project, which aims to restore the gardens back to their prime in the 18th and 19th centuries, is estimated to be in the region of £750,000.

Rare chance to visit Ammerdown House gardens in Somerset

2012-05-03T10:00:00.000+02:00

The gardens of Ammerdown House were designed by Arts and Crafts architect Sir Edwin Lutyens in 1902 to complement the house by James Wyatt (1788.) Still owned by the Joliffe family, the private gardens will be open to the public on Monday 07 May between 11am and 5pm (and again on Monday 27 August) in aid of charity.

The gardens are 10 miles south of Bath on the B3139 at Kilmersdon in Somerset - directions and more information can be found on this Parks and Gardens UK entry.

The Gardens of Zuisen-ji Temple

2012-05-01T20:29:00.000+02:00

Fading temple bell
The fragrance of flowers strikes
At evening.
(Haiku by Matsuo Basho)

Stephen Mansfield, the author of the recently published Japan's Master Gardens: Lessons in Space and Environment has penned an interesting article entitled 'Kamakura's historic 'flowering garden'', which is published in The Japan Times tells of the gardens of Zuisen-ji Temple in Kamakura.

A History of Designed Landscapes in New Orleans

2012-04-26T14:27:00.000+02:00

Sally O'Halloran got in touch to flag up what in her opinion is a fascinating study of the history of both public and private spaces in New Orleans. I cannot offer an opinion as I have yet to read the tome, but according to the publicity, 'Landscape architect Lake Douglas employs written accounts, archival data, historic photographs, lithographs, maps, and city planning documents many of which have never been published until now to explore public and private outdoor spaces in New Orleans and those who shaped them. The result, Public Spaces, Private Gardens: A History of Designed Landscapes in New Orleans, is the first in-depth examination of the city's landscape history.'

Would anyone care to submit a review?

Trouble at Craig-y Nos

2012-04-26T09:43:00.000+02:00

According to WalesOnline, a row has blown up over the state of the 16 ha (40 acres) of landscaped grounds - now a Country Park - that surround Craig Y Nos Castle in Brecon.

The gardens were the pride and joy of the Victorian opera star Adelina Patti and were described thus in the April 08 1882 issue of the Gardeners’ Chronicle (vol.17, p.464) from which the illustration is also taken:

'The gardens, and all that pertain thereto, are entirely original, and have been formed and constructed from the plans and under the superintendence of Mr. William Barron, Garden Architect, &c., Sketty, Swansea, to whom Madame Patti intrusted the work. Mr. Barron is, we understand, a pupil of the late Sir J. Paxton, at Chatsworth, nearly forty years ago, but is no old-school practitioner— on the contrary, a glance at the light, elegant, and beautiful designs here shown will, we venture to say, place him as one of the first of the day. A special feature here are the steep grassy slopes or terraces in front of the Castle ; these, although not yet completed, were a work of no mean character - the quantity of soil required in their formation being astonishing. How much better these grassy slopes look than the ordinary inevitable terrace walling, and how much less costly ! We have before noted Mr. Barron's mode of forming these grassy slopes in other parts of the country, and it appears to us his style is particularly pleasing, inexpensive, and quite unique. The conservatory attached to the Castle measures 80 feet by 27, having a ridge-and-furrow roof, the side-lights with glass near to the ground all forming doors that maybe opened at pleasure to go out on the terrace at any point.'

The current owner of the castle, Martin Gover has taken the owners of the park - Brecon Beacons National Park Authority (BBNPA), to task for their lack of maintenance and care saying that the park is ‘It is more a wasteland of debris than a park. Tourism operator Ashford Price has weighed in claiming that the park would be ‘hardly worthy of a third world state’. For their part BBNPA says it is relying heavily on volunteers to maintain the park in the current tough economic times and has given assurances that it values the park highly.

A sad state of affairs and we will await further developments.

More Photographs

2012-04-25T11:20:00.000+02:00

Edward Steichen with delphiniums (c. 1938), Umpawaug House (Redding, Connecticut). Photo by Dana Steichen. Gelatin silver print. Edward Steichen Archive, VII. The Museum of Modern Art Archive

On the subject of garden photography, GardenHistoryGirl has posted about Edward Steichen, who and I qoute 'is best known for his fashion photography - in the 1930s he was chief of photography for Condé Nast publications, which included Vogue and Vanity Fair. But one of the great photographer's lesser known roles was as President of the Delphinium Society of America. His archives at the Eastman Kodak House contain an entire section known as the Delphinium Papers, devoted to his passion for plant breeding.'

Historic Garden Photos by Frances Benjamin Johnston

2012-04-23T10:04:00.000+02:00

Flagstones Charles Clinton Marshall house, 117 East 55th Street, New York, New York. Tea house/sleeping porch, 1921–1922

A very interesting post and beautiful post on Design Sponge featuring Some lovely early American garden photographs by Frances Benjamin Johnston (1864–1952) who was one of the earliest American female photographers. According to the Library of Congress she 'Trained at the Académie Julian in Paris, she studied photography upon her return to Washington, D.C., in the mid-1880s and opened a professional studio circa 1890. Her family's social position gave Johnston access to the First Family and leading Washington political figures and launched her career as a photojournalist and portrait photographer. Johnston turned to garden and estate photography in 1910s.'

The collection of more than 1,000 of Frances's hand-colored garden (and house) photos has been added to this online catalogue of the Library of Congress, and contains wonderful stuff!

Moreover, the photographs are also the subject of a just-published, 400-page book by Sam Watters entitled Gardens for a Beautiful America, 1895-1935: Photographs by Frances Benjamin Johnston.

The book includes informative essays that describe the importance of Johnston’s work with gardens and explain the techniques she used to compose lantern slides that resemble delicate miniature paintings. In addition, Watters gives information about the current state of the gardens today - a very valuable tool for garden historians.

The Howe Garden at Cheekwood Reopens

2012-04-22T13:41:00.003+02:00

Larry McCormack/The Tennessean/WBIR 10

Considered by many to be a major piece of Nashville's history, the Howe Garden at Cheekwood reopened to the public on April 21 after the 'largest and most comprehensive renovation project recently undertaken in the (Cheekwood) botanical garden' costing an estimated $835,000.

The garden is named for Harry and Cora Howe, an East Nashville couple who first opened their woodland wildflower garden, known as Wildings, to the public in 1929. Every spring thousands of visitors would flock to enjoy the trilliums, Virginia bluebells, trout lilies and celandine poppies. In 1969, following the Howes’ deaths, the Garden Club of Nashville transplanted the garden to Cheekwood and there it is, ready to welcome visitors once again.

Job Opportunity in Australia

2012-04-20T13:59:00.002+02:00

The Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust in Australia is looking for a new Chair of the Board of Trustees - more here. 

The California Botanic Garden of Mandeville Canyon

2012-04-20T10:14:00.002+02:00

The California Botanic Garden in Brentwood's Mandeville Canyon. Courtesy of the Pacific Palisades Historical Society Clearwater Collection, Santa Monica Public Library.

A fascinating piece from KCET.org giving the history of what was planned to be Los Angeles's finest botanical gardens. In 1928 the California Botanic Garden, the brain child of businessman and naturalist H. C. Oakley, opened in the hills of Brentwood. The aim was to plant 800 acres of land in the Mandeville Canyon, part of the Santa Monica Mountains, and to create a huge botanic garden. Sadly the Great Depression got in the way and the gardens closed in 1935. A sad story but an interesting one nonetheless.

Exhibition on the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens

2012-04-19T13:55:00.000+02:00


Image courtesy of the Foundling Museum showing Vauxhall Gardens in 1751

Back in January I touched on the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens in a post on the redevelopment of the Royal Docks as a pleasure gardens for the London Olympics.

Now, an exhibition at the Foundling Museum in London (11 May to 9 September) explores the reasons behind the success of the Gardens over such a long period.

History Today has a sneak preview of some of the images.

Does any one know anything about the gardens at Cefntilla Court?

2012-04-18T16:14:00.000+02:00

Cefntilla Court. Photo attrib. Andy Dolman

The Garden History Society has posted a request for information about the gardens of Cefntilla Court (the link is to a Wikipedia article) near Usk in Monmouthshire. The Court together with 63.5 acres has been put up for sale by the heirs of Lord Raglan (of Charge of the Light Brigade fame / infamy) for £2 million.

And according to sale documents 'a large drawing room looks out over the immaculate landscaped gardens, with a pond, an ornamental bridge and a row of yew topiary clipped into apple and pear shapes.'

If any one knows more, please do drop me a line or contact the GHS. Thank you.

New Books on Chinese Garden Histoty

2012-04-18T12:13:00.002+02:00

The China Daily reports that a two-volume book an the history of the country's gardens from 1840-1949 has been commissioned and the first volume published. And that a book on the garden history of Nanxun, a town of rivers and lakes in north of Zhejiang province built in 1252 during the Southern Song Dynasty was published in March.

However, the article does not give titles and so I am assuming that they are only in Chinese - pity. But if anyone discovers otherwise, do let me know.

Poulton Hall gardens open April 21 & 22

2012-04-18T09:17:00.000+02:00

The Walled Garden at Poulton Hall

The Wirral News reports an opportunity to visit the gardens at Poulton Hall which have a strong Alic in Wonderland theme. The garden, will be open to the public under the National Gardens Scheme this Saturday and Sunday, April 21 and 22, from 2pm to 5.30pm.

More on John Evelyn's Sayes Court

2012-04-17T19:52:00.000+02:00

Plan of Sayes Court garden in 1692

The blog Depford Is reports on a Council for British Archaeology press release concerning the on-going issues surrounding development of Convoy's Wharf in Depford and threats to the adjacent remains of Sayes Court.

The blog London's Lost Garden which is dedicated to Sayes Court (from which the above picture is taken) has an interesting piece which also mentions a Study Day all about Evelyn and his garden being hosted at the Linnæan Society on 25 April and organised by the London Historic Parks and Gardens Trust and the Garden History Society. There is more information and a booking form on the Garden History Society website.

More Rousham

2012-04-17T11:29:00.002+02:00

A post from Thinkingardens...

Garden Sculpture

2012-04-17T11:12:00.001+02:00

An interesting piece from Auction Central News. Of the above, 'Edith Barretto Parsons (1878-1956) sculpted a collection of charming youngsters holding animals for use as fountain figures. A bronze version of her ‘Fish Baby,’ circa 1920, sold for $9,000 in the spring 2011 auction. Courtesy Kamelot Auctions.

My New Book is Published Today

2012-04-16T14:26:00.001+02:00

Yea! Today is the day that my new book - Heritage Fruits and Vegetables (with photography by Clay Perry) - is officially published by Thames and Hudson. The link to the left takes you to the relevant Amazon page where you can take a peek inside the covers.

The American edition, Heirloom Fruits and Vegetables, is published on 31 May.

The Georgian Garden

2012-04-16T14:13:00.000+02:00

A nice piece in Savista Magazine by Margaret Prowling on the Georgian garden. If interested in the subject I have also posed on the English Landscape Garden and William Kent.