Skip to main content Smithsonian Institution

Catalog Data

Creator:
Randall, Priscilla  Search this
Architect:
Velleco, Jim  Search this
Sculptor:
Brizzolesi  Search this
Ditarando, Roger  Search this
Provenance:
North Shore Garden Club of Massachusetts  Search this
Photographer:
Bullen, Kate  Search this
Gibson, Laura  Search this
Beinecke, Gina  Search this
Runkle, Pauline  Search this
Garden designer:
Runkle, Pauline  Search this
Collection Creator:
Garden Club of America  Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Place:
The Garden at Plum Hill (Manchester, Massachusetts)
United States of America -- Massachusetts -- Essex -- Manchester
Scope and Contents:
32 digital images and 2 folders. The folders includes worksheets, additional photographs and photocopies of articles.
General:
Located on 4 acres this flower garden was originally a pig farm. Sometime after 1981, a devastating fire destroyed the house and killed surrounding vegetation. All that remained was the barn. The current owners purchased the property in 1984 and a year later eight trailer loads of loam were brought in and hand-sifted for garden beds and borders that wrap around the property and its natural granite elements. The garden includes a full sun perennial garden, a shade garden, an antique rose garden, a meadow garden, and a small orchard of miniature fruit trees. These gardens feature flowering shrubs, perennials, bulbs and self-sowing biennials that are harvested regularly during eight months of the year to provide distinctive materials for the owner's floral design business located in the barn. Second generation woodlands lay beyond the developed spaces.
Roses, hydrangeas, peonies, astilbes, lady's mantle, Solomon's seal, catmint, tulips and hosta leaves may be grown for commercial floral arrangements but the gardens are designed to enhance the setting rather than traditional cutting gardens planted in rows. Inside the farmer's stone wall along the road there is a deep border of perennials and flowering shrubs. A curving pea stone driveway is bordered by birches, pines and dogwoods under planted with shade loving perennials. A formal oval rose garden with antique varieties as well as David Austin and other hybrids is protected by a lilac hedge, with boxwood globes and an antique gate at three entrances. More flower borders line the driveway up to the house culminating in a rose covered trellis. There is an herb garden with lavender that is nearly 30 years old, and thorn less blackberries and a fruit orchard nearby that contains apple, plum, peach and pear trees planted in 1986. Another shade garden with hydrangea edging the path leads to the woodlands and a dining terrace.
Roses, hydrangeas, peonies, astilbes, lady's mantle, Solomon's seal, catmint, tulips and hosta leaves may be grown for commercial floral arrangements but the gardens are designed to enhance the setting rather than traditional cutting gardens planted in rows. Inside the farmer's stone wall along the road there is a deep border of perennials and flowering shrubs. A curving pea stone driveway is bordered by birch, pine and dogwood under planted with shade loving perennials. A formal oval rose garden with antique varieties, David Austin roses and other hybrids is protected by a lilac hedge, with boxwood balls at three entrances and an antique gate. More flower borders line the driveway up to the house culminating in a rose covered trellis. There is an herb garden with lavender that is nearly 30 years old. A fruit orchard of apple, plum, peach and pear and thorn less blackberries was started in 1986. Another shade garden with hydrangea edging the path leads to the woodlands and a dining terrace.
A sculpture of a goat and birdbaths by Roger DiTarando are placed in the gardens. Another feature is a sculpture of Beatrice by Brizzolesi.
In 2016 a raised bed garden for vegetables, cutting flowers and herbs was designed and built on a sunny slope behind the barn. It is fenced with birch poles and patterned panels with mesh and wires to support espaliered apples and keep out predators. There is a brick and stone custom made compass rose outside the gate, brick walkways between raised beds, and a tuteur sunk in gravel.
Persons associated with the garden include Nathaniel Hildreth (former owner, before 1854); Albert J. Lucas and Grace A. Lucas (former owners until 1947); Carl and Florence Wentworth Wilson (former owners, 1947-1983); Judson Wilson (former owner, 1982-1983); Architects Development Corporation (former owner, 1983-1984); Brizzolesi (sculptor, circa 1929); Jim Velleco (architect, 1984-1985); Priscilla Randall (trellis designer); Roger DiTarando (sculptor); Pauline Runkle (garden designer, 2017- ); Ed Mota (built birch fence and compass rose, 2017).
The North Shore Garden Club facilitated the 2014 and 2019 submissions of this garden's documentation.
Collection Restrictions:
Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Topic:
Gardens -- Massachusetts -- Manchester  Search this
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Identifier:
AAG.GCA, File MA601
See more items in:
The Garden Club of America collection
The Garden Club of America collection / Series 1: United States Garden Images / Massachusetts
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Gardens
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/kb603740226-7bc7-41f5-9249-df9a8126cf06
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-aag-gca-ref17624