Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. The original glass plate is available for inspection if necessary in the Archives Center. A limited number of fragile glass negatives and positives in the collection can be viewed directly in the Archives Center by prior appointment. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Recorded in: Washington (D.C.), United States, June 26, 1985.
Restrictions:
Restrictions on access. Some duplication is allowed. Use of materials needs permission of the Smithsonian Institution.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. Please visit our website to learn more about submitting a request. The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections make no guarantees concerning copyright or other intellectual property restrictions. Other usage conditions may apply; please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for more information.
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.
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Sponsor:
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
United States of America -- Ohio -- Muskingum County -- Zanesville
Scope and Contents:
The folder includes worksheets, a write-up of the property's history, site plans, a print-out of an online article, and a garden drawing and plant list for the perennial garden, and other information.
General:
Located adjacent to a deep Appalachian ravine, this intercity home and linked city lots are reclaimed dumping areas restored as a five-acre woodland garden. The property originally consisted of a Mission-Revival Mediterranean home built in the mid 1920's located on four 50' x 100' city lots plus a one and a half acre Appalachian ravine on the west side of the property. In 1991 a contiguous property was acquired to bring the size of the garden to three acres. It had been used as an illegal dump and forty-seven trucks loads of debris were removed, as well as a stand of mature silver maples. A waterfall was built on the north side of the property and the ravine was made accessible by native stone paths. The mature oaks, hickories, and sycamores on the property remained as the bones of the woodland garden. At the foot of the ravine is a natural bog, which provided an opportunity to grow plants that could survive in six inches of water in the early spring. Plants bloom from March to November. The peak bloom is in April and May when Kalmia (mountain laurel), Styrax (Pink Chimes), and Obassian join the rhododendron, dogwoods, unusual cultivars of redbuds, Halesia (Carolina Silver Bells), azalea, and many native flowering plants and trees.
At the suggestion of a neighbor, the current owners acquired a ravine property near, but not contiguous to, Mission Oaks Garden in 2001. The property was overgrown with silver maple trees, but is now home to a 2-acre conifer garden consisting of 214 uncommon conifer trees and seventy-one deciduous non-conifer trees. There are forty-six genera and eighty-five different species. A 30' x 70' pond was created on the property and has native fish, turtles, and a healthy stand of lotus on the west bank.
The diverse genera and species of plants are combined, with few replications, to create a cohesive woodland garden of both cultivated and native plants. The owner is specifically interested in unusual woody shrubs and trees, vines, ferns, and bog plants. Pocket plantings of mixed types appear throughout the garden, designed by the owner. Of notable interest is the collection of five Magnolia grandiflora and twelve deciduous magnolias, as well as shrub ivy called Hedera helix. The perennial garden was created by garden designer Tracy Disabato-Aust in 2000. The garden contains more than 300 genera, excluding the perennial garden.
The owner has established a private non-operating trust that will upon his death conserve, support, and maintain the property for the citizens of Ohio.
Persons associated with the garden include Bert Hendley, (garden designer, since 1988); Tracy DiSabato-Aust (perennial garden designer, ca. 2000); Renate Burgyan (sculptor, ca. 2000); Rufus Burton (former owner)
Related Materials:
Mission Oaks Gardens related holdings consist of 1 folder (14 35 mm. slides (photographs))
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.
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Sponsor:
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
United States of America -- Virginia -- Frederick County -- Middletown
Scope and Contents:
The folder includes worksheets and photocopies of articles about the property.
General:
Major Isaac Hite Jr., who fought with the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, and his first wife Eleanor (Nelly) Conway Madison, a sister of President James Madison, built the Federal style house beginning in 1794, using limestone quarried on the 483 acre property. The landscape plan included groves of trees for shade and was influenced by the less formal 18th century English gardens that complement rather than contrast with the natural setting. The fields would have been planted in grain for livestock, including cattle and Merino sheep. During Hite's lifetime the property was expanded to 7,500 acres and included a distillery and several mills. The house has a south façade of dressed limestone, and is in the pavilion style favored by Thomas Jefferson. There are several outbuildings. The only records of the garden show light foundation plantings around the house and a latticework fence.
During the Civil War, Belle Grove Plantation was the setting of the Battle of Cedar Creek on October 19, 1864, in which Union General Philip Sheridan defeated Confederate General Jubal Early.
The Brumback family owned the property from 1907 to 1929. Francis Welles Hunnewell purchased the property in 1929 and bequeathed it to the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1964.
In 1983, the Garden Club of Virginia voted to restore the gardens at Belle Grove Plantation, using funds raised in their annual garden walks. The gardens were restored to the style of circa 1820. University of Connecticut Professor Emeritus Rudy J. Favretti (Fellow in the American Society of Landscape Architects) designed the restoration. Restoration included pruning the trees to restore light to the house and open the view of the Blue Ridge and Allegheny Mountains and replacing the large foundation plantings including diseased boxwoods with low-growing plants. In addition, an overgrown herb garden was converted to a demonstration garden comprised of plants used in cooking, medicine and commerce in the 19th century, with restored latticework fencing on three sides and post and rail fencing on the fourth side.
Belle Grove Plantation, now 283 acres, is operated by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and open to the public. Sites on the grounds include the ice house, old hall, dairy, smokehouse, blacksmiths shop, demonstration garden, slave cemetery, and agricultural fields. There is also a library of local, architectural, crafts and agricultural history, and an artifacts collection.
Persons associated with the property include Major Isaac Hite (former owner, 1794-1836) and descendents of the Hite family, the Brumback family (former owner, 1907-1929), Francis Welles Hunnewell (former owner, 1929), Rudy J. Favretti (1983, restoration landscape architect) and the National Trust for Historic Preservation (owner, 1964-present)
Related Materials:
Belle Grove Plantation related holdings consist of 2 folders (1 3 x 4 in. lantern slide and 3 35mm slides)
See also the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
See others in:
Hollerith Collection, ca. 1970?
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.
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Sponsor:
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
United States of America -- New Jersey -- Morris County -- Chatham
Scope and Contents:
The folder includes worksheets and an article.
General:
The Lagos Garden features dwarf and standard conifers, an ornamental deer fence, and rock borders around the perennial beds that reference an old stone foundation in the woodland garden at the back of the property. A low bluestone wall along the front of the one-acre lot, which slopes towards the street, contains a border of dwarf conifers and broad-leaf evergreens. Bluestone is used again for steps that lead up to the woodlands. There are terraced perennials beds in the lawn behind one side of the house and a large bed of dwarf conifers, a dwarf Japanese maple, and shade perennials also edged with rocks on the other side. A red brick patio picks up the dull red siding of the barn, and the Adirondack chairs on the patio are painted slate blue to coordinate with the bluestone. The property is slightly less than one acre and the garden has been developing since 1973 so trees planted by the owner now are full sized, including a tulip tree, maples, flowering cherries and dogwood, red buds and a clump birch.
Specimen trees in the Lagos Garden include dwarf Alberta spruce, dwarf Japanese maple, dwarf Japanese cedar (cryptomeria Japonica), umbrella pine, weeping hemlock and weeping beech. Benches are placed around the garden for viewing from different angles. The dwarf conifer garden has a variety of foliage colors and textures. Fallen leaves are left in place in the woodlands garden as their brown color contrasts with the green of growing plants.
The deer fence adds a decorative element to the garden and has a wide double gate for easy access. The neighboring property installed a white architectural fence for climbing roses that is behind a bed of specimen trees in the Lagos Garden.
Persons associated with the garden include Helen and Dave Wallis (former owners, 1958-1973); Joan Kran (garden designer, 1973-present).
Related Materials:
Lagos Garden related holdings consist of 1 folder (28 digital images)
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.
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Sponsor:
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
United States of America -- Massachusetts -- Middlesex County -- Cambridge
Scope and Contents:
1 folder and 25 digital images. The folder includes worksheets, photocopies of reference prints and other images.
General:
The Morse School is a Cambridge Modern style single-story modular structure with large windows and doors that open to the outdoors from individual classrooms, built in 1955. One-quarter acre of the schoolyard has gardens that are a major learning facility for the elementary school's students, and a resource for the neighborhood. The entry garden has a gravel path bordered on one side with raspberry bushes, with annual tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and cucumbers on the other side, and an open bed for digging dirt. A painted arbor opens to the main garden which features an alphabet garden along a chain link fence. Each year students plants annual flowers and vegetables for each letter, such as asters for "A" and zinnias for "Z". A pollinator garden attracts butterflies, other pollinating insects and birds with milkweed, Shasta daisies, geraniums, catmint, phlox, and grapevines growing on two trellises against the wall of the building. About ten beds of various sizes and shapes in the center of the main garden grow seasonal vegetables, beginning with leafy green vegetables, moving on to root crops such as carrots, potatoes and beets, followed by corn and peas and beans on a string trellis. There are two herb beds, more beds with strawberries, onions, sunflowers, cabbage, zucchini, chard, watermelon, and a companion planting of marigolds. Annual flowers are grown in two small whiskey barrels.
Other facilities include compost bins for food scraps and garden thinnings and a vibrantly painted shed for storing tools and supplies. A grassy gathering area has two fruit trees including an apple tree planted in the 1950's, and a large sycamore tree with six tree stumps nearby, seating for teaching, discussion, reading, singing and playing music. The community holds a Garden Expo in August and a cider pressing in October in the grassy gathering area. Age-appropriate curricula uses the gardens to teach urban children where food comes from, the life-cycle of growing plants, introductory botany and genetics. Other subject areas including art, math, food preparation and healthy eating derive from the students' gardening experiences.
CitySprouts, a local non-profit organization, partners with Morse School and provides workers, tools and garden supplies. CitySprouts has a plant list it recommends for garden-based learning along with suggestions for environmental subjects. Morse School had an empty front yard that was dug up and planted with red, white and blue spring bulbs in the shape of an American flag following September 11, 2001. The learning garden was developed afterwards.
Persons associated with the garden include Metropolitan District Commission (playground, Victory Garden, 1953- ); City of Cambridge (Morse School, 1953- ); Carl Koch (1912-1998) (architect, 1955); Design Partnership of Cambridge (renovation architects, 1999); Jane Hirschi, Director of City Sprouts (non-profit assisting in creating and maintaining school garden, 2001- ); Patricia Beggy (Morse school principal, 2004- ); Juliet and György Kepes (enamel panels artists, 1957); Tomie Arai (silk-screened mural artist, 1999).
Related Materials:
Additional materials also located in CitySprouts, 678 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139.
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.
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Sponsor:
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
Gypsum and gypseous soils. Reasonably diverse gypsum endemic flora present. Hardpan gypsum soils dominated by low-growing plants; gypseous hillsides have greater species richness. Conditions good. Search this
