Historic Gardens of Virginia 



poppies, delphiniums and phlox. Digitalis grows around lilac 

 clumps; these, with crepe myrtle and spiraea — with a cedar here, 

 a euonymus there — appear to have been planted to point up the 

 garden. 



While the box maze is by far the most interesting, it is by no 

 means the whole garden. Beyond it, on the east, is a vegetable acre, 

 separated by a line of forsythia suspensa and bridal wreath. A 

 slight fall drops above this, bordered by a scattering line of briar 

 roses, where the half acre allotted to iris begins and the box- 

 bordered Ghost Walk ends. On the north of this lies the rest of 

 the vegetable garden, bisected by iris-bound grass walks, begin- 

 ning beneath the shade of peach trees, to end in the shadow of 

 plums. 



Leaving the Ghost Walk at abrupt right angles, the path 

 broadens to let the eye follow a second walk up to the old brick- 

 walled burying-ground of the Randolphs. Opposite the graveyard, 

 extending the entire length of the turfed walk, is the perennial 

 border, where a chain of golden cowslips ushers in the spring. At 

 the back of this flowery border, serving as a screen for the kitchen 

 garden, are irregular lines of flowering almond, lilac, cydonia 

 japonica, calycanthus, dogwood, forsythia, holly and Scotch broom. 



In line with the boxwood at the garden entrance stand peach 

 trees. Scattered among these, above the honeysuckle hedge, the 

 ailanthus, or Tree of Heaven, with its fern-like foliage, gives an 

 effect of almost tropical luxuriance. One receives, upon entering 

 this garden, and one carries away, an impression of sunshine, even 

 on gloomy days. And down below, upon a terraced bit of wood- 

 land, montbretias or blackberry lilies grow naturalized. 



From an old farm record we learn how the land at Tuckahoe 

 was tilled, and the contents of the orchards. We read with in- 

 terest that in 1850 it took between sev^en and eight hundred pounds 

 of bacon and one hundred and fifty-six barrels of corn to begin to 

 feed the plantation force each year. At that time the estate was 

 the property of Joseph Allen, and he it was who kept the farm 



[120] 



