Historic Gardens of Virginia 



garden, an excellent example of Colonial gardens at their best. 

 Fortunate in never having passed out of the family, this garden is 

 beautifully cared for and still in perfect preservation. Practically 

 unchanged since it was laid off about 1730 by English gardeners, 

 presumably brought to this country for that purpose, it bears wit- 

 ness to the skill and good taste of former days. 



The garden has a series of six terraces. Upon the upper a 

 broad, level walk leads from the porch to its outer edge; on each 

 side of this and running the length of the terrace, are grass plots, 

 their green unbroken except in the center where clumps of crepe 

 myrtle give a touch of color by their wealth of pink blossoms. 

 At the edge of this terrace are wide borders beside which run gravel 

 walks several feet in width. These borders are filled with a variety 

 of rose bushes and yellow jasmine. At the far end clumps of 

 hollyhock, weigela and stately white yuccas are massed. In addi- 

 tion to these, pink and blue columbine. Oriental poppies, peonies 

 of different hues, golden coriopsis, delphiniums, sweet william, 

 bleeding hearts, chrysanthemums and other flowers give a con- 

 tinuous succession of bloom and a riot of color. 



To the right this terrace slopes to a portion of the lawn where 

 the sides of a little ravine are covered with thousands of narcissi, 

 and to the left it slopes to a lower level on which are the old- 

 fashioned toolhouse, dairy, and smokehouse almost completely 

 enveloped in ivy, wistaria and climbing roses. 



One walks from the first terrace down a grassy ramp to the 

 second. Here is the real flower garden, bounded on the left by an 

 unbroken box-hedge, about eight feet tall, which extends the breadth 

 of the terrace. In the far corners are clumps of lilac, althea, mock- 

 orange, and smoke tree. Here, too, Japanese quince or cydonia 

 japonica, calycanthus, Persian lilacs, snowballs, hardy white 

 hydrangeas, hollyhocks, bridal wreath, and syringa growing on 

 irregularly shaped turf beds form a background for the smaller 

 flowers. 



Still more to the right is a magnificent English broadnut 



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