Historic Gardens of Virginia 



War Between the States, and was always a faithful friend and 

 overseer. 



In 1906, Mr. Samuel Marshall bought Morven from the Smith 

 heirs, and since that time the old garden has been renewed. Uncle 

 Lee Jones, to whom reference has been made above, came one 

 morning to see his old home under its new master. He walked 

 into the garden and said, "Praise God, I lives to see Morven bloom 

 again." 



The big box-tree, the white violets, and the striped grass by 

 the garden gates, the tall bamboos and the lovely hollyhocks that 

 take possession every year, are the plantings of other hands than 

 the present owners. The old terraces have not all been restored, 

 but there has never been found any drawn plan of the original 

 garden. Some say that the view from the garden is lovelier than 

 anything in it. Ash Lawn, the old Monroe home, lies to the north, 

 on the east are flat woods that give the effect of a sea view, and the 

 "mountain on the place," as a previous owner described it, com- 

 mands the view on the west. 



Monticello, being only three and one-half miles away, tradi- 

 tion says that Thomas Jefferson rode on horseback to trade at the 

 country store which stood at the foot of this mountain and within 

 the confines of the Morven estate. 



The present garden has on one side a hedge of box grown from 

 cuttings taken from the big box-tree. Around the driveway, which 

 leads to the entrance to the house, there is a new box hedge which 

 the owner calls her "war hedge." This was bought in February, 

 19 17, from a Belgian salesman who told her that these plants were 

 the last shipment that could be made out of Belgium, as the German 

 submarine ultimatum had gone into effect. Happily, the plants have 

 all survived and flourished, taking courage, no doubt, from the soil 

 which started them. 



Josephine P. Marshall. 



[272] 



