Connecticut
Gardens - An Historical Vignette
"There was a smell off shore like the smell of a
garden." wrote John Winthrop, the first governor
of the state of Connecticut, in his journal, when the
early settlers of Puritan families under his direction
came to an astonishing new land.
For nearly one hundred years, the silk industry flourished
throughout Connecticut. Every farmer grew his own trees
and his family fed the worms and spun their silk by hand.
In 1850, a serious blight destroyed many of the trees.
The business declined and finally came to an end.
In 1927, Glebe
House was converted into a museum and the local historic
society commissioned Jekyll to design an old-fashioned
garden, based on their photographs and descriptions of
the site. Jekyll created a design and list of plants suitable
for a cottage garden, however it took many decades to
begin.
Fortunately, in 1980, the plans were uncovered in archives
at the University of California at Berkeley and today
the garden is laid out according to Jekyll's original
design.
Bibliography
and Acknowledgments
Shown: Mountain laurel (Kalmia
latifolia)
