Stranica 472 [472]
OCR
TÉR VES DNSÜON B “SECTION = ae its roof, " lies the way to the garden which extended all along the east side of the lawn. At the time that the west wing was added, the two ofhices— Patrick Henry’s from the shady seclusion of the back yard, and William Wirt Henry’s from the sunshiny front yard—were moved into the spacious garden-and placed together to form a cottage. Since the house was burned in February, 1919, this cottage has served as the residence. Along the fence, between yard and garden, jonquils are planted, and to the right of the garden gate once stood a handsome pecan tree which has long since blown down. A bit to the east is the old garden where box-hedges separate colors and varieties of flowers and shrubs, some of which were brought originally from Mount Vernon. ‘The situation and treatment of the garden which leads its well-clipped hedges down the slope of the hill in terrace form, were selected by Mistress Elvira Henry and prove her to have been an artist in this line. And the pride of her garden was a Martha Washington rose. At the entrance of the garden, on-either side of the walk, stand four large box-trees that meet at the top and form a leafy, green bower. An unique feature of this arbor is a yellow jessamine that blooms unseen in the tops of the box-trees and gives forth a delightful fragrance whose source is difficult to locate. There is a row of fig bushes to the left of the garden gate and a bed of white violets on the right. All along the garden walk, which leads to the graveyard, and the one bisecting it are planted tea and hardy roses, calycanthus, spiraea, snowballs and other old-fashioned flowering shrubs. ‘The remainder of the ample garden is given over to vegetables. The graveyard, at the extreme east side of the garden, is enclosed by a boxwood hedge. The ground around the tombs of Patrick Henry and his wife, Dorothea Dandridge, is covered with an ever green carpet of periwinkle, which in the spring is dotted with hundreds of little blue blossoms. [289]
