Oldal 507 [507]
axe or Oy
HistoRic (GARDENS:(OF “VIRGINIA
ginia—had the question been asked of a visitor, even within the
present century, ‘‘What is the outstanding feature of Prestwould?”’
the answer would have been, unhesitatingly, " Ihe garden!"
As may be seen from the accompanying plat, drawn from the
original in Lady Jean’s Garden Journal, the garden comprised five
acres of ground enclosed by stone walls. Note the six beds, each
one hundred feet square, formed by the intersection of the drive¬
ways which are eighteen feet in width. Four of these beds were
devoted to vegetables, herbs and ‘‘simples,’’ as follows:
Beginning with those on the right of the central drive as one
enters through the rose arbored gateway: (1) Gooseberries, arti¬
chokes, sage. (2) Lettuce, celery, shallots. On the left: (3) Tansy,
strawberries, mint. (4) Leeks, raspberries, currants, horseradish.
Of the two beds containing only flowers and herbs, with insets
of grass, bulbs predominated, though there was abundant space at
the other side of each bed given to simples. Ihe semicircles repre¬
sent the Scuppernong grape arbors, underneath which the lily of the
valley flourished. | HA
But, whether planted in choicest flowers or in prosaic vegetables,
each bed was encompassed by a five-foot border of roses and
shrubs, and, on the further sides, by rows of fig and pecan trees.
The scallops on the, plat represent horseshoe beds, but whether
planted in bulbs, annuals, or wild flowers, is now a matter of guess¬
work. Lady Jeans Garden Journal contains a list of thirty or forty
different wild flowers, but no mention of their location.
At the northwest corner of the garden, the line of horseshoe
beds was broken by a conservatory, twenty-four feet in length, and,
near the southwest corner, by a fifteen-foot bee house. Between
these same beds and the driveways were the graveled walks and the
continuous borders of roses, shrubs and flowers of all varieties,
while at each corner of bed or border, was planted a boxwood,
which, in course of time, and where not kept in check, grew to such
proportions as to merge completely with its neighbor across the
eighteen-foot driveway—the appearance presented being that of one
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