Oldal 507 [507]
OCR
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 driveways 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, artichokes, 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 represent 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 guesswork. 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 [310]
