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Charleston -- Jones Garden

Smithsonian Gardens

Object Details

General
Although the 1949 white clapboard house was sited far back from the road one of the principle aims of the garden design for this approximately one acre property has been to provide privacy from the road and from neighboring properties. Beginning work in 1988 the owners developed new garden areas by: adding hardscape features including a deck behind the house and newly-designed curved wall patios in front of the house, grading to direct water run-off away from the house and garden beds, re-purposing a small former playhouse as a potting shed at the end of a new bluestone path, and installing an irrigation system. Then more extensive plantings could be installed, focusing on creating four seasons of interest, using more native plants, attracting songbirds, butterflies and wildlife, developing a seamless tapestry of all the garden areas, and providing views of the vernacular garden from the house, patios, covered porch and deck. The view from the street was also considered and a timber terraced perennial bed was installed on the street side of the shrub screen bed.
A small oval perennial bed in front of the house was enlarged to wrap around the side of the house, forming an L-shaped shrub, rose and mixed perennial garden. Pansies provide winter bloom, followed by spring bulbs, peonies, spireas and iris. In summer and fall perennials include day-lilies, bee balm, hibiscus and Shasta daisies. Shrub roses were added to the old roses from previous plantings that were re-positioned. Another smaller L-shaped bed along the side driveway includes a tower of stacked large flower pots that are planted with seasonal annuals. A shade border follows the curve of the other patio and because this side of the house is downhill and wetter plantings include red twig dogwoods and marsh marigolds. Two large oasis flower beds were installed around trees in the front lawn, a crimson king maple and a mature oak, with hellebores for winter, and narcissus, ferns, hostas, and Japanese anemones for successive blooms and foliage.
The roadside garden has a screen of native cedars, forsythias, hydrangeas and lilacs, under-planted with hostas, perennial hibiscus and daffodils. A white garden that can be viewed across the lawn from the house at the end of the day includes a white flowering redbud tree, white bleeding heart, woodland phlox, wood asters, candytuft and tiarella. The potting shed garden was overgrown with shrubs and vines that were cleared away, to be replaced by transplanted rhododendrons and a tree peony, perennials and hydrangeas as well as the bluestone path, a native stone wall, and a bench. At the back of the house the entire back yard was regraded and had drains installed, the latticework under the deck was replaced with planters, and a stone patio was built for sitting in the perennial and shrub garden with roses that is bordered by boxwood. At the back end of the property there is a wooded area with a ravine.
Persons associated with the garden include Charles and Mary Frances Brooks (former owners, 1947-1954); George and Patty Jones Jr. (former owners, 1954-1987); Lynne Schwartz-Barker (landscape designer, 2002-2015); Mark Blumenstein (sculptor); Jeff Fetty (sculptor).
Former owner
Brooks, Charles
Brooks, Mary Frances
Jones, George Jr.
Jones, Patty
Landscape designer
Schwartz-Barker, Lynne
Sculptor
Blumenstein, Mark
Fetty, Jeff
Provenance
Kanawha Garden Club
Collection Creator
Garden Club of America
Place
Jones Garden (Charleston, West Virginia)
United States of America -- West Virginia -- Kanawha -- Charleston
Topic
Gardens -- West Virginia -- Charleston
Former owner
Brooks, Charles
Brooks, Mary Frances
Jones, George Jr.
Jones, Patty
Landscape designer
Schwartz-Barker, Lynne
Sculptor
Blumenstein, Mark
Fetty, Jeff
Provenance
Kanawha Garden Club
See more items in
The Garden Club of America collection
The Garden Club of America collection / Series 1: United States Gardens / West Virginia
Sponsor
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
Custodial History
The Kanawha Garden Club facilitated the submission of this garden's documentation.
Archival Repository
Archives of American Gardens
Identifier
AAG.GCA, File WV019
Type
Archival materials
Collection Citation
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Collection Rights
Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Bibliography
Garden has been featured in an article in the Charleston (WV) Gazette-Mail dated July 19, 2015 by Anna Patrick.
Scope and Contents
The folder includes worksheets and historical information.
Collection Restrictions
Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Related Materials
Jones Garden related holdings consist of 1 folder (10 digital images)
Related link
Record ID
ebl-1643208220039-1643210188719-0
Metadata Usage
CC0
GUID
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/kb6720a420d-c3f6-49b1-a58f-53932bd0e062

Related Content

  • The Garden Club of America collection

Charleston -- Jones Garden
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .
International media Interoperability Framework
IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.
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