Garden Fireworks - 5 More Perennials That Burst With Dazzling Color

grand finale spheres, these flowers will transform your summer landscape into a spectacular display that keeps shining all season long.

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The Cummer Gardens of Jacksonville, Florida

Jacksonville, Florida holds many fond memories for me.  Quite a few relatives lived there when I was a child.  Whether by automobile or different trains, the trip to Jacksonville was an adventure.  Sometimes my father, a Chiropractor and Naturopath, would include a visit to Dr. Emil Weise, another Naturopathic physician and friend.  A highlight of one trip was a visit to Aunt Anne Palmer's garden.  Meandering grassy paths wound among beds of camellias, azaleas and ginger lilies toward her greenhouse where she nurtured her orchids.  I was enchanted.  Uncle Jim, her husband, owned Packard Florida Motors Company on Riverside and Rosselle.

We returned recently to visit the Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens, just a few blocks from where Uncle Jim's business once stood.  The neighborhood has changed quite a bit since the 1950s and '60s.  Many of the old homes have been replaced, including the tudor-style home of Arthur and Ninah Cummer.  The Cummer Museum now stands on the site.  The garden is as grand and well-loved as before.

Arthur Cummer (1894-1943) was the son of a wealthy lumber magnate from Cadillac, Michigan, who found Jacksonville to be very much to his liking.  The climate and forests of Florida attracted the family.  Arthur was also a partner in the Cook-Cummer Steamship line which transported Cummer Lumber Company products to markets along the Gulf Coast and Eastern Seaboard.  Readers interested in stories involving Cummer steamships should find the New York Times accounts of the Great Jacksonville Fire of 1901 and of the sinking of the John J. Hill to be stirring.

Strong believers in civic responsibility, Arthur and Ninah Cummer (1875-1958) were actively involved in organizations to benefit the public.  As Board President, Arthur helped enlarge the historic Evergreen Cemetery of Jacksonville.  Ninah, an art collector, passionate gardener and garden club member, created an endowment in 1958 to build an art museum and to preserve her beloved gardens.

Though the appearance of much of Jacksonville's Riverside Avenue has changed, the vista from Cummer Gardens across the St. John's River is very much like the atmosphere I remember from my visit to Aunt Anne's oasis.  The Cummer Gardens, however, are far grander.

The Gardens consist of three:

• The English Garden,
• The Italian Garden,
• The Olmsted Garden.  The Olmsted Garden is currently being restored, so is not open to the public.  (The Memorial Park, designed by the Olmsted firm and located nearby, invites visitors.)

Upon entering the Gardens from the museum's Uible Loggia, the first thing to capture the eye is an elegant sculpture, Diana of the Hunt, a gift of sculptor Anna Hyatt Huntington.  (I visited Atalya, Huntington's moorish-style home/studio in South Carolina a few years after her death.  Though near the shore, it struck me as a rather bleak, fortress-like residence.)  According to myth, Diana (aka Artemis) was not as elegant as artists imagine but exquisitely bad-natured.  From the upper terrace, the enticing vista across the English Garden opens toward the beautiful St. John's River.

Moseying to the right, the Tea Garden invites the visitor to sit a moment in one of the historic barrel chairs that originally belonged to Wellington and Ada Cummer, Arthur's parents.  Concrete and mosaic pedestal planters designed by William Mercer add visual impact to the adjacent parterres.

Further along, the Peacock Fountain, also designed by Mercer, adorns the South Wall in a shady nook.  Before the Peacock Fountain, another called Two Children with a Goose fills a pool also designed by Mercer.  The original Two Children with a Goose can be seen in London's Victoria and Albert Museum.  This section is part of the English Garden, designed in 1903 by Ossian Cole Simonds (1855-1931).  Simonds was a founder of the American Society of Landscape Architects.  Cummer's English Garden was redesigned in 1910 by Thomas Meehan and Sons of Philadelphia, PA.  At river's side, a fine wisteria arbor provides a shady retreat refreshed by gentle river breezes.

One can't help but linger at the railing to enjoy the view across the St. John's river.  Mr. Cummer relished an earlier scene from his own putting green between the English and Italian gardens.  The private green, a rare pleasure in those days, was given to him by his wife, Ninah.

The Italian Garden was designed in 1931 by Ellen Biddle Shipman (1869-1950), perhaps the most significant among female American landscape architects.  Ninah Cummer commissioned the work after visiting the Villa Gamberaia near Florence, Italy   It features a gloriette, the archways of which frame a lovely fountain that replicates one Mrs. Cummer purchased in Italy in 1930.  At the end of the river walk, you will find a tile-roofed garden folly which serves no other purpose than to adorn the garden, or perhaps to offer another shady retreat for a tête-a-tête.

The North Wall of the Italian Garden is adorned with another feature designed by William Mercer.  A medallion of flamingos overlooks a lion's head planter with Della Robbia swags.

As one would expect, a pair of reflecting pools mirror all that surrounds them above and below.  The sky, roses, italian cypresses (Cupressus sempervirens)  and azaleas all shimmer in the water's surface.

Leonine motifs recur throughout the Italian Garden.  The Lion Sculpture is one of the many pieces that the Cummers purchased during their visit to Itay in 1930.  Garden benches repeat the theme.

When the Cummers began to establish their gardens, some plants now so common to the South were not well-known in Florida.  Agapanthus and azalea collections were rare.  The Cummers sought them out.  Both grow luxuriantly in the Cummer Gardens.

Upon returning to the Upper Terrace, one passes beneath the magnificent Cummer Oak.  The canopy of the verdant giant spans over 150 feet.  Aged over 175 years, it is one of the oldest and most revered trees in the city.  To rest beneath its ancient limbs and reflect upon the beauty of the garden is another of the visitor's rewards.

Thanks to the generosity of the Cummers, along with the dedication of museum staff and volunteers, the Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens presents one of the premier gardens in the United States.  Though comprised of only two acres, it is a historically significant site that you should include in your garden visits.

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Behind A Garden Wall: A Southern Tradition Kept Alive

Located on a bluff above the Vernon River about 12 miles from Savannah is a site steeped in history and horticultural tradition that we were recently privileged to visit.

Nearby is Beaulieu Plantation (pronounced b-YOU-lee), once owned by William Stephens, the secretary to the Trustees of Colonial Georgia. Stephens arrived in 1737, and was an important official in the colony's early years, even serving as President of Georgia after the colony's founder, Gen. Oglethorpe, returned to England. From its founding, the Trustees of Georgia were charged with conducting horticultural experiments to provide wealth for colonists and the investors who backed them. Cotton and grapes were among the experimental crops tested on the plantation for commercial value.

Beaulieu played a role during the American War of Independence in the 1779 Siege of Savannah. It was there that French commander Count Charles Henri d'Estaing brought troops ashore as part of an unsuccessful attempt to regain control of the city from the British.

Gunboats plied the Vernon River during the War Between The States. Just two years ago, in 2007, archaeologists discovered the sunken wreck of the Water Witch upstream where Confederate sailors burned it to keep it from being re-captured by Gen. Sherman's troops.

Many homes along the river are at the ends of long drives, screened by brick walls, fences and woods from the peering eyes of passersby, and their gardens are only enjoyed by invitation. Needless to say, I was thrilled by the opportunity to visit this one.

Our hosts met us as we arrived and generously devoted time to show us about. The private tour began with a short walk to the bluff. Before us lay the broad expanse of river and marsh with Ossabaw and other Georgia Sea Islands visible on the horizon. The rich history of the site was proudly detailed to us.

Looking back across the front lawn (the front of every river estate faces the water), we were in awe of the home and gardens framed by ancient live oaks. One tree in particular is believed to be over 400 years old. Lush beds planted with Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum), Oakleaf Hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia), Camellias (C. japonica and C. sasanqua), Azalea cultivars, Cast-iron Plant (Aspidistra elatior), Butterfly Ginger (Hedychium coronarium), perennials and ferns bordered the vista.

Near the entrance of the home, a koi pond designed by one of their sons and established with waterlilies (Nymphea spp.), Pitcher Plant (Sarracenia spp.) along with other bog plants and aquatics, is ornamented by an elegant stone sculpture carved by another son. Creeping Liriope (Liriope spicata), Ardisia (A. japonica), Leopard Plant (Ligularia dentata), Cyperus (C. papyrus) and ferns are sheltered by a large specimen Coastal Leucothoe (Agarista populifolia). The walkway meanders through an arbor covered by Dutchman's Pipe (Aristolochia spp).

Our hosts love to travel, and they have an unusual collection of plants to show for it. Among them are two or three Orchid Trees (Bauhinia spp.), unusual to find growing so far north. Seeds collected during their jaunts are often started in their century-old greenhouse.

The backyard brought more delights to the eye. A discrete shade garden bordered by Shrimp Plant (Justicia brandegeana), Coralberry (Ardisia crenata), ferns, and ornamented by small reptilian sculptures delights grandchildren. Shade-loving annuals such as impatiens (I. walleriana) add joyous color to dark corners. I felt like a kid again for there were Gloriosa Lilies (Gloriosa superba Rothschildiana) like my grandmother used to grow. We had to stop for me to tickle them and wait for the leaf tips to grasp my needle of pine straw.

Sunny beds are a riot of whatever plants tickle the fancy of our hosts, including Lily-of-the-Nile (Agapanthus africanus), Scarlet Sage (Salvia coccinea), the newest selections of Blanket Flower (Gaillardia cvs.) and Black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia cvs.). Lush beds of native Coontie (Zamia integrifolia) draw our attention, and I am given a fruit that looks like a rusty pineapple. Rosemary shrubs (Rosmarinus officinalis) in twisted, bonsai shapes grow in the shallowest pockets of soil atop gray brick walls surrounding the swimming pool. The scene is completed in classic style by benches and large containers featuring the deep burgundy blades of Cordyline australis.

A vegetable garden and produce from their farm up-country amply supply their kitchen, along with an abundance that they share with friends.

As our morning visit drew to an end, we were invited in fine southern fashion to glasses of iced mint tea and pleasant conversation in the kitchen. I felt that President Stephens would have been pleased to know that over 270 years later such a fine horticultural tradition and gracious hospitality would continue on this historic river bluff.
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