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 - The Epcot ® International Flower & Garden Festival

Anticipation grew as we approached the entrance to Epcot ®, the 300-acre theme park inspired by the creative genius of Walt Disney.  Epcot ® is an acronym for "Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow".  Disney actually envisioned a living community in a futuristic environment, but it was established as a tourist destination in 1982.  It was designed with two "worlds" of discovery: Future World and World Showcase. Future World features the land, seas, technology and imagination.  World Showcase is a kaleidoscope of nations gathered to celebrate their heritage and culture.

In 1993, Epcot ® established their annual International Flower and Garden Festival.  The Festival fit naturally into the Epcot theme for all of the Disney parks are famous for their imaginative and immaculate landscaping.  Rae Spencer-Jones included the Walt Disney World Resorts among her 1001 Gardens You Must See Before You Die.

The last time our family visited Disney, my wife and I were pushing strollers.  After 20 years, it was about time we visited again.

This visit was during the Flower and Garden Festival.  From the moment we entered, impressive gardens and topiaries excited us.  It was unmistakably Disney in style and scope.  Impressive topiaries were featured everywhere.  Colorful Disney characters entertained visitors in Future World while fanciful characters like the Bromeliad Dragon inspired gardeners in World Showcase.

Disney's Flower and Garden Festival was a treat for the mind and senses.  This year, nationally recognized garden personalities shared their insights and techniques on weekends during the Great American Gardeners workshop series.  They included Robert Bowden - expert on gardening in Florida, Jeff Gillman - author of The Truth About Garden Remedies, Lynn Coulter - author of Gardening with Heirloom Seeds, Maureen Gilmer - gardening author, designer and speaker, Douglas Tallamy - expert on native plant gardening, Debra Prinzing - garden designer, Susan Belsinger - culinary educator and food writer, Tom and Joani MacCubbin - creators of HisandHersGardening.com, Lee Reich - gardening author and consultant, Matt Henderson on A Fragrant Love Story, and Ahmed Hassan - host of DIY Network's Yard Crashers.  Disney's own gardening experts also shared their knowledge and provided visitors with tips they could use at home in their gardens.

One could satisfy the palate and nose in pleasant venues.  Garden Town Breakfasts prepared by Disney chefs were offered on selected days.  Menu offerings included fresh ingredients from the Epcot ® Land Pavilion.  Professional chefs and horticulturists shared their knowledge with guests.  Daily tours of the Fragrance Garden, sponsored by Guerlain, delighted visitors at the France Pavilion.

The Flower Power Concert Series was a great favorite.  During the Festival, music and recording artists from the 60s and 70s drew crowds to the concert shell.  Among them were Jose Feliciano, Paul Revere and The Raiders, David Cassidy, Starship, Tony Orlando, Herman's Hermits, The Nelsons, Atlanta Rhythm Section, Fran Cosmo - formerly with Boston, Davy Jones and Chubby Checker with The Wildcats!

The 2011 Epcot ® International Flower and Garden Festival is scheduled for March 2 to May 15.  Put it on your calendar.  You shouldn't miss it.  For the price of a ticket you can discover what grows behind Disney's garden wall.



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Behind A Garden Wall: The Maclay Gardens

Tall pines and a thick hardwood forest conceal one of Florida's best gardens from heavy traffic on Thomasville Road in Tallahassee.  But behind a fence and beyond a brick entry, the Alfred B. Maclay Gardens is open for all to enjoy.  Now an urban oasis, it was once the hunter's paradise.  The scene is not typical of what one imagines when thinking of Florida.  Rolling hillsides and forests resemble the upcountry of the eastern U.S.  Indeed, the geology of the Appalachians is rooted here.

Fertile soil and rich diversity of flora and fauna attracted humans to this site from prehistoric times.  Native Americans inhabited the area, followed by Europeans.  Encompassing this region, Spanish missionaries developed the largest and most enduring system of missions in North America.  Control was later seized by the English.  Following the War of Independence, the U.S. government deeded land to the Marquis de Lafayette for his assistance during the conflict.  The Marquis never visited, so later sold his property.

In 1882, another Frenchman bought a parcel and developed a vineyard which, by 1890, was producing 4,000 gallons of wine per year.  He sold it when the county voted to go "dry" in 1904, before Prohibition.  Colonel John H. Law, an insurance businessman from Chicago, bought the property and established a hunting lodge which became the site of lavish parties.  New York financier Alfred Maclay and his wife Louise acquired the land in 1923, joined "house to house and field to field", and established a large estate of over 3000 acres as a winter home.  Later it was acquired by the State of Florida and now is operated as a state park.  Join me now as we visit this garden treasure.

A picturesque brick walkway flanked by native plant species including Coontie (Zamia integrifolia) and non-native azalea cultivars such as 'Christmas Cheer' leads to the house.  Laid in 1968, the bricks were salvaged from an old street in Tampa, but were made in cities as distant as Baltimore, MD.  Because this was a winter home, plantings were designed for late-winter and early-spring bloom.

From the house, a short walk leads to a lakeside pavilion which affords a fine vista of Lake Hall.  Native trees include Gleditsia triacanthos, Magnolia grandiflora, Nyssa sylvatica, Taxodium distichum and Quercus species.  Further along the path, Aucuba japonica, Magnolia species, azaleas, camellias and native hollies provide seasonal interest.

The Camellia Walk is one of the most notable features of the Maclay Garden.  Sloping away from the house toward the Walled Garden, the path is flanked by an extensive collection of these lovely plants.  It is said that the oldest camellia, purchased and moved to the site in 1923, is nearly 200 years old.  Thousands of lovely blossoms adorn the shrubs and strew the path during colder months.

At the end of the Camellia Walk, one comes to the Walled Garden.  Ficus pumila covers the walls with soft evergreen foliage.  Sculptures of magnificent lions guard the entrance and stately peacocks perch atop the walls.  One notable feature is the blue medallion of infants inset into the wall.  The artwork was created by Florentine sculptor, Andrea Della Robbia, and was acquired by Mr. Maclay during one of his travels to Italy.

Mr. Maclay also returned from Europe with an increased knowledge and appreciation of landscape design.  Collaborating with his gardener, he designed special effects into the landscape such as the "disappearing" walk from the point of view of the reflecting pool.  Pansies are planted in the walled garden every year, continuing the tradition begun by the Maclays.  Century Plants (Agave americana) are also featured in the garden as well as repeated in the fountain's design.

From the Walled Garden, a path beneath large hollies leads to the Secret Garden.  This delightful little space features antique wrought iron benches and table, creating an intimate atmosphere.  Asarum, Selaginella and Cyrtomium are planted within the cozy scene and bordered by Mahonia.  During fall, winter and early spring, Osmanthus fragrans scents the air with its delightful citrusy perfume.

The visitor will also enjoy another pleasant walk.  The Pine Needle Path meanders between walls of large camellias, gardenias, osmanthus and viburnum.  Of special note is the native Florida Anise (Illicium floridanum) which produces lovely star-shaped blooms, and releases a spicy fragrance when the leaves are crushed.

Another narrow path leads past Japanese Maples (Acer palmatum), cherry and redbud (Cercis canadensis) to a scenic pond.  This water feature is designed to reflect the azalea covered hillside in the distance, and is especially effective when the shrubs are in bloom.  Daylilies, iris, liriope, ornamental grasses and bulbs are planted at the water's edge.  The Azalea Hillside is magnificent in season, but it also features Magnolia x soulangeana, conifers, holly, dogwood and Halesia (Silverbells).

Beyond the Azalea Hillside is the site of the former nursery where many of the plants in the garden were produced by the Maclays.  One is impressed by their level of involvement in the process, from production to design and installation.  Their inspiration, exploration and devotion resulted in this peaceful garden which all may now enjoy.  There is so much seldom understood and seen that grows behind a garden wall.


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