Colonial Homes and Their FurnishingsNorthend, Mary Harrod
History
Colonial Homes and Their Furnishings
Northend, Mary Harrod
Architecture, Colonial; Furniture -- United States
Another fine example of a box-bordered, old-time garden is seen at
Newburyport, Massachusetts, on the estate of Mrs. Charles Perry. Here
the colonial house stands back from the main road, with a long stretch
of lawn at the front. Passing out of the door at the rear, one comes
upon a courtyard with moss-grown flagging that leads directly to the
garden itself, fragrant with the incense of old-time blooms.
At Indian Hill, the summer home of the late Major Benjamin Perley Poore
at West Newbury, much care has been given to the gardens to keep the
flowers as they were in the olden days. A feature of this estate, in
addition to the gardens, is a shapely grove of trees at the rear of the
mansion, that took first prize years ago as being the finest and
best-shaped specimens in the county. Many of these trees were named for
the major's friends, and they bear names well known to New Englanders.
More than a century ago, when Salem was the trade center of the world,
her gardens were renowned. These gardens were at the rear of the
dwellings, and it was here that the host and his guests came for their
after-dinner smoke, surrounded by the flowers that they loved.
The first improvements in garden culture were made by one George
Heussler, who, according to Captain Jonathan P. Felt, came to America in
1780, bringing with him a diploma given him by his former employers.
Previous to this period he had served an apprenticeship in the gardens
of several German princes, as well as in that of the king of Holland,
and was, in consequence, well qualified for the work. The first
experience he had in America in gardening was at the home of John Tracy
in Newburyport, where he worked faithfully for several years. Ten years
afterwards he came to Salem to take charge of the farm and garden of
Elias Hasket Derby, Senior, at Danvers, and later worked in other
gardens in the city of Salem, where he lived until his death in 1817.
From the records we glean that on October 21, 1796, Mr. Heussler gave
notice that he had choice fruit trees for sale at Mr. Derby's farm,
while a newspaper of that date informs us that the latter gentleman had
recently imported valuable trees from India and Africa and that he had
"an extensive nursery of useful plants in the neighborhood of his rich
garden." His son, E. Hersey Derby, had a garden of great dimensions at
his estate in South Salem, or, as it was then called, South Fields. This
was in 1802, and for a long time the fame of this rare and beautiful
garden was retained.
Both of the Derby gardens were worthy of attention, and it is said by
those in authority that in the Derby greenhouse the first night-blooming
cereus blossomed. This was in 1790, and the flower was the true _cereus
grande flora_, not the flat-leaved cactus kind that is now cultivated
under that name. It was largely the influence of the beautiful Derby
gardens that gave to Salem its impetus for fine garden culture.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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