April 15-1938

“Flower Garden [illegible] double Peach pretty with blue Forget-me-nots [Myosotis] under. Double pink tulips edging of white viola. Lavender viola under standard roses – nearby short lavender Iris. Pale yellow double tulips and Aubrieta – Blue Scillas. This grouping pretty. Rose beds in purple violas. Safrano tulip [Tulipa ‘Safrano’] and short yellow Iris low white with yellow Alyssum. White hyacinths – White arabis with large white English double daisy. Pink Quince apple blossom [Chaenomeles ‘Apple Blossom’] with pink (2 shades) hyacinths. Pink bleeding heart with peach tree with Forget-me-nots [Myosotis scorpioides] + striped clusiana tulip [Tulipa clusiana]. Primroses – blue & lavender shades – pale yellow hyacinths + cream early tulips just in bud. Malus spectabilis bud same as Viburnum carlesii – one bud Viburnum just finishing. Primroses – pinkish tone with Viola rosea. Yellow with Tulipa ‘Marechel Niel’ + yellow (primrose) viola -with white Kamelia [Camellia? Kalmia?]”

Elizabeth Lord

The garden is alive with flowers this time of year.

Tulipa ‘Purple Dream’

Tulipa ‘Mt Tacoma’ an old variety from 1924 was a constant favorite of Lord and Schryver

Tulipa ‘Ballade Orange’ was selected to replace the no longer available Tulipa ‘Chinese lantern’ what a combination with the maiden hairs just leafing out.

The show down the West Allee is just starting in.

The above garden journal entry gives you some idea of the meticulous detail that went into Lord and Schryver’s flower plans. Combinations were noted and remarked on constantly. Unfortunately, missing from our Archive are journal entries for the 1940’s-1960’s. It’s a shame we don’t have these later journal entries, as we could then recreate other portions of the garden, such as we did this year with the 1939-40 flower bulb plan.

These journals have shown me which flower and color combinations were generally preferred by Lord & Schryver. But I must say after my last year of journal research, these two ladies loved to change things up!

The sunshine was prolific this past week, with a day of rain over the weekend to freshen things up. It’s making for wonderful growing conditions in the garden.

Hope everyone is staying healthy and safe!

Mark

Being of Slavic descent, Easter was always one of the biggest holidays of the year when I was young. Days before, my siblings and I would head to JC Penny with my Mom and Grandparents to purchase new pastel-colored Easter outfits. Then on Easter Day, we would be up at the crack of dawn for sunrise services, followed by an Easter egg hunt, candy and roasted lamb with mint sauce – memories I still relish today.

The gardens at Deepwood and Gaiety Hollow look wonderful as we head into the Easter weekend. Although there may be fewer visitors than in the past due to COVID – 19, the many Lord & Schryver gardeners and supporters can rest assured that we have created a stunning flower display for this annual holiday event.

We hope you are staying safe and healthy. Even if we can’t be with loved ones this Easter, we are hopeful that reunions and better times will be soon be here.

From all of us at the Lord & Schryver Conservancy,

Have a Happy Easter!

After enduring a good spell of rain these last few weeks, the dry days ahead are certainly welcome! Gaiety Hollow’s Camellias are about mid-bloom now, and quite a few other flowering shrubs are coming into bloom as well. The Tulips will no doubt love a respite from the rain.

The recreated 1939 Bulb plan is starting to really show itself now

Tulipa ‘Salmon Impression’

The reflecting pool is lined with Yellow Tulips and White Narcissus

Spring is upon us now.

The fragrant Osmanthus delavayi located right inside Gaiety Hollow’s back gate is almost finished blooming. I’ve enjoyed arriving to work in the early mornings and being greeted by its scent. This wonderful shrub was named for Abbè Jean Marie Delavay, the French Missionary in China from the 1860’s to the 1890’s. While in China, Mr. Delavay collected over 200,000 specimens with some even named after him. He was investigating the flora of Northwest Yunnan when he contracted the Bubonic Plague in 1888.  After becoming ill, he returned to France to recuperate. Sadly, he never fully recovered and passed away in 1895.

Osmanthus delavayi

Enjoy the sunshine!

Mark