Stranica 97 [97]
OCR
HisTroric GARDENS: OF VIRGINIA = EKET zén = = — szuszt — == = = — —— — — by one trained in landscape design, it must have combined much of the aesthetic with the practical, because a knowledge of plants and a skill in growing them was a family trait. Thomas Jetterson, an intimate friend, said he considered Colonel Eppes of Eppington, kinsman of John Eppes of Appomattox, the first horticulturist in America. This pre-revolutionary garden was completely destroyed, as far as it is possible to destroy a garden, for to this day, each spring, blue hyacinths and golden jonquils pierce the green sward under the spreading trees to mark the place of old-time flower beds and fll the air with a perfume suggestive of the beauty in the garden of long ago. About 1845, Dr. Eppes returned from extensive travels in Europe and the Holy Land, bringing many seeds and cuttings back with him—ivy from Kenilworth Castle and other things for memory’s sake. About this time he planted a great variety of trees and shrubs at Appomattox: acacias, locusts, willows, magnolias, elms, copper beech, pines, spruce, yews, plane-trees, lindens, oaks and Murillo cherries. Many of these were destroyed during the War Between the States, but many survive, and as they are approaching the century mark, now appear majestic and dignified. These splendid trees edge the driveway and are grouped on the sides of the lawn. ‘The pecan tree is especially at home here, and one given by Colonel Eppes to his butler, which was planted over a well in front of a driveway, has attained immense size and height and is a landmark on the way to wharf. Scions and cuttings from this vigorous tree have been used extensively for propagating and marketed under the name of ‘‘Appomattox.”’ On Dr. Eppes’ return home after the war, about 186s, he planned and planted the present livable and lovable garden; he walled it in on the front by a honeysuckle hedge growing over an iron fence and on two sides by an embankment of earth planted in trees after the fashion of many gardens in Devonshire, England. The trees on such an embankment make a charming background for [58]
