The titles of many of my blog posts are often the first thoughts that pop into my mind when I see a picture or read something online. Painting with Plants was exactly the words I heard in my head as I came across this picture in the Flickr commons. It is hard to believe, in this day and age, that this is someone’s personal garden. Granted, it is a family that lived in high style in Newport, Rhode Island, but still, it looks more like a public park than a back garden.

That said, the effect is very painterly. There was obviously a lot of thought put into colors chosen and the light background (I would guess decomposed granite or other light colored stone material), which makes the colors “pop” all the more, especially in what looks to be bright, mid-day sun.

The garden might seem a little intimidating in the hot sun, but the cool shade of the tress beyond, along with the large fountain beckon from the house.

Painting with plants, Miramar, Newport, Rhode Island, 1930

Creator: (former owners) Widener, George D
       Rice, Alexander Hamilton

Colorist: Van Altena, Edward

Landscape Architect: Jacques Gréber

Type: Projected media

Date: 1930

Topic: Summer
     Parterres
     Flower beds
     Walkways
     Box
     Ageratums
     Annuals (Plants)
     Fountains

Local number: RI021003

Physical description: 1 slide: glass lantern, col.; 3 x 5 in

Notes: The slides were commissioned by Mrs. Hugh D. Auchincloss Sr. Phelps, Harriet Jackson. Newport in Flower. Newport, RI: Preservation Society of Newport County, 1979, p. 50-56. Griswold, Mac and Weller, Eleanor. Golden Age of American Gardens. N. Y., N. Y.: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. in association with the Garden Club of America, 1991, p. 31

Place: Rhode Island
     Newport

Persistent URL:http://siris-archives.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?&profile=all&sou rce=~!siarchives&uri=full=3100001~!182587~!0#focus

Repository:Archives of American Gardens

View more collections from the Smithsonian Institution.

More information on Miramar:

• Miramar on Wikipedia
• More pictures of Miramar from Google Image Search
• Miramar information and pictures at The Gilded Age Era blog

Previously in Garden History:

• Leading you down the garden path, The Farm House, 1930
• The importance of trees (Botanic Garden, Sydney, Australia)
• Sunnie-Holme, Home of Annie Burr Jennings
• “The Dunes,” Frank Bestow Wiborg house, Highway Behind the Pond, East Hampton, New York
• Henry Edwards Huntington house, Oxford Road, San Marino, California. (LOC)
• Pittville Gardens, Cheltenham, England
• “Willowmere,” Rear Admiral Aaron Ward house, 435 Bryant Avenue, Roslyn Harbor, New York (LOC)
• “The Appletrees,” Henry Eugene Coe house, Southampton, New York
• Thornewood, Tacoma, Washington
• Mrs. Francis Lemoine Loring house, 700 South San Rafael Avenue, San Rafael Heights, Pasadena, California. (LOC)
• Tatham Garden
• ‘Santa Barbara Mission, 2201 Laguna Street, Santa Barbara, California. (LOC)
• Your victory garden counts more than ever!
• “Villa Sciarra,” George Wurts house, via Calandrelli, Rome, Italy. (LOC)
• Whitworth Gardens, Darley Dale, Derbyshire, England
• John & Lizzie Wilson from Boston in Bradenton, Florida, 1951
• Paris Exposition: gardens, Paris, France, 1900
• Wisteria blooms in Davis Garden (Locust Valley, New York), 1930
• “Killenworth,” George Dupont Pratt house, Glen Cove, New York, ca. 1918
• A Garden Under Glass, Nice, France, c1865-1895

Related posts:

Blue Iris via Instagram Tree Identification Help – What do you think it is? – Enkianthus? Video: In the garden…February 13, 2013 – Potatoes, onions, wisteria and lemon Hibiscus and Garden Harvest “Everlapse” photo shows – Add your Hibiscus photos and share Video: In the garden…April 24, 2013 – Potato blight(?), black spot and some beautiful brunsfelsia