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

Miramar [slide]

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

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More information on Miramar:

Previously in Garden History:

Read more on this topic:

  1. Garden History: “Willowmere,” Rear Admiral Aaron Ward house, 435 Bryant Avenue, Roslyn Harbor, New York (LOC)
  2. Garden History: Mrs. Francis Lemoine Loring house, 700 South San Rafael Avenue, San Rafael Heights, Pasadena, California. (LOC)
  3. Garden History: “The Appletrees,” Henry Eugene Coe house, Southampton, New York
  4. Garden History: Leading you down the garden path
  5. Garden History: Henry Edwards Huntington house, Oxford Road, San Marino, California. (LOC)