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SARAH ORNE JEWETT’S BROAD-AISLE GARDEN,

SOUTH BERWICK, MAINE:

AN EARLY TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY VIEW

Nancy Mayer Wetzel

Northeast border of the broad-aisle garden, 2011.

THE BROAD-AISLE GARDEN

The garden of nineteenth-century writer Sarah Orne Jewett is located near

the north end of Jewett House, a rectangular plot currently enclosed by

fences, shrubs, arborvitae and other trees, and the adjacent walls of

outbuildings. There are planted borders around the inside of the boundaries

and on each side of a center path that Jewett called “the broad aisle”. This

garden room is furnished with potted plants and a granite bench.

Jewett garden history:

A map from about 1835 shows the Jewett family compound at the center of

South Berwick. Landscape features are carefully recorded, including a

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rectangular plot labeled “Garden” near the 1774 dwelling. The house and

garden may well date to the same time. Sarah Orne Jewett described the site

as “…an old plot of ground where several generations have been trying to

make good things grow.”

Jewett preserved her venerable home grounds in literature depicting “wide

green yards and tall elm-trees to shade them” with sweeps of fences that

bound her grandfather’s old house and Jewett-Eastman House, her childhood

home next door. Young Jewett enjoyed red roses around her door and happily

smuggled herself into her grandmother’s enclosed front yard for the crumpled

petals of blush, white, and cinnamon roses that she used to make a delicious

coddle.

Jewett achieved fame as a writer early in life, treasuring the privacy and

inspiration of what she christened “my own New England garden.” From the

church just beyond the trees at the foot of the garden came singing voices and

a droning organ, a soundscape for her solitary imaginings. She wrote, “The

bees were humming in the vines and as she looked down the wide garden-

walk it seemed like the broad aisle in church, and the congregation of plants

and bushes all looked at her as if she were in the pulpit.”

In 1887 Sarah and her sister Mary made a midlife move into their late

grandfather’s colonial house and perfected the olden backyard plot. Even as

vestiges of eighteenth-century gardens were disappearing, a counter trend

was giving free reign to romantic inventions on early design. These Colonial

Revival gardens retained enclosed proximity to the house, the rectilinear

symmetry of classical architecture, and the three-dimensional spatial quality

of long-lived perennials and self-sown annuals and biennials.

Across the carriage lane behind the house, through a gateway with ball

finials, the Jewetts now entered a great garden room of paths and wide beds

abundantly planted. There were shrubs, a large area of roses, a kitchen

garden, and fruit trees. “The garden is so nice—old-fashioned indeed with

pink hollyhocks and tall blue larkspurs,” Sarah enthused. “You might make a

sketch with but slight trouble, with figures of old ladies wearing caps in the

long walks.”

Today, visitors still enter at the gate to follow the broad aisle and linger

among flowers. Borders and pots are planted in heirlooms, many of which

Jewett described. Early on there are peonies and roses in “great

clusters…heavy with dew and perfume.” The London pride of midsummer is

“most gorgeous to behold with its brilliant red and its tall, straight stocks.”

White mallows and orange tiger lilies follow in bloom and, finally, crimson

cardinal flowers that “belong to the old nobility.”

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Northeast border of the broad-aisle garden with view to garden fence and Jewett House, 2009.

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Descriptions of the broad-aisle garden by Jewett and her contemporaries:

Behind the house is a big old-fashioned garden, and every room is sweet with

posies. Philadelphia Press, August 18, 1895

…at the back one goes through a gateway…into a quiet great garden, with

pear and apple trees. A long row of Lombardy poplars beyond that gives a

French hint as one sees them across the broad flower beds and down the long

alleys. “This is the broad aisle,” said Miss Jewett, walking down one of these

alleys... Bangor Daily Commercial, 1901

… and as she looked down the wide garden-walk it seemed like the broad aisle

in church, and the congregation of plants and bushes all looked at her as if

she were in the pulpit Sarah Orne Jewett, A Country Doctor, 1884

But when I was a very little child indeed my world was bounded by the fences

that were around my home… I used to mount the fence next the street and

watch the people go in and out of the quaint-roofed village shops that stood in

a row on the other side, and looked as if they belonged to a Dutch or old

English town. Sarah Orne Jewett, “A Mournful Villager”, 1881

The Garden! It would not have been the house it is without the garden, where

all its graceful motions were carried out in leaf and flower. William Dean

Howells, Letter to Jewett, September 15, 1903

GUIDELINES FOR PLANT SELECTION

1. Plants mentioned in Jewett’s writing. A common name or incomplete

scientific name in a text requires research for an appropriate plant species. A

choice among multiple, valid possibilities may also be necessary.

2. Plants that bring greater insight into the horticulture of Jewett’s day and

the scope of her horticultural knowledge and interests, including plants

associated with Jewett’s horticultural contemporaries such as Celia Laighton

Thaxter, Alice Morse Earle, Frederick Law Olmsted and Gertrude Jekyll.

3. Plants used in New World gardens, particularly those of New England,

between the 1600s and 1909, the year of Jewett’s death.

4. Plants that meet the above guidelines and also complement design

elements of the borders and pots such as form, color palette, bloom sequence

and combinations.

5. Plants meeting the above that offer variety for a season, especially

annuals, tubers and corms, for the northeast border and in pots.

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PLANTS IN JEWETT’S BROAD-AISLE GARDEN

For essays and photos of a selection of plants, go to Garden Bulletins at

http://www.public.coe.edu/~theller/soj/ess/wetzel-07.htm

London pride, known today as Maltese cross, in the northeast border, 2010.

Plant List Part I:

Most of these plants are mentioned in Jewett’s writing. They are listed by

name and grouping as they appear in the texts.

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Located on the aisle, mostly in pots:

Geraniums Geraniums, the friends of years, / Good-tempered, green old

pair: “In a Hurry”, 1870 Pelargonium graveolens ‘Lady Plymouth’. White variegation on scented green leaves. Pink

flowers. Grown by Sarah Goodwin, governor’s wife, Portsmouth, NH, nineteenth century.

Tender plant that would have been over-wintered indoors.

Pelargonium hortorum ‘Crystal Palace Gem’. Golden margin and central disc of green on

leaves. Red flowers. 1’. Tender plant. Introduced in 1869.

Gladiolus callianthus ‘Murielae’ Arching stems of white flowers with purple splotches that inspire common name, peacock

lily. To 4’. Subtle scent. Bulbs collected in mountains of Ethiopia in 1844 were being used

in New England in 1888 according to the magazine Garden and Forest, co-founded by

landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted that year. Used frequently today in Downeast

gardens, often in pots.

Lemon verbena, lavender I remember that I had even then a great dislike

to lemon verbena, and that I would have waited patiently outside a gate all

afternoon if I knew that some one would kindly give me a sprig of lavender in

the evening. “From a Mournful Villager”, 1881 Aloysia triphilla. Slender green leaves with lemon scent and flavor. Used in nosegays and

tisane. Native of South America brought by Spanish and Portuguese to Europe in

seventeenth century, reached England by eighteenth century. Over-wintered indoors in

northern climes.

Lavandula angustifolia. Narrow, silver leaves and purple flower spikes that contain

fragrant oil used in perfume and medicine. 15”. Made its way from native Mediterranean

lands to England, then to America with the Pilgrims. John Josselyn cites lavender in New-

Englands Rarities, 1672. Dainty organdy sachets of lavender were sold by the Shakers.

Pansies “Here’s pansies!” She picked a handful of purple ones. Then we

stopped by a brave rose tree, which held three great buds up to the October

sun. “Sarah Orne Jewett—A Visit to Her Home”, Bangor Daily Commercial,

December 20, 1901 Viola tricolor ‘Bowles Black’. This is a Johnny Jump Up. Small and so purple that it looks

black. Yellow eye. 6-8”. Annual that self sows. Introduced in 1901.

Pennyroyal Poor William was meekly submitting to being smeared, as to

his countenance, with a most pungent and unattractive lotion of pennyroyal

and other green herbs which had been hastily pounded and mixed with cream

in the little white stone mortar. The Country of the Pointed Firs, 1896 Hedeoma pulegioides, also American pennyroyal, squaw mint. Delicate annual with

powerful mint fragrance. 18”. Native wild plant of dry fields that self sows.

White petunias, mignonette One never knows the grace and beauty of

white petunias until they have been seen at night, or, like this, early in the

morning. It is when the dew has fallen that this delicate flower and

mignonette also give out their best fragrance… “The Confession of a House-

Breaker”, 1883 Petunia integrifolia. White, long-blooming annual. 1’. This cultivated species was

introduced from Argentina to England in 1831. Hybrids were in America by 1847.

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Reseda odorata ‘Machet’. Annual with white and salmon flowers. 1’. Napoleon’s gift from

Egypt to Josephine. Strong, sweet fragrance made it popular.

Petunias, geraniums, mignonette I was reminded, nobody knows why,

of a long walk with some friends through the damp avenues of Versailles,

when the leaves were beginning to fall, and the garden of the Little Trianon

was gay with blossoms. …The scent of the petunias and geraniums and

mignonette was filling all the air. “The Confession of a Housebreaker”, 1883 Petunia axillaris. Scented, white annual. 2’. Found in 1823 by explorer in South America.

This variety is ‘Rainmaster’.

Pelargonium graveolens, P. odoratissimum, P. tomentosum. Here is a selection of old-

fashioned, sweet-scented geraniums. Gently rub the underside of a leaf and enjoy the scent

of rose, apple and peppermint on your fingers. First ones came to America from South Africa

in 1770.

Reseda odorata ‘Machet’. (See prior description.)

Red roses …when I held my face close to the great wet clusters it seemed to

me that I had taken all their store of perfume for the coming day in one long,

delicious breath. …I went walking slowly up and down my own New England

garden, among the roses, in the middle of the night. “The Confession of a

House-Breaker”, 1883

I know a rose-bush, and a little while ago I knew an apple-tree, that

were brought over by the first settlers; the rose still blooms, and until it was

cut down the old tree bore apples. It is strange to think that civilized New

England is no older than the little red roses that bloom in June on that slope

above the river in Kittery. “From a Mournful Villager”, 1881 Rosa gallica ‘Officinalis’, also apothecary’s rose and red rose of Lancaster. Fragrant, double,

crimson flowers on compact plants, June-July. 3-4’. This antique rose also blooms in the old

burial ground at Kittery Point, Maine.

Talinum paniculatum, jewels of Opar Lime green leaves, delicate 2’ stems, tiny seedpods in sprays like carmine gems. Native of

the West Indies where Jewett sailed with friends on the steam yacht Hermione in 1896.

Stops in Haiti, Jamaica inspired her short story, “The Foreigner”, 1900. Popular annual

often available at nurseries now.

Located in the northeast border:

Ambrosia There are few of us who cannot remember a front-yard garden

which seemed to us a very paradise in childhood. …there was a little green

sprig called ambrosia that was a famous stray-away. “From a Mournful

Villager”, 1881 Chenopodium botrys. Annual known for wonderfully fragrant, tiny, oak-shaped leaves. 2’.

Self sows from year to year. Used after 1776. Featured on end papers of Old Time Gardens,

Alice Morse Earle, 1901. Earle used a Jewett epigraph and allusions to Jewett texts in

chapter two of her book, Front Dooryards.

Anemone I remembered coming to the old house often in my childhood; it

was in this very farm lane that I first saw anemones and learned what to call

them. “The White Rose Road”, 1889

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Jewett probably saw a native woodland anemone such as the white-flowered Anemone canadensis. Her Isles of Shoals friend, Celia Thaxter, grew Anemone japonica, also named A.

hybrida ‘Honorine Jobert’. White flowers, September-October. 3’. Available mid-1800s.

Thaxter described it in An Island Garden, “a lustrous white gold-hearted Anemone…for

autumn blooming”.

Bergamot Now and then a bee blundered in and took me for an enemy; but

there was a useful stick upon the teacher’s desk, and I rapped to call the bees

to order as if they were unruly scholars, or waved them away from their riots

over the ink, which I had bought at the Landing store, and discovered too late

to be scented with bergamot. The Country of the Pointed Firs, 1896 Monarda didyma, also beebalm, sweet Mary. Red flowers, July-August. 3’. Native. Oswego

tribe introduced it to colonists who used it in Oswego tea. Seeds sent to England in 1744.

Used today in Earl Gray tea.

Cardinal flower …for they seem like flowers from a palace garden that are

away from home masquerading and waiving ceremony, and taking the

country air. They wear a color that is the sign of high ecclesiastical rank, and

the temper of their minds would make them furies if they fought for church

and state. They are not radicals; they are tories and aristocrats; they belong to

the old nobility among flowers. “River Driftwood”, 1881 Lobelia cardinalis. Dramatic red spires, August-September. 3’. Native. Jewett found it

along Salmon Falls River where she rowed.

Clematis The clematis was in bloom, and its soft white plumes fringed the

archway of the lattice work. A Country Doctor, 1884

Clematis ‘Henryi’. Large, white flowers on vine. 12’. In America by 1872.

Columbine It was a country of wildflowers; the last of the columbines were

clinging to the hillsides… “The White Rose Road”, 1889

Aquilegia canadensis. Red and yellow flowers, May-June. 18”. Jewett found this native

wildflower in the Tatnic area of South Berwick. Brought from wild into gardens.

Dahlia ‘Little Beeswings’ A yellow honeycomb pattern of petals tipped scarlet. 3’. Introduced to the marketplace in

1909, the year of Jewett’s death. Once a swarm of bees came into the broad-aisle garden

and Jewett managed to get some of them into the beehive.

Dark-blue fleur-de-lis And one morning, there suddenly appeared in one

corner a beautiful, dark-blue fleur-de-lis, and I joyfully broke its neck and

carried it into the house, but everybody…wondered that I could not have left it

alone. “From a Mournful Villager”, 1881 Iris of blue is what Jewett picked. Iris germanica ‘Honorabile’ lingers on the grounds today,

possibly from Jewett’s day. Yellow and chestnut flowers, May-June. 18”. Introduced to

western world in 1840.

Flowering currant “‘T was your grandpa’s bush,” she said. “ He always

said nothing ever smelt so sweet. He would put a sprig of it in his button-hole

when we was goin’ to be married.” But the flowering currant dwindled and

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died away that summer. “A Plea for Front Yards”, 1888 Ribes odoratum, also clove current. Shrub with fragrant, yellow flowers, May. Tart, black berries in summer. 6’. Most commonly sold woody plant in U.S. before 1830. From

collection made by Lewis and Clark Expedition, 1803-1807. (Bush in southeast border)

Hellebore And I transplanted a lot of little sunflowers and put hellebore on

the gooseberry bushes and wrote a lot of notes. Letter to Annie Fields, 1889 Helleborus niger, also Christmas rose. Handsome, deeply divided foliage year round. 18”.

Look for white flowers in March; it’s too cold in Maine for bloom at Christmas. In New World

gardens since 1600s. Jewett used hellebore powder to control gooseberry sawflies.

Hollyhock …the garden is so nice – old-fashioned indeed with pink

hollyhocks and tall blue larkspurs. You might make a sketch with but slight

trouble… Letter to Sarah Wyman Whitman Alcea rosea. Maroon flowers, July-September. 6’. This variety ‘Nigra’ was in famous garden

of Jewett’s friend Celia Thaxter on Isles of Shoals. Available by first half of 1800s.

London pride …the London pride was most gorgeous to behold, with its

brilliant red and its tall, straight stalks. It had a soldierly appearance, as if

the flower were out early to keep guard. “The Confession of a House-

Breaker”, 1883 Lychnis chalcedonica, also Maltese cross, scarlet lightning. Scarlet at Midsummer in June.

3’. Lychnis is from a Greek word for lamp, a reference to the glowing color of the genus. In

New World gardens since 1600s. This autobiographical mention of London pride is one of at

least seven appearances of the plant in Jewett’s work.

Go to essay on London pride at

http://www.public.coe.edu/~theller/soj/cpf/london.html

White mallow …as I drive along the familiar roads I find every summer

fewer and fewer of the old-fashioned gardens. Where have all the snowberry

bushes gone and the tall blue larkspurs and white mallows? “A Plea for

Front Yards”, 1888 Malva moschata ‘Alba’, also musk mallow. Long-blooming, white flowers, July. 16”. An old-

time medicinal herb used ornamentally by the nineteenth century. Scottish Highlanders

brought it to New World, according to legend.

Marigold And lilies did not seem to me overdressed, but it was easy for me

to believe that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like a great yellow

marigold, or even the dear little single ones that were yellow and brown, and

bloomed until the snow came. “From a Mournful Villager”, 1881 Tagetes patula cv., French marigold. Annual with yellow and maroon stripes. Tall for a

small-flowered marigold at 3’. Available in America by 1793.

Nigella damascena ‘Miss Jekyll Blue’, love-in-a-mist Sky-blue annual, thread-like leaves, decorative round maroon-striped seedpods. 18” stems

weave into nearby plants. English gardener Gertrude Jekyll named this selection. Jewett’s

library included a first edition of Jekyll’s book Wood and Garden, 1899, in which Jekyll

described her large flower border and her system for using color in the border.

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Red and white peonies, golden lilies The front door might be shut, but

the garden door at the other end of the broad hall was wide open upon the

large sunshiny garden, where the last of the red and white peonies and the

golden lilies, and the first of the tall blue larkspurs lent their colors in

generous fashion. “Martha’s Lady”, 1897 Paeonia lactiflora ‘Festiva Maxima’, also piney. Fragrant blossoms of white randomly

splashed with red in June. 3’. First catalogued in 1852 by Charles Mason Hovey, a

Massachusetts nurseryman and publisher of Magazine of Horticulture. Garden in “Martha’s

Lady” is similar to Jewett’s own. (Peonies located in the aisle beds) Lilium hansonii. Early bloom. 3-5’. Ranked in best dozen lilies of American gardens 1893.

Rudbeckia Rubeckias had found their way in… Their names should be

translated into country speech, and the children ought to call them “rude-

beckies,” by way of relating them to bouncing-bets and sweet-williams. “The

White Rose Road”, 1889 Rudbeckia fulgida, also bright rudbeckia, orange coneflower. Yellow flowers with dark

centers in late summer. 2-4’. Part of the black-eyed Susan group. Available to gardeners by

early 1800s. By late in the century the species had escaped to New England meadows where

Jewett noticed it.

Snowberry bush, London pride, tiger-lilies, crimson phlox [Nan’s]

grandmother’s flower garden had been constantly encroached upon by the turf

which surrounded it, until the snowberry bush, the London pride, the tiger-

lilies, and the crimson phlox were like a besieged garrison. A Country

Doctor, 1884 Symphorocarpos albus. Bush 4-5’. Pink flowers. White berries. Snowberry bush collected

by Lewis and Clark Expedition, 1803-1807. Available for nursery purchase in 1812. Still

grows in southwest border under trees.

Lychnis chalcedonica, also Maltese cross, scarlet lightning. (See prior description.)

Lilium lancifolium. Orange flowers with black spots in mid-summer. To 5’. A favorite in old

gardens since 1804. This variety, ‘Splendens’, available in 1873.

Phlox drummondii var. coccinea. Annual. Red color. 18”. Also in island garden of Jewett’s

friend Celia Thaxter.

Violet The perfume from the violets / Of hidden blooming tells; “In a

Hurry”, 1870 Viola odorata ‘Rosina’. Pink flowers in early spring. 6”. Popular in late 1800s for nosegays

and perfume.

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The apothecary’s rose, likely the red rose of Jewett texts, in the borders on each side of the

broad aisle, 2011.

Plant List Part II:

These plants were introduced to New World gardens between the 1600s and

1909, the year of Jewett’s death.

Plants in pots located at the garden gate:

Fuchsia ‘Gardenmeister Bonstedt’

F. ‘Mrs. Popple’

Hosta plantaginea, fragrant plantain lily, August lily, old white

H. undulata var. albomarginata, variegated wavy plantain lily

Perennials located along the aisle:

Hosta lancifolia, narrow leaf plantain lily

Annuals in pots located on the aisle:

Crocosmia x crocosmiiflora, antique montbretia

Heliotrope aborescens, white heliotrope, possibly ‘White Lady’

Pelargonium x hortorum cv. ‘Velma Cox’, Velma Cox geranium

Tropaeolum majus ‘Empress of India’, nasturtium ‘Empress of India’

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Tropaeolum majus ‘Moonlight’, nasturtium ‘Moonlight’

Ipomoea lobata, Spanish flag

Perennials located in the northeast border:

Achillea filipendulina, golden yarrow

Achillea millefolium ‘Roseum’, pink yarrow

Aconitum napellus, common monkshood

Aster (See Symphyotrichum.)

Baptisia australis, false indigo

Belamcanda chinensis, blackberry lily

Tanacetum parthenium, feverfew

Clematis integrifolia, solitary clematis

Dahlia atropurpurea

Dahlia ‘White Aster”

Digitalis ferruginea, rusty foxglove

Digitalis grandiflora, yellow foxglove

Echinacea purpurea, coneflower

Echinops ritro, globe thistle

Hemerocallis dumortieri *

Heuchera, coral bells

Iris germanica “Old Yellow Self” from Snow-Menchen Farm *

Iris “Pownal Blue” *

Iris “William Sweetser” from Sweetzer Homestead c. 1860 *

Liatris spicata, gayfeather

Phlox paniculata, garden phlox

Physostegia virginianam, obedient plant

Rudbeckia laciniata ‘Hortensia’, golden glow

Symphyotrichum novae-angliae, New England aster

Annuals located in the northeast border:

Calendula officinalis, pot marigold

Emelia coccinea, tassel flower

Euphorbia marginata, snow on the mountain

Lobularia maritima, sweet alyssum

Nicotiana alata, jasmine tobacco

Perilla frutescens, purple perilla

Scabiosa ‘Black Knight’, sweet scabious

Perennials located in the southeast border:

Aegopodium podograria, bishop’s weed or goutweed

A. podograria ‘Variagatum’, bishop’s weed or goutweed (in west border)

Aruncus dioicus, goat’s beard

Dicentra spectabilis, old-fashioned bleeding heart

Hemerocallis “Cheryl Snow” from Allen-Snow Homestead c. 1820 *

H. fulva, orange daylily

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H. fulva ‘Kwanso’ *

H. fulva ‘Kwanso Variegata’ *

H. lilioasphodelus, lemon lily *

H. ‘Orangeman’

H. “Pownal Historic #3 *

H. thunbergii, Thunberg’s daylily

Hosta unidentified

H. ventricosa

Iris siberica, Siberian iris *

Iris unidentified

Polygonatum commutatum, great Solomon’s seal

Ribes odoratum, flowering current or clove current

* In 2008 heirloom iris and daylilies from nineteenth-century homesteads in Pownal, Maine

were donated by Jim and Donna Boyles, owners of Boyleses’ Heritage Gardens. These plants

are typical of the exuberant, old-time flowers that Jewett enjoyed seeing along Maine’s

country by-ways.

PLANTS OF NOTE IN OTHER LOCATIONS ON THE GROUNDS

Rosa alba ‘Maxima’, white rose. On the east side of the house ell grows the

ancient shrub rose of Jewett’s sketch, “The White Rose Road”. It blooms in

June “with a grace of youth and an inexpressible charm of beauty.”

Go to article on Jewett’s white rose at https://issuu.com/historicnewengland/docs/historic_new_england_summer_2006/24

Scilla siberica, Siberian squill. Scilla has naturalized through much of the

grounds, a carpet of blue bloom in April.

Syringa vulgaris, common lilac. Located in the front yard, these old-

fashioned bushes with fragrant, purple blossoms are icons of spring.

There is a collection of plants mentioned in Jewett’s masterpiece, The

Country of the Pointed Firs, located in the ell of Jewett House. These are

mainly medicinal plants that Mrs. Todd, country herbalist, cultivated in her

garden or gathered in wild places in coastal Maine.

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AFTERWORD

White rose and Norway spruce on the east side of Jewett House, 2011.

The Sarah Orne Jewett House Museum, Visitor Center and all parts of the

grounds, including the broad-aisle garden, belong to Historic New England.

In 1993 Sandra Armentrout, the organization’s first regional director, asked

me to be the landscape gardener at Jewett House.

The brief I received was to bring heirloom plants to the property, particularly

ones that appeared in Jewett’s writing. First on the docket was to transform

annual impatiens beds to displays of medicinal herbs that Jewett mentioned

in The Country of the Pointed Firs. This upgrade to heirlooms for existing

garden spots continued until my retirement in 2014.

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Two books have been most essential for plant research. Landscapes and

Gardens for Historic Buildings, A Handbook for Reproducing and Creating

Authentic Landscape Settings by Rudy J. Favretti and Joy Putman Favretti,

1978, was passed to me by Lynne Spencer, a Boston staff member. The other

book is Restoring American Gardens, An Encyclopedia of Heirloom

Ornamental Plants, 1640-1940 by Denise Wiles Adams, 2004.

Many of the plants—but not all—in the broad-aisle garden in my period as

landscape gardener are listed in this document and its links. Plant List Part

I is a compilation from Garden Guides prepared for guests annually from

2005-2013. It catalogs a selection of plants that are in Jewett texts. It was

particularly satisfying to reintroduce plants in autobiographical texts.

Welcome back, London pride, red roses, white petunias, mignonette and

others of your esteemed group!

Even more highly regarded is the group that needs no reintroduction at all,

for it is long-lived and still with us. We can be certain that Jewett knew the

very lilacs in the front yard; the white rose and Norway spruces between the

two family houses; the fern bed, sugar maple and white pine in the east yard

and the snowberry bushes in the broad-aisle garden.

Nancy Wetzel

May 2016

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The broad-aisle garden at the north end of Jewett House, 2010.