Vanderbilt Gardens in July

2008 Special Events

The Vanderbilt Gardens
in July

The two garden levels containing annuals appear at the very top of of the garden, as visitors enter the area. The beds on both levels form shapes such as hearts, circles and fleur-de-le. These ornate shapes are typical of a formal garden in the late 19th century. The "italian" style refers to the way the beds are arranged on the level. The beds are arranged so that, if a line is drawn down the center of the garden, each side would mirror the other. The beds in the Vanderbilt garden were laid out using pictures of the original garden, to try and come as close as possible to that time period.

Unfortunately, there are not a lot of records indicating what types of plants Vanderbilt used in this area of the garden. One of the last of the head gardeners to work for Vanderbilt was Alex Knauss, who drew some plans from memory when he was older. The FWVGA uses these plans as a basis for designing the current gardens.

Unfortunately, many of the plants in those plans are not readily available anymore, or are too expensive to buy in mass quantities. Therefore, we try to use other plants which approximate the correct color schemes.

We also try to change the plants each year to keep the garden fresh and interesting for return visitors. Each year, over 6000 annuals are hand planted in these two garden levels.

Lower Annuals, another angle

Next slide in show for July
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This page updated
23 Mar 2008