Herb Garden
History
Ida’s rose garden, circa 1930, was located on the site of the current Herb Garden (top left). Over the years Alice changed the plantings within the Herb Garden. The garden was very lush in this circa 1972 image (lower left). The knot garden was probably added in the 1970s or 80s but at some point was removed.
The arbor that overlooks the Herb Garden is based on an original Neel Reid design and was added in 2004. The arbor is draped with heirloom climbing roses and cross vine.
The Herb Garden sits on the site of Ida Callaway’s rose garden. Alice implemented this change in the 1960s and the present design is loosely based on one created by Rosemary Louden, a noted designer of herb gardens and a lecturer on cooking with herbs, in the early 1980s. It contains a wide variety of culinary, medicinal and aromatic herbs, such as rosemary, lavender, lemon balm, mint, costmary, parsley and oregano. In late spring and early summer, beds of ‘Coronation Gold’ yarrow bloom profusely. Alice sometimes harvested the chives and spearmint in her garden, but she often told people that she mostly just enjoyed watching the herbs grow.
The four main quadrants in this garden contain most of the herbs. In the center of each of these beds is a pillar supporting an antique climbing rose planted in memory of the old rose garden that Ida and Fuller Sr. once enjoyed. Also, notice the evergreen cherry laurel topiaries which add a formal element to the design.
Horticultural Specimens
Climbing rose (Rosa ‘Empress of China’) on arbor at herb garden overlook. These were planted in 2004, however ‘Empress of China’ was cultivated at Hills & Dales by Ida Callaway and possibly by Sarah Ferrell. It is mentioned in articles during Ida’s tenure and by at least one source claiming it was present when Sarah gardened here. Blooms pink, late April and then sporadically til frost.
Cross vine (Bignonia capreolata) on arbor at herb garden overlook. Blooms salmon-orange in mid-spring. Planted in 2004.
Fernleaf yarrow (Achillea ‘Coronation Gold’) in four large beds on north and south sides of herb garden. Blooms yellow in May. Planted by AHC.
Climbing roses (Rosa ‘Prosperity’ [2 of these], Rosa ‘Cornelia’, Rosa ‘Ghislaine de Feligonde’) on pillars in four main beds of herb garden.