West Hartford - Prospect Avenue Garden

This Reformed Gothic style house and garden are steeped in Connecticut history, listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. The crabapple planted circa 1880 by the first owners, the Chinese Educational Mission, has been on the Champion Tree List since 1995 as the largest crabapple in the state. The property is slightly less than one and three-quarters acre. Since 1980 the current owners have studied and mostly maintained the original lawns, shade trees and shrubs planted by members of the Erving family from 1882 until 1980. Trees on the property that may date back to the late 19th century include maple, white pine, hemlock, oak, and spruce. Additions of native trees and shrubs in the early 20th century include rhododendron, laurel, euonymus, white cedar, lilacs and hydrangeas; non-native plants include Swedish weeping birch, European spruce, rhododendron, azalea, quince and yew. The current owners have replaced some losses with Japanese dogwood, redwood, and natives including dogwood, laurel, holly, pawpaw, clethra and pepperbush. Gardens include a perennial garden, a 40-year old vegetable garden on the site of an older cutting garden, a cottage garden of annuals outside an additional residence building, a contemporary tulip garden and a new pollinator and wetland woodland garden with native shrubs, ferns and flowers. The perennial garden provides blooms for three seasons starting in spring with wood scilla, Chinese and herbaceous peonies, and black cohosh. In summer there are hollyhocks, lilies, astilbe, begonia and lantana with some in terracotta containers. For autumn bloom the garden has orchid dahlias, Japanese anemones, monkshood, sedum, and begonias. A 140-year-old wisteria drapes over a 75-foot dead hemlock – a "natural topiary". The tulip garden was replanted in 2019 with more than 500 late pastel varieties, followed by a day lily collection in midsummer. Individual beds have been planted with English hybrid hellebores, heirloom irises, heirloom dogtooth violets, and in an all-white bed there are two varieties of narcissus, leucojum and snowdrops. Antique and contemporary bronzes, pottery, garden ceramics, 19th century urns, English cast stone dogs, Japanese giboshi on upturned whiskey barrels, and cast iron seating are placed at focal points. The vegetable garden at the back of the perennial garden is surrounded by a wire fence and has oak plank movable walkways. Plant supports include towers made from aluminum rods for heirloom pole beans. Crop rotation has been practiced for forty years. An heirloom cold frame is used to raise salad seedlings. There is a cottage on the property for a resident gardener who grows a cottage garden of annuals. The new pollinator and wetland woodland garden replaces a grove of infested hemlock and includes native shrubs, ferns and flowers. A grove of dogwood was started in the 1980's and added to in 2005. Mature woodland shade trees are underplanted with understory trees and shrubs with ivy ground cover and serve to disguise five compost piles. Persons associated with the garden's design: Malcolm Larson, resident gardener (1915-1941); Raymond Baker, resident gardener (1941-1985).