The Garden History & Design Committee interacts with all LGC committees in developing creative joint programs that further the understanding of garden history and design.  Encourages and assists members in documenting their gardens and notable community gardens for submission to the Archives of American Gardens of the Smithsonian Institution. Increases awareness of the importance of historic and contemporary landscapes and gardens. Provides the LGC archives with copies of all materials submitted to the Smithsonian.  (from the Policies and Procedures Handbook)

The Smithsonian Archives documented over 100,000 gardens across the country. The collection was started with glass lantern slides donated to the Smithsonian by the Garden Club of America in 1992.  Several members of the Litchfield Garden Club have documented their gardens - see images below of some of those gardens.
Breeze Hill Farm - Litchfield, CT
​The four quadrants within the fountain ring each contain a weeping cherry tree and egg-shaped boxwood along the walkways. The foundation planting at the house includes spring bulbs, hosta, peony and phlox. The greenhouse is the winter home for olive trees planted in containers and an heirloom geranium from the region that is propagated through cuttings. Vegetables and herbs are grown from seed and raised organically on the property for the owners and their dogs.

Read More or Click Here for Smithsonian documentation.
Chestnut Hill Gardens - Litchfield, CT 
An outstanding feature of Chestnut Hill Gardens is a 240-foot long perennial border planted in 2004 alongside a split rail and stone fence that separates the house and gardens from a nine-acre meadow. The owners first planted an 80-foot long border in the same location in 1982; by 2003 that border looked tired. Everything but the trees was dug up, more curves were added to widen the strip now three times the original length, and the soil was amended and tilled. 

Read More or Click Here for Smithsonian documentation.
Curtis Rose Hatheway House - Litchfield, CT
The Patterson Garden (also known as the Curry Garden or the Curtis Rose Hatheway House) in Litchfield, Connecticut surrounds an 1899 Colonial Revival house, both of which have undergone changes through the years. An earlier colonnade at the front of the house has been replaced by an allée comprised of twelve 30-foot tall Chanticleer pear trees, each under planted with four Green Pillow boxwood. The walkway to the front door is comprised of pea gravel edged in granite set, with a small granite set terrace and two antique urn container gardens filling the transition to the front steps.  

​Read More or Click Here for Smithsonian documentation.
Westview Farm - Litchfield, CT
​Once a working dairy farm, Westview Farm serves as a quintessential example of the New England house and garden. The farmhouse and many of the trees on this 5 acre property date back to when it was established in 1850, an apple orchard on the property dates back to circa 1940. The gardens of Westview Farm, which include an herb and flower garden, a "red border" featuring plantings with red blooms and foliage contrasted with bright yellow and green plantings, a vegetable garden, and a cutting garden, were established in 1986 when the current owners purchased the property. One of the most recent additions to the property is a 1/3 acre pond added in 1993 which is surrounded by willows, forsythia, and daffodils.

​Read More or Click Here for Smithsonian documentation.
Baby Boomer Retirement Garden - Litchfield, CT
​The Baby Boomer Retirement Garden is a dense yet low-maintenance garden designed to meet the needs of lifelong gardeners who have chosen to simplify their lives by downsizing to a smaller property. Described as a "retirement garden," the property serves to minimize tasks such as weeding, mulching, and staking. In setting the framework for the garden, the view of the surrounding landscape was a guiding principle. An old apple tree, named the "Iconic Apple Tree," is the focal point of the large lawn which leads the eye to the mountain vista beyond. The renovation of the house included the addition of glass windows and doors so that every room's west facing wall would have a view of the landscape.

Read More or Click Here for Smithsonian documentation.
Ethan Allen Garden - Litchfield, CT
The gambrel-roofed house built in 1736, reputed to be the birthplace of Ethan Allen in 1738, has been enlarged by many owners since then, and the sloping 1.41 acres garden always has presented challenges for ornamental presentation. Parterres with roses and perennials were established by garden designer Rosaline Spring LaFontaine in 1956. The current owners acquired the property in 1982, then in 2003 redesigned and planted a formal garden with French influences. These include extensive hedges, defined flower beds, a tea house as a focal point, and an unstructured hedge of forsythia, birdhouse and secret garden at the southern edge of the slope. 

​Click Here for Smithsonian documentation
Oliver Wolcott Senior House - Litchfield, CT
The 15 acre property was one of the parcels of land allotted to settlers when Litchfield was founded in 1719, and the original Georgian-inspired house, since expanded, was built for Oliver Wolcott Senior in 1753. The gardens installed by the current owner beginning circa 1978 recall the agrarian history of the region with fruit trees, a working chicken coop, and gates designed to suggest barn doors. There is one ancient apple tree on the property and old species plants and modern cultivars have been mixed in garden beds. Trees and shrubs were planted in front of the house for privacy and to reduce noise from the street, which would not been done in colonial times.

Click HERE for Smithsonian documentation
Marla Patterson, Chair, Garden History and Design Committee presented, "Litchfield's Historic Gardens, Now and Then" -  exploring LGC's glass slide collection at our meeting on September 19, 2024 at the Litchfield Historical Society.
​Smithsonian Gardens ~ Archives of American Gardens.  Collecting, preserving, and providing access to cultural and ecological resources that document private and public landscapes in America. Established in 1987, the Archives collects, preserves, and provides access to photographic images and records documenting the evolution of gardens and landscapes throughout the United States. As of 2017, its holdings include over 100,000 images and supplemental files across over forty collections.
Below - links of interest!
Smithsonian Gardens
Smithsonian Community Gardens
Archives of American Gardens, Digital Photography Policy

documentation for the Smithsonian archives

​For any member starting a garden documentation for the Smithsonian Archives of American Gardens, the following information is not only helpful, but necessary. The Procedures Manual is basically the outline of how to start your submission. Please read it carefully and perhaps print it out for reference. Click HERE for Procedures Manual.

The following two links are great to read for background information as you work with photographing your garden: Click HERE for the AAG-CSC and HERE for the AAG All Tings Photography. 
​LGC Gallery Garden Project ~ In 2016, the Garden History & Design Committee initiated a new project to promote the club’s archives and pure enjoyment of our gardens. The Gallery Projects are not intended for submission to the Smithsonian AAG. Rather, they are a simpler way of recording our labors and successes in the landscape. Read More

Video documentation of Litchfield gardens, June 2013
Ethan Allen House Gardens was one of the featured sites during the Centennial House & Garden Tour of the Litchfield Garden Club on June 15, 2013 ~ Celebrating the Past ~ Toasting the Future ~ The Litchfield Garden Club's 100th Anniversary, narrated by Tovah Martin and produced by www.Litchfield.bz

CLICK HERE to see the other nine gardens featured in the Centennial House & Garden Tour.

LITCHFIELD GARDEN CLUB’S GARDEN HISTORY & DESIGN COMMITTEE 
1915 ~ 2023 AND ONWARD
HISTORIC GARDEN DOCUMENTATION

1915:
LGC President, Margaret Hicks Gage, initiates the Garden Club of America “lantern slide” project, currently part of the Smithsonian Institution’s Archives of American Gardens.
1920 - 1960s:
The nucleus of the GCA collection is composed of nearly 3,000 slides/60,000 photographic images from the 1920s and later. LGC has 35mm transparency slides produced of Litchfield historic gardens and properties; copies are provided for the Smithsonian. LGC’s original glass slides are archived with the Litchfield Historical Society.
1960s - 1980s:
Litchfield Garden Club members’ gardens are reunited with antique glass slides; old relationships within the historic gardens, properties and families are documented and archived by LGC.
2009 - 2013:
In preparation for the LGC Centennial, the Garden History & Design Committee’s work escalates. Five members’ properties are formally documented and accepted into the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Gardens.
2014 - 2016:
Two team documentations were initiated; one public site, and a private historic home. These involved between three to six members and promote working together and sharing learned expertise in photography, plant identification, horticulture, garden design, writing and garden illustration.  In December of 2016, The Oliver Wolcott Senior Gardens documentation was accepted by the AAG.
2017 - forward:
A new team project was initiated in January to document the Ethan Allen House Gardens, a grand exploration of very old garden plans with fresh contemporary interpretation by the current, long-time designer/owners. 

Click here to learn more about the Litchfield gardens that have been accepted into the Smithsonian's Archives of American Gardens

For more information, email Marla Patterson, Chair Litchfield Garden Club GH&D Committee

Our Committee's Work over Time

PictureThe garden of Mrs. Henry Munroe, Litchfield Garden Club Archives at the Litchfield Historical Society, Helga J. Ingraham Library
While the Garden Club of America (GCA) was in its formative years just after its founding in 1913, ambitious new members were anxious to preserve the gardens that they had developed in prior years. Margaret Hicks Gage, the first president of the Litchfield Garden Club (LGC) from 1913 to 1921, was a pioneer who helped lead the effort.
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By 1915, LGC had energetically joined the GCA program to document members’ gardens with hand-painted glass slides currently known as the Smithsonian Institution’s Archives of American Gardens (AAG). The AAG is currently a fully staffed segment of Smithsonian Gardens with an excellent horticultural and preservation minded staff. GCA clubs nationwide contribute a small amount financially to the AAG each year and also fund AAG internships. Among other things, the interns produce garden design “minutes” to present various garden features. In turn, the AAG provides GCA clubs with invaluable record-keeping, and online  digital research system, educational programs and assistance in the documentation process.

In the past 100 years, many GCA clubs around the country have donated their original glass slides to the AAG. The Litchfield Garden Club was one of the few that felt keeping the original treasures within our own archive would be best. Therefore, the Litchfield slides were copied and sent to the Smithsonian. The original LGC glass slide archive is maintained by, and is now part of the Helga J. Ingraham Memorial Library at the Litchfield Historical Society. The slides are preserved in climate-controlled storage shelves in museum-grade boxes.