A couple of weeks ago I spent three days in the Gaiety Hollow garden, the home garden of landscape architects Elizabeth Lord and Edith Schryver. The L&S Conservancy asked me to do some drawings for their upcoming fund raising campaign…a campaign to repay the generous donor who bought the house and garden, and is allowing the Lord and Schryver advocates five years to begin rehabilitating the garden and raising the funds for purchase and maintenance. (Check their new website here…)
The house sits on busy Mission Street in Salem, but on a hot summer day the beautiful garden is a refuge. I set up my little drawing table under the shady arbor and got right to work…
and here’s a vintage photo of the same view…
and here’s Jon instead of a statue…
One of my favorite parts of the garden has been sadly lost in the last few years…this beautiful 300+ year old oak tree which predated the garden, the neighborhood, the town, white settlement…was at the end of the allee of rhododendrons and azaleas…
but here’s the old oak still standing at the other end of the allee…as living things gardens keep changing, providing gardeners with opportunities and challenges…
and here’s a vintage hand-tinted shot of the garden at it’s very beginning…about 1932 maybe…
and a view from the bedroom window today…
My three days in the garden were serenely spent drawing and photographing…
walking through the garden over and over to let the “feel” of the place, the karma of the place, sink in…
vinatge photo of the same view…
friends came and brought lunch everyday…
and stayed to walk the garden…
and all the time I spent in the garden I felt the presence of Lord and Schryver…STRONGLY!!…they were right there.
As the Conservancy’s fund raising campaign begins I’ll be posting occasionally, plus I’ll soon start a new blog about the garden…stay tuned….and begin thinking about your future donation…?!?
On The Way 
Bonnie: You are a community treasure. George
YOU are the treasure, George. xxooxxoo
another lovely post. fabulous vicarious tour of those gardens. thank you, bonnie.
Thank you, Bonnie, for your lovely art work and this fabulous BLOG!!
The Strand family dedicated heart and soul to save the old oak tree (and the entire garden). But i guess when your gig is up….well, it’s up. Thank you Bonnie, for your sensitive blog. Love this garden and hope i can help in keeping it going.