Uplifting Roadtrip to Elizabeth Park
Roadtrip to Elizabeth Park. The madman loves Roadtrips and the excitement of planning them. His planning usually takes days if not weeks. What to bring? How to get there? What to see? He would drive me crazy. But, when the Roadtrip is 13 miles and it takes 22 minutes to drive it, there’s not much to plan. Bananas or grapes for a snack and which car to take – that’s it.
Elizabeth Park
We are now fully vaccinated and after being in lockdown for 14 months we decided to start small. Ironically, our chosen destination was actually the last place we visited before going into lockdown. On March 10, 2020 we went to the plant sale in the greenhouses at Elizabeth Park Conservancy in Hartford. Talk about a gem! Any plant geek will find something in this park. An arboretum. Rock gardens. Stonewalls. Arches. Perennial beds. Annual beds. Hostas. Dahlias. Irises. Herbs. Trees. Oh my, the list just goes on. And, if nothing strikes your horticultural fancy, take a hike, there are plenty of paths and trails. And then, there’s the tennis courts and ball fields and basketball courts and playgrounds. There’s just so much here, but the thing most associated with Elizabeth Park is the rose.
Lots of Roses
Not just one rose – there are 800 different varieties of roses on display in the garden. At one time the madman and I felt that if we didn’t visit Elizabeth Park in mid-June it wouldn’t be worth going. After all there isn’t much exciting about post-bloom roses. And, June was always so busy with the end-of-school-year, birthdays, anniversaries, Fathers’ Day, baseball tournaments, concerts, planting…you get the picture. Imagine our surprise when we learned that it is so much more than just a spectacular rose garden.
The Ponds
The property was once the Victorian home of Charles Floyer Pond, a wealthy Hartford businessman. The 33 acre farm on the edge of the city was known as Prospect Hill Farm. C.F. Pond raised Ayrshire cattle – a breed famous for vigor and milk production. His oldest son, Charles Murray Pond, inherited the estate in 1869. Charles Murray was treasurer of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad. He served in the Connecticut State Senate until becoming State Treasurer in 1876. But, he continued to operate a working farm with livestock and produce. He would signal the end of the workday by firing his shotgun. The madman likes this practice, although I will not allow him to incorporate it into our routine.
In 1870, he married Sarah Elizabeth Aldridge and they worked together to improve the estate. They built a new home along Prospect Ave. and set up a plant nursery area in what was later to become the rose garden. Like the madman, they grew their own plants for their many gardens. Elizabeth loved flowers, and Charles was partial to trees. But, his true love was horses. In his stables, Mr. Pond raised thoroughbred trotters, and on Sunday afternoons he hosted horseraces on a track around the nursery area.
Hartford Takes Over
In the 1890s he began to investigate turning the estate which had grown to 102 acres into a public park. Upon his death, in 1894 Mr. Pond willed the property to the City of Hartford, to be used as a park with the one stipulation that it be associated with his beloved wife.
When the property was donated to the City of Hartford, a man named Theodore Wirth was Superintendent of Parks. Actually, he was Hartford’s first professional Superintendent of Parks, having studied at Kew Gardens in London and the Jardin des Plantes in Paris. One of the first things he did was to consolidate all the farm buildings into one central area. He also added greenhouses, establishing a large nursery area where he grew all the plants for Hartford’s public areas. Within a couple of years, the nursery produced some 250,000 plants for the city.
Mr. Wirth Moves In
Mr. Wirth moved his family to the second floor of the Pond mansion and opened the first floor to the public where he established a refreshment counter and lending library. But, he didn’t stop there. He sought to turn the estate into a large botanic and pleasure garden. He oversaw the planting of 275 trees, 21,000 shrubs and even introduced a flock of sheep, much to the delight of visitors.
In 1903, Mr. Wirth began the construction of the Rose garden, the first of its kind in the United States. Covering 1.25 acres, the garden was designed around a rustic summer house. It was enclosed by trellised roses and turf paths which led to the center point like spokes of a wheel. The original garden contained 116 beds, each planted with a single variety of rose. News of the rose garden’s beauty spread throughout the country and attracted thousands of visitors.
Roses Are In Trouble
By the mid-1970s, the garden had fallen into disrepair and the City of Hartford considered plowing it under. But, thanks to the work of a group of volunteers, The Friends of Elizabeth Park was formed to restore and preserve the rose garden. Once the garden was restored, the group became The Elizabeth Park Conservancy and expanded their role to include the entire park. Today the Conservancy and the City of Hartford work together – an example of effective public-private collaboration.
So, while the sheep are gone, there is plenty to attract visitors like the madman and myself. After looking only at our gardens for the past year, we wanted to visit someone else’s work. Elizabeth Park seemed the perfect place. It had never let us down in the past.
Roadtrip In The Mustang
We jumped in the madman’s Mustang and off we went with a couple of bananas for our snack. Since it was early morning, none of the park’s buildings were open, but we didn’t care – we had come for the gardens and to re-visit the madman’s favorite blue weeping Atlas cedar trees.
We knew we would be early for the roses and late for the spring bulbs, but the park was alive. How wonderful to see people out enjoying nature. Our path took us past the old greenhouses. I found the madman peering in with envy at the collection of large succulents. I was more interested in the herb garden. Then on to the madman’s cedars. They guard the entrance to the Julian and Edith Eddy Rock Garden, often referred to as the shade garden. Those cedars have been there forever.
Empty Beds
I was very happy to see nothing planted in the annual beds. The madman has been stressing over the fact that we have not planted our side beds which, incidentally, were constructed from an idea after our first visit to Elizabeth Park. I keep telling him it has been too cold – thank you, Elizabeth Park, for the reinforcement.
Of course, we had to end our visit at the Rose Garden. The wide turf paths are perfect for strolling and stroll through the arches we did. The Rugosas and some of the early blooming rose varieties were just beginning to open. Talking and strolling led us to the central summer house which is ringed in benches set among the rose bushes. The madman picked a bench in the sun – there were plenty of vacancies, so no need to worry about social distancing – and he plunked himself down.
The Madman Answers A Question
As he sat there admiring the sights, scents and sounds, two fellow visitors approached him and asked, “Do you know what kind of flowers these are?” Being a trained master gardener with a knowledge of proper nomenclature, he answered with a straight face, “Roses.” In all honesty, if this had been office hours in the extension center in Haddam, he would have told them, “I don’t do lawns. I don’t do roses.” Thanks to me, though, he did know they were a Rugosa rose and he added that bit of information with a smile. The ladies were very appreciative, after all, they had expected to find roses in the rose garden.
What a great end to our first Roadtrip of the year. As we drove home we talked about the crazy weather this year and how a cold snap was in the forecast. Temperatures for Memorial Day weekend were expected to be just in the 40s with rain – neither I nor the plants liked that forecast. So, although it is June 1, if you haven’t planted your garden yet, don’t despair – not much will grow until the temperature warms up. And, although the madman’s cousin Dolores thinks we should be drinking lemonade, the madman thinks we are good for at least one more week of hot cocoa.
Time to get it ready.
