home of american impressionism

Grounds and Gardens

That cherished land where all is peace and beauty. We all seem to yearn for it and that, I suppose, is a very good reason for painting it.- Frank Vincent Dumond, artist of the Lyme Art Colony

Visitors today understand immediately the site's appeal to the artists who stayed with Florence Griswold. Her house, gardens and river view were favored subjects of her boarders. Walking the grounds, one is delighted by the same trees and gentle bend in the river. Visitors stand at the site of Childe Hassam's favorite spot, stroll Miss Florence's lovingly restored old-fashioned garden, and rest where Chadwick posed his model for the now famous, On the Porch. Today, just as over one hundred years ago, artist and visitor alike can discover the quality of light and the spirit of place found here.

Download Garden Map
illustrated by Judy Rathbun Whitney

Restored Gardens and Riverfront View

Florence Griswold was a keen gardener. From seed catalogues and references to gardening books among her correspondence, we know she was constantly in search of new and unusual plants. She helped others, including several of the Lyme artists, to establish their own gardens with "good, old-fashioned flowers" and filled her own home with small, informally arranged bouquets of fresh flowers.

One of the Museum's goals has been to restore Miss Florence's garden and orchard that were the subject for so many paintings by the Lyme Art Colony artists. That dream is now a reality. In 1998 an archaeological dig of the site helped the Museum to identify the physical boundaries of the garden beds and walkways as well as the surrounding orchard and outbuildings. Landscape Historian Sheila Wertheimer has guided the Museum in the restoration of the gardens and site to its appearance circa 1910. Miss Florence's garden can be characterized by what is referred to today as a "grandmother's garden" in which masses of flowers were informally arranged in bordered beds close to home. Varieties of hollyhock, iris, foxglove, heliotrope, phlox, cranesbill, and daylilies were among the many perennials that made up her garden.

Garden Path Lt. River in Summer

In 2000, members of the Museum's "Garden Gang" planted what will eventually become over 1,500 heirloom perennials for the garden. Garden Gang volunteers have become absorbed in researching the specific cultivars and locating sources for historically-accurate plant material.

In the spring of 2006, heirloom apple and pear trees were planted to re-establish the orchard that once grew just beyond the garden. A small rose garden was planted next to Miss Florence's garden in recognition of her fondsess for that flower. More recently, drifts of thousands of daffodils and scilla have been planted on the north side of the Florence Griswold House and across the Belding Riverfront Green overlooking the Lieutenant River. In addition, native mountain laurel (kalmia latifolia), Connecticut's state flower, is being planted on the grounds to evoke the natural landscape that attracted the artists of the Lyme Art Colony more than 100 years ago.

NEW!
The Florence Griswold Museum has plans to restore the 19th century barn adjacent to the garden as the John and Dyann Rafal Landscape Center. Scheduled to open in June 2009, this new center will foster the appreciation of the rural landscape of the Lyme region. The barn will feature an exhibit on the history of the property, host talks and demonstrations, and function as a working space for the Garden Gang. Please watch for further announcements about this exciting development at the Museum.

Restoring these gardens that once served as a subject for the American Impressionists is central to the Museum's plans to create a living cultural landscape here. Over time, these gardens will capture a sense of place and provide a sensorial understanding of why so many artists found, and continue to find, inspiration in this riverside setting.

Just beyond the gardens lies the Lieutenant River. Visitors are encouraged to walk along the river's edge for a better look at the variety of birds that call the area home, for a picnic on its banks, or to take in a summer concert.