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Thursday, February 4, 2010

Garden Bones in Winter

“Garden bones” refer to those design elements (paths, trees, structures, etc.) that define the structure of a garden and are often best seen in the winter under a blanket of snow.

The bones of “Bonaire,” located in Orange, New Jersey, are clearly seen here – with its long axial view and symmetrical layout bordered by clipped box hedges typical of a formal garden. This design style was favored by Ellen Biddle Shipman (1869-1950) who designed “Bonaire” for Robert A. Franks (treasurer of industrialist Andrew Carnegie) in the 1930s.

Shipman designed numerous residential gardens like Bonaire. She is most well-known for her designs at Longue Vue Gardens in New Orleans, the Cummer Estate (now the Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens) in Jacksonville, Florida, and Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens in Akron, Ohio, where she collaborated with landscape architects Charles Platt and Warren Manning.

Click here to view more images of Bonaire.

Click here to view a slideshow of more gardens in the snow.


--Kelly Crawford, Museum Specialist
Archives of American Gardens
Smithsonian Gardens

1 comment:

  1. yes, good bone in the garden makes a big difference. This photo adds to your posting: http://collections.si.edu/search/results.jsp?q=siris_arc_207095

    Ching-hsien

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