For those who haven’t been on campus lately, I write with exciting news. In the last several months, with significant volunteer support, we have installed two new gardens in Harriet’s Backyard. Additional planting assistance came from the Green Apprentices from KNOX Hartford. One of these gardens is found in the center of campus, just behind Stowe’s House. Largely in the shade, this garden is planted at the edge of one of our most important trees–the State’s largest Star Magnolia and crosses the drive to take in a bit of the lawn between the Stowe and Twain houses. Supported by a grant from an anonymous donor and designed by Claudia Dinep of Outside Landscape, West Hartford, this new garden contained four (4) new trees, including dogwood and cornelian cherry, and over 125 new shrubs, including inkberry, chokeberry, rhododendron, mountain laurel, and hydrangea. Over 300 low grasses have been planted along with a variety of over 130 ferns. In addition, over 375 perennials have been planted, including coral bells, Solomon seal, foam flowers, wild geranium and columbine, amsonia, and penstemon. Most of these new plants are native to New England. A second wave of planting is scheduled for the fall.
The second garden is on the north side of the Day House and is accessible from a new meandering pathway around campus. This new pathway is marked at each end by two custom made wooden arbors made by Hartford-based Fresh Start Works an. This second of two gardens is also largely in the shade and offers a cool respite for the community and all those who visit. Designed around a significant stand of rhododendron and Ohio buckeye, the area has been planted with additional Ohio buckeye and mountain laurel shrubs, along with spring bulbs, ferns, hosta, columbine, and Solomon seal. In the evening, the section of the pathway is also illuminated. Additional planting is also planned here for early fall. The plants and furnishings in this new garden was supported by a Love Your Block grant, administered by the City of Hartford in collaboration with Hartford Gives.
It should also be noted that both new gardens include comfortable seating, and each garden includes an outdoor sculpture. The garden in the center of campus features a custom-made, life size, bronze sculpture of Harriet Beecher Stowe. In the piece Stowe is beautifully dressed and seated on a bench reading the 1848 freedom narrative of Josiah Henson. This piece was supported by a generous gift from Rosamond Warren Allen and made by artist Brenda Councill. The second sculpture came to the Stowe Center as a gift from the Marks family, in memory of their mother of Leta Weiss Marks (1932-2025). This abstract piece was made by CT-based sculptor, Carol Kreeger Davidson (1929-2014). Watch for a forthcoming blog on these two pieces.
