
8 minute read
Alcatraz
The rock. Military reservation. Maximum security prison. Birdman, Capone, Machine-Gun Kelly, and the boys. Red Power, IOAT (Indians of All Tribes), and the Occupation. Gardens.
Alcatraz has a long and complex history. Gardens are at the end of the list because they aren’t the first thing that usually comes to mind when you hear about this tiny island. Its name dates to the first explorer of San Francisco Bay, Juan Manuel de Ayala who sailed into the bay in 1775, mapped it, and named one of the islands “Isla de los Alcatraces” (Island of the Pelicans) because of the birds were so plentiful there. By the 1850s, the island was housing its first military prisoners, and, in 1909, it was military prisoners who began building the prison we all know on the foundation of the fortified citadel that was its first use.
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Sun and rain were the only elements the Rock had that could contribute to a garden. Everything else, including soil from other islands, had to be brought in. Gardens began as functional entities; they were created to break the vicious winds that sweep across the water and to help control erosion. Only gradually did they become aesthetic and therapeutic. Floriferous beds eventually helped to give meaning to the lives of the offcers and staff and their families, and softened the hardship for spouses brought out to live on site.
In time, the gardens played a unique role in the lives of the prisoners who began to tend them.
“Life is worth holding onto even at its bitterest,” wrote Fred Reichel, the warden’s secretary in the 1930s. For the men interned there, many at the end of the prison system line, the gardens humanized confinement. Many found their only contentment and solace while at work in the sun.
The prison closed in 1963. For forty years there was no maintenance, no water except the rains. The gardens were lost. In the early 2000s the Garden Conservancy, at a meeting to establish a Bay Area presence, was approached about the possibility of rehabilitating the Alcatraz gardens. An unprecedented collaborative partnership was put together between the Conservancy, the National Park Service, and the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy (GGNPC). A volunteer group was assembled and a project that would to last ten years launched. It was completed in 2014 and management transitioned to the GGNPC, with the Garden Conservancy stepping into a less active advisory role.
As if the spirit of the island’s long-gone residents returned, plants that hadn’t been seen in decades reappeared as garden beds were cleared and rehabilitated. Far from sliding off into the bay, the gardens held on to some of the original meaning they created, and shared it once again. Fresh resources and new plants filled them out, the gardens were alive, and people noticed. Despite a prison population that never reached 300, Alcatraz now sees 1.5 million visitors a year, easily the most visited project in the Garden Conservancy’s history—visitorship that would be the envy of many a large botanical garden.
Russell Beatty, author of Gardens of Alcatraz (Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, 1996), wrote, “Suddenly, we appreciate the true meaning of the gardens: the human drama they represent.” Alcatraz—any garden really—changes the lives of those who invest their sweat, occasional blood and tears, and spirit.
Casa Amesti Adobe and Garden Monterey, CA
A stunning achievement in interior decoration, Casa Amesti is one of the best examples of Monterey Colonial architecture. In 1953, it was willed to the National Trust for Historic Preservation which, in 1998, sought to transfer ownership to the Casa Amesti Foundation and establish a conservation easement on the property. Tenants of the property, the Old Capital Club, requested a proposal for preservation planning from landscape architect and garden historian Russ Beatty, and contacted the Garden Conservancy for guidance in determining a course of action.
Casa del Herrero Montecito, CA
Also known as the Steedman Estate, Casa del Herrero is an estate designed in the Spanish Colonial Revival style architecture. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a National Historic Landmark. In 1994, the Garden Conservancy provided technical assistance on garden preservation and phased restoration. The Conservancy expressed their strong opinion that the gardens at the estate were in need of a complete professional assessment, and offered their services in that process.
Chase Garden Orting, WA
An outstanding example of Pacific Northwest modernist garden style, Chase Garden is a 4.5-acre garden that artfully combines Japanese and midcentury design with the naturalistic look of a Pacific Northwest woodland landscape. Chase Garden, which is now privately owned, was created over more than forty years, starting in the 1960s, by Emmott and Ione Chase (for more information, see Chase Garden case study, page ______).
The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens Jacksonville, FL
Founded in 1961, the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens has three flower gardens on the museum grounds, the oldest dating back to 1903. The original designs of these gardens have been preserved for over a century and were designed by landscape designers such as the Olmsted Brothers, Thomas Meehan & Sons, and Ellen Biddle Shipman. The Cummer Gardens, which are on the National Register of Historic Places, sustained severe damage from Hurricane Irma in 2018. The Garden Conservancy made a $20,000 restoration grant to help fund the reconstruction of these historic gardens.
Deepwood Museum & Gardens Salem, OR
Deepwood Museum & Gardens, formerly known as Historic Deepwood Estate, or simply Deepwood, has been managed since 1974 by the non-profit Friends of Deepwood, and is owned by the City of Salem. The gardens at Deepwood were one of the earliest commissions of Elizabeth Lord and Edith Schryver, the first all-female landscape architecture firm in the Pacific Northwest. In 2012, the Garden Conservancy advised the Lord & Schryver Conservancy on the renovation of the Scroll Garden at Deepwood, as well as
AMERICA’S the development of a Cultural Landscape Report.
Dumbarton Oaks Garden Washington, DC
In 1920, Mildred and Robert Woods Bliss found their ideal country house and garden within Washington, DC, a 53-acre property at the highest point of Georgetown. Working in happy and close collaboration for almost thirty years, Mildred Bliss and Beatrix Farrand planned every garden detail, each terrace, bench, urn, and border. The upper sixteen acres were transferred to Harvard University in 1940.In 1995, the Garden Conservancy partnered with the Friends of Dumbarton Oaks Park to restore the garden and, in 1999, the Garden Conservancy supported the restoration of Forsythia Hill and the implementation of the Cultural Landscape Report.
Eby San Francisco, CA
Eby is a private terraced garden, originally designed in the 1930s, on San Francisco’s Telegraph Hill. The Garden Conservancy has held a conservation easement on the property since 2005. Uncharacteristically, the easement preceded the garden plan, with the stipulation that the plan be approved by the Garden Conservancy. The plan was implemented by the new owners, who bought the property in 2007.
Elawa Farm Lake Forest, IL
Elawa Farm is a restored gentleman’s farm on Chicago’s North Shore. The buildings forming the main farm group have been restored and adapted for today’s use to preserve Elawa Farm as a stunning example of estate farm architecture and a unique gem of Lake Forest. In 2007, the Garden Conservancy compiled a comprehensive written report and finalized a planting plan, based on the treatment philosophy and strategy, which was developed together with regional partners.
Elizabeth Lawrence House and Garden Charlotte, NC
In 1949, garden designer and writer Elizabeth Lawrence began a garden on a modest lot in Charlotte, NC, that would embody her life-long celebration of Southern horticulture. A graceful refuge that doubled as a living laboratory for her study and appreciation of plants and design, Lawrence’s garden was a frequent reference and inspiration for her writing. In 2008, the Wing Haven Foundation purchased the garden and manages it today. The Garden Conservancy was granted a conservation easement on the property, placed an intern there for nine months in 2010, supervised creation of a management plan for the garden, and continues to partner with the garden.
Elk Rock Garden at the Bishop’s Close – Portland, OR
This garden, located on a hillside estate overlooking the Williamette River, began consulting with the Garden Conservancy regarding long-term preservation in 2001. In 2003, Elk Rock was among sixteen gardens represented at a meeting organized by the Garden Conservancy that resulted in the creation of the Garden Conservancy Northwest Network – a regional organization of emerging public gardens.
Enid A. Haupt Garden Washington, DC
The Enid A. Haupt Garden is a 4.2 acre public garden in the Smithsonian complex, adjacent to the Smithsonian Institution Building on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. It was designed to be a modern representation of American Victorian gardens as they appeared in the mid to late nineteenth century. In October 2016, the Garden Conservancy joined a growing number of organizations in supporting the preservation of the garden, which was threatened by the proposed redesign of the Smithsonian’s south campus. In 2018, revised plans that preserved the Haupt Garden were approved.
Eudora Welty House & Garden Jackson, MS
The Eudora Welty House was the home of author Eudora Welty for nearly 80 years. It was built by her parents in 1925, and Welty and her mother built and tended the garden over decades. The house is on the National Register of Historic Places and is a National Historic Landmark. Welty, who died in 2001, bequeathed her house and garden to the State of Mississippi, which the Garden Conservancy assisted in restoring Welty’s garden to what it had been during the prime of her life. The project was guided by Welty’s mother’s original garden designs and plant lists.
F.W. Vanderbilt Italian Garden Hyde Park, NY
Historically known as Hyde Park, the Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site is one of the area’s oldest Hudson River estates. The Italian gardens are detached from the house and incorporate formal elements typical of the Italian style. In 2008, the Garden Conservancy assisted the Frederick Vanderbilt Garden Association in developing a one-year strategic plan for a new landscape initiative. The Conservancy conducted a members’ survey and presented three workshops with the board of directors, key committee chairs, and former officers. The final result was a one-year strategic plan which the board adopted and implemented.
The Fells Historic Estate & Gardens Newbury, NH
Once the nineteenth-century summer retreat of American statesman and author John Hay, the landscape was enhanced by his son, Clarence Hay. In 1993, with the gardens in a state of disrepair, the State of New Hampshire asked the Garden Conservancy, in partnership with the Friends of the John Hay Wildlife Refuge, to assume the day-to-day operations of the gardens and manage the restoration and interpretation of the landscape. Today, the Fells is a regional center for conservation and horticultural education.
Fort Greene Park Brooklyn, NY
Fort Greene Park is a 30-acre, city-owned and operated park in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, NY. In 2019, the Garden Conservancy sent a letter opposing the redesign of Fort Greene Park. The proposed plan threatened to destroy multipurpose cobblestone-and-grass relief mounds designed by pioneer American landscape architect Arthur Edwin Bye, Jr. in the 1970s.
Gaiety Hollow Salem, OR
In the early twentieth century, Gaiety Hollow was both the home garden and location of the office of Elizabeth Lord and Edith Schryver, the first all-female landscape architecture firm in the Pacific Northwest. The Garden Conservancy began providing preservation assistance for Gaiety Hollow in 2003. Two years later, the Lord & Schryver Conservancy was formed and has been a member of the Garden Conservancy Northwest Network since that time. The Garden Conservancy has advised on Gaiety Hollow’s preservation strategy and planning, their capital campaign to acquire and preserve the property, and their strategic planning process. In 2021, Gaiety Hollow was a recipient of a Garden Conservancy Gardens for Good grant.
Gardens at Palmdale Fremont, CA
The Gardens at Palmdale is a five-acre meditation garden located in the southeast San Francisco Bay Area. The Gardens at Palmdale is one of the last remaining fragments of the famous Mission San Jose land grant. Owned by the Congregation of the Sisters
