Beatrix Farrand’s (American, 1872 – 1957) planting plan for Hill-Stead’s Sunken Garden dates from around 1920. In the early 1940s, during wartime shortages, the garden was seeded over. In the 1980s, volunteers from the Connecticut Valley Garden Club and the Garden Club of Hartford, Connecticut, undertook reclamation of the one-acre plot. During the reclamation, they located Farrand’s original plans, labeled a “garden for Mrs. J.W. Riddle” (Theodate Pope Riddle), which is the basis for the garden that visitors see today. Farrand chose the colors of the plants to complement the palette of the French Impressionist paintings in the Pope Riddle house. Most of the 90 varieties of flowers and plants are perennials.

Farrand was one of the finest female landscape designers of her generation. She trained at Harvard University’s
Arnold Arboretum and was one of 10 charter members of the American Society of Landscape Architects. She designed aspects of the Yale and Princeton University campuses and left her mark on many private estates throughout the Northeast. She is perhaps best known for the grounds at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, D.C., and the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden at The New York Botanical Garden.

Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, D.C.

Harkness State Park, Waterford, CT

The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, NY

Seal Harbor, Bar Harbor, Maine

Garland Farm

Promisek Garden

Gardenvisit.com Gardens Guide

Connecticut's Historic Gardens