Arboretum & Garden
Stop 6.1: Spring/summer in the Greenhouse
More information coming soon.
Stop 6.2: Fall/winter in the Greenhouse
In late winter, the staff and volunteers start seeds and cuttings, which will eventually take root in gardens all over the property.
Stop 6.3: A Night-Blooming Cereus
One hundred years ago, on August 1, 1916, the Bristol Phoenix announced to the town that a rare horticultural event was taking place at Blithewold. Bessie had been cultivating a Night Blooming Cereus in the greenhouse since 1901, tending it and encouraging it, until at last, in August 1916, it passed all expectations in a magnificent show of blooms. For three days the plant sent out new blossoms, thrilling all Bessie’s horticultural friends in the town. The newspaper reported:
“Night Blooming Cereus -A Huge Plant at Blithewold has 85 Blooms in One Night
A gigantic night blooming cereus has been sending out its large and beautiful blossoms in the conservatory of Mr. and Mrs. William L. McKee at Blithewold during the past three or four nights. The plant is 15 years old and has been blossoming for several seasons, about this time of year. It is enormous in size, covering all of one end of a room in the conservatory. Last Friday night the plant began to blossom sending out 14 blooms; on Saturday night not less than 85 blooms appeared, almost covering the plant with the large white flowers, and sending out a strong but pleasing odor. It was a wonderful sight. On Sunday night there were 26 blooms on the plant.
The night blooming Cereus is of the cactus family known as Phyllacactus, and is mostly epiphytic, the joints being flat and becoming thin and leaf-like upon cylindrical stems. About a dozen species are recognized in Central and South America. The color of the blossoms is white, with delicate yellow centers. They bloom only at night, the blossoms closing to open no more as soon as daylight appears.”
A Night Blooming Cereus still grows at Blithewold. You can see a large specimen under the arbor next to the Pump House outside the greenhouse.
Stop 6.4: History: Greenhouse Restoration
The Gardners, who owned the property from the 1850s until the 1880s, established a strong tradition of horticulture at Blithewold. They had one of the first greenhouses in the area, located in the present-day Enclosed Garden:
“The object of the garden was the production of fine fruit, flowers and vegetables ... Pineapples, peaches, nectarines, figs, grapes and strawberries were raised under glass and great was their size and perfection. The garden was famous for the roses, and the first orchids in this part of the country were raised in its greenhouses and attracted much attention.”
The Gardner greenhouses were in ruins by the time the Van Wickles purchased the property and were soon demolished. In 1901, Bessie commissioned the Lord and Burnham Company to build a new greenhouse complex in its present location, north of the Enclosed Garden.
The greenhouses were multi-functional: extending the growing season, providing exotic fruits and vegetables throughout much of the year and housing unusual plant materials, some of which were displayed on the grounds during the summer months. Over time, they also were used for experimentation.
These greenhouses thrived until the 1930s, when the Rose, Palm and Plant Houses in the Greenhouse Complex were torn down in an effort to cut costs. Bricks in the grass now outline the location of the original structures. Marjorie continued to grow grapes, melons and cut flowers in the remaining greenhouses into the 1970s.
To the right is the narrow Propagation House. The reconstruction and restoration of the Vineries greenhouse and Propagation House was completed in 2005, and the reconstruction of the Plant House in 2015. They were based on original drawings, some of which you can see by zooming in on the image here.
The newly reconstructed Plant House is to the right of the Propagation House and is where the staff grows the thousands of seedlings they plant out in the gardens in the summer. To the left, on the northwest corner of the greenhouse, you can find the clapboard Potting Shed. Furnaces in its basement supplied heat to the other buildings.
Stop 6.5: All About Bamboo
Bamboos are one of the fastest-growing plants in the world. Some grow as quickly as an inch an hour, or almost 3 feet in a day! The largest varieties of bamboo can grow up to 100 feet tall - that’s the height of our Giant Sequoia back in the Enclosed Garden! Bamboos are also hardy, with many species able to withstand the cold winters of New England and grow back each spring, despite the fact that their native habitat is subtropical and humid. Can you find any that are starting to grow back? Some species are very strong, often used as scaffolding for building construction, with a compressive strength higher than that of wood, brick, or concrete, and a tensile strength comparable to steel.