Cummer Gardens

Related people

William L. Phillips (was created by)
Olmsted Firm (landscape architect)
Nina Cummer (landscape architect)

Location

North and Central America->United States->Florida->Duval County->Jacksonville

Description

The Cummer Gardens are formal, historic gardens created by Mrs. Ada Cummer. The garden complex consists of the Upper Garden, the English Garden, the Olmsted Garden and the Italian Garden.
The Upper Garden and the English Garden were designed by Mrs. Ada Cummer. The Upper Garden includes plants such as mondo grass, camellias, dogwood trees, iron plant, and hydrangeas. The English Garden has Wisteria, Lily of Nile, roses and azaleas.
The Olmsted Garden was designed by William Lyman Phillips from the Lake Wales office of the Olmsted Brothers firm. He tried to unite new and existing elements, including plantings and structural elements, as well as amenities and ornaments.
The Italian Garden was designed by Ellen Biddle Shipman. It is characterized by strong symmetry, quiet elegance and a pastel palette. It contains a series of arches covered with creeping fig that direct the visitor's gaze through the gardens and over its ponds toward the St. Johns River. The Cummer Italian Garden is considered a signature piece Shipman's oeuvre of residential gardens and is one of the few Shipman gardens still in existence. --See: http://www.cummer.org/

Keywords: campus, estate, horticulture, public gardens, lawn, symmetry, garden trails.

---