Gardening with Galligan: An American ‘Grande Dame’

Edith Wharton, born in 1862, is probably better known for her novels and Pulitzer Prize or as a friend of Henry James’ than for her gardens, but it’s hard to say in which one she took the greater pride.

Her gardens at her home, The Mount, in Lenox, Massachusetts, were certainly famous among her friends and acquaintances.

The estate is open to the public now and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1971. Situated  in the Berkshire Hills on 113 acres, the house commands views of Laurel Lake and the mountains beyond. It was completed in 1902 and many of the principles that Wharton outlined in her famous book, “The Decoration of Houses,” can be seen at work here.

The landscape design also reveals her ongoing familiarity with the Italian gardens. She wrote some of her best known and successful novels here, including “The House of Mirth” and “Ethan Frome.”

I was fortunate enough to be collaborating with the writer, Shari Benstock, on another project while she was writing what turned out to be Wharton’s definitive biography, “No Gift By Chance.” Her summer home at the time was less than an hour’s drive from The Mount and she asked me one day if I would like to drive over and see it. Of course I was delighted.

At the time, I was an avid but hardly well-informed gardener. I remember two things about that afternoon and the setting. One was that it was in great disrepair — but even so its former grandeur could be detected.

The other memory, and it was really a vivid one, was of the long drive from the front gates to the house itself. The trees were tall and the grounds from the passenger-side car window were in full shade; they were also in full bloom.

Carpeted with ferns, no ground visible, bright blue flowers rising above the pale green ferns; it was breathtaking. I wasn’t smart enough to ask her to stop the car for a better look so I had no idea what I was looking at.

I’ve thought about it more than once since then, especially now that my garden is almost entirely shaded. Because I don’t remember what time of year it was, I am somewhat vexed; but when I think of that shade of blue, the only shade blooming perennial that I can think of is Mertensia, otherwise known as Virginia Bluebells. There were literally acres of them.

The Whartons lived at the Mount from 1902 to 1911 and with their departure it remained a private residence, then a dormitory for the Foxhollow School. The next tenant was Shakespeare and Company. Finally it was bought by the Edith Wharton restoration project.

Restored gardens include an Italian walled garden, several formal flower beds, a classical alpine rock garden — all of which are joined with extensive grass terraces. The house itself is now a museum and cultural center; it has more than 40,000 visitors each year and is open from May through October for tours.

It also offers concerts, outdoor sculpture exhibits and theatrical performances. The museum will stay open until October 31, and because the area offers one of the best sites for fall leaf watching, you might want to visit. The museum can be reached at 413-551-5111.

Here’s how Wharton described her home: “But meanwhile The Mount was to give me country cares and joys, long happy rides and drives through the wooded lanes of that loveliest region, the companionship of a few dear friends, and the freedom from trivial obligations, which was necessary if I was to go on with my writing. The Mount was my first real home … its blessed influence still lives in me.”

In a letter to her lover Morton Fullerton, Wharton wrote, “I am amazed at the success of my efforts. Decidedly, I’m a better landscape gardener than novelist.”