Two Famous Gardens -- Lambert Gardens and Bellingrath Gardens

TWO FAMOUS GARDENS

In October 2020, I was invited to take part in a plant-based art show at The Plant Connector in North Adams, Massachusetts. The show, entitled "A Plant Based Circle" featured several artists with a variety of plant-themed work in different media.

My contribution (left) was a collage, "Two Famous Gardens." The collage was based on a 1950s article from "Children's Activities" magazine, a forerunner to "Highlights for Children."  The article describes two gardens that readers could visit:  Lambert Gardens in Portland, Oregon, and Bellingrath Gardens outside of Mobile, Alabama.

LAMBERT GARDENS

Lambert Gardens was designed and built by Andrew Lambert, who first came to Portland in 1925.  He soon started a landscaping business by building a demonstration garden near Reed College.  The one garden eventually expanded to ten gardens over about 25 acres, each garden having a different theme.  The gardens hosted 50,000 to 75,000 visitors a year, and included pools, statuary, flamingos, and peacocks. A postcard of the Sunken Garden is shown below, as is a photo of another of the many gardens. Numerous other photos are available HERE and a home movie from 1952 can be seen HERE.

 

By 1968 Lambert was too old to maintain the gardens. He offered to sell the gardens to the city of Portland, but was turned down. So, Lambert instead sold them to developers, who ripped them out and replaced them with apartments and parking. 

Ironically, one of the apartment complexes was named Lambert Garden Apartments. Although the apartments may have been nice at one time, by 2005 or so they were in dis-repair and the subject of tenant complaints. THIS website includes several negative comments detailing some of the complaints, including ants, heating issues, insulation problems, and discolored water. New management and an expansion resulted in even more problems.  The complex, now called Wimbeldon Square and Gardens, was the subject of a rent strike in 2018, largely related to water and mold issues.

BELLINGRATH GARDENS

Bellingrath Gardens started life as a 25-acre fishing camp (below) on the Fowl River, purchased by Walter and Bessie Bellingrath in 1917. During the 1920s and early 1930s various improvements were made, including the introduction of electricity and the transformation of their fish camp into a garden estate with paved walkways. In 1932 the public was invited to tour the grounds. The response was overwhelming and the gardens soon opened to the public on a permanent basis.

Additional improvements were made, including the construction of a home (below), conservatory, guest house, and entrance building, along with improvements and expansions to the gardens themselves. Bessie died in 1943, followed by Walter in 1955. Unlike Lambert's failed attempt to maintain his garden by selling it to the state, the Bellingrath's had converted their garden over to the Bellingrath-Morse Foundation, which continues to oversee operation of the gardens and home. The gardens now cover 65 acres and remain open to the public.

Below is a recent map of the gardens, and HERE is a link to a video flyover of the gardens.

REFERENCES FOR LAMBERT GARDENS

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambert_Gardens

http://johnrsweet.com/David/andrewlambert.html

https://www.portlandmercury.com/blogtown/2018/11/26/24845710/tenants-protest-landlord-neglect-at-massive-southeast-apartment-complex

https://reedquest.org/articles/2018/12/7/war-at-the-wimbledons

REFERENCES FOR BELLINGRATH GARDENS

https://bellingrath.org/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellingrath_Gardens_and_Home