St. Paul -- Hols Garden

Object Details

sova.aag.gca_ref33255
GUID
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/kb6a9ebfa5b-6988-44a6-a781-89ce563f48b4
General
This .4 acre property features an urban residential garden landscape surrounding an English Tudor Villa style home. When the current owners purchased the property in 1968, the entire front landscape was obscured by a tall buckthorn hedge that lined the property. The current garden was established in 1972 after the owners replaced the hedge and massive trees with gardens. The owner is formally trained as a Master Gardener and enrolled in University of Minnesota horticulture and landscaping courses to expand their knowledge of landscape design. They also designed gardens for the Dale Street Greenhouse and started their own business as a garden writer and designer.
The garden design combines the formal hardscape elements of an English garden such as iron fencing, bluestone pathways, terrace, and brick wall, with the informal plantings indicative of English cottage gardens. The property features 8 garden areas: the front yard garden, the main garden, the east side woodland "wild garden," the back gardens, the herb garden, the terrace garden, conservatory indoor garden, and alley garden. The front yard garden, established in 1972, is surrounded by black iron fencing and garden beds edged in double running brick. This area features dwarf evergreen trees and shrubs, flowering deciduous trees, perennials and colorful annuals. Inside the front fence are 'White Lights' azaleas, "Jack Korbett' dwarf Korean pine, and a "Louisa" weeping crabapple that partially shades the perennials below. The main garden is bordered by Chicagoland Green boxwoods and features seasonal plantings. The "wild garden" along the east side of the home memorializes the owner's mother and features wildflowers and ferns inside its 80 by 20 square feet. The herb garden is structured with diamond shaped bluestone paths and a central armillary. The 40x23 foot, two-tiered bluestone terrace displays brick and ceramic planters of annuals. The conservatory indoor garden was designed by local architect Kathryn Olmstead and built in 2000. It features a collection of rhizomatous begonias and succulents. The 7-foot wide and 65-foot-long alley garden is edged in cobble stone and features Standing Ovation serviceberry. It also houses roses, flowering shrubs and prairie wildflowers.
Persons associated with the garden include: George Van Slyck (former owner, 1909); Emmalyn Van Slyck (former owner, 1909); Harold and Dorothy Nesbit (former owners, 1930 - 1940); Dorothy Nesbit and Paul Webster (former owners, 1940 - 1945); Ephraim and Grace Holmgren (former owners, 1945); David and Marjorie Hols (owners, 1968– ); Holm and Olsen (designer, 1972); Ed Reed (designer, 1975); Sally Ross and Marge Hols (designer, 1992); Rose Hassing (gardener, 2008- ); Madeline Pojar (gardener, 2008-present).
The garden submission includes an extensive bibliography.
Former owner
Van Slyck, George
Van Slyck , Emmalyn
Designer
Holm and Olsen
Reed, Ed
Ross, Sally
Architect
Olmsted, Kathryn
Gardener
Hassing, Rose
Pojar, Madeline
Photographer
Wahlstrom, JoAnne
Albertson, Dylan
Riedel, Michelle Mero
Provenance
St. Paul Garden Club
Collection Creator
Garden Club of America
Place
United States of America -- Minnesota -- Ramsey County -- St. Paul
Topic
Gardens -- Minnesota -- St. Paul
Hols Garden (St. Paul, Minnesota)
Former owner
Van Slyck, George
Van Slyck , Emmalyn
Designer
Holm and Olsen
Reed, Ed
Ross, Sally
Architect
Olmsted, Kathryn
Gardener
Hassing, Rose
Pojar, Madeline
Photographer
Wahlstrom, JoAnne
Albertson, Dylan
Riedel, Michelle Mero
See more items in
The Garden Club of America collection
The Garden Club of America collection / Series 1: United States Gardens / Minnesota
Sponsor
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
Custodial History
The St. Paul Garden Club facilitated the submission of this garden's documentation in 2021.
Archival Repository
Archives of American Gardens
Identifier
AAG.GCA, File MN047
Type
Archival materials
Collection Citation
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Collection Rights
Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Bibliography
Garden featured in article, "Summit Avenue Garden Preserved in Smithsonian Archive," in Twin Cities.com, May 29, 2021 and "Garden for the Age," by Susan Davis Price in Northern Gardener, Jan/Feb 2022.
Scope and Contents
This file contains 32 digital images and 1 folder. Images 029 and 032 are restricted.
Collection Restrictions
Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
AAG.GCA_ref33255
Large EAD
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/kb6a9ebfa5b-6988-44a6-a781-89ce563f48b4
AAG.GCA
AAG
Record ID
ebl-1643208220039-1643210181330-1
St. Paul -- Hols Garden
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .
1 result(s)
  • The Garden Club of America collection
    sova.aag.gca
    GUID
    https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/kb617385372-1028-4cb7-b07d-04fea2e51c47
    Creator
    Garden Club of America
    Names
    New York Flower Show
    Topic
    Gardens -- France
    Gardens -- Italy
    Gardens -- Japan
    Gardens -- Mexico
    Flower shows
    Gardening -- United States -- societies, etc
    Gardens -- England
    Landscape architecture
    Gardens -- United States
    Gardens -- Spain
    Gardens -- Scotland
    Creator
    Garden Club of America
    See more items in
    The Garden Club of America collection
    Sponsor
    A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
    Summary
    The Garden Club of America Collection at the Smithsonian's Archives of American Gardens contains over 100,000 images (lantern slides, 35mm slides, photographs, and digital images) and garden files that document thousands of historic and contemporary gardens (public and private) across the United States. Each garden file includes a range of documentation such as descriptive information, photocopied articles from journals, newspapers, or books, planting lists, correspondence, and/or landscape plans and drawings. These files have been compiled by members of The Garden Club of America (GCA). Some of the gardens in the GCA Collection have been photographed over the course of several decades; others are documented at a single point in time. In addition to images of American gardens, there are glass lantern slides of the New York Flower Show (1941-1951) and trips that GCA members took to other countries, including Mexico (1937), Italy, Spain, Japan (1935), France (1936), England (1929), and Scotland. A number of the slides are copies of historic images from outside repositories including horticultural and historical societies or from horticultural books and publications. The GCA made a concerted effort in the mid-1980s to acquire these images in order to increase its documentation of American garden history. Because of copyright considerations, use of these particular images may be restricted.
    Accruals note
    The GCA continues to document American gardens and submit images and documentation to the Archives of American Gardens. Further accruals are expected.
    Biographical/Historical note
    The Garden Club of America was established in 1913 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, when the Garden Club of Philadelphia and eleven other garden clubs met to create a national garden club. Its purpose is to foster the knowledge and love of gardening and to restore and protect the quality of the environment through educational programs and gardening and conservation efforts. The GCA was incorporated in Delaware in 1923, with its headquarters established in New York City. Today, local clubs are organized under twelve regional zones. The GCA continues its tradition of hosting flower shows and publishing material related to gardening in the United States. The GCA's glass lantern slides were used by The GCA for presentations and lectures about notable gardens throughout the United States dating back to colonial times. An effort was made in the late 1980s, in preparation of the 75th anniversary of the Garden Club of America's founding, to collect the disbursed slides. These slides were to eventually form the Slide Library of Notable American Parks and Gardens. The informational value of this collection is extensive since a number of images of the more than 4,500 gardens represented show garden designs that have changed over time or no longer exist. While the majority of images document a range of designed upper and upper-middle class gardens throughout the U.S., the scope of the collection is expanding as volunteers photograph and document contemporary gardens including community and vernacular gardens. The gardens illustrate the design work of dozens of landscape architects including Marian Coffin, Beatrix Farrand, Lawrence Halprin, Hare & Hare, Umberto Innocenti, Gertrude Jekyll, Jens Jensen, Warren Manning, the Olmsted Brothers, Charles Platt, Ellen Biddle Shipman, and Fletcher Steele. Because of their proximity to the gardens, works of notable architects and sculptors may also be featured in the images.
    Extent
    37000 Slides (photographs) (35mm slides)
    33 Linear feet ((garden files))
    3,000 Lantern slides
    Date
    circa 1920-present
    Custodial History note
    The GCA's Slide Library of Notable American Parks and Gardens was donated to the Smithsonian Institution in 1992; this became the core collection of the Archives of American Gardens.
    Archival Repository
    Archives of American Gardens
    Identifier
    AAG.GCA
    Type
    Collection descriptions
    Archival materials
    Slides (photographs)
    Lantern slides
    Plans (drawings)
    Brochures
    Articles
    Correspondence
    Clippings
    Citation
    Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
    Rights
    Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
    Genre/Form
    Plans (drawings)
    Brochures
    Articles
    Correspondence
    Clippings
    Lantern slides
    Slides (photographs)
    Restrictions
    Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
    AAG.GCA
    Large EAD
    https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/kb617385372-1028-4cb7-b07d-04fea2e51c47
    AAG.GCA
    AAG
    Record ID
    ebl-1562776092361-1562776095300-0
Back to Top