Eliza's Garden

During the past year, we’ve highlighted the many beautiful flowers and plants found in Eliza’s garden. Many thanks to the team of volunteers who make this happen to the delight of our visitors. So now let’s dig a little deeper. 

In a Summer 1995 article in our newsletter, former Bellamy Mansion Executive Director Jonathan Noffke tells us: “By the time restoration of the Mansion began in 1992, virtually all traces of the original formal gardens had disappeared.

“Most of what we know about the layout of the garden pathways and beds comes from a grainy photograph that dates from the 1920s. Taken from the 5th floor of the Carolina Apartments across from the Bellamy Mansion, it shows a light-colored pathway running between a series of elliptical and circular beds. While it’s no Ansel Adams, this photo is singularly the clearest piece of visual evidence that addresses the design of the landscaping. However, this image does not aid in determining what plants formed those beds.”

Noffke continues by saying: “Fortunately, we do have a group of street-level photographs spanning nearly a century that show large pyracantha, yucca, palmetto, decorative grass, and possibly oleander. Today, the only plants surviving from the early landscape are yucca, palmetto, yew, some lilies, a myrtle, and five large magnolias. Narrative descriptions of the plantings are virtually non-existent. Yew and magnolias are mentioned, but little more. Some older Wilmingtonians remember the Bellamy gardens, recalling that the scheme included varieties of myrtle, moneyplants, and borders of candytuft.”