The path to becoming a gardener.

I remember planting beds of Siberian Iris around Sugar Maples with my stepmother. She wanted to protect the surface roots of the trees. I was enticed by the idea that the Iris might reduce the amount of weeding I would have to do the following summer.

We carefully prepared the new beds and then divided the rhizomes. It was late in the summer and I complained about the Tennessee heat.

My stepmother was patient and kept me at the task at hand. As it turned out, the task took us two very long, hot, humid days.

The following summer we were handsomely rewarded with an abundance of purple 'flags' as we called them. Down through the years, I have watched those iris bloom over-and-over again. I don't complain anymore about dividing iris. You see, the reward was definitely worth the work.

Little did I realize at the time, but that simple summer task put me on the path to becoming a gardener.

The Very English Roots of Our American Garden Tour

The Very English Roots of Our American Garden
May 16-24, 2009

The ancestry of America is tied as closely to Britain as the English roots of our plants and gardens. We journey across the ocean to visit our English heritage as spring breathes itself into the palette of the English gardens and the warmth of the British culture. Highlighting our visit is the magnificent Chelsea Flower Show, the yearly flagship event of the Royal Horticultural Society. We begin in Bath, a cultural, elegant and historic city, classified asa World Heritage City. Here Stonehenge, one of the ancient wonders of the world stands as evidence of a culture dating back to 3000 BC to 1600 BC. The ancient Romans have left their mark here as well with their Roman baths which still pump spa waters. Of course, a visit to England must include a stay in London which boasts the greatest concentration of major attractionsin Britain including four World Heritage Sites, and is renowned throughout the world for its shops,museums, parks and cosmopolitan life. There will be much to see here with time to explore on your own andattend a performance at one of the fabled West End theatres.

Leading this journey is Justin Stelter, head gardener at Historic Carnton Plantation. This garden is reconstructed from the bones of the original 1847 kitchen/ornamental garden andits evolution from 1847 through 1869. While head gardener, Justin has installed one of the largest historic daffodil displays in the country, a species hosta collection, and is currently installing an heirloom peony collection consisting of varieties available prior to 1869. He is a member of The American Horticultural Society, Southern Garden History Society, American Rose Society, Middle Tennessee Daffodil Society, Middle Tennessee Daylily Society, Middle Tennessee Hosta Society, Nashville Rose Society and the Tennessee Native Plant Society. During the summer of 2006, he had the privilege of working with Peter Hatch, the Director of Gardens and Grounds of Monticello, at the Historic Landscape Institute. Currently, he is editing a guide to historic gardens in North America.

Accompanying Justin is Robert Hicks, NY Times best-selling author of The Widow of theSouth, a book born out of many years of work at Carnton and his passion for the preservationof the remaining fragments of the battlefield and the historic sites tied to that story. His pas-sion for Southern life and our historical past as well as his friendship and professional rela-tionship with Justin as co-editors of their latest publication, A Guitar and a Pen will provide a unique collaboration of talents that will enhance your experience by blending historic elements and horticultural roots of England and America.

Tour Price Per Person Double Occupancy: $3350Singles Add: $750 To Make Your Reservation Contact: Charlene Corris CUSTOM TRAVEL CONCEPTS TOLL-FREE: 866-956-4440 Email: histours@aol.com


Sat/May 16 We depart on our transatlantic flight to London. Meals on board

Sun/May 17 Arrive in London where our escort will meet us andtransfer to Windsor. Less than thirty miles west of London, the town of Windsor combines history and heritage with a sophisticated lifestyle thatoffers an enormous choice of fine restaurants, stylish shops, and theatre.Moreover, it lies on the doorstep of the historic sights of Eton and Runneymede and has out-standing countryside with over 1,000 acres of National Trust land in the north and 4,800 acres of Crown Estate to the south. Visit Windsor Castle, the largest inhabited castle in the world and verymuch a working royal palace as one of the official residences of Her Majesty, The Queen. The mag-nificent State Rooms are furnished with some of the finest works of art from the Royal Collection.Queen Mary's Dolls' House is a masterpiece in miniature and visit St George's Chapel, in the castleprecincts, which is one of the most beautiful ecclesiastical buildings in England where 10 monarchsare buried. Tonight we’ll enjoy a welcome dinner.

Mon/May 18 In the morning we depart for Bath. On the way we stop tomarvel at the great and ancient stone circle of Stonehenge, one of the an-cient wonders of the world. Today we see the substantial remnants of thelast in a sequence of such monuments erected between circa 3000BC and1600BC. Each monument was a circular structure, aligned with the rising of the sun at the midsum-mer solstice. We continue to Lacock Village that dates back to the 13th-century and remains largelyunchanged over the centuries with many limewashed, half-timbered and stone houses. During theMiddle Ages Lacock became a prosperous and thriving town through its wool industry. The villagewas well placed for communications, sited as it was on the 'cloth road' from London and the RiverAvon, which gave access to the sea at Avonmouth near Bristol. The lovely medieval village of Lacock,now protected by the National Trust, is the location of picturesque 13th-century Lacock Abbey. Ahistoric manor house, Lacock Abbey retains its medieval cloisters as well as later Tudor features. Itwas the home of William Fox-Talbot, one of the inventors of photography. The Abbey was the settingfor various interior scenes at Hogwarts School.

Tue/May 19 Bath is one of England's most beautiful, elegant, historic cities, and is classed as aWorld Heritage City. The Roman's were captivated by the area of Bath over 2,000 yearsago, when Bath was a vast green valley with a miraculous stream of endless hot water.More recently, Bath became a fashionable health resort in the eighteenth century andtoday the remains of the Roman Baths and graceful Georgian architecture combine tomake Bath one of Britain's most popular attractions. In Bath, enjoy a visit to theRoman Baths. Perhaps the best preserved Roman religious spa from the ancient world,there are four main features: The Sacred Spring, The Roman Temple, The Roman BathHouse and finds from Roman Bath. We'll also see the Georgian Pump Room.This afternoon we visit Stourhead Garden, created in the 1740s. The River Stour was dammed to forma great lake around which the landscape garden was created with stunning views. As the gardendeveloped, classical features were added, such as the Temple of Flora, the Pantheon, the Temple of Apollo and Gothic ruins. Enjoy a traditional afternoon or Cream Tea, before returning to Bath.


Wed/May 20 This morning we head into Gloucestershire and visit Stancombe Park beforecontinuing into London. Midway between Dursley and Wotton-under-Edge, Stancombe Park lies atthe head of a valley below Stinchcombe Hill, a famous landmark of south Gloucestershire. The parkcomes up to the house and is separated from the upper garden by a sweeping drive. The garden isclearly divided into two parts. The upper garden nearest to the house, has been created out of theexisting parkland, and a row of sweet chestnuts and a few more trees which indicate a planting for other purposes than purely ornamental. The second garden - the historic Folly Garden, is a very different proposition. The garden is accessed by a romantic path that drops past two small lakes tothe main one.

And now to London. London remains one of the world's greatest urban areas. People have flocked tothe city for pleasure and business alike for over two thousand years. Today London has the greatestconcentration of major attractions in Britain, boasts four World Heritage Sites, and is renownedthroughout the world for its shops, museums, parks and cosmopolitan life.

Thu/May 21 This morning we head out of London to visit two spectacular gardens. The woodland gardens at Ramster, laid out at the beginning of thelast century by Gauntlett Nurseries of Chiddingfold have been owned by thesame family for 80 years. Now a mature flowering shrub garden of over 20acres, it is full of unusual and interesting plants that flourish under the can-opy of oaks and larches. Visit the Royal Horticultural Society's splendidWisley Garden. Begun in 1870 on 60 acres, it has blossomed into 250 acres of wild daffodils, rhododendrons, azaleas, rock gardens, reflecting ponds andwooded slopes. Wisley is a real enthusiasts' garden offering ideas on design, innovation andcultivation techniques. For many, the RHS Gardens at Wisley are great gardens of tranquillity, for others an exciting garden that makes your mind restless!

Tonight we will attend a performance at one of London's famous West End theatres.

Fri/May 22 - The highlight of our tour is our visit to the Royal Horticultural Society’s ChelseaFlower Show—the ultimate event in the gardening year. It sets the latest gardening trends, featuresthe newest and most desirable gardening products and creates an explosion of colours and scents.

Sat/May 23 Depart for Kent to visit the celebrated gardens of Scotney Castle, designed around theruins of a 14th-century moated castle. It features spectacular displays of rhododendrons, azaleas andkalmias in May and June, wisteria and roses rambling over the ruins in sum-mer, and trees and ferns providing rich colour in autumn.Visit Sissinghurst Castle Garden, one of the world's most celebrated gardens.The creation of Vita Sackville-West and her husband Sir Harold Nicolson,Sissinghurst enjoys an intimate setting in the grounds of an Elizabethanmansion. It is a sophisticated garden where rare plants are neighbours totraditional cottage garden flowers in romantic little compartments filled withcolourful floral displays. This evening we’ll fondly bid farewell to London withdinner at a local pub.

Sun/May 24 We transfer from London to the airport for our flight home or stay longer in London.

Tour Includes: Seven nights accommodations in first-class hotels , breakfast daily, welcome & farewelldinners and teas as indicated, visits as indicated in the itinerary , services of a tour manager except inLondon, services of Justin Stelter and Robert Hicks throughout, reading list, gratuities to driver and tour manager. Airfare is additional.

Southern Exposure Magazine Feature

By Catherine Anderson

MUCH HAS BEEN WRITTEN ABOUT FRANKLIN’S HISTORIC CARNTON PLANTATION, the home that was near ruins almost 30 years ago, and is now at the center of heritage tourism in Williamson County.

A lot of love and lore have swirled around the house and grounds, the fields and cemetery where soldiers lie thanks to Carrie and John McGavock’s efforts to make right, or at least better, at least one aspect of the horrifying Civil War Battle of Franklin.

Justin Stelter is a part of the story of Carnton’s phoenix-like rise as well as part of the original owners’ legacy to “make right.” As head gardener, the MTSU graduate plays an important role in the current chapter about the home, lovely again, and its grounds and garden, manicured once more in the style to which it had once been accustomed. In July of 2003, when Stelter was hired by Executive Director Angela Calhoun as the head gardener of Carnton’s one-acre garden plot, he had already spent all of his professional life as a gardener. Only 25 at the time, he was tagged not only for his strong work ethic – he began his initial business at age 18 – but his unquenchable curiosity and love of academia, elements that tie in strongly with restorative artistry.

At the time the responsibilities were handed to him, Carnton’s garden was in dire need, and the rest of that year was spent in reclamation. The efforts in the mid ’90s to restore it had fallen to the wayside, and renewed interest was overdue. It was then that the young head gardener met Duke Ellis.

“Volunteer extraordinaire,” is how Stelter refers to Ellis. The two worked closely to reclaim the vegetable beds. That fall, Carnton’s new head gardener attended his first conference of the Southern Garden History Society in Winston-Salem, NC.

Flash forward to the spring of 2004. The 19th century garden beds are back neatly in place and ready to provide a thriving environment. Stelter began to focus on the ornamental beds. Research began once again to select flowers and shrubs that were available in this country prior to 1869. Stelter turned to several sources that included county historian Rick Warwick, Julie Fisher, a member of Garden & Grounds Committee, and Robert Hicks, author of Widow of the South and longtime Carnton devotee. Assimilating their valuable input, Stelter began the restoration process that had been initiated a decade earlier only to be placed on hold.

“The garden’s period of interpretation is 1847-1869,” the head gardener explains. “This period is unique. It was a transition time in America that allowed for much experimentation, and plant catalogs were abundant.”

Franklin’s own Annie Owen, one of Tennessee’s top rosarians, assisted Stelter in choosing Carnton’s roses: Le Vesuve, the perpetual pink bloomer first introduced by the French in 1825; Rugosa Alba, a vigorous high-producing rose with continuous blooms; and Madame Plantier, with its white pompoms, green eyes, and strong sweetness. Besides their historic value, each variety was chosen for beauty and ease of care. The three are intermixed in the four rose beds that make up the garden’s center, which serves to delight the eye and nose from spring through fall.

Over two years, 2004-2005, Stelter guided his crew and oversaw the work of volunteers, particularly Susan Carr and Susan Williams, while he concentrated on gardening techniques, placement and documentation of historic plants. He also studied the works of A. J. Downing, the “apostle of taste” from the 1800s, whose pattern book was the original source for the Italianate-style garden’s layout, chosen some 150 years ago. This fact was uncovered in 1995 by Gerry Doell, the historic garden scholar from Syracuse, NY.

It was a year ago that Stelter decided it was time to raise the garden’s purpose and beauty to another level. With cell phone always near, he monitored his crew for two weeks while he attended the Monticello Historic Landscape Institute in Virginia. There, he studied the theory and practice of historic landscape preservation under Peter Hatch, Monticello’s Garden and Grounds Director, and Mary Hughes, Landscape Architect for University of Virginia. The twoweek intensive course provided instruction in the fields of landscape history, garden restoration and historical horticulture by using the landscapes designed by Thomas Jefferson.

Stelter returned to Williamson County with expansion and education in mind. Last fall, more than 1,000 daffodil bulbs of more than 25 varieties were planted, thanks again to knowledgeable assistance from Annie Owen. Now, Carnton adds another achievement to its expanding list as it hosts the largest historic daffodil display in the southeastern United States. In addition, an historic hosta collection of the six known antebellum varieties was added.

“Cornelia Holland of the Middle Tennessee Hosta Society was a great assistance in that project,” Stelter says. “You see, we are extremely fortunate to know the layout of the garden. But without any further knowledge of the McGavock’s garden, choosing and placing plants are subject to interpretation. I’ve been able to develop this incredible network of experts. It’s a process that involves a lot of people.”

This year will be another one of expansion for the garden. Espaliers will be installed this fall under the guidance of America’sleading espalier-trainer Peter Thevenot. They will not only create four traditional barrel arches, using artistically-trained pear trees in the center of the garden, but will add further structure, aiding the boxwoods, cedars and grape arbor that serve as the garden’s “bones.”

The historic garden is not just about beautiful flowers in bloom from March through November. It served its original owners as well with provisions for the dinner table. Each year under Stelter’s management, vegetables, herbs and fruit are grown over three seasons, spring through fall. The vegetables are donated to local charities. The Williamson County Master Gardening Program and other volunteer groups have provided integral assistance to the vegetable sections. The heirloom cabbages, lettuces, peppers and Concord grapes add a balanced juxtaposition to the ornamental elements of the Black-eyed Susans, daylilies, and purple irises, to name a few.

Three large trees, an Osage orange, cedar and a pecan anchor the garden as it thrives alongside the carefully restored brick mansion.

Its expansive back porches on both stories align to the garden’s center. Brides love the historic backdrop it offers; it’s a romantic setting for vows of love and faithfulness. The wide brick paths are there for guests to walk among the nodding blossoms, fragrant herbs and tidy rows of lush vegetables.

Forty man-hours a week are necessary to keep the historically authentic garden groomed, not including the countless volunteers’ hours. This is truly an art, keeping something precious and beautiful each day of the year, rain or shine, come Japanese beetles or butterflies.

“My vision for this garden,” Stelter allows, “is to have the finest restored garden in the country for this period. In order to do that, I’ll continue my research and hard work. Ornamental gardening of any period is an art and a constant work in progress. Add the historic element and the challenge is even more exciting.”

What's Been Here All Along

Did you know that there are 198 rare or endangered plants in Tennessee and over a dozen of those are right here in Williamson County? A plant becomes endangered when it is threatened with extinction as determined Federally by the Endangered Species Act of 1973 or on a state level when the species “existence as a viable component of the state’s flora is determined by the Commissioner to be in jeopardy”.

Growth and development further endanger these already endangered and rare species. Before you begin that next landscaping project take a look around to see if there are any treasures you can save, nurture, and even incorporate into your landscape scheme. After all, we love the area enough to live here, but these plants have been here long before any of us, and with our care will be here long after we are gone.

A rare tree that could be in your backyard is the Butternut (Juglans Cinerea). The plant with the common name Tennessee Milk-Vetch (Astragalus Tennesseensis) is found in our areas of limestone cedar-glades. The Rush (Juncus brachycephalus Buchenau) and the Large-Leafed Grass (Parnassia grandifolia DC.) grow in the few remaining fens of this county. A fen is a lowland covered wholly or partly with water. Preservationists are as much concerned with protecting these rare and endangered plants as protecting the unique habitats in which they thrive. Also Eggert’s Sunflower (Helianthus eggertii Small) and Thicket Parsley (Perideridia Americana) have been identified here. These plants are a rare find. They are our treasures and our heritage. Most all of us are aware that we are very fortunate to live in a place so rich in the beauty of nature. Let’s take the time to look around and discover what’s been here all along!

-Justin Stelter