Stowe Center for Literary Activism
77 Forest St, Hartford, CT 06105, USA
The Stowe Center for Literary Activism is home to numerous historic gardens on its urban campus, inspired by the writing of 19th-century novelist Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) who lived here from 1873 until 1896. Stowe was an enthusiastic gardener, creating and tending flowers and vegetable gardens at all her homes and publishing numerous gardening articles and poems.
The Victorian cottage-style gardens surrounding her home today feature many of the plants she loved and wrote about in her books and letters. The design is also inspired by period photographs and her own artwork. Beds are planted informally, with a vibrant mix of ornamental and edible plants, shrubs, and flowering trees in a variety of colors.
In addition to the National Historic Landmark, Stowe House, the campus also includes two other historic buildings, the Katharine Day House (1883) and a former carriage house now Visitor Center (1873) both of which are surround by historic gardens.
For more information please see www.stowecenter.org.
Among Stowe’s favorites were sweet peas, peonies, foxglove, bee balm, nasturtiums, daylilies, marigolds, petunias, balloon flowers, asters, and goldenrod. In all her garden designs, Stowe strived for a mass plantings in bright colors and there is always something in bloom from April through October, beginning with spring bulbs and followed by a succession of seasonal blooms.
The gardens also include Connecticut's largest Star Magnolia; grafts from the Stowe Dogwood, a pink variety believed to be from Stowe's time; 100-year old American and Cooper Beech, Oak, and Tulip trees; and The Garden Club of America award-wining heritage roses.