Harkness Memorial State Park, East Garden

The East Garden at Harkness is perhaps my favorite garden in the park, probably because I don't get to spend much time in it. When I am in the garden I am usually mowing the grass pathways between beds or emptying the vole traps, and then I am expected back in the West Garden.

The East Garden, unlike the West Garden, was designed entirely by Beatrix Farrand and was not original to the Harkness property. Prior to 1918 the area of the East Garden was a turf tennis court, but Mary Harkness did not make much use of it and employed Farrand to design a garden in it's place. The East Garden was designed with Mary Harkness' interests in mind: she was an enthusiast of what was then referred to as "the Orient" and collected various artifacts from Asiatic countries--an interest that could today be called Orientalism, à la Edward Saïd. Farrand wanted to design a garden that could exhibit Mrs. Harkness' collection of Chinese vases and jade stones as well as provide an environment different than one of the West Garden.

The simple design of the East Garden doesn't convey how gorgeous it is. 

The East Garden, being small, makes use of space efficiently by incorporating a sunken garden, which is typically part English garden design. It is located in the center of the garden and retained with granite. There is also a small reflecting pool that was used to display Mrs. Harkness' collection of jade stones, as the bottom of the pool was inlaid with them. They have since been removed. Today, the pool is typically not filled as it is a drowning hazard to small children. 

View of the sunken garden and the mansion from the east wall of the garden.

The East Garden feels totally different from the West Garden. In contrast to the West, Farrand made heavy use of cool colors such as blue, green and purple and accented her palette with white, yellow and pink flowers. Heirloom heliotrope (groundcover and standard heliotrope) that have been propagated at Harkness since the 1920's are the most heavily used flower in the garden, followed by Lamb's Ear and salvia patens. At different times in the summer there are also poppies, snapdragons, daisies, catmint, dianthus and lavender.

View from the north end of the garden, overlooking the Long Island Sound. 

The East Garden's softer and more casual atmosphere is often overlooked in favor of the (relative) grandiosity of the West Garden. I tend to enjoy the East Garden more because it's smaller and the grass paths mean that no dust is kicked up, unlike with the gravel paths that constantly need to be scuffle hoed. It seems quieter and cooler to me in the East Garden, especially at the peak of summer. The memory of the scent of heliotrope stays with me even in the last gasps of winter.