One challenge is to replant asphodels, which Una mentioned in a letter. The goals of this work begin with recreating the rose beds by cultivating the original plants that are still in the garden-or starting cuttings from them-and searching for specimens of the heirloom roses that grew once in the garden.Īlso, the project is adding bright yellow and orange flowers and fragrant herbs that Una liked so much, as well as blue iris, lavender, wallflower, sweet alyssum, lion’s tail and other plants that the records list. Today’s volunteers, including Master Gardener Kathleen Sonntag, are studying the records of the Tor House gardens, and beginning a systematic restoration process. Since then, the Foundation has maintained the garden without a restoration plan.
Volunteer Pauline Allen prepared a garden manual with a complete record of the plantings as of Lee’s death in 1999. In the early 1990s, the Foundation’s gardener, Margot Grych, made a drawing of the garden’s layout and listed its many roses and other plants. Lee continued to tend the garden even after the founding of the Tor House Foundation in 1978. Her garden was often appreciated in magazine articles in the 1980s and 1990s. After 1950, after Una died, Lee designed an English-style cottage garden and planted numerous roses and heirloom plants with fragrant blooms. In 1946, their son, Donnan, brought his new wife, Lee, to Tor House, and they soon added to the garden. Una also appreciated the native wildflowers that grew abundantly around their home, calling the spectacle her “mille fleur tapestry.” Her list of “Tor House Plantings” (1934) is available today at the Tor House. Una was more involved with social activities and letter writing, but she planted roses, fragrant herbs, geraniums, and other flowering plants. A forester by education, he planted literally thousands of trees on their property and in the area. Through his poetry, Jeffers became known as an environmentalist.
In 1919, the American poet, Robinson Jeffers and his wife Una built Tor House on Carmel’s windswept coast, calling it their “inevitable place.” Both he and Una valued their natural surroundings, particularly the wildflowers.