Object Details
- General
- Located on State St. in Alma, Michigan, the garden features a central fountain with brick walkways that breakup the main space into four sections with smaller flower beds accented with hedges, garden gates, and fencing. Mrs. Francis King strived to have her gardens at Orchard House to have year-round flower blooms that would create large splashes of color emerging from thousands of massive blooms. Persons associated with the garden include: Mrs. Francis King (former owner) and Frank Ackney (gardener).
- Former owner
- King, Louisa Yeomans, 1863-1948
- Collection Creator
- Garden Club of America
- Former owner
- King, Louisa Yeomans, 1863-1948
- See more items in
- The Garden Club of America collection
- The Garden Club of America collection / Series 1: United States Gardens / Michigan
- Sponsor
- A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
- Biographical / Historical
- Mrs. Francis King (1863- 1948) born Louisa Boyd Yeomans, was an influential American horticulturist, author, lecturer and founder of garden clubs. King wrote nine books, book chapters, and numerous magazine articles. In addition, she was the general editor of the nine book series, Little Garden. Mrs. Francis King founded or was involved with founding numerous Garden Clubs and Associations. She founded the Garden Club of Michigan in 1912 and served as its first president. In 1913, King was among the founding members of the Garden Club of America (GCA). In 1914, she was involved with founding the Women's National Farm and Garden Association (WNFGA) and became their first president. King developed her love of gardens and gardening through her relationship with her mother-in-law when living in Elmhurst, IL. King moved to Alma, MI in 1902 when her husband, Francis King, became ill. They built a large Tudor-style home together on a 2 acre lot, leaving a large space for King to create and design her own gardens with her gardener, Frank Ackney. The estate was known as "Orchard House," and many people across the state of Michigan came to visit her beautiful gardens. King lived in Alma until her husband died in 1927. King bought a house in New York near South Hartford in 1928 and designed a second, but smaller garden; calling the estate Kingstree. Through her intensive involvement and care towards American gardens and gardeners, King was known as the "Fairy godmother of gardening in America" and the "Dean of American gardening." Upon her death in 1948, King's ashes were scattered over her garden in Kingstree.
- Archival Repository
- Archives of American Gardens
- Identifier
- AAG.GCA, File MI008
- Type
- Archival materials
- Collection Citation
- Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
- Collection Rights
- Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
- Collection Restrictions
- Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
- Record ID
- ebl-1643208220039-1643210181189-1
