The Cutting Garden at Val-Kill

The cutting garden at Val-Kill.

NPS Photo

Quick Facts

Location:

Hyde Park, NY

Significance:

Home of Eleanor Roosevelt

Designation:

National Historic Site

Mrs. Roosevelt, Nancy Cook, and Marion Dickerman built a garden for cut flowers, known as the cutting garden, behind the playhouse in 1937 to provide the cottages with fresh flowers in the spring and summer months. They located the roughly 55' X 90' rectangular garden in a former meadow dominated by birch and cedar trees, just yards from the cottages. It featured wood- edged, raised beds containing a variety of flowers, surrounded by a tall arborvitae hedge. They planted Eleanor’s favorite tea roses, as well as peonies, asters, zinnias, marigolds, lantana, and phlox.

A potting shed and tool shed were built behind the Forge in the early 1940s to supplement the existing garden structures. Mrs. Roosevelt added vegetables to the cutting garden, departing from the prior planting plan that featured only flowers. Writing in July 1940, Mrs. Roosevelt said, "We are very proud of our garden this year. The vegetables seem to be thriving with plenty of rain, even though the sun visits us fitfully and the weather is nearly like autumn than mid-summer.