Beatrix Farrand

Beatrix Farrand was a landscape gardener whose work defined the American taste in gardens throughout the first half of the 20th century. For generations, gardens consisted of tender and annual plants set out each year in elaborately shaped beds cut into lawn. Farrand joined the likes of England's Gertrude Jekyll and William Robinson in championing the use of perennial plants in combinations based upon color harmony, bloom sequence and texture. This was the birth of the mixed border that is standard in gardens today. 

Farrand combined this horticultural expertise, honed through study at Harvard's Arnold Arboretum, with a keen eye for detail, a near perfect sense of proportion, and a broad foundation in the fine arts and design history. Whether large or small, formal or naturalistic, Farrand's designs responded to both the specifics of the site and the desires of her clients. As a result, each commission was unique, but in each, Farrand's hand was apparent.