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LICHTENSTEIN VICTORIAN DISTRICT

The Doris Waters Lichtenstein Victorian District, opened in summer 2008, unifies and enhances several gardens and Victorian-era buildings. The area stretches from the enclosed Victory of Science Over Ignorance sculpture to the eastern wall, back to founder Henry Shaw’s original city townhouse.

In spring 2007, the Missouri Botanical Garden received a substantial gift to establish the district from Mrs. Lichtenstein. Construction began in summer 2007. Dr. Brent Elliott, a renowned authority on Victorian gardens, consulted on the project, designed by MTR Landscape Architects. Elliott is the librarian and archivist at the Royal Horticultural Society Lindley Library in London.

New developments include:

• A Victorian-style “pincushion garden” of mostly annual plants along the path from the Museum Building to the Piper Observatory.
• Resurfacing many paths in brick, aggregate and other historically appropriate materials, with embedded medallions honoring donors.
• Redirecting some paths for more scenic views.
• New path lighting.
• Graceful columns marking the north and south entrance paths leading into the area.

Garden founder Henry Shaw was himself a Victorian gentleman and designed much of his property to reflect Victorian sensibilities. His country home, Tower Grove House, was built in 1849 in the then-fashionable Italianate “Lake Como” style. Mr. Shaw is entombed in the granite mausoleum beneath towering oaks near the house.

Many areas encompassed by the Victorian District were designed to complement or even replicate Shaw’s Victorian style and have benefited from the generosity of donors throughout the years.

The Kresko Family Victorian Garden (1997), east of Tower Grove House, resembles an early garden built by Mr. Shaw in front of his original conservatories, on the present site of the Climatron reflecting pools. Then, as now, the centerpiece was the white marble statue of Juno by Carl Nicoli, which was acquired by Mr. Shaw in 1885. This garden is an outstanding example of the height of fashion in England at the time Mr. Shaw was planting his gardens in St. Louis. The style of landscaping was introduced in the early 1800s, when new varieties of flowers were being developed and new species were coming into England from different parts of the world. Elaborate and colorful combinations of flowers, foliage and succulents were combined in “plant tapestries,” the combinations referred to as “carpet bedding.”

Visitors will see annual bedding plants of many types, colors and sizes throughout the year as the displays change with the seasons. These colorful planting schemes are typically drawn and installed three times a year, using over 7,000 plants in the summer. Today, more varieties of flowers and foliage are available than were possible in Victorian times. Improved selections and innumerable colors allow visitors to enjoy an even more beautiful Victorian garden than Queen Victoria herself could!

Kaeser Memorial Maze (1986)
re-creates a labyrinth constructed by Mr. Shaw in the 1800s with sunken hedges of yew and a gazebo at its center. It has been replanted; therefore it will take a few years for the yews to grow tall.

Piper Observatory (1996)
is a replica of one built by Henry Shaw in the 19th century in Tower Grove Park.

St. Louis Herb Society Herb Garden (2003)
enclosed in an ornamental iron fence behind Tower Grove House, includes beds of culinary and medicinal herbs in imitation of Mr. Shaw’s original kitchen garden.

Tower Grove House (1849)
underwent a two-year renovation and reinterpretation as part of a capital campaign before reopening in 2005 with a renewed focus on the life and times of Henry Shaw.

The Missouri Botanical Garden’s mission is “to discover and share knowledge about plants and their environment, in order to preserve and enrich life.” Today, 150 years after opening, the Missouri Botanical Garden is a National Historic Landmark; and a center for science, conservation, education and horticultural display.

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