Historic "Circle Garden"
You can see the circle garden in the 1893 etching of the Shinn property.
Vice Admiral Allen M. Shinn referenced the "Circle Garden" in one of his annotations on the back of a photograph. You can see the elongated circle garden to the right of the tankhouse.
Today the road around the Circle Garden is used by grandparents and parents with fussy babies. We see them walking many times around the garden.
Today the "Circle garden" contains
The garden shed is approximately where the old greenhouse/potting shed? was located.
the "azalea and camellia" garden ("Boxwood Garden"), which is often referred to as the "box garden" since it is lined with boxwood hedges.
the modern Japanese garden
What might be the greenhouse can be seen hidden in the trees, circled.
In October of 1876, Lucy Shinn wrote "We have been rather slow in getting fully and entirely settled, partly because there was no immediate necessity for having all the rooms ready and partly because, the Greenhouse being ready, I was anxious to bring my plants up where I could take care of them, and it was no small undertaking to move them all."
A greenhouse is water intensive and would have been located close to a water source, like the Tankhouse. Charles wrote about propagation activities in the greenhouse. See wiki for five of his articles about the Greenhouse.
Laying Out the Grounds ~1878
In 1875 the tankhouse was built to water the nursery. In 1876, the Big House was built.
In November 1877, Lucy Shinn wrote "We have been having a great time over the laying out of the grounds, and had to agree to a compromise as we could do nothing with Papa. Annie made a new plan and Charlie has pitched right in to carry it out for fear he will shut down on it."
Charles Shinn wrote about laying out the garden next to the new 1876 Big House in 1878 in an editorial in the California Horticulturalist and Floral Magazine.
Charles wryly noted the personalities - plants and people - involved. "It was quite evident that something must be done. The Crocuses, Jonquils, Oxalis Bower, and Grape Hyacinths were impatiently sprouting in their dark corner of the tank-house....The eye of faith enabled us to perceive a future glory of bloom on a certain ungainly tract south of the greenhouse, which had been devoted principally to nursery stock of a monotonous description, and incidentally to volunteer watermelons, now blackened by the December frosts. Various objections, preferred by interested parties, were successively attacked, and reduced to silence, and the coveted plot of ground was dedicated to the service of the fair goddess Flora."
We now know from letters and articles that the objections were made by James Shinn (papa) and that the children, Annie and Charlie, and cousin Lue were involved in the garden. In an 1937 Oakland Tribune article in "The Knave", Cousin Lue (Tichenor) Schnabel (Uncle Dr. Clark's daughter) said that she also helped lay out the gardens.
Yuccas in the Circle in 1888?
In April 1888, it was reported that James Shinn had three yucca plants blooming. Are the following photos from 1888?
The yuccas, possibly 1888 MOLH IMG_0531 2
James in front of what looks like yucca #3 and #4. Noted as "James Shinn & yucca plants in Shinn's Nurseries 1870s." [James close to the yucca.jpg}
What were these Yuccas?
Experts on the facebook page "Agave, Yucca, and related plants " agreed upon the name Hesperoyucca whipplei. This yucca is known as chaparral yucca, our Lord's candle, Spanish bayonet, Quixote yucca, or foothill yucca. It is "native to southwestern California and adjacent Baja, with a disjunct population near the Grand Canyon." "The plant takes several (usually 5+) years to reach maturity and flower, doing so in April–May, at which point it usually dies." An opinion on facebook was that it could take much longer like 40-50 years. The Big House was built in 1876. Did they plant them when they set out the Big House Grounds in 1878, in which case these are 10 years old.
1888 to 1983
Over time this garden had century plants, Japanese plants, irises, three Chilean wine palms, a 120-year-old Japanese maple that died in 1994, peonies, irises, palms, cherry trees, and much more. Photos will be added over time!
1983-1985 The memorial Japanese Garden
A portion of the Circle garden is now the modern Japanese garden built in 1983-1985 with two dedications.
Today
Today fussy babies are wheeled multiple times around the historic "Circle Garden." Perhaps generations of fussy babies have followed that same route until they fell asleep.