martinhouseclr

90 DARWIN D. MARTIN HOUSE // CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT features of the design would have been visually apparent. At the very rear of each unit of the Floricycle was a Spindle Tree (Euonymus europaeus, 13 in total) which was specified by Wright to have November interest. Both fall color and the ripening bright- red berries of November would have held viewers captive. Yet, it would be several years after planting that the height of the Euonymous would have been sufficient enough to see from the warm interior of most areas of the Unit Room on cold October and November days. It would likely be from this room, at an elevation quite far above exterior grade, where long, and more or less continuous lengths of windows both at the verandah doors and flanking either side would allow direct eye-level observation of the repeating masses of bright fall foliage and red fruit. Though not native to the Americas, the Spindle Tree is, at least in form, characteristic of the then-small but burgeoning “prairie style,” with its somewhat horizontal branching habit not unlike the often referenced prairie style hawthorn (Crataegus). 215 Along with this evolution of the Floricycle’s design relationships with the house, intended or not, was also the fact that the perennials within the inner rings of the feature were starting to become homogeneous in some respects. Having nearly eight years of growth, the perennials would have been thinned, divided, and otherwise received a steady stream of maintenance from 215 The hawthorn, thornapple or, “haw,” as it is called in Wilhelm Miller’s 1915 Prairie Spirit writing, is one of the most common plants referenced in the influential work. the gardener. The meticulous complexity of the Floricycle’s perennial arrangement would have faded over time as plants grew into one another, with more rigorous and hardy species overtaking. Compounding this weakening of the rigid design scheme would be the large shrubs, now beginning to smother and overtaking all but the innermost perennial rings. Perhaps the most accurate photo of the Floricycle with respect to the multitudes of perennials is a circa 1914 photo showing only the northern terminus. The quantity and diversity of perennials is evident, and the rear shrubs are not yet large enough to smother the layering of the design. Nonetheless, undoubtedly, if the Floricycle was planted per plan, even the circa 1914 photo would be showing perennials that have been competing and naturally adjusting for nearly a decade. [Fig. 68, 69, 70] The Barton front yard and areas surrounding the Barton verandah, with its significant density of naturalistic shrub massings, was also taking on a more mature habit at this time. Smooth sumac (Rhus glabra) is evident form period photos, reaching the height of the verandah roof by circa 1915. [Fig. 71] The sumac would have given the verandah a dappled shade from the southern sun, along with allowing for a filtered sense of privacy for those sitting on the verandah. Mockorange and Rose of Sharon were also sizable at the base of the verandah, along with the more Victorian-style Persian lilac, planted as a solo feature at the shrub massing periphery. In fact, all the plants around the verandah, including those on the west side (dogwood, mockorange, viburnums, even a scotch pine (Pinus sylvestris) Fig. 66, top Jewett frontage, c. 1915. Fig. 67, bottom Sculpture by R. Bock upon concrete pier, c. 1920.