Mary Clark Thompson's Garden Travels

After Frederick Thompson’s death, Mary Clark Thompson spent several years traveling throughout Europe with friends and family. On her travels she saw many beautiful estates which would influence her plans for Sonnenberg. In September of 1899, Mary and her sister Zilpha visited the Duke of Sutherland’s gardens at Trentham, in England. Zilpha wrote to their niece, Mamie, that the grounds were ideal of what a country place should be.

Unfortunately, in the years following their visit, Trentham became increasingly polluted by nearby pottery factories, and the estate was abandoned. In recent years, many of the gardens have now been restored to their original appearance.

Similarities in the two estates can be seen in the formal garden layouts, architectural elements, and statuary, particularly in Sonnenberg’s Italian Garden. Sculptures of children holding planters, low stone walls, columned structures, and graceful urns are generously used in both estates.  

Trentham estate, Staffordshire, England. © Stapleton Collection/Corbis.

Trentham estate, Staffordshire, England. © Stapleton Collection/Corbis.



Sonnenberg's Italian Garden, circa 1908.

                                     

Sonnenberg's Italian Garden, circa 2014.

The rest of Sonnenberg’s gardens would also be influenced by Mary Clark Thompson’s travels, as she incorporated ideas she encountered while touring gardens and botanical displays abroad. In 2016 we will be exploring public gardens, gardens that may have inspired Mrs. Thompson, and how Sonnenberg itself became a public garden.  

Guard Below!

Last week I made the mistake of parking under a black walnut (Juglans nigra) tree. It was a beautiful sunny morning and a "munch-munch-munch" greeted me when I got out of my car. I looked up into the green leafy branches and saw a fat squirrel munching away at a black walnut. I chuckled and went into the office.

If you are not familiar with black walnuts, this time of the year they still are on the trees and in astringent green husks - see picture to the right. Later in the season, if they have a chance, they drop and the green husks will turn a rich dark brown as they soften and rot off of the nut. The nut meats of black walnut have a strong, unique flavor that is prized by many -- including the squirrel kingdom at Sonnenberg. Even though the nuts are a wild delicacy, the shells are notoriously difficult to crack. This, however, means little to the strong-toothed squirrel.

Back to my car. When I went to leave later in the day, I saw the error of my ways. My car was littered with bits of the green walnut hulls and dried walnut hull juice with I suspect a copious amount of squirrel spit intermixed in. I immediately got this image of the squirrel sitting up in the tree in denim overalls like some backwoods cartoon character spitting his walnut "tobaccy" on my car. Yeah, I do have a vivid imagination and grew up on Looney Tunes. Lesson: squirrels and walnuts equal a mess so don't park there.

If you visit Sonnenberg this time of the year and stop for a moment to listen, you will without a doubt hear the unmistakable munch-munch-munch of some pudgy squirrel. They all have their winter feedbag on and are gorging themselves on acorns, walnuts, hickory nuts, butternuts, and more found throughout the estate. While out snapping some images yesterday for a different article for the blog, I spotted this squirrel enjoying the nuts from the black walnut's sister species, our eastern butternut (Juglans cinerea). The butternut is not as common of a sight as the black walnut but we have a number of these trees located in the Deer Park area of the park. This squirrel, clearly comfortable, in a nearby maple tree barely registered my presence. And so frequent were his obvious trips between the maple and the butternuts that a clear path in the grass between the two trees could be seen.

You know, I think that sassy squirrel even posed for me. What do you think?


Stretching out along the branch

He didn't stop munching once

Sonnenberg is on New York Heritage!

Sonnenberg has uploaded a collection of 44 rarely seen images of the historic grounds on the New York Heritage Digital Collection website! The photographs, which show views of the gardens, walkways, ponds, and architecture of the Sonnenberg estate as it looked in the early 20th century, are from Mary Clark Thompson's 1907 scrapbook.

 

New York Heritage is a valuable resource for students, educators, historians, genealogists, and anyone interested in learning about New York State history. The site provides free access to over 170 digital collections, and now researchers everywhere can access historic images of the Sonnenberg estate. Follow the link below to see our collection:

http://cdm16694.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/landingpage/collection/p16694coll21

Join us for Wine, Food, and Roses!

Join us for an evening of wine, food, and music in the historic mansion and gardens during the start of Sonnenberg's Rose Month. Rose Month, held every June, is a month long celebration of the peak bloom period of the Rose Garden's more than 2,500 roses.

Sample wines and sumptuous foods from dozens of the Finger Lakes region's wineries and restaurants while strolling through Sonnenberg's historic gardens and mansion. It is a unique experience and not to be missed! Come prepared to bid on unique gift items in the silent auction and to buy a rose for your sweetheart!

Event sponsored by Ryan's Wine & Spirits, Lyons National Bank, Canandaigua National Bank, and Wegmans.

Event will be held in the mansion in case of rain. Guests 21 & over only.

Roses & Rosés
June 8, 2015, 6 pm - 9 pm
$30/General; $25 Sonnenberg Members
Call 585-394-4922 to make your reservations

   

   

Victorians at Play

“Victorians at Play” will be presented by a panel of experts on the history of the Thompson family of
Sonnenberg during the late 1800s and early 1900s. For the past five years this panel, a group of historians and archivists, have studied and transcribed diaries, letters, ledgers, newspaper articles, and other relevant documents. This presentation will focus on popular recreational activities of Victorian times and how the Thompsons participated.  Known for their philanthropies, the Thompsons gifts to the community and beyond for recreation will be discussed. 

The panel thanks the Ontario County Historical Society and Sonnenberg Archives for access to their collections to unfold the Thompson story. 

The admission fee will help support the newly formed Education Committee of Sonnenberg which will provide for future programs.

Victorians at Play
May 30, 2015, 10 am - Noon
$10/general; $5/members
Call 585-394-4922 for reservations

2015 Philadelphia Flower Show

Joining Michael Warren Thomas on his 23rd annual tour to the Philadelphia Flower Show and Longwood Gardens on March 4-5, 2015? If you are, be sure to tell Michael you heard about it through Sonnenberg and he will donate $20 for each person who mentions Sonnenberg. Here are the details from Michael about the tour:

Philadelphia and Longwood Gardens Tour....

Did You Know? -- Mary Clark Thompson Medal

Did you Mary Clark Thompson, Sonnenberg's original owner, is the same Mary Clark Thompson for whom the National Academy of Science named their award of the same name?

She donated the funds for the award in 1919 and a gold medal used to be awarded annually but is now presented every three years, along with a $15,000 prize (courtesy of Mary Clark Thompson's endowment) to honor important services to geology and paleontology. Here is a link to an American Association for the Advancement of Science publication from 1919, which briefly mentions the award.

Mrs. Thompson was a great philanthropist and gave to innumerable causes in Canandaigua and beyond, many of which were related to the fields of healthcare and science.


Submitted by Cindy Hunt, Curator