Object Details
- General
- McCartys Pottery on a five-acre former mule lot is comprised of garden rooms delineated by weathered cypress boards from former plantation tenant houses, a prostyle of bare cypress columns that outlines the swimming pool area, and a lattice roof over a walled walkway. Natural and salvaged materials are the hardscaping while the garden plantings were chosen for texture, varying shades of green, and durability in the hot Delta summers. Ceramic vases, pots and ornaments made by the owners from Mississippi clay for their pottery business are placed throughout the garden as well as iron garden furniture, planters, fountains, and an old cast iron sugarcane cooker used as a planter. Rectangular raised beds edged with railway ties recur throughout the property as the owners were inspired by the artist Mondrian when they designed their garden. Rectangles are repeated in stepping stones laid in gravel walkways and in the square concrete paving stones in the swimming pool area. A patio is paved with mossy old brick.
- Lush greenery contained in straight-edged raised beds predominates in all the garden rooms except for the irregularly-shaped lily pond with curving sides that is bordered by bamboo. There is a square water garden within the pond and another square water garden at one end of the pond. Evergreen perennials, shrubs and trees comprise the planting scheme, including camellias, azaleas, Live oak, tulip poplar and magnolia, aspidistra, monkey grass, canna and fatsia. Flowering trees, shrubs and bulbs add spots of color in season along with pots of crotons and other seasonal container plantings. A cutting garden and kitchen garden feature more of the owners' pots, planted containers and ornaments.
- Provenance
- Greenville Garden Club
- Collection Creator
- Garden Club of America
- Place
- McCartys Pottery (Merigold, Mississippi)
- United States of America -- Mississippi -- Bolivar County -- Merigold
- Topic
- Gardens -- Mississipi -- Merigold
- Provenance
- Greenville Garden Club
- See more items in
- The Garden Club of America collection
- The Garden Club of America collection / Series 1: United States Gardens / Mississippi
- Sponsor
- A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
- Custodial History
- The Greenville Garden Club facilitated the submission of this garden's documentation.
- Archival Repository
- Archives of American Gardens
- Identifier
- AAG.GCA, File MS043
- Type
- Archival materials
- Collection Citation
- Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
- Collection Rights
- Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
- Bibliography
- This property is featured in "A Garden in the Delta", in Better Living section of The Nashville Tennessean, published July 6, 1969; "Life in the Barn" by William Thomas, published in The Commercial Appeal Mid-South Magazine, June 14, 1970; "The McCartys of Merigold" by Franke Keating, published in Mississippi, May/June 1996; "McCartys Pottery," published in Mississippi, July/August 2013.
- Scope and Contents
- The folder includes worksheets, additional photographs, and photocopies of articles.
- Collection Restrictions
- Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
- Record ID
- ebl-1643208220039-1643210181414-1
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