A Garden Sanctuary

Old and new have been hybridizing in Hillsborough, North Carolina, since the early 19th century, when travelers and regional farmers used the mill on the Eno River and the nearby tavern and inn. This restored coach-house inn and tavern, dating back to 1808, became the National Register home of Helen Blake Watkins in the mid-1950s. But it is in the romantic gardens behind the house where old and new most gracefully mingle. Here, Watkins introduced antique roses to her modern blooms, establishing a horticultural legacy. 

Watkins owned and cultivated Chatwood, the 20-acre property, which includes 6 acres of gardens, until her death in the early 1990s. She fell in love with sturdy varieties of old roses she discovered growing untended in the region's abandoned cemeteries, in neglected homesteads, and along roadsides. She spent hours clipping them and replanting them in her organic, English-style garden. Ultimately, Watkins gathered about 250 varieties, some of which are identified principally with Chatwood and are unknown to modern catalogs.

"Her collection was extremely valuable because it represents an early effort to bring these old roses into modern times," says Mike Shoup, president of the Heritage Rose Foundation and owner of Antique Rose Emporium in Brenham, Texas. "Without her, many of them might have been lost." (When hybridized roses were introduced at the end of the 19th century, older shrub roses lost favor.)

The current owners, Rex and Ellen Adams, took possession of the house and garden three years ago, vowing to preserve Watkins' legacy by returning the garden to its original beauty and flamboyant blooms. After a series of severe storms ravaged the property, "this place was really chaotic," says Ellen. Admirers from Watkins' day spoke of dramatic vistas that spanned the cultivated roses to the sloping meadows and woodlands beyond.

Interim owners had tried other approaches, adding modern plants and letting some of the older ones recede. The space "had become closed-in," says Ellen. "There were no vistas. We removed trees and opened the garden up. In a number of places, we made significant moves back to old-fashioned plants."

Ellen was particularly committed to caring for Watkins' roses, employing expert rosarians to help her mark, identify, and propagate the many varieties. In addition to the salvaged roses, much of Watkins' original garden footprint is still evident -- the herb garden, the gazebo area, the three-walled rose rooms bordered by clipped boxwoods, and two Williamsburg-style well houses festooned with climbing 'Summer Snow' roses.

Professional gardeners Greg Piotrowski and David Beckett of Efland, North Carolina, helped restore and refine the feel of the original garden. Under Watkins' care, says Piotrowski, "it was something of a patchwork -- a little of this and a little of that. Our goal was to keep true to her vision." In the spring and early summer, explains Piotrowski, "the sheer number of blooms, along with the colors and fragrance they produce, is overwhelming."

The garden plays host to many antique roses that were found elsewhere but seem to especially thrive here, such as the white 'Katharina Zeimet,' the pale-pink climber 'Félicité et Perpétue,' and the yellow 'Aviateur Bleriot' -- one of the most beautiful of the old varieties. Watkins was particularly fond of chestnut roses ( Rosa roxburghii), which she planted throughout her garden.

Some of the most illustrious roses in Watkins' collection, such as ' Rosa Mundi,' date back to the Renaissance and Middle Ages and are fraught with romantic and historical associations. The legend of lost love that links this rose to the 12th-century King Henry II is as striking as its striped crimson-and-pink blossoms. Mid-19th-century favorites, such as 'Duchesse de Brabant' and ' Souvenir de la Malmaison,' also flourish in the storied garden, with blooms ranging in color from creamy white and shell pink to lilac and deep burgundy.

Before these antique roses earned their places in Watkins' garden, they proved themselves in much tougher neighborhoods, persisting for generations in competition with wild plants. As a result, says Shoup, "many of the weaker ones are gone. The ones that survived are the best, time-tested plants."

Maintaining these roses in the style Watkins pioneered is labor-intensive. Ellen, who acquired her love of roses while visiting England, spends much of her time working in the garden. In a fitting tribute from one rosarian to another, she donated several plants to a garden in Hillsborough that Watkins established in memory of her husband. Like her tenacious roses, Watkins' garden legacy endures.

RESOURCES: For more information on tours of Chatwood, contact owner Ellen Adams, 919/643-2514. Mike Shoup, Antique Rose Emporium, 9300 Lueckemeyer Rd., Brenham, TX 77833, 800/441-0002, www.weareroses.com, roses@industryinet.com; Greg Piotrowski and Dave Beckett, 5410 U.S. Hwy. 70, Mebane, NC 27302, 919/304-2675, gpiotrowski@nc.rr.com. For information on antique roses, contact Heritage Rose Foundation, P.O. Box 831414, Richardson, TX 75083, www.heritagerosefoundation.org.