Selma was interested in using the“ old-fashioned” flowers that thrived locally such as peonies, irises, and foxgloves.
Anthony Joslin, grounds and maintenance supervisor, describes the work as“ garden archeology.”
He and crew members Jack Cathcart, Morgan Morris, and Ashton Morris, have been doing the actual work of digging out the beds, putting in stone pathways and installing an irrigation system. Last fall they planted bulbs coming from all over the country and around the world. The flowers have come up this spring.
They also installed a fence to keep out marauding deer, something Selma didn’ t have to worry about.
Now, most of the“ hardscaping” has been done and the garden is in pretty good shape, although new plants and flowers are arriving all the time.
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“ Selma in the Garden” by T. C. Steele from the collection of the Indiana State Museum and Historic Site.
A new historical marker was dedicated in May while artists painted in the restored gardens.
The next area that the crew will be working on will be Selma’ s water gardens, the water lily ponds near the large studio on the way down to the Dewar log cabin.
In Selma’ s day, the ponds also doubled as cisterns for emergency water supply.
Starting in September, a new visitor’ s center will be constructed with modern plumbing and air conditioning. The“ Singing Winds Visitor’ s Center” will have a large visitors waiting room and will also house the museum shop and the admissions office. The center will be located over the hill where one of the Steele’ s old guest houses once was.
The west wing of the House will be restored to look the way it did when the Steele’ s were there. Currently, it is closed to visitors and contains state offices.
Whetzel said maintaining and improving the gardens at T. C. Steele will be an ongoing process.“ I can say, from what I know now, things will be constantly in process. The garden is never done.” •
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