Gardens
Ruthmere Museum Quilt Garden Along the Heritage Trail |
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2024 - DISCOVERY IN BLOOM |
The
garden consists of white whisky, rose deep tequila, and red vodka begonias
with green FloraMia limon lacy potato vines. |
2023 - THE PARASOL | The 2023 Quilt Garden took inspiration from art found within the walls of the museum. The parasol was a staple of Victorian and Edwardian fashion, helping to protect ladies' delicate skin from the sun and providing a means for them to accessorize. There is a parasol painted on the ceiling of Albert Beardsley's bedroom in Ruthmere, adorned with some of his wife's favorite pink flowers; Ruthmere also has a few 19th-century parasols in its collection. This design featured begonias in pink and white and impomoea potato vine in black and lime. |
2022 - FRIENDSHIP STAR | ![]() The Ruthmere staff chose the traditional quilt pattern Friendship Star as it speaks to and represents the friendship between Havilah Beardsley and Chief Pierre Moran. The colors of the flowers represent the four colors of mankind: black, white, yellow and red. CELEBRATING 15 YEARS OF QUILT GARDENS Seward Johnson’s sculpture Ready to Make a Break shows a gentleman with a typical Wednesday “honey-do” list, daydreaming about doing exactly as the title reads. |
2021 - UNITY THROUGH DIVERSITY |
Since the Quilt Garden is set amid tall old trees, shade-tolerant coleus, ageratum, celosia, marigolds and gomphrena were chosen. The diverse floral types and colors provide more striking beauty together than any could alone. |
2020 - RUTH'S CHRYSANTHEMUM |
This design features Violet Impatiens, Super Olympia Green Leaf Rose Begonias, Wasabi Coleus, White Impatiens, and Scarlet Wizard Coleus. |
2019 - JOSEPH'S COAT |
This simple design is made memorable by using colorful flowers. Yellow and Orange Taishan Marigolds, Red Cocktail Vodka and White Bronze Leaf Begonias, along with Carpet Blue Petunias fill each tear drop shape with a different color. It is important to note that because Ruthmere is on the National Register of Historic Places, their garden cannot |
2018 - THE BOW TIE |
The garden projects simple elegance and by using just two plant types. You’ll find high contrast and clean lines dominate. In addition, the histories of these plants are in keeping with the time of Ruthmere’s construction. |
2017 - ELKHART FOUNDER HOMESTEAD | ![]() Honoring Elkhart's founding family Dr. Havilah and Rachel Beardsley, the Elkhart Founder Homestead is a modification of the popular "school house block" design, fashioned and altered slightly to resemble the Havilah Beardsley House located at 102 W. Beardsley Ave., Elkhart. The garden design was inspired by a hand-embroidered sampler made by Mary Ann Beardsley at the age of 12 that hangs in the family sitting room at Havilah Beardsley house. It depicts the house in the late nineteenth century. |
2016 - CROSS CANOES |
The Crossed Canoes represents the important role that water plays on the Ruthmere Campus with the confluence of the Elkhart River, the St. Joseph River and Christiana Creek. Christiana Creek in particular has become a regional focus as a recreational blueway, and Ruthmere's Creek House Center pictured at left serves as an ideal home base for canoe and kayak clubs looking to tame its waters. |
2015 - POMEGRANATE WINDOW |
At night we will illuminate one of the south facade occular windows facing Beardsley Avenue with a brillant garnet red light--look for the Pomegranate Window this summer. |
2014 - INFINITY |
This pattern, with its continuous flowing paths, can be emblematic of the infinite passage of time or the constant bond built by a lifetime of friendship. Albert and Elizabeth may have chosen this pattern to offer a warm welcome to those who entered their home. |
2013 - FLEUR-DE-LIS |
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2012 - BLUE & WHITE |
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2011 - PRAIRIE ROSE | ![]() In 2011, Ruthmere's quilt garden design was called "Prairie Rose," a design taken from the iconic prairie stylestained glass windows located inside Ruthmere's main entrance. This window was designed by the architect, E. Hill Turnock, and thought to be inspired by the work of Frank Lloyd Wright. |
2010 - TULIP PATTERN
This is a traditional American pattern that reflects Ruthmere's spring show of tulips through out the Ruthmere grounds.
| 2009 - FLOWER BASKET The Flower Basket design was chosen as it is a pattern of a quilt in our Ruthmere collection. We choose plants that have bright colors and bloom profusely. | 2008 - MARINER'S COMPASS
The Mariner's Compass design, with its distinctive many-pointed medallion is modeled after a quilt owned by the Beardsley Family. |
Kistner-Firstenberger Plaza Garden |
On the north side of the Havilah Beardsley House is the Kistner-Firstenberger Plaza Garden. Great care was taken by Leedy Architects in designing this landscape through the selection and placement of heirloom varieties of flowering plants and shrubs to build an appropriate "thicket garden" to shield the space from Main Street's traffic. Tiled with recycled street paver bricks from Elkhart city streets, this plaza garden is a place to enjoy the peace of nature, while contemplating the geographic significance of the confluence of the St. Joseph and Elkhart Rivers. The Kistner-Firstenberger Plaza Garden received the 2011 Fairbanks Award for Community Beautification from the Greater Elkhart Chamber of Commerce. John and Judy Kistner along with Bill and Lori Firstenberger made gifts to the Havilah Beardsley House to honor their connected families. Arthur W. Kistner was a former resident of the Havilah Beardsley House and held his medical doctor practice there. John Kistner grew up in this house as a child. The Kistner family made several upgrades and changes to the Havilah Beardsley House before moving in. Interestingly during the first year that they owned the property, they lived as renters in the building now known as the Beardsley Discovery Center which at the time was a private residence, thus making the Kistner family the only persons to have ever lived in BOTH the Havilah Beardsley House and the Beardsley Discovery Center buildings. John Kistner left a major legacy gift to the Beardsley Discovery Center when he died in 2020. Arthur W. Kistner was the second husband to Ruth (Gray) Firstenberger, Ruthmere Executive Director Bill Firstenberger's natural grandmother, thereby making Arthur Kistner the "step-grandfather" to Bill Firstenberger and connecting these two families. Art Kistner was the only grandfather Bill had during his childhood. The Kistner-Firstenberger Plaza Garden is also the site of the Marilou Ritchie Memorial Garden. Marilou Ritchie served as the archivist librarian at Ruthmere from 1985 until her death in 2011. |