| The beauty of Tustin has long
been touted. A newspaper clipping from 1911
quotes the Episcopal Bishop of California, the
Right Reverend Bishop Kipp, as saying, “Tustin
is the most beautiful garden spot I ever set
foot on.”
The article describes Tustin
as an exceptionally lovely place of natural
beauty with trees lining its streets and avenues
and picturesque homes buried in a wealth of
shrubbery and flowers. One hundred years later,
this description is apt for the four gardens
open on Saturday’s Tustin Area Historical
Society 2010 Promenade Home and Garden Tour.
The Pankey family’s garden on
West Main is lush with specimen trees, many of
them over 100 years old, as well as a bounty of
shrubs and flowers. The sycamore in the rear
yard is believed to be a survivor from the belt
of sycamore timber marked on an early map of the
Spanish land grant for Rancho Santiago de Santa
Ana, from which Columbus Tustin bought land for
Tustin City.
A magnolia dates back to the
1880s when W.L. Adams planted it to shade his
Victorian home. Three Canary Island date palms
and a coast redwood also are thought to have
been planted by Adams. A Norfolk Island pine,
about 70 years old, was probably planted around
1918 by Will Ferry, original owner of the
Pankey’s Mediterranean Revival house. Orange,
kumquat, and loquat trees are reminders of the
days when citrus thrived in Tustin.
Across the street, the Edgell
garden is shaded by many oak trees, one of them
estimated to be at least 200 years old. Inviting
nooks allow one to sit and enjoy the beauty of
the garden as well as the 1905 Dutch Colonial
house, which has been doubled in size with a
carefully planned addition.
Cathy, owner of the Vintage
Lady, which occupies one of Tustin’s oldest
buildings, the original office of Dr. Sheldon in
the 1880s as well as the home of The
Jabberwocky, Margaret Pottage’s clothing store
for teenage girls during the 1960s and ’70s,
selects a theme each year for the exquisite
garden which she maintains behind the shop.
This year she is stressing the
effective use of herbs. In addition to
demonstrating how herbs can add interest and
charm to a small garden, she will be offering
samples and recipes of the ways herbs can accent
cooking.
Jon and Jolene Illingworth have designed an
intimate garden garden that is compatible with
their Victorian Italianate style home on West
Main.
The tranquility of the koi
pond invites you to rest in the shade of the
adjacent gazebo, while the plantings urge you
out to explore and enjoy.
Built between 1870 and 1885,
the house was home to his grandfather, William
Leinberger, assistant cashier at the First
National Bank of Tustin for 50 years, and his
grandmother Grace from 1920 to the 1970s.
Tickets for the Promenade,
which follows the theme “The Roots and Trees of
Tustin,” from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, are
available at the museum for $20 ($25 at the
door). Contact the museum (714-731-5701) for
more information or go to their website,
www.tustinhistory.com. |
