Anne & John Baker Garden

Anne and John Baker spent their early years of marriage living in the Avondale neighborhood of Jacksonville. When an opportunity came their way to buy an empty property on the river in Avondale, they purchased it. The Bakers began to create a home and garden that would look as if they had always been there. David Case of Richard Skinner & Associates designed their home while Sunscapes Landscape Design’s Gerry Crouch and Judy Drake created the gardens. John Baker requested that live oak trees be planted on the nearly treeless property. A signature oak has replaced the large live oak at the property’s entry, damaged by Hurricane Irma in September 2017. Anne Baker always wanted a white garden in the style of the old gardens of the southeast. At the garden entry are an inviting courtyard and fountain, a seating area, and pots filled with seasonal flowers. Ligustrum hedges provide privacy for the entire garden site. Lending their blooms throughout the year are ‘Gerbing’ and ‘Duc de Rohan’ azaleas, Agapanthus, Gardenia, Camellia sasanqua ‘Mine No Yuki,’ Spirea, Natchez crape myrtles, star jasmine, guara, feijoa, and Chionanthus virginicus (fringetree). One of the things that Anne loves best about her garden is the many holly trees. At the garden’s entry are five Nellie Stevens hollies. Eagleston hollies provide privacy and buffer along the property lines. The four hollies featured in the courtyard are oak leaf hollies. A ‘Burford’ holly specimen, tree form, is planted near the driveway. The antique fountain in the backyard near the outdoor kitchen doubles as an occasional herb and flower garden. It truly looks as if it has always been in this very special place.

Directions: From the Cummer Museum, go south (left) on Riverside Avenue. Turn left onto King Street, at hospital. Turn right (south) on St. Johns Avenue. Turn left on Shadowlawn Avenue. Turn left on Richmond Street.

Open Days 2018: April 14
Hours: 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Admission to this garden is $10. A discounted day pass ticket is available for sale at the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.