Latham Garden

The Latham Garden memorializes Maude Moore Latham, who was a driving force in the restoration of the Palace. Mrs. Latham worked tirelessly for the restoration during her lifetime. When she died in 1951, her will established the Latham Trust, which funded building and furnishing the Palace and continues today as an important source of funding for Tryon Palace.

This formal garden of clipped hedges, flowers and paths combines to form the patterns that define a “parterre” garden. The hedges here are a mix of dwarf yaupon holly, a Carolina native and boxwood, commonly used in English gardens of the period. Dwarf yaupon makes up the interior hedges, offering more resistance to diseases than boxwood, featured on the outer edge, but with a similar look.   

Statues of the four seasons survey the seasonal displays of spring bulbs and violas, summer annuals and fall chrysanthemums. This garden especially highlights the “Colonial Revival” concept used in Morley Williams’ designs with emphasis on show and color, not historical accuracy of plant materials.