The Gardener at Glen Lula

by Linda Cobb

If you drive down an unpaved lane in historic Beech Island, South Carolina, you’ll find Glen Lula, a historic home named by South Carolina Governor James Hammond for his daughter-in-law, Lula, in 1855. When Gus and Gloria Farmer first found the place nearly 50 years ago, it was in great need of repair. Gloria agreed to take on the challenge of living there if Gus agreed to make the kitchen usable, so together they worked to create a home where their children, Louisa and Jenks, could have the freedom of a rural upbringing and enjoy all that nature had to offer. Now, as you drive up to the house, the Farmers’ charming country garden spreads out before you, rimmed with an ancient split-rail fence that came from Gloria’s grandfather Touten’s farm in Hampton County.

Gus came from a farming background and had always wanted to live on some acreage. Over the years, they have had chickens, cows, pigs, goats and a vegetable garden similar to the one Gloria had as a child. When Gloria and Gus retired, they took the Master Gardener class. After they graduated, they did their required volunteer hours at the Alternative School in Augusta, where they developed a vegetable garden with several other students. Gloria also used her volunteer hours to help maintain flowers in the highway medians with the Garden Club of Beech Island.

When Gloria later started to make her own garden in the rear of the house, she discovered a grave on the property marked “Angelina Wright.” She named her space “Angelina’s Garden,” and filled it with Hydrangea Limelight, Lady in Red, and Eva Lyon Holmes varieties. She lovingly planted large viburnum and hydrangeas around the historic smokehouse and the barn, carefully preserving the history of Glen Lula. Hydrangeas, roses and other perennials dot the landscape and add splashes of color throughout the garden. Gloria loves the pass-along plant principle, which allows friends and family to share plants, so as her garden gets a little full, she gives away plants and adds something new.

There are herbs mixed in with her plants, and she is experimenting with Jerusalem artichokes to make artichoke relish. She also harvests figs and makes fig preserves. Gloria uses a little tiller and works her soil, recently finishing a small spot to add more vegetables. She adds potatoes to her garden so that her 4-year-old granddaughter, Caroline, and friends’ children and grandchildren can help dig them up. She says the kids love it because it is like digging for treasure. Her 15-year-old grandson, Robert, loves spending time there also, driving the tractor and enjoying the farm.

Gloria also has a small rooting bed where she roots plants to sell at Beech Island Heritage Day, held each spring at Grandville Plantation and sponsored by the Beech Island Historical Society.

New Dawn Rose scrambles over the huge cedar arbor that marks the entrance to Angelina’s Garden. Gus, who passed away last August, cut the wood for the arbor before he became ill, and their son, Jenks, built it and finished it for his father. Gloria smiles as she remembers that when Gus was ill and could not do much, he sat on the long side porch at the table with a bell to ring if he needed anything. Gloria worked in the garden and Gus watched her, ringing the bell occasionally, even if he didn’t really need anything. Of course, after 48 years of marriage, just being together meant everything. SCM