West of the Lake Gardens. Manitowoc, Wisconsin.
When Ruth St. John and John West acquired their 6 acres on the shores of Lake Michigan in the 1930's, the former streetcar right of way had a wooded shoreline and stretches of thistle and quack grass. They built a modest Bauhaus inspired home that maximized their space for landscaping. "By the autumn of 1934, Mrs. West became addicted to gardening. A hopeless case! With an initial purchase of 200 tulips, the garden was born…. By the 1950’s more than 30,000 tulips filled formal, gracefully sweeping beds among developing perennial borders.” (source: West of Lakes Gardens) This gardenesque style garden celebrates the Wests love of beauty.
The Path Garden was the first space planted by Ruth St. John. It originally was a wheel barrow path to the lake.