America’s Romance with the English Garden. Thomas J. Mickey

York. The majority of the plants for the Rockwood gardens were obtained from American sources.101

      Nursery receipts show that Shipley ordered his plants in two stages. First, he chose the plants for the landscape away from the house. Later, after the house was built, he ordered plants for the area around the house. By 1861 the gardens were well established.

      The nurseries Shipley used featured both native and exotic plants from around the world. Because the companies offered such plants and encouraged patrons to use them, they encouraged the English gardenesque design, which featured collections of plants.