Host Molly Taylor sits down inside the Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum to chat with landscape designer John McEllen about creating and maintaining the Scarbrough Garden and North Garden at Ships of the Sea in Savannah.

McEllen traces his path from studying history at the University of Georgia to nursery work, running a design business, and completing an early historic landscape program at the University of Connecticut under Rudy Fabrizi, with exposure to sites like Monticello. He describes being recruited by director Jeff Fulton and working with founder Mills Lane IV, who favored “green on green,” leading to a compromise using seasonal color in large pots.

McEllen explains the parlor-garden layout, historically appropriate plant choices, key surviving elements from a 1970s planting, and the later North Garden design with architect Dan Snyder, including roses tied to Godfrey Barnsley and plants introduced during Oglethorpe’s era. The episode also previews a Michael Gibson topiary “wave” installation opening May 14, 2027, and highlights the museum bylaws that protect the gardens as an equal partner with the house and collection.

The Ships of the Sea podcast is recorded on location at the Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum, housed in the historic William Scarbrough House, an elegant example of early Greek Revival architecture in the South. Built in 1819 for William Scarbrough, a prominent shipping merchant and the first president of the Savannah Steamship Company, the museum showcases a remarkable collection of ship models, paintings, and maritime antiques. In addition to its exquisite interior, the museum features the largest private gardens within Savannah’s historic district, designed to reflect a typical 19th-century parlor garden.

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FIND A FAVORITE SPOT IN THIS EPISODE:

00:00 Welcome to the Podcast

00:42 John’s Career Origins

01:53 Historic Landscape Studies

03:39 Moving to Savannah

05:34 Designer vs Architect

06:12 Joining Ships of the Sea

07:53 Mills and Garden Color

10:29 Was There an Original Garden

11:43 Scarborough Garden Layout

14:48 1819 Plant Palette

16:35 North Garden Expansion

18:39 Arbor and Wedding Space

20:28 Sisters Garden and Roses

21:37 Oglethorpe Era Plants

22:02 Tea and Camellias

22:44 People Behind the Project

23:24 Why the Gardens Matter

24:02 Ancient Fig Cutting

25:09 Dream Gardener Journey

26:19 Mills Live Oak Lesson

28:32 Natchez Crape Myrtle

30:00 Fruit Trees Corner

30:42 Camellias And History

34:10 Tours And Recognition

35:46 Protecting Gardens By Law

37:36 Topiary Waves Project

40:47 Letting Go And Growth

43:02 Topiary Tradition Worldwide

46:14 Support The Museum