Monadnock Region Open Day August 23

Saturday, August 23, my garden will be one of the six gardens open to the public 10 am to 4pm for the Monadnock Region Garden Conservancy Open Days. Joe Valentine and Paula Hunter's garden, Juniper Hill Farm, will also be featuring a plant sale by Broken Arrow Nursery.  I am pleased to announce that my garden will host have a plant sale of unusual annuals and perennials by fellow blogger, Helen O'Donnell of Anemone Times. Helen has a new nursery at The Bunker Farm in Dummerston, Vermont which I posted about earlier this summer. She will be bringing a trick load of choice plants for sale.

There will also be a lecture and book signing by garden writer Tovah Martin at 7 pm at Bass Hall at the Monadnock Center for History and Culture, 19 Grove Street, Peterborough - "Trowels & Tomorrow: Garden Stewardship." Admission: $5.

Monadnock Region Open Day June 30

The Garden Conservancy Open Day in the Monadnock Region will be next Saturday, June 30. My garden, along with four other gardens, will be open to the public from 10 am to 4 pm. If you are in the area, please come by for a visit. Each garden is different from the next and the tour would make for a lovely day. The public gardens that I work on in Peterborough, which are always open to the public, are also included on the Open Days Tour. Volunteer gardeners will be at the Pavilion Garden in Depot Park in downtown Peterborough (near the Toadstool Bookshop) to answer questions and distribute maps to the other public gardens.

NH Open Days Baum/Reeves Style

Gazing at the Aralia elata 'Variegata'

The Ganesh Holds Court

What is that in the White Pine Allee?

Closer.....

Closer.....

Closer....

Closer.....

Viola!

Terry Reeves and David Baum have an extraordinary garden in Peterborough. Their 230 year old colonial house boasts ancient 200 year old maple trees and a seven foot tall barn foundation that forms the backdrop to beautiful mixed border. But this year the highlight was a sculpture at the end of an allee of huge pine trees that was once a country road. David and Terry commissioned Vermont artist Mark Ragonese www.markragonese.com to make an installation especially for the Garden Conservancy Open Days.

Terry had a vision of nest-like sculpture and the collaboration with Mark produced a huge egg shaped structure with a sort of stone cairn as a focal point. The sculpture, about 10 feet tall, had to be quite large to be in scale with the enormous pine trees. The best part of the experience is how the visitor can not see the sculpture from the house. As one follows the curved path of mowed grass, they suddenly see the focal point in the distance. A wonderful surprise in a very inviting garden.

Hidcote Folly at NH Open Days

Pool House Modeled After Hidcote's Garden Pavilion

The Pool Garden

Pot of Succulents

Joe Valentine and Paula Hunter's garden in Francestown was on The Garden Conservancy's Open Days Tour this past weekend along with ten other gardens including mine. Each garden was unique and spoke volumes about the gardeners who built them. I got a chance to visit with Joe and Paula this evening. A couple days after a garden tour is not a bad time to visit a garden. Everything is still "just so" but the gardeners are ready to relax and enjoy the garden for themselves.

The latest addition to their garden was a pool house modeled after the pavilions between the Red Borders and the Stilt Garden. It is on axis at the end of the pool. It is beautifully built and is also a functioning pool house. The garden's surround an 18th century saltbox house that they have lovingly restored. They have about 2 acres of "country formal" gardens and if that wasn't enough, it is also a "working farm that is home to some of the world's most endangered breeds of livestock." Joe and Paula also are serious boxwood enthusiasts and grow eleven different varieties of boxwoods. Their favorite is called 'Newport Blue' and is surprisingly hardy in protected locations in their garden.

Not Ready for Primetime.......Yet

The Garden Gate....will William Baffin stay a while?

The Upper Garden....Could use some filling in and not Mulched Yet

Ligustrum sinense 'Variegata' with Clematis 'Honora'.... a fleeting combo?

The Lower Garden..... Furniture Finally Painted Yesterday

The Garden Conservancy Open Days is in two short weeks. I have been visiting the Conservancy's gardens (my favorites are in northwestern CT) since 1996, its second year. I find one of the best ways to to learn about gardens is to visit the best possible ones you can and The Open Days is a great way to do it. I bring a notebook and take notes of plants I like or are new to me. I also try to sit in every seat in the garden and observe what the host has to offer.

The Monadnock/Greater Manchester Open Days are on June 26 and 27. I was asked by Joe Valentine, a obsessed gardening friend from Francestown if I would like participate. I said sure but now I need to push the petal to the metal! Most of the big jobs have been completed. I am hoping the stars this week will stay for the show. I have a lot of biennials in the garden which means I don't usually mulch the garden until mid-June!

If you are in the area, come see some wonderful gardens. Nine of the eleven gardens will be open for the first time. For more information see The Garden Conservancy's web page www.gardenconservancy.org.