A Last Look Before I Go

I am leaving for England this evening for The Passionate Gardener Tour. I am very excited to return to see old favorites and a few new gardens. The main feature of my New Hampshire garden right now is the trio of Prunus 'Hally Jolivette' trees on the hill between the Blue Bench Terrace and the Woodland Garden. Some special spring ephemerals are also in flower. I hope to come back from England with new ideas and a garden on the cusp of June.

 Glaucidium palmatum, the Japanese wood poppy, has fleeting single lavender flowers. I am glad I didn't miss them this year.

The Himalayan mayapple, Podophyllum hexandrum, has pink flowers that last about as long as the flowers on Glaucidium palmatum. It has mottled leaves and a bright, shiny, red, egg-sized fruit in late summer. This mayapple has happily self-seeded around the parent plant. I have thrown the seeds throughout the garden and this spring I spotted new plants dotted throughout the Woodland Garden.

I got this plant, Lamium orvala 'Silva' or giant dead nettle, from Ed Bowen of Opus Plants. Speaking of Ed, I am pleased to report that he will have a 'Pop-up' nursery at my garden during the Monadnock Area Garden Conservancy Open Day on Saturday August 20, 2016. Gardens will also be open in Vermont the following day. As part of the new 'Digging Deeper' program, Page Dickey will be giving a talk on Friday, August 19th at Bass Hall in Peterborough called "Outstanding American Gardens". On Saturday, Tovah Martin and Roger Swain will be giving free talks in two of the gardens. See the Garden Conservancy website for details. It promises to be a great weekend!

 

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.

What is it?

5) Aralia cordata 'Sun King' 

4) Stewartia pseudocamellia

3) Persicaria polymorpha

2) Eryngium giganteum 'Miss Willmott's Ghost'

1) Onopordum acanthium aka Scotch Thistle

We had about 150 visitors to the garden yesterday for the Monadnock Region Garden Conservancy Open Day. It was a hot, sunny day with a refreshingly pleasant breeze. The most asked about plant in the garden was the enormous Scotch Thistle, Onopordum acanthium. This biennial is a favorite of mine because it has a such a commanding presence in the garden. When it goes to seed, it becomes ratty looking and I immediately take it out. It needs to be removed carefully because the spines are razor shape. For some people it is an intimidating plant but for me, at 6 foot three, it is one of the few herbaceous plants that I can look up to.

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.

Lee Link's Garden in Sharon, CT

Front Entrance to the House

Entrance Courtyard with Michael Trapp Pot

Lower Entrance with River Birch: An Idea Borrowed from Helen Dillon

The Greenhouse

Potting Area

Rear view of Greenhouse

Agave on Wall

View from the Pool

Michael Trapp was Here

Three Cornus kousa replace Mixed Border

About a 10 minute drive from Michael Trapp's shop is the Sharon, CT garden of Michael's good friend, Lee Link. Lee is a perennial host to the Garden Conservancy Open Days. I had last seen her garden about 8 or 10 years ago. It was and is meticulously maintained and beautifully designed. I think the greenhouse had been added since my last visit. It is full of exotic and unusual tender plants.

Lee's description of her garden in the Open Days Directory explains, "Three stone walls cascade down a hillside at the top of which is a greenhouse containing a wide spectrum of succulents and tropical plants. Within the last year, the former perennial border was replaced with a new hardscape and three kousa dogwoods highlighted by groundcover and spring bulbs. This is an effort to minimize upkeep. One level has a fish pond which reflects a winter conservatory attached to the house."