A Special Late Summer Garden Tour
I always enjoy touring good friends through my gardens and showing them all that has transformed since their last visit.
Yesterday before leaving for a business trip, I enjoyed a wonderful breakfast and morning walk with a small group - Andrew Beckman, who used to work as my head gardener and gardening editor of our magazine, “Living”, his husband, accomplished plantsman and designer, Bob Hyland, Margaret Roach, former Editorial Director at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, and Bill Noble the former director of Preservation Projects at The Garden Conservancy. It was a gorgeous late summer day and a great time catching up with former colleagues and friends.
Enjoy these photos.
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- Here I am with Andrew, Bob, Margaret, Ryan and Bill. Andrew hasn’t visited in quite a long time. He is now working in Portland, Oregon as Publisher at Timber Press. Margaret is an author, award-winning podcast host, and creator of the web site, awaytogarden.com.
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- On the way up to my Winter House, my friends looked at the transformed shade garden just outside my Tenant House. If you remember, I had several 125-foot tall Norway spruce trees removed from this area last winter. Here you can see one of the two Japanese maples I had planted in their place.
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- As they walked up the driveway toward my kitchen they saw the weeping katsuras which have grown so much over the years.
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- They also saw the dwarf apple espalier – filled with so many fruits. We have many, many apples this year – I’ve already tasted quite a few from my trees and they are so very sweet and juicy.
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- After breakfast, I walked the group through my home and out through the porch entrance. The last time they saw this space was before it was enclosed. Here is the upper terrace parterre just outside the door looking out at the green, lush paddocks and my stable in the distance.
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- They all remember the ancient apple trees – these trees did not bear any fruits last year, but they are thriving and full of apples this season.
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- We walked down the carriage road and my tree peony bed near my Summer House. Some of the many plantings were done while Andrew was here. It was nice to show him how things have changed and grown.
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- The garden behind my Summer House was the next stop on the tour. The boxwood and ginkgo trees look very green and full. All the flowers are gone for the season, but the garden still shows off a beautiful arrangement of shrubs and trees. the main focal point is the great old ginkgo tree at the back.
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- This split-leaf philodendron, Philodendron Selloum, is native to South America. It belongs to the group of philodendron plants that are among the most common of houseplants for their ability to thrive without much maintenance. It looks so pretty in this giant faux bois planter.
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- This is a Mexican fan palm. We grew several from seeds I got years ago. These plants are growing so excellently. Mexican fan palms are tall palm trees native to northern Mexico. The container plants on this terrace and around the farm will soon go inside for the cold months.
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- As we walked toward the stable, we talked about the many trees I’ve planted on the property over the years – thousands of trees.
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- And here is just one of three main groups of tree seedlings – just behind my stable. I like to nurture them in pots for a couple of years before planting them around the property.
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- Andrew stopped to visit Clive, one of my five donkeys. Clive loves the attention, and possible treats, from visitors.
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- I believe he was expecting a few more pats from Andrew.
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- During the warmer months, I love to decorate the stable courtyard with large tropical plants – these potted palms add such a pretty touch to the natural stone color.
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- We passed the great white pine trees in the distance – visible from almost every location on this end of the farm. Pinus Strobus is a large pine native to eastern North America. Some white pines can live more than 400-years. We talked about the fencing that surrounds my paddocks, which I imported when I bought this farm. Although the uprights need replacing, the antique Canadian spruce fencing is still as beautiful as it was when I purchased it.
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- One of the highlights of any garden tour through my farm is a walk down my long Boxwood Allee and all the beautiful views of the surrounding landscape.
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- I showed everyone the newer one of two allees of lindens in between two of my paddocks – it is growing very nicely.
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- Looking this way, I also pointed out how I extended the allee down to the chicken coops a couple years ago. All these trees are doing so well.
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- Next, we walked through the orchard – more than 200-fruit trees are planted here – apple trees, plum trees, cherry trees, peach, pear, apricot and quince trees.
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- I picked an apple for each of my guests – they were devoured in minutes.
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- As I showed them the pool, they admired the staddle stones. Staddle stones were originally used in the 17th and 18th centuries as support bases for granaries, hayricks, and game larders. They typically looked like giant stone mushrooms, but mine are square – a more rare and unique version. They were “planted” on the far end of the pool, so they could be seen when looking out at the fields. My orchard surrounds three sides of the pool and a purple columnar beech tree hedge.
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- And then we walked out to the Pin Oak Allee, Quercus palustris, with its distinguishable lower, middle and upper branches forming a most interesting growth habit and canopy. I love the dappled shade these trees create.
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- We stopped at the foot of my curvaceous clematis pergola. We talked about the many granite uprights I use around the farm – old grapevine posts. They’ve come in so handy over the years.
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- Here is another photo of our group – Margaret, Andrew, Ryan, Bob and myself – Bill is taking the photo. We had such a lovely visit – I hope they return again soon.
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