An Early June Tour of My Gardens
It’s garden tour season at my Bedford, New York farm.
Every now and then, I agree to open my gardens for private walking tours. Yesterday, we hosted the first scheduled visit for the Garden Conservancy Society of Fellows. The Garden Conservancy was founded in 1989 with a mission to preserve, share, and celebrate America's gardens for the education and inspiration for future generations. Unfortunately, because of my busy work and travel schedule, I wasn’t able to join them for the tour - if you follow my Instagram page @MarthaStewart48, you know I am currently in Milan - but my head gardener, Ryan McCallister, guided the walk through the allées and gardens. The day was perfect - temperatures were in the low 70s and everything was flourishing with color and life.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
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- Our guests had the opportunity to walk through the cutting garden. Every group experiences something different when they visit the farm depending on what is blooming at the time.
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- Right now, there are so many lupines in full bloom. Lupinus, commonly known as lupin or lupine, is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. The genus includes more than 200 species. It’s always great to see the tall spikes in the garden. Lupines come in lovely shades of pink, purple, red, white, yellow, and even red. Lupines also make great companion plants, increasing the soil nitrogen for vegetables and other plants nearby.
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- Ryan started the tour in my main greenhouse and head house, and then through the cutting garden – there were many oohs and ahs and picture taking.
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- There are also many poppies – my guests loved seeing all the different varieties. These plants require very little care if they are grown in soil that drains well and gets full sun. The only downfall – poppies have a relatively short bloom span.
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- There are numerous types of dianthus – most have pink, red, or white flowers with notched petals.
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- The beautiful Allium – I have so many in bloom along the clematis pergola and right here inside, and outside, my flower cutting garden. Allium species are herbaceous perennials with flowers produced on scapes. They grow from solitary or clustered bulbs.
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- As the tour exited the flower garden, they gathered at this juncture. On the right is my long and winding pergola. And on the left is a row of bald cypress, or Taxodium distichum, a deciduous conifer. It is a large tree with gray-brown to red-brown bark. It is popular as an ornamental tree grown for its light, feathery foliage.
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- Throughout the walking tour, Ryan provides some history on the development of the gardens and answers questions about the care and maintenance of all the plantings. Here, Ryan talks about the expansive soccer lawn, where my grandson loves to play whenever he is here at the farm.
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- My operations manager, Stephanie Lofaro, and my gardener, Brian O’Kelly, helped organize all the logistics of the tour.
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- From this vantage point, one sees the back of the the clematis pergola on the left, and on the right, the weeping hornbeams, Carpinus betulus Pendula.
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- Elvira and Enma always set up beautiful table scapes. Here they decorated my new yew table under the pavilion with silver vases of roses just picked the previous day. They served citrus infused ice water to all the guests.
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- The group took a brief look at my pool – now open for the season.
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- The group walked through the Pin Oak Allee, which is looking fuller every week. A recognizable trait of the pin oak is that its lower branches hang down. It also has horizontal middle branches and upright upper branches forming a most interesting growth habit.
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- As the tour neared the Boxwood Allee they stopped at this beautiful weeping copper beech, Fagus sylvatica ‘Purpurea Pendular’, an irregular spreading tree with long, weeping branches that reach the ground.
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- The Boxwood Allee on the way to the stable always grabs everyone’s attention. During this part of the walk, Ryan explains how we care for the boxwood and cover all the shrubs with burlap every winter to protect them from the elements.
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- During the warmer months, I love to display tropical plants around the farm. These potted plants are on the cobblestone courtyard in front of my stable.
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- The garden behind my Summer House is always a favorite stop on the tour. Ryan pointed out the tall, old Ginkgo tree at the back – the focal point of this garden. He also talked about the boxwood, including the small Tide Hill boxwood hedge – a dense multi-stemmed evergreen shrub with a ground-hugging habit.
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- On the sides, growing Itoh peonies. The Itoh peony, also known as the intersectional peony, is a hybrid that combines the best qualities of its parent plants: tree peonies and common herbaceous peonies. As a result, Itohs have enormous, long-lasting blooms and strong stems, as well as dark green, lush, deeply lobed foliage that lasts until autumn. With flowers that can spread up to eight inches across, Itoh peonies are available in a variety of vibrant colors including yellow, coral, pink, red, and white.
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- The group gathered on the steps of my Summer House for a photo.
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- Before ending the tour, the group gathered on my terrace parterre for more refreshments. These delicious pastries are from LMNOP Bakery in nearby Katonah. LMNOP Bakery uses milled flour and other wholesome ingredients from local sources and bakes fresh items every day.
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- My dear friend, Memrie Lewis helped to host the garden tour in my absence. Here she is enjoying a pastry and a glass of iced coffee.
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- Here’s another look at the bald cypress trees that shed their needle-like leaves in the fall. In fact, they got their name “bald” cypress because they lose their leaves so early in the winter season.
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- The tour concluded back at the foot of the flower cutting garden. It was an excellent morning and a great walk around the farm. And in good time – this group has another four gardens to visit before the day is done. Thanks for coming to Cantitoe Corners, Garden Conservancy Society of Fellows.
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