A June Garden Tour for The Garden Club of America
Tours through my gardens are different every time - there's always something new to see.
Yesterday, I opened my gardens for a private showing to The Garden Club of America. The tour was part of their "On the Road" trip to Bedford, New York. 30 guests from various states across the country attended. Whenever I can, I always enjoy leading the walks through the gardens to see what is blooming and growing at the time, to share the farm's history, and to discuss how I care for all the many plantings. It was a lovely late spring morning and a very enjoyable garden tour.
Enjoy these photos.
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- My perennial flower garden is among the first stops along the walk – so many poppies are blooming, along with the roses, various irises, and Canterbury Bells.
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- The group arrived mid morning. Mine was the first of three tours the group was scheduled to see this day. Before the tour, I welcome everyone to Cantitoe Corners and talked about what we would see along the guided walk.
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- My Chow Chows made a quick appearance. Everyone loves to meet Emperor Han and Empress Qin.
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- I showed them the roses growing along the fence. These climbers and many others were transplanted from Lily Pond, my former home in East Hampton.
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- In the garden, there are gorgeous poppies blooming everywhere – those papery, tissue-like blossoms that look stunning both in the garden and in the vase.
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- The name “poppy” refers to a large number of species in at least 12 different genera in the subfamily Papaveroideae, which is within the plant family Papaveraceae. They produce open single flowers gracefully located on long thin stems, sometimes fluffy with many petals and sometimes smooth.
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- Papaver grows mainly in the northern hemisphere, including within the Arctic Circle, with one species found in southern Africa.
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- The plants typically grow to about two feet in height forming colorful flowers during spring and into summer.
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- Also open are the Canterbury Bells – these bell-shaped white, pink, blue, or purple flowers bloom in the early spring through midsummer.
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- And look at the colorful bold purple irises. Purple Dutch irises, also known as Iris hollandica, typically bloom in late spring to early summer.
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- Along the footpath, airy sprays of yellow flowers on the Lady’s Mantle, Alchemilla mollis.
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- I walked the group through the berry gardens to see the currant bushes laden with fruits.
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- Just outside the flower garden, the group saw the tall bald cypress trees across from my pergola. These trees were just a few feet tall when I first planted them.
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- All my potted tropical plants are now displayed all around the farm. I told the group this is one of many sago palms I grew from cut “pups” off a parent plant. It’s grown beautifully over the years.
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- I also grew these boxwood shrubs from bare root cuttings that were nurtured in a bed before being transplanted to this pergola border.
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- Over a section of my pergola are the climbing vines of my beautiful Rosa ‘Veilchenblau’ – the violet rambler also known as ‘Bleu-Violet’, ‘Blue Rambler’, ‘Blue Rosalie’ and ‘Violet Blue’ that bloom from May to June.
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- From the carriage road, one can see the abundance of pretty blooms – my guests loved to stop, take photos, and “smell the roses.”
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- I walked the group through the vegetable garden. They admired the growing brassicas. Everything is doing so well.
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- Here is one of my Savoy cabbages – so perfectly shaped. Savoy cabbage is a versatile cabbage, similar to green cabbage but a bit milder and sweeter, with leaves that are looser and more ruffled.
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- Kale, also called leaf cabbage, belongs to a group of cabbage cultivars primarily grown for their edible leaves – these leaves are amazing and so delicious.
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- I pointed out all the growing broccoli heads. There are so many ready to pick.
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- And the group loved the tomatoes. I planted 120 tomato plants under these bamboo supports.
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- The tour met my Friesians. Hylke loves to greet visitors – he is always hopeful for a treat.
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- And before leaving, the group walked by the pool and learned about the staddle stones, which 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. It was a fun tour with a very fun, enthusiastic, and curious group of gardeners.
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