A Spring Garden Tour

May 19, 2025

Spring is always a wonderful time for a garden tour.

Every now and then, I agree to open my gardens for a small number of private walking tours. Last week, I gave the first one of the season. It was for a group of business colleagues and retail partners. I walked them through various gardens, groves, and allées. I spoke about the history of my farm and the many changes I've made over the years. And, I taught them all about the many plants and trees we saw along the way. Remember my saying, "learn something new every day."

Here are some photos, enjoy.

: The group started with a walk through my main greenhouse, out through the flower garden and then a stop at my Pin Oak Allée. 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.

: In my perennial flower garden, we saw some beautiful spring blooms. This is one of many irises. Iris is a genus of almost 300-species of flowering plants with showy flowers. The blooms consist of upright petals called “standards,” pendant petals called “falls,” and fuzzy, caterpillar-like “beards” that rest atop the falls.

: The columbine plant, Aquilegia, is an easy-to-grow perennial that blooms in a variety of colors during spring. With soft-mounding scalloped leaves and delicate blossoms nodding on flower stems, columbine is ideal for borders, cottage gardens or naturalizing wooded areas. This columbine is a rich, dark purple.

: Nearby is my Soccer Field, which is adjacent to the pergola. It is looking so lush and green. On one side are six weeping hornbeams, Carpinus betulus Pendula. When my grandchildren come up to visit, my grandson, Truman, loves to play soccer here – it’s one of his favorite spots at the farm.

: The group admired my stand of bald cypress trees along this carriage road. Taxodium distichum is a deciduous conifer. Though it’s native to swampy areas, the bald cypress is also able to withstand dry, sunny weather and is hardy in USDA climate zones 5 through 10. I told the group I have four miles of carriage road that meander around my homes, my gardens, my pastures, and through the expansive woodland. They are 12-feet wide and covered with native washed stone.

: This is a beautiful weeping copper beech, Fagus sylvatica ‘Purpurea Pendular’, an irregular spreading tree with long, weeping branches that reach the ground.

: I pointed out the old corn crib, with Its unique “keystone” shape, flaring from bottom to top and more pronounced from the front and back sides – a design used to shed water. Corn cribs are also often raised to keep vermin away and to prevent moisture from the soil.

: Another interesting stop is my Basket House, where I store my basket collection. I have hundreds of baskets – some are rare and antique, some are vintage, and some are more contemporary. Guests also took a quick peak inside.

: The pergola garden was hard to miss with all its beauty. The purple alliums are so prominent right now. Allium species are herbaceous perennials with flowers produced on scapes. They grow from solitary or clustered bulbs.

: Up the road, the group saw the apple espaliers and these blooming “Miss Kim” Korean lilac standards. This upright, compact lilac blooms later than others, extending the season with clusters of highly fragrant, lavender flowers.

: I spoke about my weeping katsura just outside my Winter House kitchen. It is one of three around my home.

: My herbaceous peony bed is just coming to life with the bold green foliage and all the many buds waiting to open. My herbaceous peony collection includes 11-double rows of peonies, and 22 different varieties of peony plants – two varieties in each row. It will bloom in less than two weeks.

: These tall and striking sugar maple trees, Acer saccharum, are located at one corner of my farm – just outside my Summer House and its formal sunken garden. These maples are covered with climbing hydrangea, and beneath them is one of my favorite gardens this time of year… the tree peony garden.

: There are very few plants that can compete with a tree peony in full bloom. They flower from late April through early May, but the season often varies from year to year. The pink varieties are more fragrant than others. This one has slightly ruffled petals with a gold center.

: Tree peonies come in colors that include all ranges of white, yellow, pink, magenta, and dark maroon.

: Across the carriage road are my old pink azaleas that are flowering with gorgeous deep pink color. My azalea collection starts in a lightly wooded area where they get lots of filtered sunlight throughout the day. I extended the garden down the carriage road and planted more than 400-azaleas.

: The smaller, younger azaleas are looking more beautiful every year. Azaleas are generally healthy, easy to grow plants. Some azaleas bloom as early as March, but most bloom in April and May with blossoms lasting several weeks.

: Azalea petal shapes range from narrow to triangular to overlapping rounded petals. They can also be flat, wavy, or ruffled.

: And then we headed down to the stable to see my horses and these horse chestnut trees. They always grab everyone’s attention. Aesculus hippocastanum is a large deciduous tree also known as conker tree. All the horse chestnuts are blooming so profusely right now.

: The blossoms appear on erect, eight-inch long panicles at each branch tip – they’re very attractive, and very accessible to bees and hummingbirds.