Garden items

Since it’s prime gardening season, I thought I’d share some garden tidbits.

I recently discovered two gardening blogs that are not to be missed:

Garden Rant is primarily produced by and for avid gardeners who possess a healthy sense of fun. Even if you’re merely a garden fan, such as I am, you’re bound to find the site intriguing. Not long ago I was flattered to be invited to post a guest rant. I happily obliged, never one to be short on opinion. Take a look at my rant by clicking here.

garden design ONLINE is another web highlight. Published by a Jane Berger, a landscape designer and journalist, it’s a comprehensive resource for all things garden-related. Visit it once, and you’ll want to add it to your favorites.

Also, an additional up-coming New England garden tour to consider:

Salem Seashore Garden Tour, overlooking Salem Willows coastline (Salem, MA) July 14 & 15, 2007 www.salemgardenclub.com

by Katie Hutchison for the House Enthusiast

Mytoi garden

Somehow in decades of visiting Martha’s Vineyard, I had never explored the Mytoi garden on Chappaquiddick until this past Memorial Day weekend. It is 1185797-847025-thumbnail.jpg
inner gateexquisite. Originally created in the ‘50s by Mary Wakeman with the aid and advice of her architect Hugh Jones, the property is now owned by the The Trustees of Reservations. Apparently it was nearly destroyed by Hurricane Bob in 1991 but has since been revived thanks to a new master plan by landscape designer Julie Moir Messervy. She’s the co-author with Sarah Susanka of the recent Taunton book, Outside the Not So Big House. Today’s refurbished four-acre garden is a delightful hybrid of the Island environment and a Japanese aesthetic.
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Secret Garden Tour in Newport's Historic Point Section

I have a special fondness for Newport, Rhode Island’s Point Section. Since1185797-764236-thumbnail.jpg 1990 or so I’ve been attending the self-guided annual Secret Garden Tour there in June. My mother got me started. She’s an avid gardener who shares my taste for charming architecture. This tour happily suits us both since it reinforces the concept that house and garden are each vital to the other. True, only the gardens are open for public touring, but in this densely packed, seaside neighborhood, the historic homes they accompany can also be appreciated in the round.
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Green Animals Topiary Garden

This unusual garden on an estate overlooking Narragansett Bay in Portsmouth, Rhode Island celebrates the art of topiary amidst a vast array of1185797-812053-thumbnail.jpg gardens and garden features including a rose garden, formal parterre, an herb garden, arbors, espaliers, and more. The white clapboard Victorian dwelling and accompanying outbuildings that include a barn, greenhouses, and cottage set the stage for this historic garden that has evolved over the years into a unique New England treasure. Started in 1912 by Joseph Carreiro, the superintendent to the then property owner, Thomas E. Brayton, the original animal and geometric topiaries can still be enjoyed today as well as many created in the 40’s and 70’s.
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Edith Wharton's gardens at The Mount

Edith Wharton’s estate in Lenox, Massachusetts includes her turn-of-the-century summer house, known at The Mount1185797-759231-thumbnail.jpg
view from rear patio, and three-acres of formal gardens all originally envisioned by the author. Known most for writing House of Mirth, Ethan Frome, and Age of Innocence (among other novels), Wharton was also at the forefront of interior and landscape design discourse. She published The Decoration of Houses with friend and architect Ogden Codman, Jr. in 1897 prior to creating The Mount with Codman’s help.
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