The Garden Conservancy, in conjunction with its Provincetown Open Day on June 11, also has gardens in the neighboring town of Truro on display that Saturday, from 10 – 4.
Flyte Cottage, The Garden of Kurt D. Gress and Samuel Parkinson, is located at 9 Ryder Beach Road in Truro and is pictured below. This Cape Cod garden has been in the making for about twelve years and is an ever-changing and expanding place set on a tranquil hill with distant views of Cape Cod Bay. It has the advantage of temperate Truro seasons brought about by the ocean’s proximity, and being set back from the shore, it is partly protected from punishing winter winds. The garden is made up of several different areas that are tightly planted with a mixture of shrubs, trees, roses, herbs, and perennials set within stone paths, walls, picket fences, and garden structures. The garden’s color palette is primarily blue, white, and yellow except within the Pink Garden (which is, as you guessed, mostly shades of pink). The garden also includes a number of collected garden pieces and ornaments made of stone and metal to add companionship to the plants. While neither formal nor wild, the garden is overall rather exuberant in fullness as it sits peacefully within the Cape Cod landscape.
Directions: From Boston/Mid-Cape, take Route 6 East to Pamet Road/Truro Center exit and bear right toward South Pamet Road/Truro. You will very shortly reach a “T” intersection; there, turn right and follow the sign toward Truro Center. At the next “T” intersection, turn left onto Truro Center Road, and then take an immediate right onto Depot Road. After 0.5 mile, bear left at the fork onto Old County Road. Continue on Old County Road for approximately 1.7 miles, then turn right onto Ryder Beach Road. The property is approximately 0.1 miles on the right. (Follow parking instructions for 9 Ryder Beach Road).
From Provincetown, take Route 6 West and turn right onto Truro Center Road (about 9 miles from Provincetown). Continue on Truro Center Road for 0.8 mile, then take slight right onto Depot Road. In 0.5 mile, bear left at the fork onto Old County Road. At 1.7 miles, turn right onto Ryder Beach Road. The property is about 0.1 mile on right. (Follow parking instructions for 9 Ryder Beach Road).
Visitors are asked to park along Ryder Beach Road on the side of the street opposite from the driveway. Very limited parking is available near the house for those who are handicapped or physically challenged.
David Kirchner and Scott Warner garden at 6 Twine Field Road in North Truro. Their garden surrounds two vine-covered, late-nineteenth-century cottages atop a challenging windswept site overlooking Cape Cod Bay. Slightly less than an acre in size, the garden is dominated by romantic cottage-style plantings of perennials, flowering shrubs, and self-seeding annuals and biennials in a cool color palette. The garden also includes a “hot” border that comes to life in summer in shades of orange, red, and violet; a large collection of succulents displayed on decks and along walkways; a “Mediterranean” planting in front of a south-facing dry-stack wall sheltering plants generally not hardy in this Zone 7A location; and a wooded glade filled with newly planted native shrubs and other shade lovers. A highlight of the garden is a collection of more than eighty different kinds of roses—climbers, ramblers, and shrubs—most of which are heirloom and old garden varieties. They have designed the garden so that planted areas merge seamlessly with the native grasses, beach plums, bayberries, wild roses, and red cedars that occur naturally on the site.
*Please note this garden is located and number 6 and number 8 Twine Field Road. From U.S. Route 6 West, take the Highland Road/North Truro exit (approximately 6 miles from Provincetown). Turn right following sign marked North Truro/Pond Village. At the blinking traffic light/four-corner intersection, (The Salty Market is on your right), cross Route 6A and continue straight onto Pond Road. Pond Road dead ends into the Cold Storage Beach parking lot. Please park in the Cold Storage Beach parking lot at the end of Pond Road, above Cape Cod Bay. As you enter the beach parking lot, to your far right you will see a tall cedar fence with an open gate that leads into the garden. Visitors should enter from this gate.
Admission to this garden is $7. Don’t forget to buy discounted admission tickets in advance. They never expire and can be used at most Open Days to make garden visiting easier.
