Tour Patty Humphrey’s gardens, featured in New Hampshire Home magazine, and listen to Roger Swain, former host of PBS’s The Victory Garden, for a $35 donation that includes a box lunch, on Saturday, July 16, from 10 – 3, in support of the Gilmanton Year-Round Library, 1385 Route 140, Gilmanton, New Hampshire. The event will take place at 78 Garvin Hill Road in Chichester, New Hampshire. For tickets and information, contact Susan Barr at susan.barr75@gmail.com, or call 603-267-1905.
A Country Garden Tour to benefit the Fuller Public Library Renovations will take place Saturday, July 16, from 10 – 4 in Hillsborough, New Hampshire. The tour will include ten private gardens throughout Hillsborough and Deering, plus a plant sale and lunch available at Fox Forest. Please telephone the Library at 603-464-3595 in advance to reserve your bag lunch. The ticket price is $20 in advance, $25 the day of tour, and tickets may be purchased by sending a self addressed, stamped envelope to the Fuller Public Library, 29 School Street, Hillsborough, New Hampshire 03244. The Library is also the site for purchasing tickets on the day of the Tour. Image below of School Street, Hillsborough, circa 1907.
Take a day trip from Wellesley College with the Wellesley College Friends of Horticulture. Travel by car north to visit Bedrock Gardens in Lee, New Hampshire, pictured below, and other nearby gardens of note, with an optional stop at Fuller Gardens. The fee ($48 for WCFH members, $60 for non-members) includes lunch. Contact horticulture@wellesley.edu for more details.
NEW CASTLE GARDEN TOUR HELPS PONTINE TO FLOWER Visit a variety of exquisite gardens in Pontine Theatre’s annual New Castle Village Walk and Garden Tour on Sunday, June 12 from 1 – 4 pm. “Gardens are bursting with flowers and fragrance at this time of year,†said Marguerite Mathews, co-director of Pontine Theatre. “We invite you to meander through the marigolds,consort with the columbines or pause to admire the beautiful seaside views.†The self-guided walking tour takes participants on a leisurely stroll through the quaint seaside town and into seven private gardens, some on the water’s edge. Originally developed by Nancy Seagren, a long-time New Castle resident and Pontine’s former general manager, the tour offers a complimentary trolley for participants who would rather ride than walk to each garden. Tickets purchased in advance are $15 and are available online at www.pontine.org and at Portsmouth Gardens, 1000 Woodbury Ave.; Maine-ly New Hampshire, 33 Deer St., Portsmouth and Rye Ridge Greenery, 630 Washington Rd., Rye. Tickets are $20 on the day of the event and may be purchased at the Maude Trefethen School, Rte.1B, New Castle, where participants also can pick up their map and enjoy a glass of lemonade and cookies. All proceeds benefit Pontine Theatre’s cultural and educational programs.
The 2011 American Hosta Society National Convention will take place June 22 – June 25 right here in Massachusetts, hosted by the New England Hosta Society. This year’s theme is Hostas and Heritage. There will be optional bus tours to hosta gardens in four states – Wednesday, see the garden of Bernie and Sue Apter and the garden of Carol Brashear and Bill Meyer, in Connecticut, along with O’Brien Nurserymen Display Garden and Nursery and the garden of Kathie Sisson. Friday’s main tour in Massachusetts includes Bob and Diane Adams’ Oakenstone Gardens, Mary Arnberg’s garden with roughly 500 varieties of hosta, the Cochato Nursery and Display Gardens, and Paula Lehtola’s “Deer Buffet”. Saturday will bring you to New Hampshire to the garden of Cheryl and Rick Cravino aptly named HostaAmour, the garden of Roger Kinchen, and Chuck and Sue Andersen’s Mason Hollow Nursery. There are also three gardens on display following the official end of the show – Sunday brings a chance to see the Hanover, Massachusetts garden of Gerry and Rindy Bennet, the garden of Rick Goodenough, and the Plymouth, Massachusetts garden of Rosemary and David Parks. There will be seedling and sport competitions (called “First Look”), lectures and classes, auctions, ice cream socials, a judged hosta show entitled One if by Land and Two if by Sea (show schedule available for download on web site, www.hosta2011.org), the ultimate hosta supermarket, with nationally known hosta vendors, and all this within a short drive of Boston – in beautiful Marlborough, Massachusetts, at the Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel. Fee to attend is $225, and you may register on line. Make reservations at the hotel, if you are not inclined to drive back and forth, no later than May 28 by calling 888-543-9500 and mention “American Hosta Society” to receive the convention room rate.
Three enticing gardens open their gates to the New England Wild Flower Society for a late spring visit in the Sunapee Valley region of New Hampshire. Glenn Irick, landscape designer, leads a tour of “Happy Landings†a magnificent bucolic property surrounding an 1830s colonial style house, with sweeping pastoral views of wetlands, woodlands and Mt. Kearsarge. Eclectic gardens include foundation plantings, pool, and outer gardens with rhododendrons, mountain laurels, viburnums, dogwoods, spirea, clethra, and blueberry, to name a few. Large magnolias, an old craggy apple near the pool, and mature sugar maples at the original front door are all noteworthy specimens. Varietal diversity and spectacular views are strong factors on this lovely site.
The abundance of showy native woodland species naturally occurring at the Hewitt property in New London are the inspiration for this award-winning garden with its winding stone-lined paths and distinctive alpine habitats. At least 20 species listed as threatened, endangered or of special concern may be seen. A northeast-facing slope is home to a rockery with dwarf and miniature conifers, dwarf northern mountain rhododendron, 5 species of low-growing willows and other rock garden plants. All garden and field work is done exclusively by the owners. Bring a picnic lunch to enjoy on the property.
At the last garden, extensive native plantings along the long wooded driveway connect to a cutting garden of 6 raised beds and a large shade garden with Actaea, Anemone nemorosa ‘Vindiflora’ (pictured below,) Anemonella, Thalictroides, Dicentra, Disporum, Dodecatheon meadia, Jeffersonia, Polygonatum ‘Variegatum’, Tiarella, and Trillium. This leads to a small shade garden of dwarf perennials near the terrace before you encounter more native plants along the lakeshore. Each area is interspersed with several large, whimsical frog sculptures. This event, taking place Saturday, June 4 from 10:30 – 3:30, will be led by Thelma Hewett and will cost $55 for NEWFS members, and $62 for non-members. Sign up at www.newfs.org.
80 Boston Post Road in historic Amherst, New Hampshire is the place to be Saturday, May 7, from 8:30 – 1, which is the Saturday before Mother’s Day. The Amherst Garden Club will offer more than 2,000 perennials, trees and shrubs dug from local gardens, plus annuals, herbs, heirloom vegetables and more. You’ll also find a bakery table, raffle baskets, and gently-used garden books. For more information, log on to www.amherstgardenclub.org, or call 603-791-4900.
The Seacoast Home & Garden Show will take place Saturday and Sunday, March 26 & 27, at the Whittemore Arena at the University of New Hampshire in Durham, New Hampshire, organized by Dickson & McGonigle. The doors will open at 10 am each day, with a Saturday closing time of 6 pm, and a Sunday closing time of 5 pm.
The spring show is full of inspirational ideas for the home and garden. This year there will be a special emphasis on updating and remodeling in today’s new eco-friendly world, all designed to help consumers make informed decisions about their homes and gardens. Each year the Seacoast Show runs concurrently with the Annual UNH Greenhouse Open House. The Open House is sponsored by the Thompson School of Applied Science, the Plant Biology Department, the Cooperative Extension, and the College of Life Science and Agriculture. The event features educational lectures, guided and self-guided tours of the greenhouses, plant sales, informative displays, the Plant Doctor, and even a children’s scavenger hunt. The Open House and greenhouse tours are free and open to the general public from 9-4 on Saturday. The Open House does not run on Sunday. For complete information log on to www.homegardenflowershow.com.
