Four gardens will be open for viewing in Chatham on Friday, June 24 from 10 – 4 as part of the Hydrangea Festival. The proceeds from the garden tours will benefit Chatham Garden Club. Admission is $5 per garden tour. RAIN or SHINE.

Garden#1 Horticulturist’s Hydrangeas
Explore this naturalistic garden designed by the owner, a former art teacher, horticulturist and landscape designer. Register at the front table near Trident and Paper Bark Maple trees and you will receive a map of the garden highlighting unusual trees, shrubs and a variety of hydrangeas. Enter the garden through an arch made from fastigiate apple trees to view a rare Pekin lilac tree, stewartia pseudocamellia and other plants of interest. Varieties of our native Hydrangea quercifolia and many other paniculata and macrophylla hydrangeas are planted throughout the garden.

Garden#2  Grandmother’s Perennials
“My garden has been planted and maintained by me with an emphasis on pink, white, blue and green colors. My grandmother’s peonies have been transplanted 3 times with loving care. The hydrangeas in the back perimeter are volunteer clippings I have nurtured which flow into my neighbor’s property naturally. Behind our house, the path leads toward Ridgevale Beach lined with my perennials which bloom from late spring through early December. Most of my plants have been divided and replanted several times resulting in what you see today.”

Garden#3  Water Spout
“In 1995, faced with  a choice of filling my yard with $7000 worth of sand or making a pond, I created this decorative water spout surrounded by hydrangeas and roses. A gazebo, as requested by my wife, is on the north and a walking path on the east border of the property. In the back is a beautiful perennial garden sloping toward the house with seasoned trees and shrubs around the yard.”

Garden#4  Not Just Cape Cod Art
Nikko Blue, Mophead Mathilda Gutges, Endless Summer hydrangeas along with lavender and various perennials grace the front gardens. Knockout roses and perennials lead to a white arbor covered with Zephirine Drouhinand roses and Clematis. Stop and relax by the fish pond shaded by a Japanese Maple surrounded by peonies, Strawberries & Cream, and Climbing hydrangeas with a secret room hidden from view by Fairy Roses. The owner will be painting pictures of hydrangeas in her garden during the tour.

For complete information visit www.chathamgardenclub.org.