The Garden Conservancy’s Open Days 2018 has a special event coming up May 5 at the garden of Margaret Roach, 99 Valley View Road in Copake Falls, New York (in the Berkshires). Margaret was a former editor of Martha Stewart Magazine and was the featured speaker a few years ago at the Boston Committee of the GCA spring meeting and luncheon. In her own words: “The garden, about thirty years of age, reflects my obsession with plants, particularly those with good foliage or of interest to wildlife, and also my belief that even in Zone 5B the view out the window can be compelling and satisfying all 365 days of the year. Sixty-five kinds of birds have been my longtime companions, along with every local frog and toad species, and we are all happy together. Informal mixed borders, shrubberies, frog-filled water gardens, and container groupings cover the steep two-and-one-third-acre hillside. It’s a former orchard with a simple Victorian-era farmhouse and little outbuildings set in Taconic State Park lands on a rural farm road.”

Read more about Margaret and additional activities at her garden at http://www.awaytogarden.com.

Specialty growers Broken Arrow Nursery will be on site selling plants during all Margaret’s Open Days. Admission to this garden is $7 for members and nonmembers without tickets purchased in advance. For more information and directions visit https://www.gardenconservancy.org/open-days/open-days-schedule/columbia-county-ny-open-day-5