Three Osterville and Centerville gardens will be open for viewing from 10 – 4 on Thursday, July 14. The proceeds from the garden tours will benefit Osterville Garden Club. $5 per garden tour. RAIN or SHINE. Photo (Osterville, but not a garden on the tour)  from www.deweygardens.com. For complete information visit http://maclubs.esiteasp.com/osterville_garden_club/home.nxg. 

Garden#1  Cape Cod’s Bountiful Landscape, Centerville, MA
In Centerville’s historic village, this property surrounds a sea captain’s house built in 1730. In every corner of the landscape—which has been lovingly cared for by four generations of the same family—are horticultural delights. There are three perennial plantings, including a sun garden, a shade border, and perennial and conifer plantings surrounding a charming fish pond nestled under a gorgeous Japanese maple. Mature plantings include massed Juniper beds, stately Hinoki cypress, ancient apple trees, large Rhododendron, several varieties of Hydrangea, native and exotic hollies, and a rose garden. As an added treat, savor the sight of completely organic vegetables in a 50 ft. x 20 ft. year-round “hoop house.” The homeowner will be on hand to share the how-tos of growing your own fresh produce all year-round in an easily constructed hoop house heated by solar power only!

Garden#2  A Secret Garden Plus One, Canterville, MA
This lovely garden can’t be seen from the street—only when you come through the garden gate do you see the beauty that lies beyond, including a tranquil pool surrounded by a three-tier, stone wall planting of massed day lilies. A wide variety of perennials are vibrant under a beautiful red maple tree, drawing your eye towards Mill Pond, which is alive with Cape Cod’s abundant wildlife. As you walk towards the pond, there is a bountiful panorama of Hosta and stunning Hydrangea. If you listen quietly you will hear the call of the beautiful Baltimore Oriole.

Garden#3  Seaside Gardening, A to Z!, Osterville, MA
Words cannot capture this Cape Cod alphabet of horticultural wonders found on a stunning seaside property. An elegantly designed vegetable garden steps down one side of the property filled with everything edible from A (Artichokes) to Z (Zucchini). Besides the “usual” vegetables such as beans, squash, and tomatoes, the homeowner also grows sweet potatoes, corn, and raspberries, interplanted with fun rows of “trial and error” varieties brightened through-out with gorgeous, cutting-garden flowers. All around this lovely property are flower beds bursting with blooms from A to Z—from A (Amaranthus) to Z (Zinnias)—as well as swaths of Dahlias, Coleus, Petunias, and Salvia. This is a gardener’s paradise, lovingly maintained by a horticultural expert, who starts between 1500-2000 annuals and vegetable seedlings in her own in-house greenhouse every year.