The Newport Tree Conservancy invites you to take a stroll through Second Wind Arboretum. This Ocean Drive Neighborhood gem on 2.7 acres includes Gingko plantings, forested wetland featuring native Amelanchier canadensis and Acer rubrum, and the owner’s Heritage Collection – specimen trees planted in honor of members of the family inspired by favorite trees planted along Bellevue Avenue. This vibrant, whimsical property is a must see! Register at www.newportconservancy.org
The Little Compton Garden Club is pleased to host you for our Coastal Gardens of Little Compton 2023 tour. This self-guided tour will take place June 17, 2023, rain or shine, from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. You will have the chance to visit seven private gardens in picturesque Little Compton, RI. In addition, you can visit the historic herb garden at the Little Compton Historical Society and tour the historic home.
This tour celebrates the long tradition of the Little Compton Garden Club giving back to the community. Your ticket purchase makes it possible for the club to fund a wide range of environmental, conservation, and education programs, and to continue to make a difference in the lives of community residents.
Please purchase your tickets in advance on this website for early-bird pricing ($40). Tickets will be available the day of the tour at St. Andrews by the Sea Church, 182 Willow Avenue in Little Compton for $50 (preferably by credit card or check). The tour will happen, rain or shine. Tickets are nonrefundable (but you can give them to some lucky friends if you find you are unable to attend).
Everyone who registers will pick up their map for this self-guided tour at St. Andrew’s Church, 182 Willow Avenue, Little Compton. Lunch options will be listed on the map, including both restaurants and bring-your-own picnic spots.
The mission of the Little Compton Garden Club is to stimulate the knowledge and love of gardening, and to work with its members to protect, preserve and enhance the character of its unique seaside community. $40. Purchase through Eventbrite HERE.
Sakonnet Garden is a hidden exotic garden within a native coastal fields landscape, a long-term project of John Gwynne and Mikel Folcarelli. This ongoing experiment in design, scale, and plantings began as an acre-sized spring woodland garden and is subdivided into spaces separated by high windbreak hedges and stone walls that enable growing of many Zone 7 plants. Each space has its own mood and horticultural objective. These woodland areas are very different in summer, mostly shady and green, but with the “subtropical quadrant” at peak of exuberance. Open for the first time on August 22 for the Garden Conservancy, a new “pollinator plus” summer garden is a colorful walk through perennial border conceived as a biodiversity maze. Thousands of flowers produce nectar for butterflies, bees (especially native bees), and other insects important for pollination. Clipped topiary Ilex begins to mimic the Nupé house posts from Ghana.
For more information about the garden, visit www.sakonnetgarden.com.
Registration will be via the Sakonnet Garden’s website; booking will open soon.
Taking the lead with many of his garden’s countless hundreds of plants, designer Louis Raymond collaborates with Nature to transform horticulture into “hortitecture”—striking shapes of simple architectural geometry that give the garden structure, mystery, whimsy, shelter, and astonishment. And that changes already marvelous plants into coups de théâtre. Drinks in hand, join Louis on a walk-and-talk from one such marvel to the next.
Your registration includes Open Days admission to this garden destination—a $7 value. Louis Raymond and Richard Ericson’s garden at 495 Main Street in Hopkinton, Rhode Island, is open on this date, August 25, to general Open Days visitors from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. as part of the Washington County, RI Open Day. Register for this Digging Deeper event at either 3:30 p.m. or 5:00 pm at https://www.gardenconservancy.org/open-days/open-days-schedule/digging-deeper-natural-is-for-wimps-training-plants-into-extraordinary-shapes-2: $30 Garden Conservancy members $35 nonmembers
For more information, call the Garden Conservancy’s Open Days toll-free Mon.-Thurs., 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Fri. 9 am. to 3 p.m. EST, 1-888-842-2442, or via email at opendays@gardenconservancy.org. Registration is required and space is limited.
Visit two notable sustainable landscapes in Rhode Island with the Ecological Landscape Alliance. The first is Kent Hospital, where an award-winning landscape design transformed the 40-acre campus into a showcase for sustainable design practices; we will see rain gardens and healing gardens. The second site is a small urban lot that was redesigned to reflect Rhode Island native plant communities, demonstrate enhanced storm water management, and promote biodiversity. Bring a bag lunch. $68 for ELA members, $85 for nonmembers. Register and see more at: http://www.ecolandscaping.org/event/sustainable-sites-tour-rhode-island/#sthash.ode0GjV8.dpuf
Tom Benjamin is an independent registered Landscape Architect and LEED Accredited Professional (AP BD+C) practicing design and sustainability consulting and is Principal of Wellnesscapes. Tom has more than 20 years experience in environmental design and sustainability work often focused on green design, including energy, waste, water and food systems. In addition to residential restoration, Tom’s site planning work emphasizes low cost, low maintenance landscape solutions for healthcare, academic and senior institutions, public facilities, commercial and residential developments, large-scale solar farms and community farms/gardens. Tom teaches sustainable landscape design at the University of Massachusetts. He is the recipient of multiple awards, including three for his sustainable landscape design work at Kent Hospital located in Warwick, RI. Tom is also a Board Member of the Ecological Landscape Alliance (ELA).
Take advantage of an opportunity to see Blithewold’s incredible grounds through the eyes of Executive Director, Karen Binder, on Saturday, June 13 from 10 – 11. On a leisurely stroll, Karen will highlight the outdoor elements, including exciting updates to buildings and grounds, as well as seasonal specimens.
Families with children are welcome to attend. Register today at www.blithewold.org. Group Size limit to 20. Participants will meet at the Blithewold Visitor Center. Admission, plus $3 Children, $5 Adults. (Pay admission at the door) Blithewold is located at 101 Ferry Road, Rt. 114, in Bristol, Rhode Island.
Join the Berkshire Botanical Garden staff on Thursday May 22 for a day-long adventure to the southeast coast of Rhode Island to explore an extraordinary garden, nurseries and more. Sakonnet Garden, in Little Compton, RI, will be the featured visit of the day. This “exceptional American garden†(as quoted by Marco Polo Stufano, former Director of Wave Hill, and John Trexler, former Director of Tower Hill Botanic Garden) is a garden full of inspiration. Sakonnet is a secret garden embedded within a native coastal fields landscape. At the diminutive scale of a cottage garden, it is conceived of as an intimate place to explore, with multiple paths leading one onward to unexpected experiences.
Owners John Gywnne and Mikal Folcarelli will lead a tour of their property. First, consider a restored meadow managed for endangered bobolinks. Learn about the ecological theory behind the meadow’s management and hopefully spot one of these wonderful upland meadow birds. Then, explore the small walled garden, designed as a series of small garden rooms. Following the tour, Ed Bowen from Opus Nursery of Little Compton, RI, will be on hand to sell some of his great Zone 5 plants.
Enjoy a picnic lunch on the lawn—or wait—for the next stop! As we leave the coast, we will stop at the head of the Sakonnet River for a take-out order of fish ‘n’ chips (optional, of course). Enjoy this Rhode Island tradition at well known Evelyn’s Clam Shack (as seen on the Food Channel: Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, hosted by Guy Fieri). The coastal scenery, including boats in the harbor, will be a special treat for us upland creatures. On the return trip we will detour into western Connecticut for a tour of the fabled greenhouses of Logee’s. In business since 1892, this series of five connected greenhouses holds an extensive collection of tropical, semi-tropical and tender perennial plants, as well as orchids, begonias, scented geraniums, citrus and so much more. The staff of Logee’s will give an introduction to the group, and participants can roam the greenhouses and purchase special plants to take home. Enjoy the hosting skills of the BBG staff, including a mid-morning snack and afternoon wine and cheese.
Dress for the weather, bring a bag lunch and wear comfortable, sturdy footwear. Those wishing to order the take-out meal of fish ‘n’ chips will be charged an additional $20. Coach bus leaves Berkshire Botanical Garden promptly at 7:30 am. If you wish to join the group in Rhode Island, call Elisabeth Cary at 413-298-3926, x 15. BBG members $100, nonmembers $120. Register on line at www.berkshirebotanical.org.
Join The Polly Hill Arboretum for a visit to southeastern Rhode Island September 24 – 26. This historic area is rich with diversity, natural beauty and culture. We will be based in the Narragansett Bay town of Bristol for two nights. Thursday we travel to Little Compton to visit three spectacular private gardens, with lunch included. Friday we have a special tour at nearby Blithewold Gardens concluding with a boxed lunch at the mansion. Plan your trip to include extra time to explore many other area attractions on your own, including Green Animals Topiary Gardens, Herreshoff Marine Museum/ America’s Cup Hall of Fame, self-guided town tree tour, and more!
Tour includes:
Two nights at the Bristol Harbor Inn; continental breakfast included
Transportation to Little Compton gardens
Evening wine and cheese reception
Boxed lunch both days
Garden admissions: (Sakonnet Garden, pictured below, and Blithewold special tour fee)
$150 tax deductible donation to the Polly Hill Arboretum
Tour Price: $500 Per person, based on double occupancy $650 Single
Tour size limited, sign up early! Call 508-693-9426, or visit www.pollyhillarboretum.org. You may also email karin@pollyhillarboretum.org.
A tour will be led on Thursday, June 21, from 6 – 8, of a garden located near the gathering point at 101 Ferry Road (Rt. 114) in Tiverton, Rhode Island. The guide is Jessica Duphily of Quintessential Gardens. Individual highlights of this exquisite property include a hidden Japanese garden, a raised vegetable garden, a fruit tree orchard, and a rose garden, all set on a historic Civil War burial site. Registration is limited and required in advance. Cost is $30 for Blithewold members, $35 for non members. To register, visit www.blithewold.org, or call 401-253-2707. Image of nearby garden from www.thegrowingvine.com.
Landscape designer Andrew Grossman’s Seekonk, Massachusetts gardens, which border the Martin Wildlife Refuge and the Runnins River, showcase a wide variety of perennials, shrubs, and grasses. The property includes a blue-and-white garden, a hot colored garden with a checkerboard thyme patio, a cottage garden planted with roses and other old-fashioned favorites, and a rustic pond surrounded by bog plantings. There is also a cutting garden currently planted with tea roses and dinner plate dahlias. Andrew’s garden will be open on Saturday, June 18, from 10 – 4 as part of the Garden Conservancy’s Open Days schedule, along with three additional gardens in nearby Kent County, Rhode Island. For a complete description, visit http://www.gardenconservancy.org/opendays/open-days-schedule/openday/390-east-greenwich-area-open-day. Admission is $5 per garden, or $25 for all six gardens open on this date. Discounted ticket booklets can be purchased on June 18 at each participating private garden or at Tranquil Lake Nursery, 45 River Street, Rehoboth, Massachusetts.
