The First Garden Tours of the Season

June 3, 2017

What a wonderful week for the first garden tours of the season here at my Bedford, New York farm.

During the spring and early summer months, I agree to open my gardens for a small number of private walking tours. When I am not able to lead the tours myself, my head gardener, Ryan McCallister, guides the groups through the farm’s various gardens, groves, and allees - showing them all that is blooming at the time.

This week, two groups came to visit Cantitoe Corners. ArtsWestchester is one of the most important funders in Westchester County for cultural institutions and emerging arts organizations, community-based arts groups and artists. We also welcomed Hilltop Hanover Farm and Environmental Center, a nonprofit dedicated to the development and advancement of sustainable agriculture, environmental stewardship, community education, and accessible food systems for all. Enjoy these photos.

: Temperatures were in the 70s with light breezes – it was the perfect weather for a garden stroll. Here is our small group of visitors from Hilltop Hanover Farm. They came for the morning tour.

: Our guests had the opportunity to walk through the cutting garden. Every group experiences something different when they visit the farm depending on what is blooming at the time.

: Right now, there are so many lupines, peonies, columbines and poppies in full bloom. Lupinus, commonly known as lupin or lupine, is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. The genus includes more than 200 species. In front of them, Icelandic poppies, Papaver nudicaule. These plants require very little care if they are grown in soil that drains well and gets full sun. The only downfall – poppies have a relatively short bloom span.

: It’s always great to see the tall spikes in the garden. Lupines come in lovely shades of pink, purple, red, white, yellow, and even red. Lupines also make great companion plants, increasing the soil nitrogen for vegetables and other plants nearby.

: The group walked through the Pin Oak Allee, which is looking fuller every week. A recognizable trait of the pin oak is that its lower branches hang down. It also has horizontal middle branches and upright upper branches forming a most interesting growth habit.

: Ryan pointed out my grove of weeping willows at one end of my pinetum.

: This is my American beech grove. The American beech, or Fagus grandifolia, is the species of beech tree native to the eastern United States and Canada.

: My Black Shoulder Pied peacock was out to greet the guests as they passed by. My peafowl are all very curious – this male loves to walk around and explore the area, especially by the stable.

: Here are the younger peafowl that I incubated and hatched right here at the farm – they’re growing quite large and colorful. Remember, technically only the males are peacocks. The females are peahens, and both are peafowl. Babies are peachicks. A family of peafowl is called a bevy.

: Here is my Bronze male. The bold coloring on males works in their favor as they seek out mates. I love his striking dark colors and expressive eyes.

: Here is the Linden Tree Allee. The Linden is one of three English names for the tree genus Tilia – also known as lime and basswood. Linden trees have loose canopies that produce shade on the ground below.

: This is the view of my Boxwood Allee as visitors left the stable. It always grabs everyone’s attention – and look at the blue sky above. Just before the boxwood are two horse chestnut trees, Aesculus hippocastanum, a large deciduous tree also known as conker tree. The flowers provide a rich source of nectar and pollen to insects, particularly the bees.

: The herbaceous peony bed is glistening with bright pink and white blooms – we see more and more open every day.

: Peonies are perennial plants with compound, deeply lobed leaves and large, fragrant flowers ranging from white or yellow to red. My peony garden includes 11-rows of peonies, with two varieties in each row.

: Here is Heather serving our guests a delicious pomegranate punch made by my longtime housekeeper, Laura. It’s made with pomegranate concentrate from our friends at POM Wonderful, and some slices of orange. Laura also included a little calamondin – everyone loved it. http://www.pomwonderful.com/

: Laura always creates such beautiful tablescapes. Here are some gorgeous peonies decorating a tray of cups for the juice.

: Here is a vase of beautifully colored peonies – all picked right here at the farm.

: Another stop – the clematis pergola border – such stunning shades of blue, purple and bright orange.

: This next group from ArtsWestchester came in the afternoon. Ryan started this tour from the other side of the farm, so they walked under the cool canopy of linden trees first.

: Ryan then walked them through the stable and Boxwood Allee. He also explained how we care for the boxwood and cover all the shrubs with burlap every winter to protect them from the elements.

: At one end of the Boxwood Allee is this beautiful weeping copper beech, Fagus sylvatica ‘Purpurea Pendular’, an irregular spreading tree with long, weeping branches that reach the ground.

: There is also a weeping larch, Larix decidua ‘Pendula’. It has bright green needles in spring, which turn gold before dropping in fall.

: This is the other side of my weeping willow grove. Weeping willow trees are fast growers. They can easily grow 10-feet per year and can dominate the landscape. Their rounded, drooping branches give the tree a distinctive shape.

: Visitors peered through the woodland to see a bit of the wide open hayfields. Everyone could hear the leaves of the trees rustle in the gentle breezes.

: Here is the carriage road leading toward the hayfields and the vast woodland that makes up the rest of my 153-acre farm.

: Our guests loved the antique fencing that surrounds all my paddocks.

: And all the climbing hydrangeas that cover many of the large tree trunks around the farm. It is a vigorous climbing vine that clings to surfaces by aerial rootlets. It has lush green foliage blanketed with magnificent, white lace cap blooms – so pretty.

: The beautiful Allium – I have so many in bloom along the clematis pergola and right here outside my flower cutting garden. Allium species are herbaceous perennials with flowers produced on scapes. They grow from solitary or clustered bulbs.

: This group also loved walking through the flower cutting garden – many asked Ryan for tips on caring for their own flowering plants.

: There are numerous types of dianthus – most have pink, red, or white flowers with notched petals.

: The group passed the long and winding clematis pergola on the way to my Winter House terrace parterre for refreshments.

: Across from the pergola, is a row of bald cypress, or Taxodium distichum, is a deciduous conifer. It is a large tree with gray-brown to red-brown bark. It is popular as an ornamental tree grown for its light, feathery foliage.

: Here on the Terrace Parterre, everyone loved the boxwood and barberry. The colors add a dramatic touch to the terrace.

: The garden behind My Summer House is always a favorite stop on the tour. The boxwood look very lush and green. Ryan pointed out the tall, old Ginkgo tree at the back – the focal point of this garden.