A Spring Garden Tour Around My Farm
There's so much growing and blooming at the farm - it's a perfect time for a garden tour.
Every now and then, I agree to open my gardens for a small number of private walking tours. Yesterday morning was the first scheduled event since before the Covid-19 pandemic. It was for a small group of four from the Westchester Land Trust, an organization committed to the permanent protection of the natural and historic beauty of New York's Westchester County and its nearby communities. Unfortunately, I was out of town for business and wasn’t able to lead the tour myself, but my head gardener, Ryan McCallister, guided the walk through the various gardens. The day was sunny with temperatures in the 70s and everything was flourishing.
Enjoy these photos.
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- The group started with a walk through my main greenhouse and then down this 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.
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- The pergola garden was hard to miss with all its beauty. The purple alliums are so prominent right now. Allium species are herbaceous perennials with flowers produced on scapes. They grow from solitary or clustered bulbs.
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- Another stop was the Soccer Field, which is adjacent to the pergola. It is looking so lush and green. On the far side are these six weeping hornbeams, Carpinus betulus Pendula. When my grandchildren come up to visit, my grandson, Truman, loves to play soccer here – it’s one of his favorite spots at the farm.
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- From the carriage road, the group learned about my orchard filled with 220 fruit trees – apple trees, plum trees, apricot trees, cherry trees, peach, pear and quince trees.
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- 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.
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- Leaves of this weeping copper beech are purple-colored and turn shades of red in the fall. They are broad and flat with smooth margins, and typically measure about two inches in length.
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- Here is a gorgeous view of the pin oaks taken from the Boxwood Allee. These trees are so stately.
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- Also visible from the foot of the allee, my American beech grove. The American beech, or Fagus grandifolia, is the species of beech tree native to the eastern United States and Canada.
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- This is an allee of lindens from the Boxwood Allee leading up to the pergola and carriage road to my home. Linden can grow from about 65 to 130 feet in height. It develops dense, pyramidal or round-shaped crowns and can live several hundred years. I loved this allee so much, I extended it in the opposite direction a few years ago all the way down to the chicken coops.
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- The stable always grabs everyone’s attention. In front of the stable are two horse chestnut trees, Aesculus hippocastanum, a large deciduous tree also known as conker tree. All the horse chestnuts are blooming so profusely right now.
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- Here’s a closer look at the two horse chestnuts from one side of the allee.
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- These blossoms appear on erect, eight-inch long panicles at each branch tip – they’re very attractive, and very accessible to bees and hummingbirds.
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- Of course, a tour would not be complete without a stop at the donkey paddock to say hello to my five donkeys – Truman “TJ” Junior, Jude “JJ” Junior, Clive, Rufus and Billie.
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- Ryan stopped along the carriage road to answer any questions and to talk about my newly extended azalea garden. Along both sides of the carriage road leading from my Summer House to the stable, we recently planted hundreds and hundreds of azaleas. I am so excited to see these develop.
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- The group saw my long tree peony border planted in a semi-shade of giant maples near my Summer House. Many of the specimens were transplanted from my Turkey Hill garden in Westport, Connecticut and continue to thrive here at my Bedford, New York farm.
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- And then they walked behind the Summer House to see the sunken garden. It’s often a favorite stop for these small garden groups. The boxwood and smaller ginkgo trees look very lush and green. Ryan pointed out the tall, old Ginkgo tree at the back – the focal point of this garden.
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- The large old pink azaleas are still flowering with gorgeous deep pink color.
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- Here are more shapely boxwood shrubs – these surround my massive herbaceous peony bed. Ryan explained how we care for the boxwood and cover all the shrubs with burlap every winter to protect them from the elements.
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- Within the boxwood hedges – my herbaceous peony bed is just coming to life with the first bright pink and white peony flowers of the season – we see more and more open every day. For a couple weeks each summer, this bed is overflowing with color. My herbaceous peony collection includes 11-double rows of peonies, and 22 different varieties of peony plants – two varieties in each row.
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- Here’s my darling Empress Qin resting comfortably under the shade of the umbrella on my terrace parterre. Qin, Emperor Han, and my two French Bulldog, Creme Brulee and Bete Noire, love greeting visitors.
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- The group saw the apple espaliers and these blooming “Miss Kim” Korean lilac standards. This upright, compact lilac blooms later than others, extending the season with deep purple buds that reveal clusters of highly fragrant, lavender flowers.
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- When I moved to my farm in Bedford, many of the baskets I had collected over the years were placed in this little house I had built as a storage facility. I have hundreds and hundreds of baskets – many rare and unusual. I found antique baskets at auctions and tag sales. And every now and then I would stumble upon a basket weaver who was still creating fabulous baskets following centuries-old traditions and added those to my collection, as well. The group loved this little structure.
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- After some refreshments, the group posed for this nice photo with Ryan – Eleanor, Marie-Eve, Nathalie, and Lisa. It was a most enjoyable tour for all.
Martha Pins
Martha Tweets
