Early Summer Garden Tours at Skylands
As many of you know, every now and then I enjoy opening my gardens for private walking tours at both my Bedford, New York farm and at my beloved home in Seal Harbor, Maine.
Over the last couple of weeks, I had a handful of early summer walks at Skylands. Unfortunately I was not able to join the tours, but my gardeners, Mike Harding and Wendy Norling, guided the small groups through the wooded paths, sunny terraces, and gardens. Cheryl DuLong keeps me updated by sending photographs from time to time. Here is a selection of images taken during the tours - the gardens are lush and green and the mountain laurel is blooming profusely.
Enjoy.
-
- This is the circular driveway in front of the stately main entrance to Skylands. Recent weeks have been very warm and humid here in the northeast, including up in Maine, but all the plants and trees are flourishing.
-
- Here is my large “cracked ice” terrace at Skylands. Every year during Memorial Day weekend, I go up to Skylands to plant all the ornamental urns that decorate this space – it’s my own unofficial kick-off to summer tradition. Many of the plants wintered at my Bedford, New York farm and were brought up to Skylands for the season.
-
- Here is potted agave on the terrace ledge, Agaves are exotic, deer-resistant, drought-tolerant, and make wonderful container plants. It’s not easy dealing with giant, prickly agave plants. One must be very careful of one’s eyes, face, and skin whenever planting them.
-
- Just below the ledge and lying beneath the West Terrace is the lady – La Riviere by Aristide Maillol. The original terms of the commission were intended to honor Henri Barbusse, noted author and pacifist. Maillol initially conceived the figure as a woman who had been stabbed in the back, falling at the viewer’s feet. However, when funds proved to be insufficient to complete the memorial, Maillol re-conceived the figure as a more timeless theme, the personification of a river. Here, she is surrounded by ferns, tree peonies, Japanese maples, blueberry bushes, and Lady’s Mantle.
-
- This is one of the magnificent summer views from my terrace at Skylands – looking out over Seal Harbor with Sutton Island in the distance.
-
- My West Terrace is where I often enjoy summer brunches under the kiwi vine covered pergola. The ferns, Nephrolepis exaltata ‘Bostoniensis’, are among the most popular varieties with its frilly leaves and long, hanging fronds.
-
- A brief rain shower kept one tour indoors for a short while. This is a view through the leaded windows looking out onto the terrace from the dining room.
-
- And here is a similar view looking out after the rain had stopped.
-
- Hostas are a perennial favorite among gardeners. Their lush green foliage varying in leaf shape, size and texture, and their easy care requirements make them ideal for many areas. This is one of the many hosta plants growing on the terrace. Hosta is a genus of plants commonly known as hostas, plantain lilies and occasionally by the Japanese name, giboshi. They are native to northeast Asia and include hundreds of different cultivars.
-
- These succulents are planted in a long stone trough I bought several years ago from Trade Secrets. Notice the pink gravel used to top the soil surrounding these plants – it is the same pink gravel that covers the carriage roads at Skylands.
-
- This sphynx is already out “guarding” the terrace for the season. She is one of two glazed terra-cotta sphinxes designed by Emile Muller. Émile first used plain ceramic products on buildings and industries. Then, in 1884 he developed the glazed terra-cotta, which he continued to use for many architectural decorations and art reproductions. These ladies are stored indoors and taken out as soon as the warmer weather arrives.
-
- The clematis is also blooming on the Skylands terrace. Clematis is a genus of about 300 species within the buttercup family Ranunculaceae. The name Clematis comes from the Greek word “klematis,” meaning vine. Clematis are native to China and Japan and known to be vigorous growers. I have a long and winding pergola supported by granite uprights that are filled with clematis at my Bedford, New York farm.
-
- The tours bring guests up the steps from the guest house to my main house. The rocks on the outside of the stone steps toward the top are called “Rockefeller’s Teeth” – large blocks that serve as guardrails. These stone steps are cut roughly and spaced irregularly to create a rustic appearance.
-
- Here, the group is standing in the council circle looking out through the woodland. Look at the gorgeous mountain laurel growing on the right.
-
- And here’s a view that never gets tiring. Taken through the woods, this view looks out to Seal Harbor and the Cranberry Isles beyond.
-
- Mountain laurel is a relatively slow-growing shrub, adding about one foot per year. It is a good flowering shrub for mass plantings in shady borders, woodland gardens, or for foundation plantings.
-
- Mountain laurel is grown for its showy late spring and summer flowers and attractive, evergreen foliage. It’s sometimes called a calico bush because the pink or white flowers usually have dark pink or maroon markings. Plant mountain laurel shrubs from spring after all danger of frost has passed, to summer in soil that is cool, moist but well-drained, and acidic in pH. They prefer part shade but will tolerate full sun. Avoid windy areas, if possible, especially in the northern part of the hardiness range.
-
- Here is pink mountain laurel in front of Skylands. Mountain laurel, Kalmia latifolia, also known as spoonwood, is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae. It is native to the eastern United States from southern Maine south to northern Florida, and west to Indiana and Louisiana. This shade-loving shrub produces clusters of rose, pink, or white flowers.
-
- All my garden tours conclude with refreshments. They are served homemade cookies and cold drinks while they listen to a brief overview of the property and information on the work of landscape architect, Jens Jensen.
-
- Here’s another view of the plantings in the circular driveway. This center garden is planted with hay-scented ferns, which turn yellow in fall, purple smoke bushes, and spruce trees, Picea orientalis ‘Skylands’. When I found these trees, I got many to plant here in Maine.
-
- Cheryl captured this view as the storm clouds rolled in. I love Skylands – it is so magical any time of year.
Martha Pins
Martha Tweets
