A late season garden tour at my farm
It's a little late in the season to be showing my garden, however, on Tuesday, a large group from The Native Plant Center at Westchester Community College in Valhalla, New York paid a visit. They had wanted to come earlier in the summer, but for some reason, those plans fell through. The focus of The Native Plant Center is to educate people about the importance of wildflowers and native plants of the Northeast. A very large group had signed up to come and we divided it into a morning and afternoon tour. Here are photos taken at the afternoon session. Please enjoy.
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- Susie Ercole, my executive assistant, greeted the group and handed out maps of my farm.
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- The tour bus arrived promptly at 1:30.
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- This is Frank, one of the guards on my security team.
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- Shaun, my gardener, is very comfortable giving garden tours.
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- This is the afternoon group from The Native Plant Center.
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- Strolling through the allée of lindens to the stables
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- Meindert pays a friendly hello.
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- Martyn enjoying the attention
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- Betsy, my stable manager, is speaking with Darrin Duling, the director of The Native Plant Center.
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- Well, hello there!
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- My horses always enjoy sharing their space.
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- After walking through the stables, the group was directed up the carriage road.
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- Shaun is pointing to some very old sugar maple trees.
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- Such as this one
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- Curiously, this pumpkin took the liberty growing in my daffodil border. I can’t wait to see the yield.
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- They are faux bois garden boots from the old Martha By Mail catalog, which I miss terribly.
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- Jacqui Bergonzi is proudly showing her boots.
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- In case you’re wondering what the peony bed looks at this time of year
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- Laura Acuna, my housekeeper, made her famous herbal iced tea punch. There were also chewy molasses cookies.
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- The courtyard is filled with tropical plants, such as this aloe surrounded by succulents.
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- The spines of the aloe
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- An old hairy man cactus
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- This is a pretty blooming escheveria.
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- A combination of hairy and spiny
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- The tour stopped at my courtyard for refreshments.
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- Vivaldi was sound asleep, on his back, when he was startled by all the commotion.
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- The variegated liriope grass is blooming – a big attraction for bees.
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- The Japanese anemones are so beautiful right now.
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- Look at the fuzzy pods. They’re quite delicious.
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- I am so please with how well my edamame are doing this year.
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- These are yard-long beans growing on pyramid forms.
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- They’re long, but not quite a yard.
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- After refreshments, the group wandered down to the vegetable garden.
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- My lettuce bed is growing strong.
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- If you look closely, the basil flowers are covered with honey bees – should be delicious honey this year.
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- A healthy crop of celeriac
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- The celeriac bulbs will make delicious soup.
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- My papery tomatillos will make excellent salsa.
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- An Italian style pepper
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- A hot chocolate pepper
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- Next stop – the greenhouse
Photos By Eliad Laskin
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