My Secret Garden Tour

Several years ago I was assigned to preview and describe the gardens on the 1st Annual Secret Gardens Tour for my hometown of Saugerties, NY. A photographer followed me, I only took notes, so this is my verbal tour - sans photos - for you to enjoy.

The Secret Garden Tour

When I hear  the words “Secret Garden” my mind immediately goes to a memory of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s classic children’s story. It’s the story about the garden that is closed after the death of its creator. The garden withers from neglect until a young girl magically finds it and brings it back to life, and by so doing, sets in motion her own and her Uncle’s spiritual cure, and the physical cure of her cousin. The story works on so many levels that adults can read it and think it is about death and rebirth -- while children are content to know it is about the magic to be found in every garden.  Whatever you believe, it is a book worth revisiting, or discovering for the first time, as we begin this year’s gardening season.

That’s what I thought of as the child in me found magic in the Secret Gardens I toured today. They are the creation of local gardeners which will be featured in the annual Garden Tour benefiting the Saugerties Historical Society. You have to wait until July 9th to see them yourself, but, once I swore not to reveal their locations, I got to preview them so I could tell you all about them.

But first, because of the succession of blooms and the elapsed month between my visit and yours, I have to make it clear that you’ll be seeing completely different gardens than I did. Oh, there is not so much magic in them that they’ll have moved, rest assured. Even the structure and form will be the same, but the color combinations, textures, and heights will all be different - better probably than I saw. And the fragrance! The hints I caught today will ripen by then into a lush and complex aroma, filling your nose and bursting with life. Ahh, I almost wish I could be with you to experience it again. That’s the magic of gardens; the sense of wonder and sharing - and of hope - one feels when surrounded by a nature which has been carefully sculpted and cultivated to suit the land, and the personality of the gardener.

To keep you in suspense, I’ll tease you with descriptions of only three of the many gardens you’ll see in July. Each is dramatically different. Two share large expansive river front settings, and nothing more, while the other is an intimate grotto, an oasis in an otherwise drab corner of our back roads. All are the loving creations of artistic and talented people whose physical and mental therapy is evident in the garden world they’ve built to surround themselves.

The oldest garden came with the house almost 15 years ago. Not the garden itself, of course, but the bones of it did. Few of the original plants remain, although the wisteria in full bloom and the rambling rose are signs of an earlier fashion. They compliment the house perfectly, and were wisely left by the present owner. You can really see the age of the gardens by the maturity of the trees. Their stately grace, while a constant challenge to the once sunny garden edges, insure this one’s standing as an “Estate Garden”.

The goal of the present gardener was to expand and combine the seemingly disparate beds dotting the large lawn into a cohesive unit. She succeeded beautifully by connecting them into a geometric “room”, entered through a trellis lush with honeysuckle, which perfectly frames the antique gazing ball in the center.  There are Korean lilac, iris, and all manner of textures and promised color to admire as you walk the interior.

Exiting through another trellis, this one with the annual sweet pea sprouts just beginning their bower-like journey overhead, you’ll see that this ambitious gardener mirrored the first one with another like it across the drive. Again, but with different plants, different antique accessories, and therefore an entirely different “feel”, there is a room to enjoy. Nearby a magnificent horse chestnut provides the compromising shade which the trio of maples offered across the way. Exiting through a different “door”, you can see a border which contains a color none of the other gardens here possess. If you can tell which it is, and identify even half of the varieties in these extensive flower beds, you are a knowledgeable and observant gardener indeed. And, even if you can’t, the beauty is there to behold all around you. It is the attention to detail, the vista across the lawn to a shady gazebo, or garden bench, and the majestic Hudson River in the background that make this lovely country estate well worth the visit.

The next garden is so different, it was like jumping into cold water on a 90 degree June day. I got the shivers just walking into it. Here, almost on the road, but invisible to passersby, is a glen of contentment, promising respite to the weary soul. This husband and wife team constructed an idyllic and verdant Shangri-La where seasonal runoff had eroded a deep gully through their backyard. It is truly an amazing accomplishment, and constructed is the right word. His extensive stone work, used both as retaining walls and to guide the bubbling water, blend into the exposed natural stone seamlessly. It took a moment, looking through the yellow flag iris, before I saw where 70 yards of concrete were used to create an intimate patio bordering the quiet pool. Looking from there across the exiting stream I saw an inviting bench on a higher stone patio which was so covered with moss I couldn’t tell whether it was dry-laid or mortared. As I went closer to see (it was not mortared) my gaze wandered down the water course, where the lush ferns, hosta, and ever-present mosses laid claim to their reparian rights. I wanted to stay in that garden, and the gregarious dogs, the incredible shade plant collection, and my hostess, who was a knowledgeable and gracious guide through the many paths of plants, almost convinced me, but, in a day of supreme contrasts, another garden beckoned.

In this last garden, if you can believe me after reading all of the above, I was almost at a loss for words. For years I’ve been hearing about the various projects, and almost insane undertakings, that this talented couple have completed in their quest to - well, I’m not quite sure what. Theirs is truly a monumental undertaking - to create a cutting-edge estate garden on a beautiful piece of property terracing down to the river front. Now, the adjectives cutting-edge and estate are not often used together to describe a garden, unless - of course - the house is some new-age modern architect’s angular abortion. This house is not that, thank goodness. But, somehow, the still disparate “bones” will come together into one fantastic garden. You’ll know that when you meet the creators, listen to their enthusiastic descriptions, and see the many facets of their brilliant personalities evidenced throughout the various flower beds.

These very knowledgeable gardeners have collected and combined a wondrous selection of plants. There are paths, staircases, and retaining walls creating homes for them, some only  temporarily, as both your eyes and your feet follow the flow of the land towards the water. Along the way there is a bog, a pond, and a ledge garden, all visible from the pool on a stone terrace that looks over them to the distant deck, which in turn overlooks a steeper descent to the canoes on the riverbank. There is a grand and glorious copper-roofed gazebo, sporting a 600 pound cupola, adjacent to the pool. It offers an elegant vantage to trace the routes both down and back, all-the-while imagining how these tireless visionaries will tie the pieces together into one unbelievable whole. Until then, I could live in the potting shed, which is set in the fenced vegetable garden near the pond, and risk twisting my neck alternately admiring the view back up the terraced gardens to that gazebo (when you see it you’ll just smile) and down the terraces to the river. You have to go to this garden and hug these people.

While you’re there, don’t miss the extensive cactus collection spread out in pots on what looks like a dry stream bed recreated on the patio’s edge. And, as you walk the various paths, admire the terra cotta accents. These sometimes formal, and sometimes surreal, beauties are the artistic creation of the hostess, who is an accomplished sculptress. There is an enchanting path up a side terrace that showcases her talent marvelously. Be sure you return from the river through it.

By now you will probably be tired. I know I was. So, pace yourself. Bring plenty of liquids, and extra rolls of film, for there are more secret gardens to discover, and more amazing gardeners to meet.