GARDEN TOURS

JUNE 2013 IN CAYUGA COUNTY:

Since I was a teenager I have enjoyed going on garden tours.  I find them very educational and inspiring.  Gardeners express themselves in so many different ways through their gardens....artists painting with flowers.   One of the first garden tours I went on featured Martha Stewart's gardens on Turkey Hill Road.  Her gardens left a lasting impression on me.....Well thought out and beautifully designed with thought to color, texture combinations, and bloom time.  Although 20 or more years have passed since then I still remember her gardens.  We can learn so much from each garden we visit....  This year I visited a few gardens in Cayuga County New York.  The tours were sponsored by the Garden Conservancy, an organization that looks to preserve special gardens and open them to the public for education and enjoyment.

Bedlam Gardens, King Ferry, NY:

Splashes of color in a perennial border Bedlam Gardens, King Ferry, NY

Perennial and shrub border.

The beautiful apricot peonies are highlighted by the purple of the salvia.

An unusual fossil rock acts as lovely natural garden art

An old stump is a pleasant contrast to the soft globes of the alliums and soft mounding geranium. 

Striking Apricot poppies 

A colorful border of pastel iris, hot pink peonies, and yellow tansy.  The blue spruce topiaries mimic the form of the alliums.

A rock garden blanketed with the softness of wooly thyme and contrasting shapes of sedum.  

Another fabulous fossil rock offset by the spikes of iris greens.

A lovely arbor creates shade for hostas, hellebores, and astilbes.

 

The peony gardens at Bedlam gardens were spectacular!  

Lion Garden, Lansing, NY:

Frogs greet visitors in a beautiful water garden, Lion Garden, Lansing, NY

I love the bright colors of these flowering water plants.

Lovely peach and magenta iris look spectacular against a backdrop of white campanula.

A lovely vista of the lake from the top of the lawn at Lion Garden, Lansing, NY

An iron giraffe along the woodland trail, Lion Garden, Lansing, NY

A boardwalk meanders along the edge of a ravine.

Shade garden highlighted by this beautiful wall backdrop with circular window focal point.  They eye is drawn into the woods beyond.

I found these peach iris scattered here and there in the garden to be so soothing.

Moth Mullein and roses....the colors compliment one another in a very pleasant way.

Heirloom roses scented the air.....

For more information on the Garden Conservancy and how you can visit beautiful gardens such as these please see www.gardenconservancy.org