Some were worried about rain today but it turned out to be cloudy and foggy for part of the day. On the hour trip to NW Massachusetts we encountered beautiful scenery – green fields and forests. THREE SISTERS SANCTUARY The three sisters are the owner’s daughters and when one of them died there was great…

It didn’t rain today and we visited The Breakers in Rhode Island, Tower Hill Botanic Garden in Massachusetts and the private garden of Shirley Williams which is called Brigham Hill Farm also in Massachusetts. THE BREAKERS Cornelius Vanderbilt built this mansion for his family in 1895. His fortune was made from his father’s investments in…

Today was a day of a lot of walking in beautiful gardens in beautiful weather. SAKONETT This garden was started in 1973 by 2 young men, John Gwynn & Mikel Folcarelli, who still live and work there. It is a one acre garden on a 5 acre property. This is a video of the 5…

Today we saw 4 beautiful gardens in Massachusetts. The owners were there for each one to show us around and answer questions. GARDENS AT CLOCK BARN Carlisle, MA The garden is about 3 acres and is maintained by the owner and the three gardeners shown in the photo below. The garden is divided into 11…

I am in Boston now and the garden tour starts tomorrow, September 13 with dinner. Our first day of touring is September 14. The tour is sponsored by The Hardy Plant Society of Oregon. We will be visiting about 30 gardens in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. I arrived a day early…

The grass garden at Dawn Gardens has about 20 different varieties of ornamental grasses. It occupies about 1/2 acre and is irrigated about 4 times a year with rotor heads. A ride past the grass garden in the golf cart. Photos of some of the grasses in Dawn Gardens: EVERGREEN GRASSES: Giant Feather Grass (Stipa…

Evergreen shrubs form the structure of most gardens. LOW SHRUBS: Australian Fuchsia (Correa ‘Wyn’s Wonder’) Australian Fuchsia fall color Fiesta Indian Pink Hawthorn (Rhaphiolepis indica ‘Fiesta’) Dwarf Broom (Genista lydia) Chilean Guava (Ugni molinae) Gold Flower (Hypericum moserianum) Hypericum ‘Compact Red’ Hypericum ‘Gemo’ Abelia grandiflora ‘Kaleidoscope’ Green Santolina (Santolina rosmarinifolia) Santolina ‘Lemon Fizz’ Cigar Plant…

Bob and Sandy asked Dawn Landscaping to install a new front garden for their residence in Auburn, CA. The existing front yard had a lawn on a slope with 4 trees – 3 Birch and 1 Purple Leaf Plum. The water would always run off the lawn and was wasted down the street. The new…

As the weather gets warmer gardeners are looking for more heat and drought tolerant plants. Many of them have a lot of flowers and may bloom much of the summer. Coneflower (Echinacea) Soapwort (Saponaria lempergii ‘Max Frei’) Summer Phlox (Phlox paniculata) Phlox and Daylily Black-eyed Susan, Gloriosa Daisy (Rudbeckia hirta) Daylily (Hemerocallis) Blanket Flower (Gaillardia…

One way to add interest to a garden is to add accent plants. These plants have a contrasting color, form, flowers, texture or size compared to the adjacent plants. Color Accents Red Japanese Maple is a good contrast to the surrounding green foliage. The weeping Willow is also a good accent. The Smoke Tree is…