Last month, the
Gardening Friends Club of Pulaski, New York, sponsored a local garden tour of five beautiful and romantic gardens in the area.
My husband and I toured these gardens and were pleasantly surprised. Being as this area is a rather rural area you don't think of country gardens being on the elaborate side. They did not disappoint us.
They were all so impressive and most certainly gave a great delight to all those who were able to attend.
There were five gardens that were open to the public and they each had a unique personality. This tour took place in early July and that was the start of our drought period, but by the shape and color of these gardens you wouldn't know it.
The above photos were from the residence of Marci and Stan Groman whose property borders on Sandy Pond. The home on the water is very welcoming. The views of the pond are gorgeous and wildlife and waterfowl frequent the property. There were several gardens to take in which included a tree garden, hosta garden, and a friendship garden which is shared with a neighbor. Unfortunately, after the garden tour, the club lost their well-loved member and owner of this garden, Marci Groman, to a long illness. Our deepest condolences to their family and all those who knew Marci.
Our next garden we toured was the home and farm of Steve and Laurie Jones from Jones Apple Farm. Their gardens featured perennials, annuals, vegetables, and country artifacts displayed uniquely among their gardens.
Their small commercial orchard has over 15 varieties of apples and several assorted grape vines.
We enjoyed all the miscellaneous farm implements and decor that accented their lovely gardens.
The next garden on the tour was the gardens of Barb Smith. Barb is a Master Gardener and her gardens were originally created for the purpose of teaching her gardening students. I featured Barb's garden in one of my previous posts a few years ago (
detailed photos of Barb Smith's gardens).
Barb likes to try different varieties of perennials in her gardens to see how they perform. She has/had several varieties of clematises growing up supports. She has lost a few of them which might be due to our hard winters up here in northern New York.
Barb also had a beautiful water feature complete with ducks and beautiful statuary complements her many different garden areas. She also has a fruit and vegetable garden that she maintains.
The next garden up on the tour was the home of Suzanne and Tom Pfister. These gardens were very colorful and they were enhanced with decorations in the MacKenzie-Childs style.
The gardens were color-coordinated with adornments in each area, and the areas were connected by stone pathways.
There were lovely urns (at right) that greeted visitors at one of the entrances.
The main feature of these gardens was the large man-made pond and waterfalls with a beautiful inviting gazebo. Evergreens and grasses offer a sense of coolness and shade. You can see the beginning of the drought in this area in the lawn. Several dry patches were noticed in some of the areas.
I'd like to open up that umbrella and lay on that lounge and read my book.
And then when I was done reading - have tea and sandwiches in the gazebo!
And of course finish it off with ice cream and fresh squeezed lemonade!
The last garden we stopped by belonged to Wayne and Maryann Hanley. They have spent 35+ years caring and tending their beautiful yard.
When you walk through their garden gate you are very surprised at the lush hostas, lawns and colorful displays of perennials and annuals.
There were several sitting areas to view and enjoy the birds and wildlife.
The natural slop of the land appeared to be terraced and gave the property a three-dimensional look.
The different gardens combined herbs, shrubs, trees, perennials and annuals. Scattered throughout the expanse were fairies and other colorful characters.
And of course a cat! Every garden needs a cat! The one we saw was hiding under one of the hostas but he did come out and let Ted pet him.
If you have a chance to attend a garden tour in your area, I hope you'll take the time to stop to do so. Garden tours are very educational as most sites have members on hand to answer questions and offer gardening tips. Also, it's nice to be able to see how certain plants perform in your area before you purchase them.
Note: You can click on any photo and view them in a larger image. You can also scroll through all the photos in this blog post in the same view.
Thanks for stopping by
and I hope you enjoyed your tour!
We've seen quite a few butterflies this year. There were lots of swallowtails visiting our gardens throughout summer, but very few monarchs. I did notice there are several milkweed plants (which the monarch lays their eggs on) around our place, but with the drought we had this summer I'm not sure all the plants survived. I hope this doesn't contribute to the loss of habitat for the Monarchs.
