Tranquil Refuge

A thousand-foot unpaved driveway leads through the woods to my passive solar home and gardens. Surrounded by trees, the clearing was farmland long ago. Because the front yard is unprotected deer candy, it is made up of mostly ornamental grasses, shrubs, perennials, and annuals deemed not especially tasty to deer. Of course, even these plants are sometimes chosen as treats by the more adventuresome and/or hungry animal life on our road. My mainly organic vegetable garden is also situated here. Since we had the house built in 1984, the trees have grown considerably taller. The vegetables don't receive as much sun as they would prefer. The back yard, protected by a 900-foot fence hidden among the trees, includes a butterfly garden, herb bed, "tropical dreams" circle garden, and multiple paths through sun/shade gardens. Stone walls built from the remains of old stone walls on the property enclose the area. Usually by mid-July I enjoy blooms from lacecap hydrangea, astilbe, aruncus, crocosmia, beebalm, rodgersia, amsonia, spigelia, echinacea, salvia, canna lilies, calla lilies, butterfly bush, coreopsis, heliopsis, as well as assorted daylilies and annuals.

Open Days 2023: Sunday, July 16
Hours: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.