Looking for Conifers

I have been wanting to visit this nursery in Boyds, Maryland, for awhile, and this weekend we finally made the trip.  Susanna Farm Nursery specializes in dwarf and unusual evergreens and Japanese maples. I heard about it from a gardener  here in town who has some really unusual conifers from this nursery. It's about a 45 minute drive, but through a beautiful part of Maryland and we really enjoyed the drive.  We even took White's Ferry across the Potomac to get into Maryland. Pretty amazing that a ferry like this is still operating. There used to be 100 ferries operating on the Potomac and this is the last one. It's been in use since 1786!

The nursery itself is part of a huge piece of property, acres and acres of beautifully landscaped grounds, a pond, the nursery, and several homes. They let you use little golf carts to get around, so that was kind of fun and easy to see the whole property.

I don't know the names of all these plants, a lot were spruces as it seems I gravitate towards those the most.

And the Japanese maples were of course gorgeous. I've never seen so many varieties, and absolutely beautiful specimens. If you want a Japanese maple, this is the place to come.

I really liked this variety (below) so much that I wrote down its name,  Acer palmatum 'Tsuma-gaki.' The colors were so beautiful.

And just look at the color on this maple.

One of my favorites conifers is the dwarf hinoki cypress. I love that wavy form and the color.

It was a little overwhelming, especially if you don't know much about conifers, but if you are looking for something specific this is the place. I did buy three small plants, all evergreen, a dwarf hinoki cypress 'Verdoni,' a dwarf oriental spruce (Picea orientalis 'Tom Thumb'), and a Daphne 'Rosetti.' Now I just need to find a place to plant them.

Dumbarton Oaks Gardens

Peonies

Sunday was such a gorgeous day and we decided to go downtown in the late afternoon and walk around the gardens at Dumbarton Oaks in upper Georgetown. We got there around 4:30 and I've decided that's the perfect time to visit a garden. It wasn't too crowded, the light was perfect, and everything seemed so calm and tranquil.  The gardens are in the middle of a neighborhood, and we saw many people sitting on benches reading the newspaper or a book.  Dumbarton Oaks was originally owned by Mildred and Robert Woods Bliss, who bought the property and gardens in 1920, and then collaborated with famed American landscape designer Beatrice Farrand for the next thirty years, refining every garden detail. There are more than 50 garden benches, most designed by Farrand, encouraging visitors to sit and reflect. The garden was donated to Harvard University in 1940,  and the adjoining woodland was donated to the U.S. government.

One of the things I like the most about this garden is the beautiful ornament--exquisite urns, balustrades, gates, garden benches, columns, finials, steps, and stonework.

The Rose Garden was in full bloom and each bed of roses was breathtaking. Placed in a geometric pattern, the rosebushes are enclosed by boxwood hedges. The fragrance was amazing, with over 900 roses.

I loved, loved, loved this climber, against that stone wall.  I think it might be 'Joseph's Coat.'

The hilly landscape is terraced into different garden rooms (Rose Garden,  Beech Terrace, Herbaceous Borders, Kitchen Garden, Cutting Garden, Pebble Garden, Green Garden, Fountain Garden, and more), which are further defined by hedges, allées, and gates. All that green is so restful.

The herbaceous borders were a blooming landscape of purples, blues, greens, and silvers.

Baptisia

Iris

And the peonies--so gorgeous and lush. I just wanted to lie down right there.

Detail of the Pebble Garden

The Orangery

And finally, this spreading Katsura tree (Cercidiphyllym japonicum), planted in the 1800s, was gorgeous. I can't tell you how many pictures I took of just this tree.

Garden Tour, Part Three

As we continued on our garden tour in Swarthmore, PA, I was so excited to see this cute stone  cottage with a lime green door. When the bus stopped and I realized this was the garden we were visiting,  I was beyond happy. This was just our kind of house and garden, colorful and a little bit quirky. The garden is owned and tended by Joe Henderson, one of the gardeners at Chanticleer Gardens near Philadelphia, one of my very favorite gardens ever (if you are ever near Philadelphia, you have to go).  The smallest of the gardens we visited,  this one seemed the most like our own gardens, in the sense of being manageable and in a neighborhood. I spent a lot of time looking at all the plantings in their great entry garden. Love that chartreuse Japanese forest grass of course, and the climbing hydrangea.

Japanese forest grass

Walking around to the backyard, you pass through a shady garden with lots of hostas, hellebores, and these lovely woodland peonies. I had never seen woodland peonies before,  and they were so pretty.

I loved the use of the stone walls to differentiate the levels of the garden. There were beautiful trees surrounding the property. There was also more ornament in this garden than in the others--the gardener is a metal work craftsman and does all the metal work at Chanticleer, and all the metal work in this garden was done by him.

There was a great collection of bonsai and other potted plants on the terrace. The attention to detail was amazing,  like the oyster shells surrounding a pot, and the carefully placed rocks.

Primroses

Because it was the last garden of the day, and they knew we had a long bus ride home, the owners were very gracious and had a lovely table set up on the lawn with wine and cold drinks,  cheeses, and fruit, and everyone mingled and asked questions and talked gardening. It was a wonderful way to end the garden tour. We were all very inspired, and I came away with a few things that I am going to work on in my garden:

• Plant more
• Plant more of what does well
• Plant tulips
• Details matter

A great gardening day with my pals