The Garden Conservancy hosted an open house event at the property of Jean and Lincoln Sanders in Newtown this past weekend. The house is a circa 1748 Colonial home and the gardens have become part of the Garden Conservancy open house garden yearly tour series. The main garden is somewhat formal, reminiscent of an English estate garden. They have Taxus baccata, or English yew, pruned into a tall hedge creating a large outdoor "living room", which you step right into from the stone patio at the rear of the house. Then there are lovely woodland paths to stroll along, which seem to just draw you in and rejuvenate the soul.
Blooming through out the property along the woodland edges are sweeps of Canadian Anemone (Anemone canadensis). These lovely white with yellow centered buttercup-like flowers have naturalized and behave as a ground cover throughout the woodland sections of the garden. Spring ephemeral wildflower lovers might know Canadian Anemone's smaller cousin, Wood Anenome (Anemone quinquefolia). The later blooming Canadian Anemone is much more dramatic as it is taller and the one inch flowers are larger. Connecticut Botanical Society lists Canadian anemone as an endangered species, which struck me as odd as it appears to be a fairly vigorous spreader. Also, I suspect deer probably find it very yummy as they are fond of all the other garden anemone's I've worked with. One important note about the Sander's garden... it has a very serious deer fence protecting it from four-legged intrusion.
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Canadian anemone (Anemone canadensis)
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Part of the property is bordered by stonewall some 7 feet tall. The Sander's have made excellent use of Climbing Hydrangea (Hydrangea anomala subsp. petiolaris) to soften the harden edge of the stone. Here is a section viewed form the roadside with the Climbing Hydrangea in bloom peeking out enticingly from the property.
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Climbing Hydrangea (Hydrangea anomala subsp. petiolaris)
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Also in bloom this week is Japanese Snowbell (Styrax japonicas)... not native, but one of those irresistible eye catching small trees that makes a nice specimen in a small garden. Asian in origin, it is hardy through zone 6 and into warmer parts of 5. The flowers are really quite fun and do look like "bells" as you can see from the picture below. The ground underneath becomes littered with dropped petals so one could consider it a bit messy if that is a concern. The Sanders have one planted along a woodland edge near an entry way to one of the trails.
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Japanese snowbell (Styrax japonicus)
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The formal central section of the garden features some lovely sun loving perennials and garden accents. I was particularly enamored with the dusty rose pink of Centranthus ruber ‘Coccineus’ and the very exotic looking Dictamnus albus.
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Red valerian (Centranthus ruber)
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Dictamnus albus
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'Bowl of Beauty' Peony Paeonia lactiflora , Siberian iris Iris sibirica
and Forget-me-not (Myosotis sylvatica)
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References:
http://www.ct-botanical-society.org/galleries/anemonecana.html
http://www.hort.uconn.edu/plants/detail.php?pid=209
http://www.hort.uconn.edu/plants/detail.php?pid=478
