gah: sakonnet garden

I just finished planting my front hill (which I will share soon) and was feeling pretty good about the progress of my garden… that is, until Shiva and I visited Sakonnet Garden in Little Compton, RI. This amazing private garden was open to the public as part of the Garden Conservancy’s Open Days program.

My garden now looks extremely young and inadequate. Here’s why (rollover pics for words and such)…

step through the garden gate

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

trimmed up high bush blueberries and ferns

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

wow, that’s a really tall box hedge

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

take a peek through the hedge

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

colonnade of redwoods and asarum (wild ginger)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

go on, touch it

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

turn around and look out the opening you just stepped through

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

bench being devoured by a massive hedge

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You’ll want to biggify this one…

petasites and rhododendrons circle the pond

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

this arisaema ringens (cobra lily) is huge!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

sculpture in the garden

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

clematis climbing a wall of hedge

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

whoa, a crazy fastigiate maple

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

did i mention that maple is really, REALLY tall?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

an archway leads to yet another garden room

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

this one’s for Johnny: foxglove, monkey puzzle tree, hosta and, um, stuff

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

closeup of a curved stone wall

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ooh, magnolia macrophylla (bigleaf magnolia)! tons of them here

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

colorful red-leafed banana

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

gorgeous Red Mughal Pavilion from Dehli

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

a shot of gold weaves through the canopy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ganesha danced a little jig for us

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

podophyllum spotty dotty... great name, amazing leaves

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the bigleaf magnolias really make this garden feel tropical

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another one worth biggifying…

looks like something out of a glossy magazine, doesn’t it?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

i just love these

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

a grassy path past the hydrangeas leads us on

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

a freshly stacked log wall frames the archway

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

this garden room is all about screaming yellow foliage, like cotinus ‘golden spirit’ and hakonechloa ‘all gold’

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

what do you suppose is through that passage?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

weeping black beech arches over the black border

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

i don’t know what this is but i love the leaves

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

now leaving the garden rooms

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

meadow of grasses, wild flag and fern

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

a closeup of iris setosa, (wild flag), just for Shiva

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

goodbye!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maybe someday, 35 years from now, my garden will look like that. Heh. Yeah, right.

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2 Responses to “gah: sakonnet garden”

  1. Tera says:

    is the gold/orange stuff with the pagoda a honeysuckle?

  2. Brook says:

    pretty sure you got that right, Tera.

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