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Thursday, September 18, 2008

Stonecrop - An Overview

This past Tuesday I went on a trip with my garden club to Stonecrop gardens in Cold Spring, New York. My friend Kim and I have been waiting for this trip for years now so we were really excited to finally be on our way.

Today I just have time to share some landscape shots and give a quick overview.

My favorite part of the garden was the flower and vegetable garden area and this opening photo is my new screen saver on my computer.

Dahlia's were used in many places to accent the various color schemes. They weren't planted in groups, instead they used individual cultivars as focal points and they were stunning.

Grasses and Boltonia swayed with the most gentle breeze. What a delightful spot to stand and listen to our charming tour guide Michael.

I didn't get a chance to look up the name of the purple flower here. We were given highly detailed maps and plant lists but I tucked them in my backpack right away so I'd be free to shoot photos.

How's this for a glorious early fall grouping?

Interspersed through out the perennials were a wealth of tender plants too. Look in the top left corner and you'll see the leaves of a Banana peaking out. One plant I noticed quite a bit and have put on my wish list is Angelica. I've grown Angelica before in my herb bed but here it was a wonderful accent in the flower gardens.

Another thing I noticed quickly was that the purple perilla was allowed to naturalize in many locations where its dark foliage was just what was needed.

A photographer who likes to take landscape shots would have a field day at this lovely garden. Every time you turned around there was a spectacular view just begging to be photographed.

This bridge was aptly named the Flintstone bridge. I was disappointed that our group wasn't led across it.

A final shot from the inside of the Wisteria Pavilion.

As soon as I have the time I'll be posting about the most well known feature of Stonecrop, the trough and stone gardens that were just amazing.

17 comments:

cherry said...

So beautiful !!

Looks to me like the wait was so worth it.

Thank you for sharing can't wait to see the rest ..

Gail said...

Melanie! Hi....The flower is Celosia, isn't it wonderful. Btw, this garden has more than a few treasures and great planting ideas...I need to study the photos! Gail

Dave said...

That is a very nice place! The Flintstone bridge was pretty neat. A good use of natural stone.

Anonymous said...

What great pictures! What a wonderful field trip! I look forward to more of your comments and pictures (especially the sedums). You and your passion for gardening are an inspiration to me. Thank you for taking time to share. - Daisy

garden girl said...

Hi Melanie, what a beautiful garden!

Anonymous said...

It looks like a wonderful garden to visit for new ideas. I adore that shot of the stone bridge with stone steps behind. The pond area, surrounded by greenery was beautiful. The garden looks like it is a great combination of landscape vistas and intimate little garden areas.

Sherri said...

Melanie, what beautiful pictures. What a wonderful place to visit. I'll add it to the gardens I want to visit. I'll also tell my parents to go there. Thanks!

Bek said...

What a beautiful garden! Thanks for showing us the pictures.

Anonymous said...

This is so gorgeous, Melanie! It's been over a decade since I went to Stonecrop, and it just gets better and better. Thanks for the beautiful tour!

Anonymous said...

Hi Melanie, what a wonderful tour. The house looks pretty cool too. I am waiting with great anticipation for the stone troughs. I have a couple and would like to make more but am out of ideas for what to plant in them besides moss and sedums. Thanks for taking us along, we all love tours!

Frances
new url
http://fairegarden.wordpress.com/

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Hi Melanie .. Love the tour of these gardens and the structures are so beautiful .. now if only I could get enough space to do some of those things ? LOL
Actually I have seen drifts of some gorgeous sedums around town and wow .. large plantings are awesome ..wish I had the room !
Great pst .. I would be excited too with such a great place to visit : )

Priscilla George said...

What what a beautiful garden! The photos give me such inspiration and awe. I love that Dahlia and all the plant combinations are wonderful.

Anonymous said...

It's amazing how many beautiful gardens there are to visit. This one ranks up on my list now. It looks fantastic. I enjoyed seeing all the different plant groupings and agree with Gail that I need to study them! I am also adding angelica to my list after seeing it used here.

Anonymous said...

Everything about this place is amazing! I particularly like the water features -- Flintstone Bridge? How perfect. :)

Brenda @ Its A Beautiful Life said...

I just found your blog....loved all the gorgeous garden photos and will be checking back often. Your site is a lovely place to visit.

Brenda

Aki said...

Such a garden is not seen in Japan. beautiful

Bramblemoon Farm said...

Thank you for sharing that:) What beautiful gardens. It's 45 degrees F. here and our colors are beautiful but most of my flowers are frost damaged now. It's wonderful to see such lovely plants and flowers.