Do we just show up? Richie

There is a nominal $5 admission fee to visit any garden on the Open Days program - unless you're a member of The Garden Conservancy and use their
half-price tickets. The hours that each garden is open, and complete
directions to find them, can be found on the website link in my original post
above.

Carl

I'm planning to get to both!! What a great opportunity, especially for those of us fortunate enough to have "babies" from these fabulous two gardeners, both contributors to the CT Plant Swap, in our own gardens (not that there will be ANY comparison, but still... fame by association! :)

(Also, note that the discounted tickets you can order through the Conservancy -- whether you are a member or not -- "do not expire" and can be used in other years. 6 tickets for $25 ($15 if you are a Conservancy member) -- pretty good deal, especially if you can use them for more than one season of garden viewing pleasure!)

Special bonus features for GW-visitors:
-If you like something, just say so and I'll try to propagate or divide it for you for the fall swap,
-Taking cuttings from my hydrangea collection will be permitted :-)

Here is a link that might be useful: June 7th

This sounds like fun. I've never done anything like this before. Richie

George,

Do you need help collecting tickets and registering guests? Let me know. I could probably help for a while.

Virginia

Virginia, that would be great!
Carl and Dee already offered their help and just in case there will be no visitors at least we will have a nice company to chat :-)))
BTW, it seems like my yellow ITOH peony, Garden Treasure, will bloom right on time for the show. I'm praying for no rain ... :-))

George,
I'm planning on being one of your visitors! Richie

Richie, probably in your honor PINK cornus kousa 'Satomi' decided to bloom first time ever in my garden :-)
Can't say it's very impressive, but at least a departure from a traditional white.

With a little bid of luck both of mine rarely seen satsuki azaleas, 'Shugetsu' and 'Getsutoku' might start blooming on a weekend.

I'll be there for a visit George!

That's a beautiful variety!

Monique, it will be a great pleasure to see you and Les again.
I know it's impossible to surprise you by anything... but Abelia mosanensis is blooming and smell is heavenly :-)
Problem is, it had been almost entirely swamped by Heptacodium and is hard to find :-(

BTW, if anyone is interested, Oliver will be running its traditional perennial and alpine sale (30% off) on June 7th and they are only 5 minutes away from me.

Thanks George for a great garden tour and lunch!!! You are a great host! We have never done anything like that before. I learned a few new things and saw many new plants as well. Richie

Just wanted to add my thanks, too! (Along with a heartfelt "WOW!!") Both George's garden and his gracious hospitality to his fellow swappers were beyond compare (never expected LUNCH, complete with wine!) Thanks again, George!!!

My husband and I had a great time at George's yesterday. We got a personal tour that allowed us to hear all about the plants and their attributes and his "experiments". I've never been to a garden conservancy tour and come away with parting gifts-we appreciate the plants. We had fun talking to Dee, Carl and Richie, but missed seeing everyone else. George certainly has a beautiful garden!

Monique,
Was it you at the swap that told me you had a dogwood from my house and it was about 4-5 feet tall. I thought it was a Monique that told me but now I am not sure? Richie

Thank you all for the kind words and I take them at 100%, not just as a standard politeness :-)))

I would like publicly express my unmeasurable gratitude to our mutual friends, Dee, Virginia and Carl.
Without their indispensable help I wouldn't be able to carry all the load of questions and overall pressure to be a host.
But that's what friends are for, right?

It was an interesting experience to show my garden to more than a 100 visitors just in one day and to answer all the questions ranging from, "Is this a pachysandra?" (several times Carl had to show his expertise in a subject) to "How big that Leucosceptrum stellipilum (or Acanthopanax sieboldianus) of yours eventualy will be?" :-))))

Over all I'm happy and probably will do it next year, only in July for hydrangeas primes, though at the end of the day I hardly was able to drug my feet to the bed and was swearing not even think about to do it ever again. :-)

Monique+Les's GARDEN is next.
Don't miss it!!!!!!!

Oh, Monique, small tip:
-arrange day off for yourself on Monday after the Open Day.
You will need it :-))

What a handsome group! LOL! I think George's beautiful garden made us all look great!

It was such a gorgeous day and, as usual, the garden was glorious. Everybody who left that day had wonderful things to say about the garden.

A big thanks to George and his wife for their hospitality. Boy, I wish my day job was as enjoyable as yesterday, lol!

:)
Dee

Have you marked your calendars?
Monique's garden will be open on Sunday July 12.
THE Garden you can't afford to miss!!!!

Here is a link that might be useful: Open Day

Thanks George! I'm open from 10am-4pm. I hope some of you can make it. I posted a link below to some of my photos. Here are a few of them...

Here is a link that might be useful: Monique's garden photos

Holy Toledo !!!

I can't wait to actually SEE this garden. . .

That's funny.
Picture #3 is almost identical to what I have as a screensaver :-)

And here is another my favorite

Have you filled your gas tanks already?

I'm ready!

Just making some last minute arrangements with my cousin and possibly a friend, but I will be there in the morning, and I cannot wait!

Hope to see many of you on Sunday!
:)
Dee

We will be there too! See ya!

This is a FABULOUS garden. If you have never been there - donÂt miss it!

It's killing me that I will not be able to attend. I am helping my friend in Easton who is also on Open Days Tour. If you are in the area (lower Ffld county), it too, is an excellent garden to visit. The address is 95 Wilson Road. It's listed as Blooming Hill on the Conservancy website.

I'll be thinking of you Monique and Les!!

Virginia

Virginia, is your friend's garden open all day? I'm going to Monique's with my cousin, who lives in Newtown. Maybe she will want to take a swing by Easton in the afternoon....

:)
Dee

Open from 10 to 3. Of course special arrangements could be made...

Well, my garden is as ready as it is going to be. I'm exhausted! I just hope the thunderstorms tonight do not cause any damage. I'll have to get up early and deadhead daylilies and remove caging from around the plants the bunnies have been snacking on. Looking forward to seeing some Gardenwebbers!

LOL, Virginia! No, that's okay. If we go, we'll be there before 3. My cousin likes to garden, but she's not a diehard like us and I'm not sure if she would be up for two gardens in one day. So I don't want you and your friend to go to any trouble. I'll see how she feels about it tomorrow.

Good luck to you and your friend tomorrow!

Monique, at least the storms will clear up by morning, so it shouldn't actually be raining during the day. Funny, I was thinking of you this afternoon while I was deadheading MY daylilies. I was thinking of seeing if you needed any help to get ready tomorrow morning. But unfortunately, I am driving up with someone and I don't think she'd want to be there THAT early - although she probably wouldn't mind being put to work, lol.

I'm sure everything will be perfect! See you tomorrow!

:)
Dee

Virginia, Blooming Hill was already on my itinerary and was marked as 'if time permitting'. Now I have to make sure I'll see you :-))

You have a very nice garden! I am sorry I don't know your husbands name. We had a nice tour. It was nice seeing everyone from the swap too. Enjoy the rest of the summer everyone and see you all in the fall. Thanks, Richie

I could only go late in the afternoon. (I feel lucky to get away at all!) I'm sorry I missed most of my garden pals, but I am so glad I got to see Les and Monique's gorgeous garden again! What a feast for the senses! I would have liked to have seen Virginia's friend's garden, but they were two completely different directions from where I am now. I hope that went well also.
Deb

I'm sitting here very quite because I'm still speechless and trying to absorb ideas I got from Monique's and Les's garden.

Quote of the day (from unknown to me visitor), 'I don't know what else Garden Conservancy is preserving, but THIS one should be on their mission list!"

I ask her where to sign :-))

Aaargh!!! After having these two gardens (George's and Monique's) on my schedule since MAY, I ended up in Washington, DC, this weekend and didn't get back until tonight -- so I missed this incredible garden! But thanks to Monique's pictures and photo album, I at least got a taste of what it must have been like ... thank you so much Monique for posting them! I hope the Anthony Garden will be on display again some time! I was SO looking forward to this (and would have enjoyed it SO MUCH MORE than slogging along on the New Jersey Turnpike and sitting in a miles-long backup for the GW Bridge!!)

Deb & Marty, I was wondering where you guys were! Sorry I missed you Deb, and even sorrier you couldn't make it at all, Marty.

It was also great to see Sue again (although I completely missed her somehow on the way in????) and also to see Liliane.

Beautiful day, GORGEOUS garden, what else can I say? Except that I wish I had brought a camera!

Thank you, Monique and Les, for sharing your incredible talent and hard work with us!

:)
Dee

P.S. Sorry I didn't make it to Easton, Virginia. I was all set to go and looked at the clock and it was 3:00! I got visiting with my cousin (and showing her MY garden, which was a pretty sorry endeavor after being at Monique and Les' garden) and by the time she left it was later than I thought. Hope your open day went well too!

Hi everyone!

What a beautiful day it was! We had a good crowd in Easton, although nothing like the first time in May when the Police came and threatened to tow cars!!

Sorry I missed The Anthony garden yesterday. I would have loved to have been able to go and perhaps IÂll get a chance to visit later this summer. I encouraged my friend, Margo to go. She called me on her cell phone on the way home and said she and her friends were totally blown away. I knew they would be. ;)

Virginia

Thanks to everyone who visited the garden yesterday-it was nice to see some familiar faces. I was exhausted-7 hours of standing, walking and talking-although it was loads of fun.