IMO, the display gardens at Tranquil Lake Nursery are the best in new england, hands down. And this free day of workshops is always so well run and so informative and cutting edge. 1/2 hour east of providence. for us, at the corner of 128 and 93, it takes 1.5 hours to get there. Whether from a regular visit, or from their annual Open Houses, we always leave there filled with :information, excitement, bubbling energy and a packed car!!!

Do treat yourself.Take a picnic lunch.

best,

mindy

On Saturday July 18th, Tranquil Lake Nursery in Rehoboth will celebrate our 18th Annual Open House and Summer Garden Festival from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Free and Open to the Public.

The sun will be shining. The daylilies will be in glorious bloom and the gardens will be at their best. We have invited a wonderful list of speakers and garden vendors and we hope to see you at the nursery this weekend.

Each July, people from all over New England visit the nursery to wander among the perennials, display gardens and 10 acres of daylily fields during the peak season of bloom among the more than 3,600 varieties of daylilies that the nursery offers. Tranquil Lake Nursery is the largest grower of Daylilies and Siberian and Japanese Iris in the northeastern United States. To celebrate the occasion the nursery will offer free lectures and demonstration, free daylily tasting, cool drinks and a diverse assortment of garden activities and garden vendors all day long.

This year, our theme for the Open House and Summer Festival is "Celebrating the Bounty of the Summer Garden." Twelve garden talks and demonstrations will be offered throughout the day, on the half hour, showcasing talented local horticulturists, gardeners, flower arrangers and herbalists. Each will explore creative aspects of gardening, design and harvest. Topics include selecting plant for the sun and shade, use of colorful flowers and foliage, design ideas to extend the season, exceptional woody plants, woodland and meadow flowers, utilizing tropical bromeliads, culinary and ornamental herbs, daylilies, dividing perennials, summer flower arrangements and using flowers and herbs to make edible gifts. There will be ample opportunity to taste daylilies and to learn about cooking with and growing with these special flowers.

Lecture and Demonstration Schedule

10:00 a.m. Colorful Foliage and Flowers for a Spectacular Summer Garden - Warren Leach

Warren Leach, talented garden designer and co-owner of Tranquil Lake Nursery will recommend a diverse selection of superlative plants with "Colorful Foliage and Flowers for a Spectacular Summer Garden." Warren will emphasize plants with good foliage, architectural stature, multi-season interest and stunning bloom characteristic that can be used in a diversity of ways to enrich the garden palette, provide structure and offer seasonal succession in the mixed border. Warren will share his design skills to suggest plant combinations that you can translate into your own garden, echoing leaf and flower colors and setting up dramatic eye catching accents to brighten the garden through the seasons.

10:30 a.m. Plant Combinations and Solutions for Success in the Shade - Suzanne Mahler

Suzanne Mahler is a distinguished garden lecturer and the former president and long time member of the New England Hemerocallis (daylily) Society. She has an impressive garden of her own in Hanover, Massachusetts, filled with daylilies and the many perennials that show them off to best advantage. Over the years, as her garden has matured and trees and shrubs have grown, it has become more shady. Gardening in the shade may offer challenges but also charming opportunities and even protection from the strong rays of the sun. In her garden talk, "Plant Combinations and Solutions for Success in the Shade," Suzanne will discuss unique aspects of shade gardening and suggest an assortment of attractive flowering and foliage plants for garden settings ranging from partial sun to dense shade. She will also showcase shade loving plants and suggest planting combinations to enhance colorful flowers and foliage and distinctive texture and offer garden interest from spring through frost.

11:00 a.m. Exceptional and Enticing Woody Plants for the Mixed Border - Gary Koller

Noted Horticulturist and Garden Designer Gary Koller will share some of his favorite woody ornamental plants for the summer garden in his plant talk on "Exceptional and Enticing Woody Plants for the Mixed Border." Woody ornamentals form the backbone of the flower border throughout the year, adding structure, color, texture and panache. Plan to add a few more of these sensational garden accents to your borders this year. Gary Koller is recognized nationally for his horticulture and design knowledge. As a landscape designer he specializes in garden design emphasizing woody ornamentals. Gary is head of Koller Associates of West Roxbury, Massachusetts and was formerly Senior Horticulturist at the Arnold Arboretum in Boston.

11:30 a.m. Creative Arrangements from the Summer Garden - Karen Perkins

Karen Perkins, gardener, garden lecturer and award-winning flower arranger from Phillipston, Massachusetts, will show you how to produce a bounty of "Creative Arrangements from the Summer Garden." Karen will demonstrate how to use everyday containers, garden flowers and cut foliage to create stunning floral compositions. She will demonstrate her unique design flare, share tips for selecting containers and tell you how to condition flowers and foliage picked from the summer garden. Karen is currently the proprietor of Garden Vision Epimediums and the former Education Director at Tower Hill Botanic Garden in Boylston, where many of her creations can still be found.

12:00 Noon Daylilies - The Summer Garden Sensation - Philip Boucher

With ten acres of daylilies at peak bloom, the daylily flowers are truly the stars of the Open House and Summer Festival at Tranquil Lake Nursery, where the fields and gardens feature more than 3,600 varieties. Tranquil Lake Nursery co-owner Philip Boucher will share his love and knowledge of these special flowers in his garden talk "Daylilies - The Summer Garden Sensation." Learn about the many assets and characteristics of these beautiful and diverse summer garden essential and meet some of Phils favorites. You are sure to meet a daylily or two that you must have for your own.

12:30 p.m. Tropical Extravaganza: Add Bromeliads to Brighten & Add Pizzazz to the Summer Garden - David Burdick

David Burdick, talented gardener, plant connoisseur and owner of Daffodils and More Nursery in Dalton, Massachusetts will offer suggestion for adding tropical bromeliad (members of the pineapple family) into the garden in "Tropical Extravaganza: Add Bromeliads to Brighten & Add Pizzazz to the Summer Garden." David will demonstrate how these colorful plants with there distinctive vase-like shape offer a classical and tropical dimension to garden design. They are also easy care, taking summer heat and drought without blemish, due to their tough foliage and water storage capabilities. Add their bold flowers that last for months and bromeliads are hard to beat for their garden impact.

1:00 p.m. Designing and Planting to Sustain the Garden into the Late Season - Warren Leach

Warren Leach, horticulturist, garden designer and co-owner of Tranquil Lake Nursery, will explore "Designing and Planting to Sustain the Garden into the Late Season" in his garden talk. Warren is noted throughout New England for the gardens he designs that offer a bounty of bloom and distinctive foliage from early spring through to November. With some forethought and planning the late season garden rolls on with color and ease. Warren will focus on planting combinations that start their ignition in the summer and roar on with full throttle beauty into the fall, even withstanding frost. He will offer design tips that can be easily translated to the home garden.- MORE -

1:30 p.m. Woodland and Meadow Wildflowers, Myths and Fallacies - Bruce McCue

Bruce McCue of McCue Gardens in Wethersfield, Connecticut has been growing woodland and meadow Wildflowers for more than forty years. He will showcase his favorite herbaceous perennials and wildings in his garden talk "Woodland and Meadow Wildflowers, Myths and Fallacies." He will share tips for success with wildflowers and insights for using them in the garden to suit your conditions.

2:00 p.m. Culinary and Ornamental Herbs - John Mapel

John Mapel, horticulturist, estate gardener and greenhouse owner from Grafton, Massachusetts will offer up a sampling of "Culinary and Ornamental Herbs" in his garden talk. Some herbs offer aroma and fragrance that are restorative, while others are invaluable in the kitchen. From chamomile tea to lavender, rosemary, thyme and sage herbs have long been used for their many useful properties. Learn which of these useful herbs will grow best in your location, how to use them and which will make handsome additions to your summer garden. John will share practical gardening tips for growing some of his favorite garden herbs and tell you how he uses them and which will make handsome additions to your summer garden.

2:30 p.m. Edible Gifts and Tastes from the Garden - Karen Boucher

Karen Boucher will offer a tasty sampling of some daylily and other flower and herb recipes she enjoys in "Edible Gifts and Tastes from the Garden." All parts of the daylily are edible, and Karen will show you how easy it is to make herb and daylily vinegars, oils, pickled daylily pods, soups, deserts and more. Karen has been making daylily recipes for more than twenty years, ever since her husband Philip and partner Warren Leach purchased the nursery in 1986. Learn how to make delicious and attractive flavored condiments and garden gifts from daylilies, herbs, hot peppers, and other garden delicacies.

3:00 p.m. Dividing Daylilies and other Summer Perennials - Philip Boucher

Philip Boucher, horticulturist and co-owner of Tranquil Lake Nursery will take you step-by-step through the techniques for "Dividing Daylilies and other Summer Perennials" demonstration. This is a terrific opportunity to increase the number of plants in your garden while also improving the vigor and bloom of plants, as you learn how and when to divide established clumps of Hosta, Iris, daylilies and other perennials.

3:30 p.m. Tour of the Gardens of Tranquil Lake Nursery - Warren Leach

Garden Designer Warren Leach, will end the day with a "Tour of the Gardens of Tranquil Lake Nursery." Over the past twenty years, Warren designed and built all the nursery gardens. They were designed to offer flowers and foliage that provide interest from early spring through fall. There are also many built garden features such as paths, bogs, benches, purple posts, fences, stone walls and more that captivate visitors as they wander around the grounds. During this garden tour Warren will spotlight favorite plants, horticultural techniques, and design features that he has used to solve problems and create beautiful display.

In addition to the 3,600 varieties of daylilies and the 300 varieties each of Siberian and Japanese Iris for which Tranquil Lake Nursery is famous, the nursery also offer an exceptional collection of container grown perennials, grasses and shrubs to accompany your daylilies and Iris in the home garden. A number of other horticultural vendors have been invited to share their gardening products with you. Sylvan Nursery of Westport will bring some of their varieties of heathers that they grow and also English Roses. Garden Vision in Phillipston will showcase epimediums. McCue Gardens of Wethersfield, Connecticut will offer alpine plants. David Burdick of Daffodils and More will sell bromeliads and ferns.

In addition, the URI Master Gardeners, will offer garden tips and advice throughout the day. Bring your garden questions and Ask a Master Gardener. Massachusetts Agriculture in the Classroom, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing educational resources about the importance of Massachusetts agriculture will be selling, fruit, cold gaspacho soups, Sandwiches and ice cream. All proceeds from the sale of food and a garden raffle will benefit Massachusetts Agriculture in the Classroom. Cool drinks are always provided free, courtesy of the Nursery. Drinks, such as lemonade, ice tea and water will be plentiful and free. Guests are also invited to bring a picnic.

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Directions to Tranquil Lake Nursery

From Rhode Island and Connecticut: Rehoboth is located about 8 miles due East of Providence. To reach us take Route 95 to Route 195 eastbound out of Providence. Stay on Route 195 to the first MASSACHUSETTS exit. A large 'Raymour and Flanagan' furniture store on the right tells you that your exit approaches. Go left off the exit ramp onto Route 114A northbound. Stay on 114A until it intersects with Route 44. Turn right (eastbound) on Route 44. Stay on Route 44 approximately 3.7 miles to Winthrop Commons on your left. Turn left on River Street immediately after passing Winthrop Commons. Follow River Street across Broad Street (4 way stop). Tranquil Lake Nursery is the fourth driveway on the right after Broad Street.

From Fall River and Cape Cod: Take Route 195 westbound to exit 3, Swansea and Rehoboth. At the end of the ramp go left on Route 118 North. Follow 118 North approximately 8 miles to the Route 44 intersection. Turn left onto Route 44, travel 1.5 miles, passing the Rehoboth Schools. Take the next right onto Danforth Street. Then take the first left onto River Street. Tranquil Lake Nursery is on the left about .4 miles down River Street on left.

From Boston and Route 495: Take Route 128/93 or 495 to Route 95 southbound towards Providence. Continue on Route 95 to the exit for Route 123 eastbound (Exit 3A - Attleboro & Norton). Follow Route 123 through 5 traffic lights. At the sixth light, follow Route 118 South. Continue on Route 118 for approximately 9 miles to the Route 44 intersection. Turn right onto Route 44. Travel 1.5 miles, passing the Rehoboth Schools. Take the next right onto Danforth Street. Then take the first left onto River Street. Tranquil Lake Nursery is on the left about .4 miles down River Street on the left.

Tranquil Lake Nursery

Owners: Warren Leach and Philip Boucher

45 River Street

Rehoboth, MA 02769-1395

Phone: 508-252-4002

Web Site: www.tranquil-lake.com

tranquil-lake@earthlink.net