Baltimore's historic Reservoir Hill will open 30 homes and gardens to the public for this year's tour on Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and a pair of free tickets will be awarded to a randomly selected commentor here on Garden Variety.

In addition this year, visitors can tour the Lennox Street Community Garden and the Whitelock Commuinity Farm, both of which promote healthy eating in the city neighborhood.

Tickets for the self-guided tour $10 and are good on one or both days, and maps will be provided.

Reservoir Hill is convenient to I-83, Amtrak's Pennsylvania Station, and the Baltimore light rail.

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Photo credit: Keith Bluestone and Riess Livaudais.

Dickeyville, an historic community in Baltimore,, is hosting its home and garden tour Saturday noon to 4 p.m.

Dickeyville is on Baltimore City's western edge, located between Catonsville and Woodlawn. This old milltown, dating to the late 18th century and refurbished in the 1930s, has been compared by some to a small Ellicott City.

The community is built on the skeleton of an industrial village and three of the original stone dwellings remain, as well as other old structures. Its charm rests in the diversity of the homes and the luxurious gardens tended by its residents.

Visit the Dickeyville website for a map, a list of the 30 homes and gardens and some information about each.

Continue reading "Dickeyville Home and Garden Tour -- and more!" »

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That's what happens when you sit down and choose 10 regional public gardens to recommend: people write and ask why their favorite wasn't on the list.

Garden Variety loves all gardens and, to make sure everyone is satisfied, we are going to feature some of the Mid-Atlantic -- especially Maryland -- gardens that did not make the list in Sunday's Baltimore Sun TRAVEL story.

First up? Ladew Topiary Gardens on Jarrettsville Pike in Monkton.

"Few more colorful figures embellish American cultural history than the late Harvey S. Ladew (1887-1976). As traveler, artist, foxhunter and creator of an extraordinary garden, Ladew filled the nearly 90 years of his life richly, creatively, and above all, amusingly.

Born into New York City's social world, Harvey Ladew spoke French before he spoke English and was treated to boyhood drawing lessons from curators at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

In 1929, at the age of 43, fox-hunting drew him to this property in rural Maryland, in the My Lady's Manor section of Harford and Baltimore Counties. He bought Pleasant Valley Farm, a 200-plus acre property bordering the hunt club, "where I have been happy ever since," he wrote in the 1960s.

During the 1930s Ladew added wings to the house, renovated outbuildings before beginning work on the gardens. Then, with the help of local farmers, Ladew carved 22 acres of gardens out of fields previously used for crops and livestock and set to work transforming Pleasant Valley Farm into "the most outstanding topiary garden in America," as described by the Garden Club of America."

Continue reading "Mid-Atlantic public gardens: the rest of the story" »

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May Day basket on the gates of the U.S. Naval Academy

Photo credit: Susan Reimer/Baltimore Sun

Sunday is May Day and in Annapolis that means doors, fences and gates on businesses and homes will be adorned by beautiful and creative May baskets.

The floral arrangements will be judged -- for the 55th year -- by volunteers from the Garden Club of Old Annapolis Towne.

You can find the May baskets in the Annapolis Historic District as well as parts of the city's Murray Hill community. Judging begins at 10 a.m. and all baskets must be visible from the street.

This year, the Annapolis Business Association has partnered with the Garden Club of Old Annapolis Towne and will host the first People's Choice Award for downtown businesses that participate.

The public is encouraged to text their vote for the best business display on May 1. They should submit 44087 and the name of the business they are voting for and the code to 22333.

Only one vote per cell phone is permitted. The winner of the People's Choice Award will be announced May 2 on the ABA's Facebook page.

For more information on categories and contest rules, contact Beth Dolezal at 410-263-9443.

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Photo courtesy of Bartram's Gardens

This weekend in The Baltimore Sun's Travel section, I am writing about 10 public gardens in the Mid-Atlantic that are worth a day trip. And there is a terrific gallery of photos of them.

Five of them are from among the big-name public gardens -- Longwood, Winterthur and Nemours, for example.

And the others are little gems that don't get as much attention: Bartram's Gardens and River Farm, among them.

Choosing just 10 from among all the public gardens in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia is much like choosing your 10 favorite flowers. You are going to leave some real beauties off the list.

So, I invite readers to let me know what your favorite public garden is and a few lines describing what you like about it. I will post about them all here on Garden Variety. With pictures!

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Winterthur: photographed by Jed Kirschbaum/Baltimore Sun

Garden Variety readers!

Here's a sneak preview of my Sunday story in the Travel section of The Baltimore Sun. We chose 10 public gardens -- show-stoppers and little gems -- to visit in the region: From Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania to George Washington's River Farm in Virginia.

We give you tips on how to get there and what you'll see, as well as a brief introduction to each garden and its history.

And, we've put together a spectacular slide show of photographs from these gardens, as well as a link to Cheval Opps, a retired IBM executive who now has her dream job -- arranging garden tours for groups.

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This is the last weekend of Historic Garden Week in Virginia, and 250 homes and gardens are open to the public.

And, as you will see, the Maryland Home and Garden Pilgrimage, which spans four weekends in May, is on the list.

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Washington Gardener magazine, Cheval's 2nd Act Garden Tours and Behnke Nurseries of Beltsville are sponsoring a trip to Mt. Cuba Center in Greenville, Del., on Thursday July 21.

The cost is $60, and Monday is the deadline for reservations. The bus leaves Behnke's at 9 a.m. and returns at 4 p.m. on Thursday.

Mt. Cuba is one of the nation's most celebrated wildflower gardens, with more than 50 rare species located on the former private estate of Mr. and Mrs. Lamont du Pont Copeland, built in 1935.

For more information, email gardentours@gmail.com or call 703-395-1501.

Continue reading "Garden Tours: Mt. Cuba Center" »

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I tried to take the family to the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C., last year -- on a week day, no less -- but we were was beaten back by the traffic.

Kathy Jentz, editor of Washington Gardener, has some alternatives for those of us needing a flower fix but who can't face the crowds.

She has a list  of several public gardens -- including the National Arboretum and Brookside Gardens -- as well as some neighborhoods to visit. And she has all the information you need to get there.

As for Kathy -- she advocates planting your own cherry tree and watching IT bloom!

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Winterthur, the Wilmington, Del., home of Henry Francis du Pont and now a premier museum of American decorative arts, opens for the spring season Tuesday, March 1.

Outside, in the garden, the March Bank display is already alive with thousands of bright yellow blossoms of adonis and winter aconite.

The East Terrace lawn is covered with lavender crocus tomasinianus, or "Tommies," along with the  scented flowers of winter honeysuckle.

Enchanted Woods, a unique children’s garden, welcomes children of all ages back to Winterthur after its seasonal closing. Beginning on March 1, visitors can enjoy a 20-minute narrated tour of the garden while riding the garden tram, weather permitting.
 

Continue reading "Winterthur opens for spring" »

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Photo credit: Baltimore Sun/Amy Davis

My neighbor and gardening guru Bob likes to chide me about my futile attempts to create an English cottage garden -- in Maryland. In August. In the heat. He laughs at me and my attempts to grow delphiniums.

For those who want to experience the real thing, the Maryland Horticultural Society and the Federate Garden Clubs of Maryland are hosting a tour of homes and gardens in the north and east of England, June 6 through 18, and there are spots left!

The tour includes 17 gardens and homes over 11 days in East Anglia and into the heart of Yorkshire.

The cost of the trip depends on the number of participants who have signed up by March 30, but it should range between $2,400 and $2,900. Airfare is not included, but there will be an effort to secure a group rate.

For more information, call Mary Jo Sherrod, 410-836-8239.

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This year, the 30th year, the Garden Walk will include gardens north of 29th Street between Howard Street and Guilford Avenue.

Purchase a Garden Walk map and guide for $10 at the Garden Walk Booth anytime during the Charles Village Festival this weekend.

The gardens will be open Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

 A plant sale also will be held at Barclay School where there will be Master Gardeners to answer plant questions. And the Barclay Garden Club Kids will be handing out lemonade.

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The 19th Annual Garden Tour sponsored by the Horticultural Society of Maryland -- Hidden Treasures in Baltimore County -- will be held Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The tour features seven exclusive private gardens along Ruxton Road, Bellona Avenue and North Charles Street.

Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 at the gardens.

The tour is sponsored by the HSM and members are admitted free with current membership card.

Guest tickets may be purchased through Saturday at Grauls' Markets- Ruxton, Mays Chapel & Hereford; Craft Concepts-Greensping Station in Lutherville; Greenfields Nursery - Falls Rd at Northern Parkway or at any time on line.

Directions to the first garden, where you will receive the complete tour program booklet, follow. 

Continue reading "Hidden Treasures: Baltimore County Garden Tour" »

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Photo courtesy of Edward Thompson

The annual Maryland House & Garden Pilgrimage continues this weekend with visits to homes in Baltimore County on Saturday and Montgomery County on Sunday.

(Click on the links for a preview of the homes and gardens on the tour in each county.)

A Maryland tradition for seventy-three years, the tour runs over four consecutive weekends and offers visitors the opportunity to explore some of Maryland's most fascinating
and noteworthy properties.

The 2010 tour includes 57 private homes, gardens, farms, churches and historic sites across six Maryland counties.

Continue reading "Maryland House & Garden Pilgrimage continues" »

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The White House will open its gardens to the public again in April, and this time the first lady's vegetable garden is on the tour.

On April 17th and 18th, members of the public with tickets will be able to visit the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden, the Rose Garden and the Children's Garden and they will be able to visit the South Lawn, home of the most famous vegetable garden in the world.

Only a glimpse of the garden could be seen during the fall White House grounds tours. But this time, the garden will not only be visible, there will be a large poster with information about the garden and visitors will be given a brochure. 

No word yet on when the vegetable garden will be planted for this season.

If you want tickets for the tour, keep reading.

Photo courtesy of The DC Traveler/ Paul Morse

Continue reading "White House Spring Garden Tours" »

Posted by Susan Reimer at 2:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
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