Secret Gardens
One of the great joys of spring and summer in the Northeast is the greening of the landscape after a long winter, and the return of nature’s full color palette—from the purple lupines in New England’s mountainside meadows to the blushing pink beach roses of its coast. For travelers who can happily spend blissful hours in a garden, there are famous examples situated right in the heart of the region’s best-known cities, including Arnold Arboretum in Boston, Massachusetts, and Elizabeth Park in Hartford, Connecticut. But if you prefer to stroll through smaller-scale or more off-the-beaten-path botanical attractions, the following gardens may inspire the feeling you’ve walked into your own exclusive oasis.
MASSACHUSETTS
Hidden away in Boston’s Back Bay Fens, not far from Fenway Park and the Museum of Fine Arts, the James. P Kelleher Rose Garden opened in the 1930s to mixed reviews (reportedly, some neighbors found its explosion of blooming color a bit gaudy). Nearly a century later, though, this English-style garden with more than 1,500 roses of 200 different varieties is an insider’s favorite that never fails to delight.
A year-round escape awaits at Smith College in Northampton, whose campus includes a living museum of native New England plants as well as more exotic flora. Designed more than a century ago, the Botanic Garden of Smith College encompasses a number of outdoor attractions—such as a rock garden and a wildflower garden—but the crowning jewel is the 12,000-square-foot (1,115m²) Lyman Conservatory and its wild array of greenhouse-protected tropical, subtropical, and desert plants.
For a photo op like no other, head to the town of Shelburne Falls in the Berkshires region. There, a 1908 trolley bridge over the Deerfield River has been transformed into the Bridge of Flowers, a footbridge filled with plants whose color evolves across seasons, from the first crocuses and daffodils of spring to the last ornamental kales of late fall.
Fans of Japanese gardens are lured far off the beaten path and into a magical landscape by Mytoi, located on rural Chappaquiddick Island, off Martha’s Vineyard. At the heart of this traditional Japanese garden is a small pond, whose tiny island is accessed via an arched footbridge; elsewhere, winding paths take visitors through birch groves, a dell of camellias, and a rock garden.
RHODE ISLAND
Among the palatial homes featured in the famed Newport Mansions properties, a quirkier man-made wonder also can be found: Green Animals Topiary Garden, whose roots go back to the 1870s. Come marvel at how humble shrubs—privet, yew, and boxwood—have been turned into a fantastical zoo of unicorns, camels, and elephants.
Another Rhode Island treasure is Blithewold, a historic 33-acre (13.3ha) estate overlooking Narragansett Bay in Bristol. Built as a summer home for a Pennsylvania coal baron, it has not only amazing ocean views but also more than 500 species of trees and shrubs in its arboretum and gardens; highlights include a weeping pagoda tree and a 100-foot (30.5m) giant sequoia that’s thought to be the largest in the eastern United States.
A more intimate experience can be found at the Kinney Azalea Gardens in Kingston, not far from the beach town of Narragansett. In the 1920s, botany professor Lorenzo Kinney Sr. planted some conifers on a six-acre (2.5ha) property here, which his son, Lorenzo Jr., later carved into garden “rooms” to hold a growing collection of rhododendrons and azaleas. Today, the gardens’ 16 acres (6.5ha)—now filled with some 500 varieties of these blooming wonders—are open daily for public enjoyment.
CONNECTICUT
Few plants have the romantic appeal of lavender, which spreads across the stunning 25 acres (10ha) of Lavender Pond Farm in Killingworth, just inland from Connecticut’s central coast. Open to the public from June’s first blooms through Christmas (and wheelchair accessible), the farm also has a variety of lavender products for sale, so you can take home an aromatic souvenir in the form of soaps, lotions, and sachets.
Not many state parks come with grand mansions, but Harkness Memorial State Park is one of the elegant exceptions. Located on Long Island Sound in Waterford, this 230-acre (93ha) park has as its centerpiece a historic 42-room Renaissance Revival estate whose formal gardens and greenhouses are so spectacular, it’s a favored venue for wedding photos.
For those who appreciate exotic plants, the historic greenhouses and nursery at Logee’s, in Danielson, are impossible to pass up. Known for the popular catalog it has printed since the 1930s, Logee’s includes six greenhouses dating as far back as 1892. They hold collections of herbs and ferns, bonsai and spice plants, citrus trees and succulents. Look for the Ponderosa lemon tree planted in 1900, which still produces some of the world’s largest lemons.
MAINE
It’s worth the one-hour drive from Portland to the MidCoast region to behold the largest botanical garden in New England: Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, in the small town of Boothbay. These 300-plus acres (121ha) of woodlands and themed, cultivated gardens flourish in an oceanside environment, beautifully demonstrating resilience. Among the highlights: a garden designed for the five senses, a native butterfly and moth house, Danish artist Thomas Dambo’s oversized recycled-wood trolls, and, if you visit in late November or December, the dazzling holiday light display known as Gardens Aglow.
One of Maine’s endearing quirks is its collection of rural towns with names transplanted from overseas—Naples, Denmark, Poland, Sweden, Mexico—primarily in the state’s western region. Garden lovers will want to keep a lookout for South Paris, where in 1936 a self-taught gardener named Bernard McLaughlin made the first plantings for what would become a true hidden gem. Come see his labor of love at the McLaughlin Garden & Homestead, which has a small but exquisitely planned array of perennials, trees, and shrubs, not to mention the largest collection of lilacs in New England.
Known as the home of Acadia National Park, Mount Desert Island is also the place to discover some beautiful small gardens. The Land & Garden Preserve maintains three of the island’s gems: the historic Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Garden in Seal Harbor (reservations required); and the Japanese-inspired Asticou Azalea Garden and English-style Thuya Garden, both in Northeast Harbor. Plus, you can explore nature’s diversity in the Wild Gardens of Acadia, in the famous park itself.
For a truly exclusive destination, another island beckons: Appledore, off the coast of Kittery. That’s where you’ll discover Celia Laighton Thaxter’s Garden, a reconstructed version of the 19th-century flower oasis made famous in Thaxter’s An Island Garden. Tours are relatively few and offered by reservation only, so you have to plan well in advance—but it’s an experience like no other in New England.
VERMONT
Some of the best gardens in New England can be found at its fine house museums. In Vermont, that means Hildene—the former home of Abraham Lincoln’s son, Robert, located in the town of Manchester. Come see the cutting and kitchen garden; enjoy the fine perennial gardens, with roses and lilies; and stroll the walking trails. Insiders know to plan their visit in early summer, when Hildene’s stunning peonies are blooming.
Daylily fans, look no further than Olallie Daylily Gardens in South Newfane: This three-generation farm grows over 2,500 cultivars, filling its six acres (2.5ha) of growing fields with all colors, sizes, and varieties. Peak bloom is mid-July through August; plus, there’s a collection of rare fall bloomers.
The town of Woodstock is a delightful experience at any time of year, but if you’re fortunate enough to visit in late summer, be sure to check out Billings Farm & Museum’s Sunflower House, a 20,000-square-foot (1,858m²) labyrinth composed of more than 100 varieties of sunflowers. Nearby, Billings’s Farmstead Gardens offers five distinct gardenscapes connected by paths, trellises, arches, and tunnels that are perfect for wondering and wandering.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
A visit to The Fells, the early-20th-century summer estate of the diplomat and statesman John Milton Hay, includes seeing more than just the 22-room Colonial Revival home. Set overlooking Lake Sunapee, the tranquil 84 acres (34ha) include the original “Old Garden,” 100-foot (30.5m) stone wall perennial border, rock garden, rose terrace, heather beds, Japanese water lily pool, and woodland trails.
In southern New Hampshire, not far from the Massachusetts border, you can step into a storybook at Pickity Place, featuring a circa-1786 cottage that was the model for Elizabeth Orton Jones’s “Little Red Riding Hood” illustrations. It’s set amid 10 acres (4ha) of woodlands and gardens that range from butterfly and bird themes to a kitchen garden that provides ingredients for the gourmet five-course luncheons served here.
Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park in Cornish was created to preserve the 19th-century home, gardens, and studios of the artist Augustus Saint-Gaudens, revered for his sculptures of American Civil War heroes. Throughout the grounds, hedges and terraced gardens provide the walls of the outdoor “rooms” in which Saint-Gaudens’s larger-than-life work is displayed.
