Visit New Hampshire's Glorious Gardens the Spring
Stop and small the roses...and peonies, and lupines, and more! If you love
gardening, you will want to take a tour of New Hampshire's top gardens open
this spring and summer:
Fuller Gardens, North Hampton, NH: One
of the few remaining estate gardens of the
early 20th century, Fuller Gardens was
the summer home of former Massachusetts
Governor Alvan T. Fuller. The Gardens
were designed in the Colonial-Revival s
tyle in the early 1920s by the noted
landscape architect Arthur Shurtleff,
with additions in the early 1930s by Olmstead Brothers. Its seaside location
provides the ideal growing conditions for 1,500 rose bushes of all types.
Extensive plantings of annuals also provide a brilliant display of color. At
Fuller Gardens you'll also see a Japanese garden, perennial borders, a hosta
display garden and a conservatory featuring a fine collection of tropical and
desert plants. Open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. from early May through mid
October. A nominal admission fee is charged. Call or write for group rates.
603-964-5414. Web: www.fullergardens.org.
Kirkwood Gardens, Holderness, NH: Sunny Kirkwood, who served on the
board of trustees for the Squam Lakes Natural Science Center, designed a new
three-acre low maintenance garden at the center. Included is a fern garden, a
butterfly garden and a garden displaying a selection of shrubs and flowers
native to northern New England that are particularly attractive to birds. More
than 200 people attended the August 31, 1996, dedication of Kirkwood
Gardens, none more excited than Sunny Kirkwood herself, to whom the
gardens were dedicated. Sunny died peacefully at her home in North
Sandwich on September 17, 1996. Open daily from May 1 through November
1, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (Last admission at 3:30 p.m.) Admission to the Science
Center, including Kirkwood Gardens, is $6 in May, June, September and
October and $8 in July and August. 603-968-7194.
Fields of Lupine Festival, Franconia/Sugar Hill: Lupines are beautiful spring
flowers that grow wild along roadside and in fields. Each spring they burst
forth in an array of colors-blue, purple, pink, white, red, orange and
yellow-creating a spectacular display for visitors to New Hampshire. Every
year the Franconia Area Chamber of Commerce celebrates the lupine blossom
with a three-week festival. (That's the length of time it takes for the lupines to
reach full color; the bloom starts at the base and slowly works its way up the
stalk.) The festival features inn-to-inn and garden tours and participating
properties offer afternoon teas, craft demonstrations and art exhibits. A
guidebook, on sale for $5 at the chamber and participating properties, has
full-page features on each property as well as recipes from each. The
guidebook also features a map of the area designating scenic overlooks for
best lupine viewing. The 2001 festival dates are June 9-25. 800-237-9007. Web:
www.franconianotch.org.
The Fells, Newbury, NH:
The Fells was the lakeside summer
home of American writer and diplomat
John M. Hay (1838-1905) who served
as private secretary to Abraham Lincoln,
ambassador to Great Britain and secretary
of state under presidents McKinley
and Roosevelt. The garden at the Fells
is one of New England's finest examples
of an early 20th century garden. Stroll the length of a 100-foot perennial border
and admire the view of Lake Sunapee from the formal Rose Terrace. In the
hillside alpine garden, a brook trickles to a Japanese water lily pool and a
hidden walled garden awaits discovery. The Fells also offers workshops on
gardening with native plants, lectures and guided walks. The grounds of the
refuge are open daily from dawn to dusk year round. Admission is $8 for
adults, $3 for children; discounts are available for seniors and families For
more information visit: The Fells.org.
Keene State College Arboretum and Gardens, Keene, NH: The college offers
a self-guided walk that takes visitors on a meandering tour of the central
campus area and introduces some of the interesting and ornamental trees and
shrubs on the campus through scenic stopping points and vistas. The
arboretum and gardens were created to support the teaching, research and
public service mission of the college by preserving unique and mature plant
specimens of historic value. It also created a model outdoor field laboratory
to promote botanical and horticultural awareness as an educational resource
for the college and the community. The tour can be taken any time; pick up a
copy of the walking tour brochure at the Student Center on Appian Way.
603-358-2544.
Northern Forest Heritage Park/Brown Company House Gardens, Berlin, NH:
Located in the Great North Woods and the heart of the White Mountain
National Forest, the Northern Forest Heritage Park Trust preserves, interprets
and promotes the story of the working forest and the multi-cultural heritage
of the region. The trust operates out of the historic Brown Company House
Museum and on 10 acres of land along the banks of the Androscoggin River.
Built in 1853 by H.Winslow and Company, the Brown Company House is one
of the oldest wood framed structures in Berlin. It served as a temporary
boarding facility for those coming to work at the paper mill. The gardens
adjacent to the Brown Company House were once the pride of the
community. Jack Story, its caretaker from 1929 to 1950, made sure that the
appearance of the garden changed often and was tended throughout the
winter. Plans are underway for this garden to be restored to its former glory.
A self-guided tour will identify plant and flower species and songbirds of the
northern White Mountains. 603-752-7202. www.northernforestheritage.org
Victorian Park, Salem, NH: This family entertainment center features an
old-fashioned ice cream parlor, an arcade, a climbing wall, a water balloon
game called "Water Wars" and miniature golf. Why is it being featured in a
press release on gardens, you ask? The owners designed the 18-hole
miniature golf course as a Victorian garden, featuring a waterfall, bridges and
plantings that change throughout the season. Victorian Park employs a
full-time gardener to maintain its beautiful grounds, which are extensive. It is
open mid-April through Halloween. 603-898-1803.
Stop and small the roses...and peonies, and lupines, and more! If you love
gardening, you will want to take a tour of New Hampshire's top gardens open
this spring and summer:
Fuller Gardens, North Hampton, NH: One
of the few remaining estate gardens of the
early 20th century, Fuller Gardens was
the summer home of former Massachusetts
Governor Alvan T. Fuller. The Gardens
were designed in the Colonial-Revival s
tyle in the early 1920s by the noted
landscape architect Arthur Shurtleff,
with additions in the early 1930s by Olmstead Brothers. Its seaside location
provides the ideal growing conditions for 1,500 rose bushes of all types.
Extensive plantings of annuals also provide a brilliant display of color. At
Fuller Gardens you'll also see a Japanese garden, perennial borders, a hosta
display garden and a conservatory featuring a fine collection of tropical and
desert plants. Open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. from early May through mid
October. A nominal admission fee is charged. Call or write for group rates.
603-964-5414. Web: www.fullergardens.org.
Kirkwood Gardens, Holderness, NH: Sunny Kirkwood, who served on the
board of trustees for the Squam Lakes Natural Science Center, designed a new
three-acre low maintenance garden at the center. Included is a fern garden, a
butterfly garden and a garden displaying a selection of shrubs and flowers
native to northern New England that are particularly attractive to birds. More
than 200 people attended the August 31, 1996, dedication of Kirkwood
Gardens, none more excited than Sunny Kirkwood herself, to whom the
gardens were dedicated. Sunny died peacefully at her home in North
Sandwich on September 17, 1996. Open daily from May 1 through November
1, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (Last admission at 3:30 p.m.) Admission to the Science
Center, including Kirkwood Gardens, is $6 in May, June, September and
October and $8 in July and August. 603-968-7194.
Fields of Lupine Festival, Franconia/Sugar Hill: Lupines are beautiful spring
flowers that grow wild along roadside and in fields. Each spring they burst
forth in an array of colors-blue, purple, pink, white, red, orange and
yellow-creating a spectacular display for visitors to New Hampshire. Every
year the Franconia Area Chamber of Commerce celebrates the lupine blossom
with a three-week festival. (That's the length of time it takes for the lupines to
reach full color; the bloom starts at the base and slowly works its way up the
stalk.) The festival features inn-to-inn and garden tours and participating
properties offer afternoon teas, craft demonstrations and art exhibits. A
guidebook, on sale for $5 at the chamber and participating properties, has
full-page features on each property as well as recipes from each. The
guidebook also features a map of the area designating scenic overlooks for
best lupine viewing. The 2001 festival dates are June 9-25. 800-237-9007. Web:
www.franconianotch.org.
The Fells, Newbury, NH:
The Fells was the lakeside summer
home of American writer and diplomat
John M. Hay (1838-1905) who served
as private secretary to Abraham Lincoln,
ambassador to Great Britain and secretary
of state under presidents McKinley
and Roosevelt. The garden at the Fells
is one of New England's finest examples
of an early 20th century garden. Stroll the length of a 100-foot perennial border
and admire the view of Lake Sunapee from the formal Rose Terrace. In the
hillside alpine garden, a brook trickles to a Japanese water lily pool and a
hidden walled garden awaits discovery. The Fells also offers workshops on
gardening with native plants, lectures and guided walks. The grounds of the
refuge are open daily from dawn to dusk year round. Admission is $8 for
adults, $3 for children; discounts are available for seniors and families For
more information visit: The Fells.org.
Keene State College Arboretum and Gardens, Keene, NH: The college offers
a self-guided walk that takes visitors on a meandering tour of the central
campus area and introduces some of the interesting and ornamental trees and
shrubs on the campus through scenic stopping points and vistas. The
arboretum and gardens were created to support the teaching, research and
public service mission of the college by preserving unique and mature plant
specimens of historic value. It also created a model outdoor field laboratory
to promote botanical and horticultural awareness as an educational resource
for the college and the community. The tour can be taken any time; pick up a
copy of the walking tour brochure at the Student Center on Appian Way.
603-358-2544.
Northern Forest Heritage Park/Brown Company House Gardens, Berlin, NH:
Located in the Great North Woods and the heart of the White Mountain
National Forest, the Northern Forest Heritage Park Trust preserves, interprets
and promotes the story of the working forest and the multi-cultural heritage
of the region. The trust operates out of the historic Brown Company House
Museum and on 10 acres of land along the banks of the Androscoggin River.
Built in 1853 by H.Winslow and Company, the Brown Company House is one
of the oldest wood framed structures in Berlin. It served as a temporary
boarding facility for those coming to work at the paper mill. The gardens
adjacent to the Brown Company House were once the pride of the
community. Jack Story, its caretaker from 1929 to 1950, made sure that the
appearance of the garden changed often and was tended throughout the
winter. Plans are underway for this garden to be restored to its former glory.
A self-guided tour will identify plant and flower species and songbirds of the
northern White Mountains. 603-752-7202. www.northernforestheritage.org
Victorian Park, Salem, NH: This family entertainment center features an
old-fashioned ice cream parlor, an arcade, a climbing wall, a water balloon
game called "Water Wars" and miniature golf. Why is it being featured in a
press release on gardens, you ask? The owners designed the 18-hole
miniature golf course as a Victorian garden, featuring a waterfall, bridges and
plantings that change throughout the season. Victorian Park employs a
full-time gardener to maintain its beautiful grounds, which are extensive. It is
open mid-April through Halloween. 603-898-1803.
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