Tour-goers will see a variety of types of garden. “Some were developed from a clean slate just a few years ago,” Coyne says, “and others are places where the homeowners have been gardening there for decades.” One of the gardens belongs to the president of the RVBA, she adds, whose garden is notable even just for its siting on the Rondout Creek in addition to its other merits.
Photography is permitted. For more information, call Victoria Gardens at (845) 658-9007 or visit the RVBA website at www.rondoutvalley.org.
Garden Conservancy Open Day garden tours: Ulster County
Recognizing that most exceptional public gardens began as private spaces — the life’s work of a passionate and dedicated gardener — The Garden Conservancy is a national nonprofit headquartered in Cold Spring that works toward sustaining wonderful gardens and ensuring long-term stewardship of them. Their approach is multi-faceted, with an emphasis on advocacy and education. They champion the aesthetic and historic value of gardens within a community and offer a number of programs that allow people to learn about the design and care of them. The Garden Conservancy developed its annual Open Day program nearly 20 years ago, in which they partner with private gardeners all over the country to provide public access to unique private gardens one day out of the year; entrée to environments not normally open to the public.
Ulster County’s Open Day will be on Saturday, June 21, with two possible locations to visit: Teri Condon’s garden in Highland and Lee Reich’s in New Paltz, both open from noon to 4 p.m. Each self-guided tour costs $5, with all of the proceeds going to the Garden Conservancy to support their programs.
Condon’s garden is nestled within a former apple orchard with views of the Shawangunk Ridge. Her use of color throughout and the plant combinations are striking. The visitor to her garden can expect to see serpentine stone paths leading past metal sculpture (created by Condon’s husband, Rich Gottlieb), along with an Akebia-draped pergola, recessed patio and stone fire circle.
An Open Day tour a few years back brought gardening writer Tovah Martin to Condon’s home. The resulting article and ten-page spread of photographs highlighting Condon’s garden, published in the spring 2013 issue of Deck, Patio & Outdoor Living, can be viewed on Condon’s garden design business website at www.tericondon-gardensmithdesign.com.
Readers of Ulster Publishing’s Almanac Weekly are familiar with its regular column by New Paltz-based gardening guru Lee Reich, in which expert information is delivered in an easy, conversational style. Open Day visitors to Reich’s “farmden,” as he refers to it — more than a garden, less than a farm, he explains — will find an emphasis on fruits, vegetables and nut trees interwoven with plantings of flowers and ornamental shrubs.
When asked what he thinks is most notable about his garden, Reich says it’s the way all of the different elements are integrated. “It all works together,” he says, “the vegetables and fruit in with the landscape and chickens.” Being ornamental is “not necessarily the main thing,” he adds, “but there are plantings around all of the fruit trees and arbors around the vegetable garden to make the whole thing look pretty, not just functional.”
Reich grows a year-round supply of nearly every vegetable and specializes in growing fruit, including many unusual varieties such as pawpaws, persimmons, kiwifruit, currants and medlars.
Medlars? Reich says they’re a fruit that reached its peak of popularity in the Middle Ages. “The problem is, it’s a very ugly fruit so you won’t see it in supermarkets. And before you can eat it, you have to let it sit and then it turns brown and mushy inside. It’s not that appealing looking, but it tastes really good.” The medlar tree is very decorative, with blossoms almost like roses, which it’s related to, he adds. With its “good fall color, a nice shape and sort of craggy, wizened looking branches, it’s really quite a nice tree.”
To purchase tickets for an Open Day self-guided tour, call the toll-free order line at (888) 842.2442 or visit www.gardenconservancy.org/opendays. Reich says the visitor can also pay at the garden, and the funds will be given to the Conservancy. For more information about the Garden Conservancy, call (845) 424-6500 or visit www.gardenconservancy.org. For directions to the Open Day gardens, click on the schedule and then the individual gardener’s name.
