1.Heronswood,2.Garden Conservancy,3.New Book

17 years ago

Now that I have everyone's attention:

News about The Garden Conservancy's 2007 Open Days arrived

in my mailbox today, and a few items of interest (often

discussed in these threads) seemed worthy of being passed

along. . .

1. W.Atlee Burpee Company, located in Doylestown, PA, will

be hosting four (4) Open Days at their historic Fordhook

Farm this season; along with their gardens, some lectures

and other events, "you will have the opportunity to purchase plants from the Heronswood Collection" !!!

Burpee, you will recall, is the company, that (as one

distressed gardener described it) "hi-jacked" Heronswood -

while I cannot recommend the Heronswood offerings I saw

there last summer, it's a reasonably interesting place to

visit, with one absolute KILLER perennial garden the likes

of which you rarely see in this country. It's a roughly

100'x100' square planting, with grass pathways snaking

through it and some of the most voluptuous swaths of sun-

loving perennials you can imagine, very much in the manner

of English estate gardens. . .I must have wandered back and forth for a couple hours, furiously taking notes! With

only a $5 entry fee (benefiting the Conservancy, not Burpee), you really can't go wrong. . .

2. The Garden Conservancy itself (which I seem to champion

here so often that everyones' eyes roll back) is just such

a great way to pick other gardeners' brains, just by viewing their handiwork. . .they have streamlined their

directories this year, so that the East Edition now includes the NorthEast, the Atlantic States, the SouthEast

and the MidWest! There's a link below. . .

3. Taunton Press (publishers of "Fine Gardening") is

offering a new book entitled "Great Gardens", which features 12 gardens, coast-to-coast, many of which are

featured in The Garden Conservancy Open Days - you get to look first and then visit! Only $7.99 (incl. shipping) - we can all use a little more garden-candy, especially in February. . .

Carl

Here is a link that might be useful: The Garden Conservancy

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Comments (5)

ginny12
17 years ago
Can you share more info about the Burpee gardens at Fordhook Farm? I'm not finding anything about them online. Are they open all the time or just for the Garden Conservancy days? They don't seem to have a website--just the seed catalog and an inn in the old Burpee mansion. I'm in PA regularly but won't be there for the GC open days. The perennial garden you mentioned sounds most alluring.
georgia-rose
17 years ago
W. Atlas Burpee is still using the Heronswood.com website for their PA nursery.
Link below is for their Hellebores open days and directions.
I found it while searching for some Hellebores. (That they don't have).
RB

Here is a link that might be useful: Heronswood Hellebore Spring Open - Doylestown, PA
hunt4carl
Original Author
17 years ago
ginny12: Well, it took some digging, but I think I've found you a link to further information about the Open
Days at Burpee's Fordhook Farm, at least the April date.
There will be three more pair of Open Days there this
summer: May 18 & 19, August 3 & 4, and September 21 & 22.
As I suggested, it's only a $5. entrance fee...and a bonus
$5. credit toward any purchases you make!

If none of this works, just E-mail me through GW and I can
forward the announcement I got from The Garden Conservancy.

Carl

Here is a link that might be useful: The Garden Conservancy
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
17 years ago
Yes, I know Burpees bought the right to the Heronswood name when they bought the nursery operations, but it still irks the daylights out of me to see it bandied about with reference to their PA display gardens. Whatever they choose to call it, it is NOT Heronswood, nor will it ever be. The real Heronswood remains here outside of Kingston, WA, embroiled in a struggle for purchase by a local garden conservancy to be maintained in perpetuity. If any of you who visited the original Heronswood or if you valued that former nursery before Ball got his grubby, greedy hands on it are interested in saving this fanatstic and one of a kind display garden, check out the attached link.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pacific Northwest Horticultural Conservancy
ginny12
17 years ago
Carl, thank you so much for your labors. Odd, but I am a member of the Garden Conservancy and haven't gotten any of these announcements. In any event, I am hoping to find general open hours (if they exist) for the Burpee gardens, rather than the limited GC days.