A Garden, An Unusual Theme (GardenDesignOnline)

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The next time you're en route to or from Martha's Vineyard via the ferry at Woods Hole, make time for a visit to Spohr Gardens, just off the main route. My husband and I stumbled across this garden back in the mid-80's, when it was still in private hands, but open to visitors any time at all. After a walk in the woods, we strolled down Fells Road and came upon a wondrous site with a simple sign that welcomed visitors into the gardens.

The garden was lovingly created over a 50 year period by Charles and Margaret Spohr, who left it to the public through a trust they created to maintain the gardens as long as possible. The six-acre site overlooks Oyster Pond in Falmouth, MA, and comes alive every spring with tens of thousands of daffodils, followed by huge drifts of azaleas, rhododendrons, other flowering trees, shrubs, and perennials.

The ingenuity of this garden is the "millstone" theme that runs all the way through it. Mr. Spohr, a professional civil engineer, tracked down and collected more than 75 historic millstones that serve as the backdrop for many plantings, but are also built into stairways and patios and fashioned into fountains. One of the millstones came from a paper mill in Maine, two from mills in Sandwich, MA. Another, from New Jersey, was once used for grinding mustard.

Wide paths of grass lead visitors into the garden, where one can continue following a circular path along the shore or ascend a series of staircases up into the gardens, where narrow paths wind through thousands of rhododendrons, azaleas, Japanese andromeda, and scores of other shade-loving plants.

Mr. Spohr collected nautical artifacts as well, including more than 70 ship's anchors, which are displayed at various sites in the garden. One of several installed on a stone and concrete retaining wall along the shore of Oyster Pond is said to date back to the 18th century and the HMS Bounty. That anchor is 14 feet long, has 8-foot arms, and weighs more than 2400 pounds.

Lighthouse lanterns edge the patios on the upper level, surrounding the home, and small buoy lights illuminate the gardens at night.

The gardens were laid out by Margaret Spohr, who had a master's eye for plantings. Climbing hydrangeas scramble up tree trunks throughout the site, and magnificent trees abound: many magnolias, Laburnum x watereri, the Goldenchain Tree; Sciadopitys verticillata, Umbrella Pine; Paulownia tomentosa, the Princess Tree; Cryptomeria japonica, Japanese Cedar; a weeping beech.

In recent years, the gardens have been expanded to include property across the street from the main site, where rustic paths meander through woodland plantings up a gentle slope and back down again. Stone benches are placed at strategic points where visitors can stop and enjoy the views. There's no charge for visiting Spohr gardens, but contributions to the trust are welcome to ensure the gardens will be around for many years yet to come.

Well worth a visit.