I didn't really know what to expect when I decided last summer to visit the garden in Cold Spring, NY, that's associated with the the Garden Conservancy. I love to go on their annual "Open Days" garden tours, held around the country, mostly on weekends, from April to October. And I've long admired their work to preserve many worthy gardens in danger of being lost forever.
Stonecrop itself is the former home of GC founder Frank Cabot, and it opened as a public garden only in 1992. It's open from April to October, located in the rather chilly Hudon Highlands (at an elevation of 1100 feet) in zone 5.
In summer it's a perfect place to visit ... to enjoy the diverse gardens and see a lot of plants that you won't find in many locations. The Conservatory, shown above, is a display house for non-hardy plants and has many plants native to southern climes like South Africa, New Zealand and Australia. Pictured below are some of these plants, moved outside for the summer.
You can go through the garden in a single day, but leave yourself at least three or four hours to see everything you want to see. The Woodland Garden surrounds a lake and paths of mulch wind through it past spring bulbs, and shade-loving shrubs and perennials.
The Lake and Hillside Garden includes a grove of metasequoia, a bamboo grove and a flintstone beach, among other highlights.
The Flower Garden, shown above, changes through the seasons, of course, but it contains borders in almost every color imaginable.
There's also a diverse collection of alpine plants; a Rock Ledge; and a hillside planted with flowering shrubs that were chosen particularly for their spring flowering displays and brilliant autumn colors.
There is much more to Stonecrop than what I've described ... but it's well worth a visit if you're anywhere near the Hudson Valley area north of New York City, and it's certainly worth a detour.
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