Monday, September 24, 2012

Patio Party at Idyll Haven

What could be more perfect than a gorgeous sunny afternoon, temps in the low 70's, terrific food, a gorgeous garden and the best of friends? Not a thing I can think of.  Sue's fabulous gardens, Idyll Haven,  lure me to Connecticut as often as I can get there and can get an invitation to visit... well sometimes if I don't hear from Sue I invite myself. Te he.  It's really a good thing we are good friends because Sue only got about a 24 hour notice that we were going to descend on her for a garden party.  There were great protestations about how the gardens were a mess and the house wasn't clean.... etc, etc, etc, but she stepped up to the plate and we got a green light for a visit to one of my favorite private gardens anywhere.

My dear, clever husband is a private pilot and we decided to fly to Connecticut instead of the taking the two hour drive.
Flying into Hartford's Brainard Airport

Hartford Skyline 



A welcoming vignette at the front door

A beautiful combination of containers, perennials and shrubs at the kitchen door.





Wonderful dinner of tossed salad, roasted summer vegetables and grilled wild teriyaki salmon




Homemade apple cake with caramel pecan sauce
 

Some fabulous patio views

 




The fountain garden with Nickster - what a cutie









 
 
 

Stepping off the patio to the back garden area - wonderful plantings and container gardens everywhere you look


I'm green with envy over this Albizia 'Summer Chocolate'  gorgeous!

The Viburnum is smothered with berries

 




The east garden










 

Some views from the west side.... 






The amazing Twerpster the Idyll Haven's Garden Cat. This is a boy with cattitude!

And on and on, there are photo-ops everywhere you turn. A fabulous garden and a wonderful day. Thanks Sue!

18 comments:

  1. Fantastic garden,great weather,lovely cat..and more

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  2. Not sure what Sue would have accomplished even if she'd had more warning! What a lovely day trip you had with Doug as well! Thanks for the first class seat Deanne. :)

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    1. She was banned from taking any pictures in the front yard, Marie. It's an abomination right now.

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    2. Marie, even the front wasn't as bad as Sue thinks and in fact looks good even as a work in progress

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  3. Ah yes, you even descended on me from above. I can run but I can't hide. It's always great to see your garden through someone else's lens. Thanks for a great day and for forcing me to spruce up one last time.

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    1. Bwa ha ha ha... you never know when or how we'll show up Sue... Seriously. what a great day and your gardens are superb.

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  4. Wonderful photos Deanne from a wonderful garden. What fun to fly there as well.

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    1. Thanks Michelle, wish you could have been there too.

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  5. Can I be friends with Sue, too? What a beautiful garden--and what a delicious meal! I'm salivating over the cake. I wish I had a piece of it right now! Honestly, I can't imagine how this stunning garden could possibly look any better. We gardeners are our own worst critics, aren't we? So glad you had a lovely visit with your friend!

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    1. Thanks Julie! I'm sure you can join our extreme gardeners group of friends. The more the merries. And, it is so true, we are our worst critics. It seems I spend more time looking for and that the flaws sometimes than basking in the beauty of it all.

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  6. Breathtaking garden! So many of my favorite plants; it's interesting to see the exuberant response of the heat lovers to the much warmer summers you have back east. AND Agaves-sigh. Sue is a great friend; If I only had 24 hours notice, I'd be so busy cleaning my messy house that we'd probably dine on delivered pizza:)

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    1. It is truly a wonderful garden, and I LOL over the pizza comment because we originally planned to do just that.

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  7. Wow. What a gorgeous garden and isn't it nice to visit with likeminded gardeners? Always, the best although that food looked delicious as well.

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  8. A beautiful ride on a beautiful day to a beautiful home with a scrumptious meal and a lovely garden tour...that sounds like the perfect day! So much beauty in that garden...it takes my breath away.

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  9. Deanne, you really know how to arrive in style! What an amazing amount of tender stuff Sue grows so beautifully (as do you, of course). A local nursery is putting a couple of those dark-flwrd albizias on sale this weekend, and I'm really tempted. It looks nowhere as nice as Sue's and is kinda ratty, but it's the first chance I've had to find one reasonably priced. Twerp is growing into quite the handsome boy -- hope you shared a bit of that wild salmon with him ;)

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  10. Seriously, those are amazing pictures and you have posted! Thanks for posting about your garden it is wonderful!

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  11. No wonder this is your favorite space – it’s really a beautiful place to be! From the plants to the decorations – everything is in their proper places. How I wish I could do the same. Anyway, thanks for sharing these photos. You inspire me, and no doubt that a lot of people will. With this kind of place, I’ll definitely spent most of my days partying in my patio. ;-)

    Kylee Groves

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