are the hallmark of Chrissie D'Esopo's brilliant garden. What a lovely hostess and a marvelous garden. Our Idylls group began our annual get together with a stop at White Flower Farm's annual sale (wicked fun) then on to Chrissie's garden. It was the first private garden we visited this year and what a great place to start. It is so saturated with colors it sizzles! She is known for huge swaths of color provided by masses of annuals including petunias and coleus. I'm not usually a petunia person but she's used them very effectively. In the past she used to cover the petunias with bright colored umbrellas when it rained but she doesn't do that anymore and told us the petunias actually do better with getting rained on from time to time.
Chrissie is well known in the area for opening her gardens to raise money for good causes. She's raised more than $175,000 for charity in the last twenty years. Sadly, there was an accident in her garden last year where one of the touring public fell on a brick pathway and was injured. The woman and her husband have pursued litigation and Chrissie won't open her garden to the public again because of it. The liability risk is too great. How sad for all the charities who benefited from her hard work and generosity and how sad for all the folks who enjoyed visiting her beautiful gardens. She still allows small groups such as ours to visit and I'm so thankful she does.
Chrissie, opened her home to us and set up the dining room for us to have lunch, served us lemonade and iced tea and made a fabulous batch of homemade (her own recipe) ginger cookies for dessert. After lunch she gave us a personal tour of her home and gardens. She's a very special lady and a most gracious hostess.
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| What a colorful and cheerful entrance! Talk about curb appeal. |
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| Love that bold purple Ensete foliage contrasting with the delicate Fagus foliage |
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| Chrissie had several beautifully grown Sambucus 'Black Lace' It made me decide to try one again. |
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| Love the columns Chrissie's husband has made for the gardens. |
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| I absolutely adored the Coleus contrasting with the bright Lysimachia |
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| Beautiful and very effective border, love it! |
What a fabulous garden! I love that bright red Coleus with the golden creeping jenny.
ReplyDeleteThanks Alison me too! I really loved that combination. I'm going to use it here somehow. It's wonderful how simple swaths of bold color are so effective.
DeleteA great garden full of lots of ideas to borrow! Such great uses of color, texture and form. Love this garden!
ReplyDeleteI agree Peter, so many great ideas. Chrissie said she's only been into conifers for a few years now. She's got quite the huge collection for only a few years, LOL.
DeleteWow! You got some great shots Deanne! What a great garden and garden host and hostess with the mostess.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sue, they were indeed most gracious. I still can't believe she brought us into her dining room to have our lunch. That was pretty special.
DeleteIt looks grand, and the splashes of colour are a cheer to see!
ReplyDeleteVery grand! I wish I'd seen it when she put the umbrellas out. Very cool.
DeleteHow very unfortunate. Glad to hear she still lets some small select groups tour as it is AMAZING! Thanks for the tour! Those columns are great! I love love love the Creeping Jenny- and with that red- BAM what a pop of color! Stunning. The whole place is incredible- what a fun tour!!!!
ReplyDeleteYet another beautiful personal experience ruined by litigation. Just hate that. She really does experiment with colorful things, and I must say in a way you don't see in your "average" garden publication. Love her playfulness with color and form. What a great gift to be able to visit and see her garden. Keeping this page bookmarked for future reference! Any good shade ideas from her place? I've got too much shade in my new house and am having to learn how to get color in the shade. Even getting variations of green from something other than hostas would be nice to know. I've got a lot to learn about shade!
ReplyDeleteGreat lessons in the value of mass plantings here! And I love the photo of the pond area. (I may be developing a fixation on water features, I think). Thanks for sharing your tour!
ReplyDeleteHello! Love your blog. Can you tell me what that tall yellow flowering plant is?
ReplyDeleteThanks,
Melanie