Sweeps of ‘Roseum Elegans’ rhododendrons in The Birchwood, in Montgomery Center
Vermont Gardens
- Including tours of residential gardens in Norwich, Westminster West, and West Springfield
Please e-mail listings, preferably in the format below, to: [email protected].
Photo by Shelburne Farms
Peonies at Shelburne Farms
Daily, YEAR ROUND, dawn to dusk
Shelburne Farms
1611 Harbor Road, Shelburne
Gilded Age estate of the Webb family, now a large non-profit working farm and opulent inn and restaurant with restored formal gardens: symmetrical terraces, supported by elegant balustraded brick and stone walls, on a slope on the edge of Lake Champlain. The long, narrow terraces are planted with neat groups of (mainly) perennials. Like a villa on Lake Como, the view from the lawn above the terraces is an extraordinary use of “borrowed” lake-and-mountain scenery. A long balustrade is the base of a stunning view: a vast expanse of the region’s largest lake, with the Adirondacks—the highest mountains in New York State—rising to the horizon on the far side. Free but donation requested.
802-985-8686
www.shelburnefarms.org
Photo by Hildene
Elaborate formal gardens at Hildene
Thursday-Monday YEAR ROUND (except Easter, Thanksgiving, and December 24-26), 10-4:30
Hildene
Route 7A, Manchester
A stunning Georgian Revival mansion built by Robert Todd Lincoln, the only child of Abraham Lincoln to live to adulthood. In the broad terrace in front of the home, a tapestry of perennial beds is framed by an elaborate formal network of privet hedges. $23.
800-578-1788
www.hildene.org
MARCH 7-9; Friday-Saturday, 10-6; Sunday, 10-4
2025 Vermont Flower Show
Champlain Valley Expo, Essex Junction
A 1-acre “grand garden display” features historic garden styles, including Medieval, Islamic, English Cottage, Tea House, and Victory. Plus 100 vendors, 35 seminars and workshops, entertainment, etc. Produced by the non-profit Vermont Nursery and Landscape Association. $28; $68 for 3 days.
802-425-5117
vnlavt.org/event/the-vermont-flower-show/
Photo by Vermont Horticultural Farm
Rhododendrons at the Vermont Horticultural Farm
Monday-Friday, APRIL-NOVEMBER, 8-4
University of Vermont Horticultural Farm
65 Green Mountain Road, South Burlington
Large collections of mature ornamental plants, including more than 15 species of rhododendrons and native azaleas, which bloom in late May/early June; more than 100 lilacs, including 46 different varieties, which bloom in May; rare conifers and other shrubs; plus large perennial beds. A free map identifies the collections, which include some of the largest specimens in Vermont. Free.
802-658-9166
www.fhfvt.org
Photo by Vermont Horticultural Farm
Giant rhododendrons at the Vermont Horticultural Farm
Photo by Shelburne Museum
Spring blossoms at Shelburne Museum
Tuesday-Sunday, MAY 11-OCTOBER 20, 10-5
Shelburne Museum
6000 Shelburne Road, Shelburne
22 small gardens, mostly perennials, plus many lilacs and mature trees decorate one of New England’s largest collections of historic buildings and other artifacts. 2-day admission: $25 from May 1 to October 31 ($15 for Vermont residents), $10 from November 1 to April 30.
802-985-3346
www.shelburnemuseum.org/gardens-and-landscape; the “museum from above” video is a graceful aerial tour of the museum’s 45-acre campus.
Photo by Shelburne Museum
Perennial beds and day lilies at Shelburne Museum
Photo by Old Stone House Museum & Historic Village
Old Stone House Museum gardens
Wednesday-Sunday, MID-MAY—MID-OCTOBER, 11-4
Old Stone House Museum & Historic Village
The lovely historic hamlet of Brownington is a collection of attractive early 19th-century buildings and a 25-by-50-foot garden of perennials and herbs popular in the 1800s. $10.
802-754-2022
www.oldstonehousemuseum.org
Photo by Cady’s Falls Botanical Garden
Cady’s Falls Botanical Garden
Daily, SPRING-FALL, 10-5
Cady’s Falls Botanical Garden
6637 Duhamel Road, Morrisville
For decades Cady’s Falls Nursery was distinguished by its extensive selection of home-grown trees, shrubs, and perennials, many of them rare, and by its lush, graceful naturalistic display gardens. Don and Lela Avery no longer sell plants, but their gardens remain open by donation.
802-888-5559
www.cadysfallsgarden.com
Photo by Cady’s Falls Botanical Garden
Rock garden at Cady’s Falls Botanical Garden
Photo by Eileen Oktavec
Sweeps of Catawba rhododendrons in bloom at the Birchwood
Friday-Thursday, JUNE 7-13, 10-5
The Birchwood
3217 Hazen’s Notch Road, Montgomery Center
Landscape designer Robert Gillmore’s second major woodland garden is also Vermont’s newest public garden. The 7-acre landscape opens when nearly 700 of its more than 1,200 rhododendrons are in bloom. $7, to benefit the Friends of the Montgomery Library.
603-497-8020
www.evergreenfoundationnh.org
Photo by Eileen Oktavec
Catawba rhododendrons in bloom at the Birchwood
Photo by Joseph Valentine
The Garden of Gordon and Mary Hayward
JUNE 30, AUGUST 11
Garden Conservancy Open Days
3 private gardens in Norwich, Westminster West, and West Springfield open to the public as part of the Conservancy’s annual Open Days program.
Admission is $10 per person per garden and by pre-registration only at www.garden conservancy.org.
Photo by The Garden Conservancy
Hayward Garden
Sunday, JUNE 30, 10-4
The Garden of Gordon and Mary Hayward
Westminster West
The lush 1½-acre landscape surrounds a restored late-18th-century farmhouse and features informal collections of perennials, trees, and shrubs within formal parterres. It includes charming naturalistic rooms and other vignettes, picturesque furniture and sculpture, and views of surrounding meadows. It’s showcased in one of the Haywards’ books, The Intimate Garden, and on their website, www.haywardgardens.com. Open by preregistration only at www.gardenconservancy.org.
Photo by Bill Noble
Garden of Bill Noble
Sunday, JUNE 30, 10-4
Garden of Bill Noble
Norwich
Originally a hillside farm, the 2-acre garden in includes perennial and shrub borders, rock gardens, vegetable gardens, and an orchard. Garden expert Noble’s latest book is Spirit of Place: The Making of a New England Garden. Open by preregistration only at www.gardenconservancy.org.
Photo by The Garden Conservancy
Woodland Farms
Sunday, AUGUST 11, 10-4
Woodland Farms
West Springfield
The 300-acre property features extensive stone work—terraces, steps, walls, paths, and sculptural elements—plus uncommon perennials, shrubs, and trees; grape and kiwi arbors; orchards; berry bushes; and an organic vegetable garden. Open by preregistration only at www.gardenconservancy.org.
Photo by The Garden Conservancy