Recommended upcoming New England tours

Garden Affairs Garden Tour (Concord, MA) Friday - Saturday, May 31 - June 1, 2013 9:00 am - 4:00 pm 

Newport Summer Secret Garden Tour (Newport, RI) Friday - Sunday, June 14 - 16, 2013 10:00 am - 5:00 pm 

Earth, Roots, Petals, & Paths Garden Tour (Putney, VT) Saturday, June 15, 2013 10:00 am - 3:00 pm

South End Garden Tour (Boston, MA) Saturday, June 15, 2013 10:00 am - 4:00 pm

Portsmouth Pocket Garden Tour (Portsmouth, NH) Saturday, June 22, 2013 9:00 am - 3:00 pm

New Castle Village Walk & Garden Tour (New Castle, NH) Sunday, June 23, 2013 1:00 pm - 4:30 pm

Rockport Garden Club Garden Tour (Rockport, MA) Saturday - Sunday, June 28 - 29, 2013 10:00 am - 4:00 pm

The Maine Home + Design English Garden Party & Home Tour (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) Saturday, June 29, 2013 10:00 am - 3:00 pm

Black Point House and Garden Tour (Niantic, CT) Friday, July 12, 2013 10:00 am - 3:00 pm

Gardening with the [URI] Masters 2013 Statewide Garden Tour (Rhode Island) Saturday - Sunday July 13 - 14, 2013 10:00 am - 4:00 pm

Provincetown Art Association and Museum Secret Garden Tour (Provincetown, MA) Sunday, July 14, 2013 10:00 am - 3:00 pm 

Pittsfield Garden Tour (Pittsfield, MA) Saturday, July 20, 2013 10:00 am – 4:00 pm and Sunday, July 21, 2013 noon – 4:00 pm  

Private Gardens of the Kennebunks Tour (Kennebunk, ME) Saturday, July 13, 2013 10:00 am - 4:00 pm  

The 66th Annual Camden House and Garden Tour (Camden, ME) Thursday, July 18, 2013 9:30 am - 4:00 pm

The 59th Annual Nantucket House and Garden Tour (Nantucket, MA) Wednesday, August 7, 2013 11:00 am - 4:30 pm  

The Garden Conservancy’s Open Days 

Hidden Gardens of Beacon Hill (Boston, MA) Thursday, May 17, 2012 9:00 am – 5:00 pm

Concord Museum 21st Annual Garden Tour (Concord, MA) Friday-Saturday June 1-2, 2012 9:00 am - 4:00 pm 
 
Farmington/Unionville Friends Kitchens and Gardens Tour (Farmington/Unionville, CT) Saturday, June 16, 2012 10:00 am – 4:00 pm 
 
South End Garden Tour (Boston, MA) Saturday, June 16, 2012 10:00 am - 4:00 pm

Portsmouth Pocket Garden Tour (Portsmouth, NH) Friday, June 22, 2012 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm and Saturday, June 23, 2011 9:00 am - 3:00 pm

Vineyard Haven House Tour (Vineyard Haven, MA) Saturday, June 23, 2012 12:30 pm -3:00 pm

New Castle Village Walk & Garden Tour (New Castle, NH) Sunday, June 24, 2012 1:00 pm - 4:30 pm

Newport Summer Secret Garden Tour (Newport, RI) Friday-Sunday, June 29-July 1, 2012 10:00 am - 5:00 pm  

Provincetown Art Association and Museum Secret Garden Tour (Provincetown, MA) Sunday, July 8, 2012 10:00 am - 3:00 pm 

The Maine Home + Design Cape Elizabeth Garden Tour (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) Saturday, July 14, 2012 10:00 am - 4:00 pm

Pittsfield Garden Tour (Pittsfield, MA) Saturday, July 14, 2012 10:00 am – 4:00 pm and Sunday, July 15, 2012 noon – 4:00 pm  

Private Gardens of the Kennebunk’s Tour (Kennebunk, ME) Saturday, July 14, 2012 10:00 am - 4:00 pm  

Camden Garden Club House and Garden Tour (Camden, ME) Thursday, July 19, 2011 9:30 am - 4:00 pm

Nantucket Annual House & Garden Tour (Nantucket, MA) Wednesday, August 8, 2012 11:00 am - 4:30 pm  

The Garden Conservancy’s Open Days 
 
by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast

a favorite garden from the Newport Secret Garden Tour years agoRecommended upcoming New England tours

Hidden Gardens of Beacon Hill (Boston, MA) Thursday, May 19, 2011 9:00 am – 5:00 pm

Concord Museum 21st Annual Garden Tour (Concord, MA) Friday-Saturday June 3-4, 2011 9:00 am - 4:00 pm

Gardens by the Sea (Stonington, CT) Friday- Saturday, June 10-11, 2011 10:00 am – 4:00 pm

Farmington/Unionville Friends Kitchens and Gardens Tour (Farmington/Unionville, CT) Saturday, June 11, 2011 10:00 am – 4:00 pm

Guilford Secret Garden Tour (Guilford, CT) Saturday, June 11, 2011 10:00 am - 4:00 pm

Newburyport Annual Garden Tour (Newburyport, MA) Saturday-Sunday, June 11-12, 2011 10:00 am - 4:00 pm

New Castle Village Walk & Garden Tour (New Castle, NH) Sunday, June 12, 2011 1:00 pm - 4:30 pm

Lyme and Old Lyme Garden Tour (Lyme and Old Lyme, CT) Friday-Saturday, June 17-18, 2011 10:00 am – 4:00 pm

Portsmouth Pocket Garden Tour (Portsmouth, NH) Friday, June 17, 2011 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm and Saturday, June 18, 2011 9:00 am - 3:00 pm

South End Garden Tour (Boston, MA) Saturday, June 18, 2011 10:00 am - 4:00 pm

Newport Summer Secret Garden Tour (Newport, RI) Friday-Sunday, June 17-19, 2011 10:00 am - 5:00 pm

Hidden Treasures of the Berkshires Garden and House Tour (Richmond and West Stockbridge, MA) Saturday, July 9, 2011 10:00 am - 4:00 pm

Willows Garden Stroll (Salem, MA) Saturday, July 9, 2011 10:00 am - 4:00 pm and Sunday, July 10, 2011 noon- 4:00 pm

Provincetown Art Association and Museum Secret Garden Tour (Provincetown, MA) Sunday, July 10, 2011 10:00 am - 3:00 pm

Pittsfield Garden Tour (Pittsfield, MA) Saturday, July 16, 2011 10:00 am – 4:00 pm and Sunday, July 17, 2011 noon – 4:00 pm

Camden Garden Club House and Garden Tour (Camden, ME) Thursday, July 21, 2011 9:30 am - 4:00 pm

Private Gardens of the Kennebunk’s Tour (Kennebunk, ME) Saturday, July 16, 2011 10:00 am - 4:00 pm

Nantucket Annual House & Garden Tour Wednesday, August 10, 2011 11:00 am - 4:30 pm

The Garden Conservancy’s Open Days

by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast

Click on this photo to see it in the KHS photo note cards/prints gallery.Generally when I feature garden tours, I focus on flower gardens and the accompanying shrubs, trees and landscape architecture that frame them. But it recently dawned on me that I’ve been leaving out a significant portion of the gardens we know and love -- those of the edible variety.

Now that I have my own idjit garden at my local community garden, in which most everything is edible (even my Mammoth Russian sunflower shown above with seeds in an early stage), I’m wishing I’d taken myself on a few edible-garden tours prior to planting. How nice it would have been to learn the various design attributes of vegetable, fruit, and herb plants from the example of others in advance.

Instead, I crowded several Sun Gold tomato seedlings into opposite corners of one, four-foot by four-foot, raised bed and then threw in a few more, for good measure, so I thought. Today, two and one-half months later, those tomatoes have crowded out the sunflower and what had been a beautiful grouping of Swiss chard and sprightly bush beans. Sure, I love the tomatoes, but now I’m the proud caretaker of a small jungle, rather than a garden.

For those interested in picking up a few pointers for next season, I suggest visiting your local community gardens. I bet a number of them are loaded with edibles and populated by gardeners happy to share their insights. If you’re local to Salem, we have three community garden locations: Winter Island, Palmer Cove and Mack Park. Take a self-guided tour. Get inspired.

by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast

There's a lot to keep a house and garden enthusiast happily occupied in Provincetown this month at the Provincetown Art Association and Museum (PAAM).

Next weekend catch the PAAM Secret Garden Tour and companion Art of the Garden exhibit of floral works selected from the Museum's permanent collection. This year's tour features west-end gardens and a special lecture by gardening expert Suzy Bales.  

If you're fortunate enough to have more time available in P'town, check out the Gathering: Art about Architecture exhibit (June 25-August 29). It explores "art by three architects and architecture by three artists," including work by John Hejduk, Serge Chermayeff, John M. Johansen, Angela Dufresne, Peter Hutchinson, and Michelle Weinburg. Drop by the opening reception Friday, July 9, 2010, 8-10pm.

Meanwhile, have a great 4th of July holiday!

by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast