Secret Garden Tour in Newport's Historic Point Section

I have a special fondness for Newport, Rhode Island’s Point Section. Since1185797-764236-thumbnail.jpg 1990 or so I’ve been attending the self-guided annual Secret Garden Tour there in June. My mother got me started. She’s an avid gardener who shares my taste for charming architecture. This tour happily suits us both since it reinforces the concept that house and garden are each vital to the other. True, only the gardens are open for public touring, but in this densely packed, seaside neighborhood, the historic homes they accompany can also be appreciated in the round.
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Green Animals Topiary Garden

This unusual garden on an estate overlooking Narragansett Bay in Portsmouth, Rhode Island celebrates the art of topiary amidst a vast array of1185797-812053-thumbnail.jpg gardens and garden features including a rose garden, formal parterre, an herb garden, arbors, espaliers, and more. The white clapboard Victorian dwelling and accompanying outbuildings that include a barn, greenhouses, and cottage set the stage for this historic garden that has evolved over the years into a unique New England treasure. Started in 1912 by Joseph Carreiro, the superintendent to the then property owner, Thomas E. Brayton, the original animal and geometric topiaries can still be enjoyed today as well as many created in the 40’s and 70’s.
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Edith Wharton's gardens at The Mount

Edith Wharton’s estate in Lenox, Massachusetts includes her turn-of-the-century summer house, known at The Mount1185797-759231-thumbnail.jpg
view from rear patio, and three-acres of formal gardens all originally envisioned by the author. Known most for writing House of Mirth, Ethan Frome, and Age of Innocence (among other novels), Wharton was also at the forefront of interior and landscape design discourse. She published The Decoration of Houses with friend and architect Ogden Codman, Jr. in 1897 prior to creating The Mount with Codman’s help.
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More spring/summer 2007 garden tours

Consider These Additional Upcoming New England Garden Tours

Through Back Bay Gates & Doors (Boston, MA) June 5, 2007 www.gardenclubbackbay.org

Urban Gardens Celebration: Twilight Garden Tour and Reception at the Rundlet-May House (Portsmouth, NH) June 7, 2007 www.historicnewengland.org

Provincetown Art Association and Museum’s 10th Annual Secret Garden Tour (Provincetown, MA) July 15, 2007 www.paam.org/secretgarden.html

Spring/summer 2007 special events

Recommended upcoming New England festivals and events

Newport International Film Festival (Newport, RI) June 5-10, 2007 www.newportfilmfestival.com

Nantucket Film Festival (Nantucket, MA) June 13-17, 2007 www.nantucketfilmfestival.org

Art in the Barn (Essex, MA) June 15-17, 2007 www.ecga.org/Events/aib.html

Marblehead Festival of Arts (Marblehead, MA) June 30-July 4, 2007 www.marbleheadfestival.org

Micro & Mini Car Day (Brookline, MA) July 14, 2007 www.mot.org