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Lifestyle
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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5, 2020
Alexandra Pecci
THE WASHINGTON POST - One
minute I was smack in the middle
of the real world, standing in a non-
descript parking lot during a global
pandemic, hot and sweaty under
the mask I wore to fend off the
deadly virus.
The next minute I was walking
under a white trellis covered in
snaking vines, through a narrow ev-
ergreen hedge, and into a garden
where roses bloomed pink, red and
coral in neatly cut beds.
My daughter, Chloe, and I were
alone in this little oasis at Fuller Gar-
dens on the New Hampshire sea-
coast, so we slipped off our masks.
Misty ocean air cooled my face
as I breathed in the smell of lowers.
A fountain tinkled, a rabbit hopped
across the grass, and the world be-
yond the garden hedge seemed to
melt away.
I felt like Alice in Wonderland,
disoriented but eager to explore
this pretty and peaceful world.
Like so many Americans, I have
been taking the same three walks
around my neighbourhood since
March, thanks to the novel corona-
virus. I cancelled my 40
th
birthday
vacation and got a refund on lights
for work travel.
I'm grateful for my backyard,
but I'm frankly tired of staring at the
same patch of grass every day.
I won't be travelling this sum-
mer - or anytime soon - but my de-
sire for novel experiences and new
places hasn't gone away.
In fact, it's gotten more intense
knowing I can't have it. So when an
acquaintance told me about a lo-
cal public garden that had recently
re-opened after shutting down be-
cause of the pandemic, my imagi-
nation went into overdrive look-
ing at pictures of it online. It was
beautiful. One spot reminded me
of a place I'd visited in England the
summer before. Another evoked a
dewy fairyland. I looked at the gar-
den's address and saw that it was
a short drive from my house, yet I
had never visited.
Intrigued, I typed “botanical
gardens near me” into Google and
saw even more pictures that called
to mind bucket-list places such as
Japan and Versailles.
These gardens were close to my
house - many less than a 30-minute
drive - but I hadn't visited any of
them. It was time to change that.
I'm not alone in my sudden de-
sire to visit local botanical gardens.
Data from around the country is
showing an increase in visits to
outdoor spaces this summer, and
public parks, including botanical
gardens, were the top spot that vis-
itors to cultural institutions planned
to return to in the wake of pandem-
ic closures, according to Colleen
Dilenschneider, data analyst and
publisher of
Know Your Own Bone,
a market research website for cul-
tural executives.
To ind places near you, Pub-
licGardens.org,the website of the
American Public Gardens Associa-
tion, includes a map of its member
At botanical gardens, let serenity bloom
gardens that's searchable by gar-
den name or Zip code. Searching
by location yields all the gardens
within 150 miles.
"Botanical gardens are a known
entity," said Director of External
Relations for the association Joan
Thomas. "They're places of sanc-
tuary, refuge, and calming places
to be." Plus, "they're cared-for
spaces," she added, natural but or-
ganised, alive but orderly, combin-
ing the structure of a museum with
the outdoor space of a park.
Eager for something new but
still wanting to stay safely outdoors,
Chloe and I hit the road.
Our irst stop was Bedrock Gar-
dens in Lee, New Hampshire, where
two miles of paths link 20 acres of
cultivated gardens with woodland
and meadows.
"It is designed as a journey," Jill
Nooney, who co-founded and owns
Bedrock Gardens with her husband,
told me later. "A journey has to have
a destination, and it has to have ad-
ventures along the way."
At Bedrock Gardens, themed
garden “rooms” connect to one
another along meandering paths
like “beads on a necklace”, Nooney
said. The landscape also is pep-
pered with pieces of Nooney's
art, much of which she built with
found objects. Some pieces recall
the property's former life as a dairy
farm - a pitchfork and shovels be-
come the crowning pieces of a
sculpture, and metal tractor seats
transform into swivel chairs.
Each garden room has a whim-
sical name that echoes its theme.
The “Wiggle Waggle” is an undulat-
ing, narrow water channel dotted
with lotus and lilies, and “Cone-
Town” is an ode to the dozens of
conifers that grow there.
While it's possible to simply
wander around and enjoy the land-
scape without any context, be sure
to grab the map that comes with
the suggested USD10 donation for
admission. It will deepen the expe-
rience, teaching visitors about ev-
erything from horticulture to histo-
ry. "There are aspects in this garden
that are based on French formal
gardens, Asian gardens, medieval
fruit growing," Nooney said.
Chloe and I weren't the only
visitors that day, but at times it felt
like we were nearly alone in the 37-
acre landscape, which was perfect
for social distancing.
"There aren't many things you
can do safely with kids. Because it's
so large it can easily incorporate
300 people," Nooney said. "People
are starved for safe outdoor activ-
ity. People are starved for some-
thing that refreshes the soul."
Seeking to refresh our souls a
little more, Chloe and I got back
into the car and headed 20 miles
southeast to another, very differ-
ent place: Fuller Gardens in North
Hampton, New Hampshire, which
former Massachusetts governor
Alvan Fuller built at his summer es-
tate, Runnymede-by-the-Sea, in the
1920s and ’30s.
Whereas Bedrock Gardens felt
quirky and fanciful, Fuller Gardens
is decidedly more manicured, re-
lecting its elegant country estate
history. An English perennial gar-
den, formal rose garden, classical
European sculptures and fountains,
conservatory, dahlia display gar-
den, and neat paths and hedgerows
give the place an Old World feel. A
few days later, Chloe and I visited
yet another garden near our home,
the one at the Stevens-Coolidge
Place in North Andover, Massachu-
setts, which is also part of a former
country estate.
Behind the estate's historic
house, we explored around a French
garden's vegetables and fruit trees,
an elegant sunken walled garden
with intricate wrought-iron gates,
and an exuberantly lowering pe-
rennial garden illed with bearded
iris, phlox and plume poppy.
Visiting such gardens is not
only good for the spirit; it's also
good for the gardener's imagina-
tion. After all, gardening is another
activity that's gotten a boost during
the pandemic.
"Ideas are free," Nooney said,
encouraging budding landscape
designers to take inspiration from
the art within Bedrock Gardens'
landscape, maybe by piling up
some stones to make a cairn or in-
verting a pot to see how it looks.
"There are tremendous things
to be learnt from botanic gardens
around the country and around the
world, but by focussing on local
gardens, you can really see what
will grow best in your own commu-
nity," said Director of Horticulture
for the Trustees of Reservations
Joann Vieira, which manages the
Stevens-Coolidge Place and other
properties throughout Massachu-
setts. Local botanical gardens could
also help you satiate your wander-
lust when far-lung travel isn't pos-
sible. At Fuller Gardens, you might
feel transported by the Japanese
Garden, where a traditional bam-
boo farming device called a
shi-
shi-odoshi
- which uses water and
noise to frighten away crop-eating
animals - and a pond illed with
bright orange koi add meditative,
liquid sounds to the hushed space.
Or you might feel dropped into
a classic British novel. Wandering
around the manicured rose beds at
Fuller Gardens, I half expected to
see Elizabeth Bennet strolling along
the hedgerows with her nose stuck
in a book, or Alice herself, chasing
after the white rabbit.
That global feeling is evident at
the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard
University, a 281-acre Frederick Law
Olmsted landscape that's free and
open to the public.
"We're a tree museum. So
when you come to the Arboretum
you have the opportunity to see
trees from all over the temperate
world," said Arboretum spokesper-
son Jon Hetman, pointing to col-
lections from China, Japan, Korea
and Europe.
The Arboretum's broad land-
scape and wide, paved walkways
provide ample space for people
to safely explore outside, he said,
though the website suggests avoid-
ing peak visitation hours.
Hetman believed that visiting
botanical gardens can remind us of
the “restorative power of nature”,
and after being in some of these
beautiful, serene places, I have to
agree with him.
"While people are really feeling
adrift and uncertain, gardens and
nature itself can really offer a way
to decompress and provide some
guidance and solace," Vieira said.
The dahlia display garden at Fuller Gardens was in full bloom during the author’s visit. PHOTO: THE WASHINGTON POST
Gardening