Garden Conservancy’s Open Days Program

Shares Fairfield County Gardens

On Sunday, July 18, the public is invited to visit five private gardens in Riverside, Southport, Weston, Westport, and West Redding, open to the public through The Garden Conservancy’s Open Day Program.

Guests can discover the Beech House Garden, on three shoreline acres in Southport, with huge copper beech trees, large rhododendrons, swaths of azaleas and pachysandra, and hydrangeas that line the entrance court.

Admire Susan Cohen’s garden, a small, sloping property overlooking a tidal inlet, shaped over the past twenty years to create a garden in harmony with its waterfront setting. Highlights include a fountain grotto fashioned from the old foundation walls of a derelict boathouse, flowering borders surrounding the house, and four raised beds that provide growing space for vegetables, herbs, and roses.

Participants can also explore the garden of Birgit Rasmussen Diforio, where a steep and dramatic 100-foot-long granite ledge, uncovered and terraced by the owner, dominates the hilly site. It culminates at the rear of the property with a recirculating waterfall and pond. A stone terrace, tucked away at the start of the woodland walk, offers a completely different atmosphere and is a favorite retreat for reading and relaxing.

Visitors may begin the tour at the Hughes-Sonnenfroh Gardens, 54 Chestnut Woods Road in West Redding, which will be open from 10 am to 4 pm (hours vary at each garden).

Admission to each garden is $5, the Open Days are rain or shine, and no reservations are required. Call 1-888-842-2442 for more information and wheelchair accessibility. Additional Fairfield County Open Days will take place on August 8, featuring a garden in Redding; and September 4 with properties in Cos Cob, Greenwich.

Open Days gardens are included in the 2004 Open Days Directory, a soft-cover book that includes detailed driving directions and vivid descriptions written by their owners. The National Edition includes garden listings in 22 states plus British Columbia, and costs $15.95 plus $4.50 for shipping. The Northeast Edition (including gardens in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Vermont) costs $5 plus $1.95 for shipping. Each directory also includes a free admission coupon offer (valued at $5).

Call the Garden Conservancy toll free at 1-888-842-2442, to order with a Visa or MasterCard, or send a check or money order to The Garden Conservancy, PO Box 219, Cold Spring NY 10516. Discount admission coupons are available as well through advanced mail order.

The Garden Conservancy introduced the Open Days Program in 1995 as a means of introducing the public to gardening, providing easy access to outstanding examples of design and horticultural practice, and proving that exceptional American gardens are still being created. The Open Days Program is America’s only national private garden-visiting program, and is made possible by the work of hundreds of volunteers nationwide. Visit the Garden Conservancy and its Open Days Program online at www.GardenConservancy.org.