Last week I shared photos of Colston Burrell’s garden near Charlottesville, VA and promised that I’d feature two amazing gardens within that historic city. Here they are!
Visit Charlottesville with Leslie Harris (no relation!) who invited me to tour her garden! Since meeting Leslie at a trade show back in January, her podcast had become one of my favorites – full of meaty gardening information! While I will feature it more fully later on my list of gardening podcasts (tidbits galore!), here’s your first peek inside Leslie’s garden!
I could see from the street that this home of an eccentric gardener was what I needed to silence my navigation app; her podcast told me so. (My yard may be smaller compared to hers; even so, many gardeners can appreciate that.)
I found myself laughing out loud at myself for assuring Leslie via email that, as an experienced gardener, I would understand if her garden wasn’t looking its best in early April – that I would be understanding and forgiving in my assessments. Little did I know!
So it was with her back garden, seen here from a second-floor window. With woods, evergreens, pathways, emerging perennials and cool design features galore – not even flowers can complete its stunning appearance here – but dogwoods, thousands of bulbs and early azaleas certainly added a pleasant surprise when I visited on a cool rainy afternoon!
Lunch was enjoyed in the plant-filled “garden room” on the lower level, as seen here on the far right of this picture. With its expansive view across two lots, this spot was breathtaking; I regretted later not taking more pano photos or videos (I am so bad at remembering that I blog!).
Visit Leslie’s Instagram account for even more images of her garden and surrounding area.
Leslie took me to see the historic Periwinkle Garden, listed both by the Smithsonian Archive of American Gardens and on Virginia Landmarks Registry as “Periwinkle Cottage, constructed between 1938-1939 by architect Thomas Lathrop and built along the Farmington Country Club golf course,” is breathtakingly beautiful! Views from it only add more beauty to its surroundings – adding immeasurably to the overall appeal of Periwinkle Garden itself.
Virginia Living has published an excellent garden feature with photos and descriptions for this link:
Garden art can take the form of informal and formal, intimate or grand floral motifs adorned with texture, colors, scents and sounds that reflect its owner. As any well-loved garden must, garden art evolves over time reflecting its creator.
Donna Ernest’s parents created the garden and lived there until their deaths, until its current ownership by Donna in her 90s took over. I met Donna during one of my visits, and found her both friendly and beautiful.
Donna Ernest’s mother was an accomplished gardener with an exceptional eye for design. Beginning from scratch, her garden slowly developed organically as she dug periwinkle out of nearby woods to fill her open woodland, planted boxwoods to form garden rooms, and laid pathways connecting all its spaces. Additionally, during World War II she planted both a Victory Garden as well as an orchard of apples and peaches.
Children were entranced by Irene Sims’ hands-on gardening and soon nicknamed her Mrs. Periwinkle; often seen weeding periwinkle in high-heeled shoes and stockings while wearing gloves and sun hat. “Mother died peacefully in the garden on July 23, 1987 aged 92 with arms full of irises in her arms,” according to Ernest, and was an avid gardener until the very end.
Cole Burrell has made significant contributions to this garden over time:
C. Colston Burrell, an expert native plant specialist residing near Charlottesville, assisted the Ernests in selecting an appealing combination of native plants like hellebores, ferns, bleeding hearts and Japanese roof irises to fill both beds on either side of their path.
Guess who else selected new plants for Periwinkle Garden? That would be Leslie Harris, who owned a fine gardening business for seven years before selling it off and starting her podcast (now known as Abigail Gardens).
Leslie knows many great gardens around Charlottesville from having worked in some herself. On top of this, she serves as chairperson of Virginia’s Historic Garden Week event for this region of the state.
As for me, the prospect of volunteering to organize tours of top gardens for large crowds is daunting! Thank goodness there are event-organizers!
