19th Annual Open House & Summer Garden Festival Spring 2010
Saturdays, July 17, 2010
10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Free and open to the public.
- Free lectures and demonstrations all day long
- An exceptional collection of perennials, grasses, herbs and shrubs
- 10 acres of daylilies at peak bloom and display gardens brimming with colorful perennials, woody shrubs, grasses, vines and water plants
- Herbs, distinctive annuals and perennials, garden gifts, garden accessories and product for sale from nurseries and garden organizations
- URI Master Gardeners will answer your gardening questions
- Cool drinks available all day
- Fruit, ice cream, sandwiches and light refreshments to benefit Massachusetts Agriculture in the Classroom.
- Garden raffle also benefits Massachusetts Agriculture in the Classroom
Open House and Summer Garden Festival
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Click Here for a description of each Festival Workshop & Demonstration
On Saturday, July 17th, 2010 from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., Tranquil Lake Nursery in Rehoboth, Massachusetts will celebrate our 19th Annual Open House & Summer Garden Festival. Each July, people from all over New England visit the nursery to wander among the perennials, display gardens and 10 acres of daylily fields during the peak season of bloom among the more than 3,600 varieties of daylilies that the nursery offers. Tranquil Lake Nursery is the largest grower of Daylilies and Siberian and Japanese Iris in the northeastern United States. To celebrate the occasion the nursery will offer free lectures and demonstration, free daylily tasting, cool drinks and a diverse assortment of garden activities and garden vendors all day long.
This year, our theme for the Open House and Summer Festival is “Flowers and Foliage from the Summer Garden.” Twelve garden talks and demonstrations will be offered throughout the day, on the half hour, showcasing talented local horticulturists, gardeners, flower arrangers and herbalists. Each will explore creative aspects of gardening, design and harvest. Topics include selecting plants to complement daylilies; design using exceptional foliage characteristics; planting to extend the interest in the garden through the season; fantastic ferns; woodland and meadow flowers; culinary and ornamental herbs; daylilies; dividing perennials; making troughs; summer flower arrangements and using flowers and herbs to make soaps and herbs products.
Schedule of Workshops and Demonstrations
10:00 “Garden Design Emphasizing Leaves - Their Color, Texture, Shape and More.” Warren Leach, horticulturist and co-owner of Tranquil Lake Nursery
Warren Leach, talented garden designer and co-owner of Tranquil Lake Nursery will recommend a diverse selection of superlative plants with exceptional foliage characteristics in his garden talk“Garden Design Emphasizing Leaves - Their Color, Texture, Shape and More.” Warren will emphasize plants with good foliage color, architectural stature, multi-season interest and stunning shape and texture characteristics that can be used in a diversity of ways to complement flowers, provide structure and offer seasonal succession in the mixed border. Warren will share his design skills to suggest plant combinations that you can translate into your own garden, echoing leaf colors and texture to set up dramatic eye catching accents to brighten the garden through the seasons.
10:30 Fantastic Ferns for Every Garden David Burdick, plant connoisseur and owner of Daffodils and More, Dalton, MA
David Burdick, talented gardener, plant connoisseur and owner of Daffodils and More Nursery in Dalton, Massachusetts will offer suggestion for adding a multitude of ferns, both hardy and tropical to your gardens in his garden talk “Fantastic Ferns for Every Garden.” David will detail how these exceptional foliage plants with their distinctive fronds and varied shape and colors offer a classical and tropical dimension to garden design. He will suggest placement in the garden and offer recommendations for soils and water requirements for each. Plan to add these elegant flowers to your garden this year.
11:00 Rare and Unusual Woody Plants You Are Sure to Love Ron Rabideau, Rare Find Nursery, New Jersey
Noted horticulturist and plant collector Ron Rabideau will share some of his favorite woody ornamental plants for the summer garden in his plant talk on “Rare and Unusual Woody Plants You are Sure to Love". Woody ornamentals form the backbone of the flower border throughout the year, adding structure, color, texture and panache. Plan to add a few more of these sensational garden accents to your borders this year.
11:30 Favorite Perennials to Complement Daylilies in the Summer Border Suzanne Mahler, garden lecturer and former president of New England Daylily Society
Suzanne Mahler is a distinguished garden lecturer and the past President and long time member of the New England Hemerocallis (daylily) Society. She has an impressive garden of her own in Hanover, Massachusetts, filled with daylilies and the many perennials that show them off to best advantage. During her 11:00 a.m. garden talk "Favorite Perennials to Complement Daylilies in the Summer Border", Suzanne will share her love for summer gardening, showing you some favorite daylilies and the many perennials that have provided sensational summer display in her own garden. She'll suggest an assortment of attractive flowering and foliage plants for garden settings ranging from partial sun to dense shade providing colorful flowers and foliage and distinctive texture and garden interest from spring through frost.
11:30 Easy Flower Arrangements from the Summer Garden Karen Perkins, flower arranger & owner of Garden Vision Epimediums, Phillipston, MA
Karen Perkins, gardener, garden lecturer and award-winning flower arranger will show you how to produce a bounty of beauty in "Creative Arrangements from the Summer Garden" Karen will demonstrate how to use everyday containers, garden flowers and cut foliage to create stunning floral compositions. She will demonstrate her unique design flare, share tips for selecting containers and tell you how to condition flowers and foliage picked from the summer garden. Karen is currently the proprietor of Garden Vision Epimediums and the former Education Director at Tower Hill Botanic Garden in Boylston, where she taught many floral courses.
12:00 Daylilies - The Summer Garden Sensation Philip Boucher, horticulturist and co-owner Tranquil Lake Nursery
With ten acres of daylilies at peak bloom, the daylily flowers are truly the stars of the Open House and Summer Garden Festival at Tranquil Lake Nursery, where the fields and gardens feature more than 3,600 varieties. Tranquil Lake Nursery co-owner Philip Boucher will share his love and knowledge of these special flowers in his garden talk “Daylilies - The Summer Garden Sensation.” Learn about the many assets and characteristics of these beautiful and diverse summer garden essential and meet some of Phil’s favorites. You are sure to meet a daylily or two that you must have for your own.
12:30 Garden Roses - Recommended Varieties and Tips for Success Manuel Mendes, Master Rosarian and member of the New England Rose Society
Manuel Mendes is a Master Rosarian who has spent a lifetime learning and teaching about roses - old and new. His rose garden in Canton, Massachusetts has appeared in a publication on David Austin Roses. Manuel will share his love and wealth of knowledge about roses during his 12:30 p.m. garden talk “Garden Roses, Recommended Varieties and Tips for Success.” Meet a variety of different types of sensational roses for your garden, including new cultivars and easy care varieties. Learn about their growth habits, recommended varieties for our region, care and culture, pruning, overwintering and more.
1:00 Plant Combinations for A Long Season of Enjoyment in the Mixed Border Warren Leach, garden designer and co-owner of Tranquil Lake Nursery
Warren Leach, horticulturist, Warren Leach, horticulturist, garden designer and co-owner of Tranquil Lake Nursery, will explore “Plant Combinations for A Long Season of Enjoyment in the Mixed Border” in his garden talk. Warren is noted throughout New England for the gardens he designs that offer a bounty of bloom and distinctive foliage from early spring through to November. With some forethought and planning you can have bloom and garden color throughout the season. Warren will focus on planting combinations that start their beauty on early spring and roar on with full throttle beauty into the fall, even withstanding frost. He will offer design tips that can be easily translated to the home garden.
1:30 Woodland and Meadow Wildflowers, Myths and Fallacies Bruce McCue, McCue Gardens, Wethersfield, CT
Bruce McCue of McCue Gardens in Wethersfield, Connecticut has been growing woodland and meadow Wildflowers for more than forty years. He will showcase his favorite herbaceous perennials and wildings in his garden talk “Woodland and Meadow Wildflowers, Myths and Fallacies.” He will share tips for success with wildlflowers and insights for using them in the garden to suit your conditions.
2:00 Favorite Culinary and Ornamental Herbs and Their Lore Gilbert Moore, herb grower, gardener and nursery friend
Gilbert Moore has been gardening at his home in Slatersville, Rhode Island for nearly half a century. His passion for herbs has led him to spend many seasons volunteering at Capriland's Herb Farm in Connecticut and Old Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts. His own garden is divided into several themed herb garden areas, such as herbs for fragrance, dying, herbs from the Bible, herbs for cooking, medicine, and more. Gil will share the lore and practical gardening tips for growing some of his favorite garden herbs and tell you how he uses them during his 2:00 p.m. garden talk “Favorite Culinary and Ornamental Herbs and Their Lore.” Learn which of these useful herbs will grow best in your location, how to use them and which will make handsome additions to your summer garden.
2:30 Making Soap and Other Herbal Products Stephen Woodcock, Woodcock Made, Dighton
Stephen Woodcock from Woodstock Made in Dighton, Massachusetts will offer a sampling of some of the soaps and other herbal products that he and his family make during in his demonstration "Making Soaps and Other Herbal Products." Learn how the soaps are made and suggestions of herbs and flowers that can be grown for use in herbal products. They make an ideal gifts from the garden.
11:30 Easy Flower Arrangements from the Summer Garden Karen Perkins, flower arranger & owner of Garden Vision Epimediums, Phillipston, MA
Karen Perkins, gardener, garden lecturer and award-winning flower arranger will show you how to produce a bounty of beauty in "Creative Arrangements from the Summer Garden" Karen will demonstrate how to use everyday containers, garden flowers and cut foliage to create stunning floral compositions. She will demonstrate her unique design flare, share tips for selecting containers and tell you how to condition flowers and foliage picked from the summer garden. Karen is currently the proprietor of Garden Vision Epimediums and the former Education Director at Tower Hill Botanic Garden in Boylston, where she taught many floral courses.
3:30 Creating and Planting Permanent Hypertufa Troughs Warren Leach and Andy Balon, Tranquil Lake Nursery Landscape Crew
We will end the with a demonstration on “Creating and Planting Permanent Hypertufa Pots.” Learn everything you need to know about planting permanent containers in the garden with Warren Leach and Andy Balon from the Tranquil Lake Nursery landscape crew. They will show you how to cast hypertufa troughs, such as those that have been displayed in the gardens at Tranquil Lake Nursery for more than ten years. They’ll share tips on mixing and casting and discuss the many forms and uses in walls, paving, pots and troughs. They will also offer suggestions for a variety of trees and shrubs and perennials that will withstand these outdoor living year round in these containers.
In addition to the 3,600 varieties of daylilies and the 300 varieties each of Siberian and Japanese Iris for which Tranquil Lake Nursery is famous, the nursery also offer an exceptional collection of container grown perennials, grasses and shrubs to accompany your daylilies and Iris in the home garden. A number of other horticultural vendors have been invited to share their gardening products with you.
Sylvan Nursery of Westport will bring some of their varieties of heathers that they grow and also English Roses. Garden Vision in Phillipston will showcase epimediums. McCue Gardens of Wethersfield, Connecticut will offer alpine plants. Daffodils and More of Dalton will offer tropical bromeliads and ferns. Mapel Plants of Grafton will showcase herbs and annuals. Stephen Woodcock will bring herbal lotions and saps from Woodcock Made in Dighton.
In addition, the URI Master Gardeners, will offer garden tips and advice throughout the day. Bring your garden questions and Ask a Master Gardener. Massachusetts Agriculture in the Classroom, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing educational resources about the importance of Massachusetts agriculture will be selling, fruit, cold gaspacho soups, Sandwiches and ice cream. All proceeds from the sale of food and a garden raffle will benefit Massachusetts Agriculture in the Classroom. Cool drinks are always provided free, courtesy of the Nursery. Drinks, such as lemonade, ice tea and water will be plentiful and free. Guests are also invited to bring a picnic.
Tranquil Lake Nursery also has beautiful display gardens for you to view. These include a number of low maintenance perennial borders, an ornamental vegetable garden, a thyme bench, an entry garden, an ornamental grass garden, a pond-side water garden, a purple garden, a bog garden, an herb garden, a new rain garden and more. In addition there are spectacular container plantings, garden pools and a water rill. Plan to bring a lunch and spend the whole day from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Directions to Tranquil Lake Nursery |
