Private Garden Tours
July 6 – July 13 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
Garden tours are $5 per person per garden. You can pay cash at each garden on the day of the garden tour. Each garden is open from 10 am to 4 pm only on the days specified. All garden tours are rain or shine and nonrefundable.
Saturday, July 6 & Sunday, July 7
- Linda Coven’s Garden, 121 Camp St, Unit 106, West Yarmouth
Strictly Hydrangeas!!! This unusual and surprisingly expansive garden encompasses two adjacent very hydrangea-centric properties. It has continued to evolve since it was first showcased in 2016 and now boasts 500 hydrangea cultivars in various settings throughout both Linda’s yard and that of her next-door neighbors. Garden beds flank both homes and a backyard stockade fence. There are also several island beds, a rather large kidney shaped berm, and a secret garden. Twenty-five containers are planted with hydrangeas and perennials using the ‘Pot-n-Pot’ method and many companion evergreen shrubs, perennials, and exquisite pieces of garden art also grace this very special site. A ‘Pot-n-Pot’ container gardening with hydrangeas demo will be held at 11:00 am and 2:00 pm each day.
Saturday, July 6 & Sunday, July 7
- Rick Murray’s Garden, 72 Keveney Lane, Cummaquid
This 1.2-acre property features a stunning planting of 100 H. arborescens ‘Annabelle’ along its 150’ north border. A variety of other hydrangeas including H. macrophylla, H. quercifolia, H. paniculata, and H. serrata lines the southern border. A 60’ berm in front of the property contains more than 50 varieties of hosta, fern and other shade-loving plants. A granite staircase and stone walkway from the driveway to the front entrance of the house is planted with dwarf conifers, creeping juniper, Japanese maples, a weeping Atlas cedar, a larch, various ground covers and other specimen plants. The back of the property is a park-like setting which features wind sculptures by Lyman Whitaker, whose work is represented in galleries throughout the U.S. and abroad.
Sunday, July 7 & Wednesday, July 10
- Mal & Mary Kay Condon’s Garden, 181 Thacher Shore Rd, Yarmouth Port
Mal “The Hydrangea Guy” and Mary Kay Condon were commercial hydrangea propagators and growers for 40 years and, as one might suspect, this is a very hydrangea-centric site. They continue to tweak their expansive collection of in-ground hydrangeas with container specimens to emphasize this increasingly popular growing technique. H. macrophylla is the dominant species in their gardens, along with H. paniculata and H. quercifolia cultivars. More recently H. serrata and H. arborescens plantings have been added to the mix. The Condons also have a significant commitment to raised beds for growing vegetables and rhubarb as well as a commitment to dahlias. At 11 am and 2 pm each day, they will be detailing their most recent experiences with pinch pruning, container growing and the winter vulnerable H. macrophylla species. Each session will last about 45 minutes.
Wednesday, July 10 & Thursday, July 11
- Joanne Robichaud’s Garden, 27 Marble Road, Barnstable
If you embrace the beauty inherent in imperfection, you will enjoy this garden. The owners built their home over 40 years ago and the gardens have evolved in both areas of bright sun and deep shade. Rock retaining walls provide structure to a difficult hill. A red maple offers a shady canopy for a serene palate of hostas while astilbes add contrast when their wispy stalks bloom. The bright, rich colors of the sun-loving plantings keep surprising as daylily, coneflower, phlox, daisy, hibiscus, and liatris burst with vivid combinations. Stands of heirloom hydrangeas have been augmented through the years with newer varieties in wonderful colors, shapes and sizes. ‘Glowing Embers’, ‘Tuff Stuff’, ‘Let’s Dance’ and ‘Bobo’ varieties are favorites with young ‘Pinky Winky’ trees and white flowering ‘Fairy Trail Bride’ cascading hydrangeas showing promise.
Wednesday, July 10
- Melissa Caughey’s Garden, 504 Main Street, West Barnstable
Hydrangea Hill. Come visit the private garden of author Melissa Caughey during this rare public opening. Explore her favorite spaces and meet her backyard chickens. Melissa regularly features her outdoor space on social media and has been featured in many national print and online publications including HGTV, DIY Network, and Country Living Magazine. Nestled adjacent to the salt marshes of Sandy Neck, her home is tucked within the bucolic landscape of historic Route 6A. Her pollinator and wildlife-friendly cottage-style garden features 100 hydrangeas, perennials bursting with blooms, raised garden beds full of vegetables and herbs, and lovely woodlands.
Friday, July 12 & Saturday, July 13
- George & Marcia Chapman’s Garden, 28 Sady’s Lane, East Falmouth
Archways, espaliers and a unique style of evergreen pruning make up the bones of this forty-year-old garden, The planting beds, containers and vistas undergo dramatic change every year. Returning visitors will see the expansion of the moss garden, a new dwarf conifer garden and a unique hypertufa planter display. Unusual annuals, perennials and tropical plants accent the gardens throughout the property. Practical gardening ideas and inspiration to take home to your garden can be seen everywhere as you explore this property’s many meandering paths. Both George and Marcia are professional horticulturists whose garden has been featured in Falmouth Living, Cape Cod Home and Fine Gardening magazines. This property is a true labor of love, and the Chapmans enjoy sharing it.
Friday, July 12 & Saturday, July 13
- Richard & Allyn Michaelson’s Garden, 12 Sheeps Crossing Lane, Woods Hole
In 1994, Richard and Allyn Michaelson built their home on a wooded acre that slopes 40′ up from the street to the rear of the property. With rough drawings from a landscape architect, Richard is now 30 years into a 5-year plan. The front garden is marked by a large beech tree and complemented with hydrangeas, ferns, hostas, rose of sharon, butterfly bushes, Japanese red maples, pine trees, kousa dogwood trees, and more. On the west side of the house, there is a long pachysandra bed and additional hydrangeas. A path leads to an inground pool where a stone retaining wall lines a bed awash with color from hydrangeas, hostas, a growing selection of daylilies, and others. There is also an upper terrace complete with a firepit and a pathway that provide a comfortable shady area to sit and enjoy the greenery, climbing hydrangea, and the view.
Friday, July 12
- Bill & Peggy Guggina’s Garden, 100 Moorland Rd, Falmouth
Welcome to The Gardens at 100 Moorland Road, a quintessential Cape Cod home set on a bluff overlooking Vineyard Sound. While the garden plantings are relatively new due to a recent home renovation, you will be captivated and inspired by their variety and the stunning ocean views of the sound. The owner has built more than 250 feet of dry-stone walls for both aesthetic and functional purposes on this property which features both evergreen and deciduous shrubs, a number of specimen trees, a rose garden and more than 100 hydrangeas. This is a place where human craftsmanship and natural beauty come together in perfect harmony, allowing visitors to immerse themselves in its tranquility and serenity.
Saturday, July 13
- Donna Garrabrant’s Garden, 83 Prince Way, South Dennis
When Donna Garrabrant and her husband purchased their hilltop home in Dennis in 2003, the gardens they inherited needed extensive work. Donna designed planting beds, rock walls and terraces and oversaw the necessary site work. Then she began planting. Twenty-one years later the property shines from spring through fall with a wide variety of mature specimen trees, shrubs, and perennials. Included are more than 80 hydrangeas, many of which Donna propagated herself. This garden also features roses, cone flowers, sky blue alliums, black-eyed susans, phlox, hosta, many intriguing pieces of garden art and colorful containers. Come visit and see for yourself how Donna’s vision has come to life.
Saturday, July 13
- Dan Pessoni’s Garden, 4 Driftwood Lane, E. Orleans
Dan Pessoni is known locally as “Dan, the Lily Man” and rightly so. His Driftwood Garden is the Outer Cape’s only nationally registered American Daylily Display Garden, with 700 different labeled varieties. In a shaded area abutting the large lily display are more than 350 labeled varieties of hosta, with special beds for small and miniature varieties. Interspersed among the hosta are heuchera, ferns, and Solomon’s Seal. Driftwood Garden also boasts a collection of more than 100 labeled hydrangea varieties and a large vegetable garden with an incredible romaine lettuce patch. Located throughout the property are 15 specimen trees, including stewartia, hepatacodium (seven son flower), tricolor leaf beech and heritage birch. Come meet Dan in his wonderland.