Idyll Haven On The Rocks

About

Welcome to Idyll Haven On The Rocks, the garden of Sue Webel and Dave Cover. Our northern CT garden, zone 6a, is situated on a two acre lot at an elevation of just over 800 feet. Sue is an unapologetic plant collector with 30 years of self taught trial and error experience who has been battling granite boulders and carving garden space out of the woods one section at a time on this property since 2017. Much to the dismay of our aging backs, many of the rocks have been recycled into DIY walls and garden edges. Frequent wildlife visitors include bears and bobcats, hawks and owls, hummingbirds and bluebirds, deer, moles, chipmunks and unfortunately dastardly voles.

Sue is a plant geek who oversees an extensive hardy plant collection that includes over 800 unique varieties of trees, shrubs, conifers, perennials, grasses and vines which she attempts to combine into interesting vignettes using form, texture and foliage. Points are awarded to plants with foliage that is variegated or not green. Retirement in late 2024 has been a welcome transition to a full time position in the garden.

Container design is another passion. All around the house, patio, deck and throughout the garden, lush containers filled with tropical plants and unusual annuals take center stage and create garden interest from May through frost.

Dave maintains a large vegetable garden, grows blueberries and elderberries, and experiments with native plants. He is the engineer and Kubota operator behind the scenes who figures out how to make the garden dreams come true. He hunts caterpillars and hatches Monarch butterflies on the kitchen table. Soon he will become a bee keeper.

This garden's estimated size is approximately 1 acre.

This Garden Host reports the following Terrain Notes about the garden: Our driveway is 250 feet long. The garden is accessed by many pathways consisting of stone, gravel, mulch, and grass.

2026 Open Day Date: Saturday, August 1

Open Day Hours: 10am–4pm