Camp Rosemary

This garden was designed by Rose Standish Nichols in the 1920s and is made up of wonderful garden rooms partitioned by pines, yews, and boxwood hedges. A sweeping lawn and luscious container plantings at the front steps are the first hints of delightful discoveries inside: a charming box-edged parterre, a thyme garden, and an urn brimming with roses, perennials, and annuals set against an ancient yew hedge affectionately called "the couch." Other areas include a chapel-like white garden with two reflecting pools and a vine-and-rose entwined pergola garden with three exuberant borders surrounding a small pool. During the spring of 1998, work began in earnest on the walled garden, which now graces the area surrounding the pool house. Elegant wide grass steps, paired rose borders, a linden allée, intricately patterned knot gardens, and four well-planted perennial borders are all key elements of this new landscape. In contrast to the softer colors of the perennial beds near the pergola, these borders reflect a stronger palette of red, orange, violet, and blue. Some wonderful burgundy and silver foliage plants complement the whole scheme. Beyond the walled garden is a lush wooded ravine. A meandering path traces the ravine's edge beginning at the grass labyrinth and ending in the small glade, which overlooks the ravine. From this vantage point, a statue of Diana, the huntress, watches over the whole garden.