YORK - The Garden Conservancy's Open Days Program will welcome garden-lovers to Braveboat Harbor Farm, the garden of Calvin and Cynthia Hosmer, on four dates this year, beginning May 17.
The other Open Days are June 28, July 26 and Aug. 23.
Braveboat Harbor Farm is located at 110 Raynes Neck Road in York and will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on each date.
Evolving over the last 50 years, this garden surrounds and complements a Georgian-style stone house. There are formal and informal borders, a vegetable garden, orchards and collections of various flowering trees and shrubs. Apples and pears are espaliered on the house and along the walls of the formal front garden.
Water features include a goldfish pond in an old septic tank, a farm pond with rustic bridge and the Atlantic Ocean.
This treasure is protected by a sculpted arborvitae hedge on the northwest, a mature stand of hickory on the northeast and an extensive screen of old lilacs on the south.
New projects include expanding the collection of magnolias and rhododendrons, introducing hydrangeas, an espaliered pear fence, a woodland walk and a summerhouse with views to the pond and the sea.
Admission to Open Days at this private garden is $5 and the Open Days are held rain or shine. No reservations are required.
The Garden Conservancy introduced the Open Days Program in 1995 as a means of introducing the public to gardening, providing easy access to outstanding examples of design and horticultural practice, and proving that exceptional American gardens are still being created. The Open Days Program is America's only national private garden-visiting program, and is made possible by the work of hundreds of volunteers nationwide.
Call the Garden Conservancy at (888) 842-2442 or visit www.opendaysprogram.org for more information.
Open Days gardens are featured in the 2008 Open Days Directory; a soft-cover book that includes detailed driving directions and vivid descriptions written by their owners. The directory includes garden listings in 14 states and costs $21.95, including shipping. Call the Garden Conservancy to order with a Visa or MasterCard, or send a check or money order to the Garden Conservancy, P.O. Box 219, Cold Spring, NY 10516. Discount admission tickets are available as well through advanced mail order.
The 2008 Open Days Program is sponsored by W. Atlee Burpee & Co., including Burpee, America's most trusted name in gardening for 132 years, providing seeds, plants, gardening supplies and accessories for the home gardener; Heronswood Nursery, a purveyor of unusually great plants, and by The Cook's Garden, seeds and plants for gourmet vegetables with Fine Gardening Magazine as the National Media Sponsor.
