The Garden Conservancy's Open Days Program – Sunday June 29th

Explore four private gardens in Bedford Hills, New Rochelle, North Salem and South Salem, open to the public for self-guided tours on Sunday June 20th from 10 am to 4 pm. No reservations are required, the fee is just $5 per garden and the tours are on, rain or shine. Highlights include a formal vegetable garden, a dramatic terraced ravine garden, wildflower meadow paths, water elements, stonework, and a collection of mountain laurel.

Here are details about the four gardens on the tour:

Edeiken/Goldfinger Garden, 37 Rolling Way, New Rochelle, NY 10804
Owned by two artists, one a singer and the other a sculptor, their typical split-level house lies on one-third of an acre, and is backed by a very atypical ravine that is a rock cut of the former New York, Westchester & Boston Railway (1912-1937). Louise claimed the best sunny areas and designed magnificent mixed borders using perennials, small trees, shrubs, annuals, and bulbs to create gardens that are in bloom all season long. Many of her plants are grown from seeds. Eliot mostly got the shady areas, including the bottom of the ravine, an especially challenging wet, shady area. He built numerous dry-stacked stonewalls, terracing the slope in the ravine. With rocks from local cemeteries, he created banks on the intermittent stream running down the center of the ravine. Various paths were created from fieldstone, bluestone, slate, or gravel. His focus is on foliage color and texture.

Hours: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Admission: $5

Warden Garden, 531 Bedford Center Road, Bedford Hills, NY 10507
This garden of many facets includes perennial borders, three water gardens, a formal vegetable garden, wildflower garden, a fern garden, a marsh garden, a tree platform overlooking the marshlands, a woodland walk, a hidden garden, and a formal croquet court. The garden extends over seven acres, the back four acres of which are a study in what deer do not eat.

Hours: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Admission: $5

Fish/Marquez ,74 Hemlock Road, South Salem, NY 10590
The garden consists of several garden rooms on different elevations. There are a considerable variety of boxwoods and other broadleaf evergreens, most notably mountain laurel. Water elements, stone work and a view of the Pound Ridge reservation are highlights.

Hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Admission: $5

The Hen and the Hive, 9 June Road, North Salem, NY 10560
Starting from scratch, the eleven-year-old gardens have evolved to both ward off and take advantage of the ever-present white tailed deer. All gardens are organically cultivated featuring open flowerscapes, wildflower meadow paths, and woodlands. Only the vegetable and berry gardens are deer fenced and while we try to take advantage of deer-resistant plantings, they are interspersed with flowers that although favored by most herds, make it safely through the summer months. Incorporating seating areas, stone, and even a bit of water, one never knows what they will find on our productive four acres.

Hours: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Admission: $5

For more information: See www.opendaysprogram.org or call The Garden Conservancy toll-free weekdays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST, 1-888-842-2442.