Through the Garden Gate Tours 2013

Bold white Daffodil, possibly Mount Hood.

Yesterday kicked off the annual Piedmont Master Gardeners garden tour series, Through the Garden Gate.  Occurring the 2nd Saturday of the month from 9 - noon, hosted at a different garden each month. The immaculately landscaped gardens of Deborah and Sam Kellam were featured on this first tour.

Brilliant Blue Anemone

The Kellam home is gracefully perched on a small knoll in an open landscape with pockets of large trees and carefully designed beds. The minimal exertion required to walk the front yard is all but forgotten as you enjoy the peeps of Spring flowers dotted throughout. The yard and home exterior were kept very tidy and many plants were even labeled just for tour participants.

Trout Lily

Deborah and Sam have landscaped their entire property themselves over a 40 year period. Many boulders and rocks have been hauled in to outline walkways and create steps. I enjoyed the flower beds in the front yard dotted with pretty little bits of this and that ~ Daffodils, Anemone, Helleborus, Hyacinth, Magnolia, Japanese Maple, flowering shrubs, and several varieties of Cryptomeria japonica are woven into the landscape.

A cozy place to enjoy the garden.

Walking around the side of the house to the backyard, one of my favorite nooks was a Red Japanese Maple artfully framed by a black stone wall.  The Maple was just leafing out but in full bloom the brilliant red must pop in front of the black stone.  As you approach the backyard, you are confronted with an expansive stand of huge trees meandering down a long slop.  Noticing that other neighboring yards were basically unusable due to the slop, it was quite a feat for this area to be usable by something other than wandering deer.  Carefully outlined pathways that were sturdy and safe for passage wound through a deciduous forest with splashes of shade loving creepers and yellow Woodland Poppies.

The bottom of the winding path in the magical backyard.

As I exited the backyard, I noticed the wonderful back decks overlooking the forest and could imagine it would provide a great outpost for bird watching.  I also noticed a double sized greenhouse window on the back of the cute garage.  It gave me the idea of removing a ramshackle window in my house and replacing it with something I could grow my seedlings in each year.  I always seem to pick up an idea or two during the tours.

Solitary Pale Yellow Tulip

Hands down, this is my favorite Charlottesville area annual garden tour event and it is affordably priced at $5.00.  Hope to see you at the next one.  2013 Garden Tour Schedule

-Rebecca