Cindy, thanks for the tour! Your pics are great. I've gone through your album twice already. What an inspiring garden. I love the container arrangements and all of the garden art. I'm curious as to how big the space was? Wish I could have seen it all in person but your pics are the next best thing. Thanks for taking the time to take them and share all of them.

Eden

Just to get us off; Im waiting to see the other IU4 folks post what Im sure are many great shots. (the link goes onto the 2nd garden & beginning of Longwood too - i forgot to separate them out before I loaded. Sorry....)

But the first place, Eden, is about 3 acres and she gardens almost all of it except for certain high duty areas for compost, equipment, etc. Isnt it incredible? Her groupings of containers were as stunning as the large borders.

I believe the second garden was 10 acres, but had just had 6 of those added and so the garden itself was only at present about 3 or 4. The gentleman had purchased over 2500 azaleas he was planning to plant on the hillside across the large pond... that's alot of plants!

Ok, IUers, add on your photos when you can....

-Cindy

I'm enjoying this too...but have only had time to look at about a third of the photos so far Cindy. There's lots to absorb! :)

Fabulous place! Thanks for posting those - and the link to more. There's nothing like that around here that I've ever seen.

Wonderful photos Cindy! I will certainly want to visit these gardens if I'm ever in that neck of the woods.
Kathy in Napa

Cindy-the photos are breathtaking. Where is this garden located and is it open to the public?
Mariann

This was by far the best owner involved private garden I have ever seen (and I've seen a few). The plant selection and combinations, the hardscapes, the use of containers...I could go on and on. Most, if not all of us could have stayed in this garden all day. The gardener, like all who graciously hosted us was warm and welcoming as well.

Sue

Beautiful! Cindy, thank you for sharing the photos. I looked through them all and enjoyed seeing some of what the Idylls were viewing during the weekend.

Thanks Cindy for getting us started and great photos!
This garden was stunning beyond belief - I could have spent all day there. Not only was it beautiful, and beautifully maintained, it also had many special touches of fun and whimsy. The artistry of the owner was evident in every aspect of the garden. The design and plantings, use of color and integration of the metalwork sculptures were superb. The containers were spectacular too and I particularly enjoyed the tufa pots. I came away with a resolve to try more tufa and to sign up for welding 101 - right Saucy!!
This was a beautiful little courtyard - cool and green with so many different textures.
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Note the geode in the lower right. There were other crystals, gems and stones tucked in that added another dimension to the plantings.
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I think for many this was one of our favorite containers -one of a pair flanking a patio door in stands made by the owner. We saw a lot of Tiger Eye Sumac used this way - I might try mine in a pot.
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Aren't these fantastic!
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My overall shots were a bit washed out so I think some of our more skilled photographers might have captured them better. I'll be back later with the next stop of the day.

Mary

Fabulous! I can see that we missed out on a great garden. It looks like lots of creativity, space, time and money. I've got the space but the creativity, time and money are another issue LOL

Thanks for sharing all the great photos. I will look thru them again I'm sure.

Michelle

And here are a few from me from that first fabu-fabu garden. I'm still processing and uploading pics from the trip and will post as soon as I'm able.

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This is the other side of that arrangement you can see in Mary's photograph
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I loved this sculpture!
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What a delight this garden was. I wish I could go back there and spend a whole day sometime!!!!

Deanne

This garden is on a wooded hillside that sloped down to a very large pond:

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There are many thoughtfully placed benches:

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The views around the pond were just gorgeus:

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The conservatory at Longwood is full of lush tropicals. The erect bloom in the center really catches the eye:

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The pond outside the conservatory is surrounded by more lovely tropicals. We were told that the large round Victoria waterlilies could hold up to 150 lbs if the weight was distributed evenly.

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I'm enjoying looking at the other pictures, seeing new things even though I was there. We also all took many of the same shots (there were times when 3 or more of us were elbow-to-elbow) but it is still fun to see them again. I have plenty more pics, I'm still going thru them. I'll be back with more later.

I'm looking forward to seeing Deanne's pictures, she probably took close to 1000 shots.

Amazing gardens, amazing pics!!!! Thanks for the link, Cindy. Since it'll take me all day to go through the pics, I can't imagine having to LEAVE this place :-)

Particularly like the use of the grinding wheels. So often they're used as stepping stones and their strength gets lost. Not here!

Martie

How heavenly to live in such a beautiful setting, and what a blessing to you ( and others) that she is willing to share it. Thank you all for the wonderful pictures.

My desire to look at my own shots of those gaHdens has been aroused. I've been a little bit freaked out by the quantity I will have to "name"... lol.

I would like to add that they have special fish in the pools of the waterlilies that make their living eating mosquito larvae. Can you even FEATURE the clouds of those nasties if it weren't for the hungry mouths beneath the water's surface?! And the Victoria waterlilies are SPIKED! I didn't know that, but when you are close to them you can clearly see the nasty, hook shaped thorns. The woman in the pond "grooming" the planting told me they are really shaHp, and they're are more of them on the flower buds. Makes sense upon reflection...

Great shots, Wendy!

Ok, I think we're rolling along now -- unfortunately my battery died at Longwood & I'd left it in the car; so someone else will have to supply the stupendous pics of that place. It was an incredibly chock full day w/ the most amazing places.... after the first 2 private gardens, then off to Longwood and then the final destination of the day was this delightful, equally masterful, eclectic mix of another wonderful garden, worked by a couple for about 20 plus years. Her main interest was specimen trees and woodies and she had some amazing things.

This is the gate to the back where there are 26 hideaway seating areas. As another gardener described the experience, a most "social garden." This reflects the personality of the two delightful owners.

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Again, fantastic garden art -all different but put together in beautiful ways:

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I particularly liked this area:

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But then, there was also this place to sit, one of the loveliest knot gardens I've ever seen:

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Here's another links to more of this garden, but I know other IUers took much prettier photos, so please add 'em on....

Here is a link that might be useful: Private Garden No 3

oops, Wendy - I see you did drop in some Longwood shots -- really great photos! Wow, I love that lily pool shot; can't wait to see other pics. In looking at mine again, I realize #1 how inexpert I am, and #2 how tired I was.

-Cindy

Wendy, LOL! Deanne is right about you.

Sue

I've been slowly working on my photos. My new camera takes such large photos that I had to remove older photos from my hard drive to my external HD to make room.

Here are a few photos from the 1st garden, which was my fave from the whole w/end altho the others were very nice also.
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My hubby with our prized purchase of the w/end!
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Here it is in my yard at the moment
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The second garden had a wonderful large pond surrounded by plantings and a great hillside of shade plants:
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Ribbons of hosta
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Longwood:
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Tree form of Euphorbia cotinifolia
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Last garden, which had more great art and lots of seating areas. I thought the blue twig was a painted metal structure, but it was an actual tree.

Here is a link that might be useful: IU4-day 1

Great pictures Monique. I am espacially glad that you pictured your DH with his purchase. I thought those were some type of exotic plants!!!!! LOL
I really like the one of the entire Idyll troup ( minus you). And I can actually pick Chelone out of the group...:-)
Sue's pose reminds me of my second granddaughter,Brianna. I have a hard time getting a 'normal' pose from her. :-)

Your 3rd pic down from your DH's pic reminds me of our place.

Hey Monique, I want one of those too!
These photos are so great, what the heck will we see on day two? And where are the pics of cocktail party revelry ? I know there have to be some of those somewhere...cough 'em up !

Kathy in Napa

Nay, nay, Kathy. What happens in 218, stays in 218. :)

Unless it spills out into the hallway...

On a chair with wheels.....

into elevators ....

Great pictures everybody!!! I am amazed that there were some things in some of these gardens I didn't even see! Deanne's picture of the stunning elephant ears container at the front door of Inta's house is one of them -- I was so spellbound in that garden that I am sure I missed lots of other things too. These first day gardens were amazing beyond belief. I know I was not alone in feeling that I had never seen such a collection of fabulous gardens in one day in my life. I do have some pictures of things that others don't seem to have so maybe I will have a chance to post them.

Monique and Les, the allium sculpture looks spectacular in your garden! As beautifully placed as in Inta's....

By the way, Inta DID return my phone call to her yesterday. I did not speak to her directly, but she did leave a voice mail message on my phone. She and her family were vacationing the rest of that weekend and this week, so she was not there for us to return (many of us were so enthralled with her garden that we wanted to go back and spend the day on Sunday). She did invite people to come back. What a thrill that whole experience was......

As a small encouragement to lurkers and other Idyllers who did not make this trip, I would like to mention that there are Open Days garden tours every year in the Greater Philadelphia area, and some of these gardens are frequently on their lists. So it pays to check out the listings of Open Days and go -- while not disclosing the names of the garden owners here, you may be so lucky as to see a couple of these. They are absolutely worthwhile.

David, I totally agree with you - I have noticed a number of shots & vignettes that I did not see in some of these gardens - which is why it's so nice to see all of everyone's photos. Perhaps my enthusiasm for wanting to share this experience got the better of me, so I will hope that someone else will show pics of the other days -- they were different but great -- in some ways, I think seeing gardens such as we saw on this first day gave me a bit of "overload" so the next two days were more of "quiet pleasures" that we needed to digest it all.

-Cindy

I'm a lurker and have only been reading the Idylls for a few months. Now I have a complaint. You all are being way too polite about waiting for someone else to post photos. I may just be speaking for myself but I want to see them all. The gardens are wonderful but what I'd really like to see is more photos of the Idyllers with names attached.

Like Marian,I thought I had Chelone picked out but I had the wrong person. I thought she was the reddish haired lady with straight hair.
Anise

Hi Anise. Actually I didn't think any of those in the reflection pic was Chelone. I thought I had seen at least one pic of her in past threads....:-(

Sounds like some party! I can only imagine, but I know it was FUN!

LOL #4 Wendy, bet Mary (and cohorts) had fun with that one!

Monique, that piece looks great in your garden! Love the pic with the blue twig too.

Anise, start posting to Idylls, get to know us, and you'll soon begin putting names with faces. We'd love to have you join us (lurkers aren't allowed to complain, lol).

Thanks for all the great pics and inspiration in this thread guys!!!

Eden

Here are a few from me:
Group shot
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The lovely Deanne:)
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Very cool pots, created by the hostess
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Jim being inspired.. I know I was
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Gorgeous hydrangeas...
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I need one of these... Hypertufa you think?:) I need training on uploading... why is it a thumbnail???
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I had so much fun!

D.

Oh yeah, hyper-hyper-tufa maybe.

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Amazing gardens, amazing photos. I'm ready for day 2! If I start it will they come?

Yipee !!! More pics...
Kathy in Napa

Wendy, I feel I'm getting to know you! LOL over #4.

As a southerner, I'm a sucker for a seat on a shady porch :)
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Inspiration:
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Interest in the troughs:
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The entrance to Inta's garden from the drive:
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so - making my lists of wish items from IU4 --
anyone remember what the daylily was that we saw at a lot of these gardens? Esp. at the Big Lily Pond/Chadds Ford (aka #2 Garden of the day) -- "Ruby" something (I dont think Ruby Spider but I could be wrong...).

-Cindy

Cindy, I do remember hearing 'Ruby Spider' mentioned - check out this link - is that the one?

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:167971}}

I'm wondering if the first garden is gardened by a single person or do they have help? I can't imagine doing it alone it looks so perfect.

I would like to know more about HELP too. It seems impossible for me to catch up this year after an absence in June/July, yet finding knowledgeable "staff" and money seem huge problems. Then too, there is LOT and LOTS about gardens that I love doing myself and really would rather not share....As I continue to age, I guess I'll have bigger and bigger decisions.

Re Garden #1, I understood from her that she has 1 person who comes in to do some of the stonework & some other things, but not on any regular basis; but her family - husband & son apparently helped her a lot. I think she hires people for "odd jobs" from time to time, but I got the impression she's pretty much a down & dirty, literally in the trenches kind of gardener. I believe this is true of each of the gardens we saw, altho some others may have had other conversations with them that I did not hear. We also have to remember that these gardens, except for garden #2 (of IU Day 1), are all gardens that have been worked on for at least a couple of decades now. I did not hear of any one these people hiring landscape designers to come in w/ a plan & installation.

I guess it should give us encouragement that if we're devoted enough and have no other jobs, we might be able to accomplish similar things, LOL! [and have an amount of $$$ in our resources as well or lots of friends to exchange plants/shrubs/seeds with?]

--Cindy