Most of us jump at a chance to see how the “other half” lives. Here in Boston, we have that opportunity every spring, during the Beacon Hill Garden Tour. The tour is a chance to peek beyond the brick walls that line the sidewalks of the vibrant neighborhood, and step into the private enclaves of city gardeners.
Standard Eugenia does well in sun and light shade outdoors in the summer. Bring inside in the fall to enjoy them year round. Here they are underplanted with pansies for a full effect.
We felt like the tour started before we even stepped into the gardens, with the abundance of beautifully decorated entryways and doors.
Preserved flowers make a welcoming wreath.
We especially loved this Wedgwood blue lacquered door with its simple pussy willow swags. We saw several lacquered doors, which made us want to run home and lacquer ours! It’s luster makes you want to reach out and touch it (one of us may have done that).
The Beacon Hill Garden Tour is about much more than gardens. Visitors have the chance to see how residents live and dine outdoors. Many hosts set up elegant tables for dining, incorporating china, stemware, and linen in colors that echoed the surrounding greenery.
Others used playful colors and seasonal blossoms.
Portmerion Botanic Garden dinner plates.
Luxury and comfort aren’t sacrificed in these diminutive spaces, and owners decorated their outdoor rooms as they would indoor ~ for comfort, conversation, and relaxation.
Climbing Mandivilla in pots will bloom vigorously in red or deep pink and add vertical interest. Other tropicals provide instant size and structure. Wire obelisks and seating can be found at many garden centers.
Beacon Hill’s private gardens also demonstrate that size doesn’t matter. In fact, these tiny gardens feel so intimate that they prove cozy equals satisfying.
Each garden reflected the owner’s passions, as all gardens should. We saw gardens that showcased love of the sea:
And others that included mementos from travels abroad.
Boston fern can stand up to sun if you water it daily.
Each garden was deeply personal, like this grandparent’s garden.
Or this gardener’s love of classical architecture.
Most of the gardens had French doors to provide a seamless transition between indoors and out. For a gardener, it’s essential to have a lovely view from inside your house to the garden, especially on foul weather days when you’re stuck indoors.
Creamy white French doors blend with the garden, and a prized apricot foxglove provides a lovely focal point from indoors.
Creative city gardeners use every bit of space available to them, including walls. This living wreath of pansies greeted us when we arrived at a particularly inviting courtyard garden.
This living wreath is planted with pansies, mint, parsley and other herbs.
City gardeners are pros at making big statements in small spaces.
Hydrangea, begonia, forget-me-nots, and trailing ivy create a look of springtime.
Apply the same principles to container gardening that you would to full-scale gardening. Start with structure, choose colors that complement each other and your exterior, and soften the edges with plants that spill over the sides.
Colors in the same family make for pleasing gardens:
And don’t forget ground cover!
When designing a landscape, you rely on trees, shrubs, and flowers to create a pleasing whole. Many of the small gardens and containers featured tiny shrubs that made up the “bones” of the garden, with trailing and blooming plants rounding out the composition.
Create a style that’s uniquely yours and use colors that bring you joy. When planting, cram as many plants in as you can. The immediate effect will look full and mature. We love the exuberance of this window box:
Garden with a sense of whimsy, like the gardener below who tucked a terra cotta bird into her pot. For more inspiration on creating your own window boxes, take a look at our previous post: http://newenglandhomeandgarden.net/category/garden/.
We got a chuckle from this resident, who wasn’t featured on the Beacon Hill Garden Tour, but got plenty of attention with this display:
Hi Curious George! Thanks for the laugh!
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