Tower Hill Botanic Garden, Boylston Mass... Part 1

 Business trips can be painful and exhausting, but the  benefit is the ability to add a personal extension on to company paid transcontinental airfare. I had business in Boston last week and was able to spend a few days with my New England friends visiting gardens and eating lobster.
 The primary goal was a sojourn to Coastal Maine Botanical Garden . I last visited in 2013 , which I blogged about here and here. It remains, in my opinion one of the best public gardens in the US. And as I mentioned , there is copious fresh caught lobster nearby. A post will be coming soon on this garden.
  I was flying back to SFO on Wednesday, so I decided to visit Tower Hill Botanic Garden on Tuesday which is a reasonable driving distance from  Boston airport lodging.  This was I think my 3rd or 4th visit to Tower Hill; the first being a quick walk-through in 2009. Tower Hill was developed from farmland by the Worcester Horticultural Society and still remains the headquarters for that organization. The property is approximately 130 acres but much of it is allowed to remain as preserved woodland .

  The entry area has some new features since my last visit , but has always featured plenty of robustly planted containers .The intricately etched steel screens and the raised planting areas adjacent to them are a new feature, a welcome addition to what was just basically a nondescript patio with containers staged about.






Near the entrance door was a wall planting that featured both scented and fancy-leaved Pelargoniums, among other tender plants.



 The vegetable garden has been one of my favorite features at Tower Hill; the color theme is changed annually (this year it's aubergine) and it perfectly demonstrates the potential for edible gardens to be beautiful too.







These two photos show previous color schemes in the veg garden, a blue year and a yellow year.







 Moving on we head towards the pergola that anchors an overlook to the lawn gardens below.


 Here is where you will find splendid and colorful containers artfully arranged , with foliage as the star attraction.









 The overlook as seen from the lawn below.


 The perimeter of the lawn features densely planted borders with views to the hills and woods beyond.







 Stay tuned for Episode 2 from Tower Hill.
















Comments

  1. What a great blog post Kathy!!!! I think I'm going to have to run over to Tower Hill next week. Your pictures are fantastic!

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    1. It was overcast ! I always enjoy Tower Hill, it's just the right size for a half day. And Denise joined Lisa and I for lunch as well-it was great to see her again.

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  2. Replies
    1. They did the foliage nicely. We saw some maintenance issues but I fear I am a somewhat judgemental garden tourist at times.

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  3. What a great garden! While I liked the etched steel screens in the entry area, I loved that huge white pergola - the view from the lawn makes it look grand but entirely appropriate to frame the space. And the container plantings are indeed magnificent. You DO make great use of your business trips!

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    1. I failed to take the photo of the view from the pergola-I was distracted by the container plantings I think. I can certainly recommend a visit if you find yourself in Mass.

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  4. Great pictures Kathy! So many gardens, so little time but I really should make time for this one since it's less than an hour and a half from my house.

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    1. Thanks Sue--love those clouds ! I was in long sleeves the whole time.

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  5. Well, now that Sue has admitted it, I will too -- I lived for 55+ years in Massachusetts and never once visited Tower Hill, and I lived closer than she does. Thanks for sharing your photos, I'm looking forward to Part 2.

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    1. Ha ! I've been to Tower Hill more often than San Francisco Botanical Garden which is an hour away from me !

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  6. You made your point that it is a gorgeous garden with these photos. That aubergine paint color is simply delicious.

    Very different gardening from here, I speculate-- a whole lot of planning goes on in the winter time for all those glamorous containers. Where here a whole lot of gardening goes on in the winter, and as for planning, uh...er...

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    1. I am very attached to aubergine. The containers here (and elsewhere in New England)thrive in the Hawaii-like summer weather; heat,humidity and warm nights. And they have rain.

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