Margaret Roach
Gardener, blogger, and media consultant Margaret Roach has made her home here for decades, but it only takes her a moment to remember and recapture what it is to head north out of New York City and to find oneself suddenly in the midst of such natural beauty as this: “Driving up Route 22, you’re just north of Millerton, and there’s a place where the road opens up,” she says. “You come around a turn and there’s this stretch of road, and you catch your first look at the Taconic range. There’s farmland on either side of you and you just, you just…” Margaret is at a loss for words. She sighs deeply. “And you just exhale. You’ve gotten past everything you have left behind.”
And Margaret Roach left so much behind – a successful and rewarding career as Creative Director of Martha Stewart Living to take up the life of the naturalist, to commit to it fully. Margaret’s gardening know-how bloomed right here in Zone 5B in the foothills of the Berkshires but with 250,000 unique visitors to her garden blog each month, Margaret’s influence in the gardening world extends far beyond this locale.
Margaret is growing edible tubers from the Andes this season, which a good friend of hers turned her on to, gnarled, dense little nuggets of color at harvest that Margaret is excited about. Yacon, oca, mashua, the Incan plant names roll off her tongue. “People speak of heirloom,” she says. “These are the most ancient you can get.”
Margaret shares her passion for gold leaf. No, not that kind. Gold foliage. She is fascinated with foliage, drawn to it: splashed, spotted, variegated, all kinds and colors but especially the gold. As she speaks, I find her enthusiasm for the beauty of the natural world infectious, it’s no wonder she has so many devoted readers of her blog.
“Margaret, tell me your number one blog post,” I ask.
She answers without hesitation: “It’s my refrigerator pickle recipe.” We share a chuckle.
Margaret’s home sits nestled back behind Copake Falls surrounded by parkland. There’s no new construction and Margaret can’t even remember the last time a property in her area changed hands. It’s a lovely, bucolic backdrop for Margaret’s two-acre garden, which undulates gracefully and cascades down the steep hill of her property.
Margaret welcomes visitors to her garden through the Garden Conservancy’s Open Days. The next tour date is June 7.
More information and registration here: <a href=" https://www.gardenconservancy.org/opendays/open-days-schedule/venueevents/1432-garden-of-margaret-roach"/target="_new">www.gardenconservancy.org
Visit Margaret’s lively and informative garden blog here at <a href=" http://awaytogarden.com/"/target="_new">awaytogarden.com
Kristen Panzer is the author of the cozy mystery Thea Gallas Always Gets Her Man available at <a href=" http://www.oblongbooks.com"/target="_new">Oblong Books and <a href=" http://www.amazon.com/Kristen-Panzer/e/B00APSTUKS/ref=sr_tc_2_0
qid=1402169908&sr=1-2-ent"/target="_new">Amazon.com.