Trade Secret Gardens

If you planned on a sun-kissed day of touring exemplars of the garden arts during Trade Secrets annual gardening extravaganza Saturday, May 17, you had better hurry up. Tickets went on sale April 1 and two of the gardens are already sold out.

Wait lists have been created for Bunny William’s gorgeous property in Falls Village and for Douglas Dockery Thomas’ property with its impressive vistas in Salisbury. Getting on a wait list does not, of course, guarantee a spot, but happy recipients will be notified directly if an opening pops up.

With those disappointments acknowledged, there is still plenty to see and enjoy. Tickets at $20 per garden are still available for Michael Trapp’s West Cornwall garden, although capacity is limited and tickets should be procured quickly. The property will be on view from 10AM to 4PM.

Trapp’s garden is described as a “fractured fairytale” forged by the renowned designer/antique dealer. Slender paths lead through a cobbled labyrinth of idiosyncratic spaces staged with Corinthian capitals, huge slabs of stone set as dining tables, Roman fountains and towering topiary spires sculpted personally by Trapp over past decades.

Stairs are swathed in wisteria and espaliered apples run their limbs along Gothic ruins. There is a craggy grotto beside a lap pool and a “cabinet of curiosities” filled with fading books and strange natural artifacts.

This garden features narrow cobblestone paths with uneven surfaces and multiple sets of stairs. Those who need assistance should reach out to TradeSecrets@Project-SAGE.org.

Also, still available to visitors is Clove Brook Farm, the home of Christopher Spitzmiller and Anthony Bellomo in Millbrook, NY. It will be open for tours from 10AM to 3PM. Again, the capacity is limited, and tickets are available first-come-first served.

After Spitzmiller and Bellomo renovated the 1830s Greek Revival farmhouse on the property they turned their attention to the garden in 2014, creating a series of interconnected spaces. A horseshoe-shaped garden near the house is surrounded by a clipped hornbeam hedge and anchored by a dovecote. A spectacular show of tulips and sweet peas emerges here in spring, followed by towering dahlias in late summer.

A few years later, another large garden "room" was added centering on an oval swimming pool and neoclassical style pool house. This garden is bounded by a hornbeam hedge and includes perimeter beds filled with various herbaceous perennials that evolve throughout the growing season—poppies in early spring, then peonies, roses, lilies and finally dahlias.

A large kitchen garden has also been added, designed in a formal style, and planted with a large variety of vegetables during the growing season.

The garden continues to evolve, and informal and naturalistic plantings are installed at the edge of the property. The evolution of the garden was documented in A Year at Clove Brook Farm with a foreword by Martha Stewart.

This garden features mostly grassy paths, a set of stone steps and a fairly steep slope leading to the pool garden. Seating is available throughout the property for an occasional rest.

Public gardens are always included for Trade Secrets visitors. This year, Innisfree Garden in Millbrook NY is on the schedule, open from 10AM to 5PM.

This 185-acre tract is a living experiential work of art that encourages visitors to connect deeply with essential qualities of nature and fundamental cultural ideas of peace, awareness, and beauty through its innovative, nature-based landscape practices, based on global inspirations,

The mid-20th-century landmark is listed on the National Register of Historic Places for exceptional national significance. This garden features steep and uneven terrain with some steps. Walking surfaces include gravel, lawn, pine needles and packed earth with no paved paths. Seating is available throughout the garden with chairs and benches.

A second public garden is also included this year at Wethersfield Estate and Garden in Amenia NY which will be open 10AM to 4PM. Wethersfield, the highest point in the region with an elevation of 1,200 feet, offers majestic views of the Berkshires, the Catskills and the Taconic Hills.

It comprises a Georgian-style house, classical gardens, a carriage house and a farm and is generally considered to be one of the finest examples of Italian Renaissance gardens in the United States.

Founded by Citigroup heir, philanthropist and investor Chauncey Stillman in 1938, Wethersfield Estate & Garden is now a non-profit organization devoted to the proper stewardship of land, habitat protection, conservation, culture and the arts. Wethersfield has diverse formal and native-inspired garden spaces such as an Arts and Crafts English perennial garden, cut flower garden and hedged yew topiaries

This property has steep and uneven terrain with steps, gravel, lawn and packed earth with no paved paths. There is limited wheelchair access and handicap-accessible bathrooms are available, and seating is provided throughout.

The garden tours on Saturday are followed by the Trade Secrets Rare Plants & Garden Antiques Sale from 7:30AM to 2PM at Lime Rock Park. There will be offerings of rare plants, garden antiques, décor, books and more. Five authors will be present to sign their books including Martha Steward signing her Gardening Handbook from 9:30 to 10:30AM; Bunny Williams with her books Life in the Garden and On Garden Style, 10:30 to 11:30AM; Frances Palmer, Life in Flowers and Life in the Studio; Mieke ten Have, Interiors Styled by Mieke ten Have, and Rosie Daykin, The Side Garden, all 11:30AM to 12:30PM.

Trade Secrets is the primary fundraiser for Project SAGE, a non-profit domestic violence agency serving Northwest Connecticut and the surrounding communities in New York and Massachusetts.
To purchase tickets click here.