Bananas.org - Atrip to Watnong garden..... and catching up with an old friend

I saw this article in my local paper a couple of weeks ago and realized that I haven't kept in touch with one of my best gardening friends and quite possibly the best gardener I've ever known ( apologies to HBL and others:ha:) it's been a few years since I'd been there so I decided to call and pay a visit.
40 years of devoted work yields showcase garden in Parsippany | dailyrecord.com | Daily Record

Helen remembered me right away and immediately invited me to come for a look so I jumped at the chance , especially having not been to her place in a couple of years. After a big hug and a few stories we got right around to touring this amazing place only 5 minutes from my house.

( This is Helen and I in front of an old "Watnong" Japanese maple.)
Watnong( a local indian name that roughly translates as " a view on the mountain") was a famous nursery that introduced many of it's own cultivars back in the 1950's and 60's. I even learned that they introduced the " Carol Mackie" daphne that was one of the first plants I planted when I moved into this house over 10 years ago!
While it wasn't quite as colorful as in the spring and early summer when there are literally thousands of different flowers blooming, if you know what you're looking at it's still a horticultural paradise and was listed by Forbes magazine as one of the most beautiful private gardens in America. There's been articles in the New York Times and many magazines but surprisingly never a book which in my opinion is certainly deserving. Just a list of all the plants there would fill a volume......Hmmmmm? I may have to do something about that. I first learned of this place about 10 years ago when the Garden Conservancy has it's open house tours and made friends with the owners almost instantly. Even though there were hundreds of people there during my initial visit , Helen and her late husband Frank gave me a lot of attention and I stayed for hours.. and even went back the next day to buy a few more plants from the sale.... well, I never paid for one and never did again though I always offered . You know how gardeners are:ha:

For some reason certain cultivars not reliably hardy to the area do well here for decades such as the Georgia Plane tree and in fact seeds and seedlings from this garden are being sent back to Georgia where it's an endangered species in the wild. You don't see too many redwood trees in New Jersey but there's at least 10 on the property and they're magnificent and kind of shocking to see. Hundreds of hosta varieties, dwarf conifers, fruit trees as well as orchids, lillies, succulent and an incredible variety of flowering plants of every description can be seen here in season. Though its been very hot and dry here this summer the place still looks inviting and beatiful. A true horticultural gem , especially if you have some idea of what you're viewing here. A couple of shots:

How can an 81 year old woman run down a garden path faster than I can and still be able to name everything in common and latin along the way?

Gardening keeps Helen young and I only hope I'll be in half as good of shape if I even make it to here age. A quick mention of how I enjoyed the different colored buckeyes had her picking nuts from the tree for me to grow and I had to stop her from climbing up one of the trees with a promise to return later:ha:

You know how gardeners are.... though new planting was long over for me I was still sent home with a bundle of plants.... enough for another new bed or two at least.

She popped out of her large built in the ground cold frame with some dwarf hostas , miniature irises, hardy begonias, a couple of daphnes, baby red bud tree, several chamaecyperus seedlings as well as picking me some quince fruits ( forgot the variety ) and some red Buckeye seeds right from the tree. She wanted to load me up with even more but thought I should come help divide things later in the fall and I'll doubtless go home with more than I could possibly want... I've never asked for a thing but can never get away withought a few boxes full. It doesn't cost anything never hurts to be nice to the people you meet and sometimes pays ... for years to come. You can be sure I'll be helping out with whatever winterizing needs done.

Watnong for many years was on the anual Garden Conservancy tour list and hundreds of people would pay to come for a look at this and other local private gardens. The first time I was there , a throng of people were visiting daily during the two days of the official tours and this continued for years after. Unfortunately when Frank died there was no longer any help available and it was too much for Helen to keep up with, with plant sales and collecting the cash to benefit the GC as well as trying to give all the visitors all the attention they wanted. I was at least always able to pop in whenever I wanted after the first year even though on the tour days I always insisted on paying the entry fee out of principal. In any case the property has been sold to the town since Franks passing in an effort to preserve this magnificent property for the ages. Helen is allowed to spend the rest of her days in one of the houses on the property though the economy and budget cuts have all but eliminated any improvements or upkeep at this point... a sad commentary on the times I'd say. An 81 year old woman maintaining 2 1/2 acres of intensely planted gardens virtually all alone, though the town was initially supposed to supply a lot of the labor and upkeep. So now it's time for me to give something back and I've offered to come help out with some of the more major jobs that need to be done such as lager tree work and the other usual chores. I'm just hoping that in years to come this marvelous place will be preserved in it's pesent condition though it now appears unlikely.... so I thought I'd post a little of it here.