Last weekend we visited Stonecrop Gardens and found so much inspiration! Stonecrop is in Cold Spring, NY at an elevation of 1,100 feet and shares our exact USDA planting zone of 6A. We go to Stonecrop to learn about plants and get planting ideas, to unwind, to walk, to dream. It’s a stunning garden that is never crowded as many don’t even know about it. As a member, you get access to their full seed bank which includes really hard to find perennials. Visits during COVID are by reservation only as they are only open a couple of days each month. When we went we had the garden practically to ourselves.
Stonecrop transports me to the French countryside. The buildings of the horticultural school have blue french doors and mansard roofs with cedar shingles. In August the garden is glorious.
The garden was created by Anne and Frank Cabot. In the mid-1980’s, Frank and Anne had aspirations of Stonecrop becoming a public garden and they engaged English horticulturist Caroline Burgess to direct its development. Caroline had worked for Rosemary Verey at Barnsley House and was fresh from the elite horticulture program at the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew.
Coincidentally, I’ve had the pleasure of staying at Barnsley House in England and can tell you Caroline Burgess was ideal for the job. Stonecrop’s location (unlike Barnsley House) was windswept and rocky (much like our house) but that didn’t deter her.
Under Burgess’ direction, Stonecrop’s gardens expanded in scope and diversity, and now encompass fifteen acres of varied garden spaces containing an encyclopedic collection of plants. In addition, a School of Practical Horticulture was established and several interns join the staff each season for a mix of instruction in hands-on gardening techniques and in-depth study of plants.
For anyone interested in common and rare alpine plants, I can’t think of a better place to visit.
A visit to Stonecrop is a serious immersion in plants and design ideas.
PS In his later years, Frank Cabot moved to Quebec and founded Les Quatre Vents, aka Cabot Garden, a magnificent private garden in the Charlevoix region. The Gardener is a documentary directed by Sebastien Chabot about Frank Cabot's amazing garden. Great film. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6566400/
All photos ©2021 Narcisse Navarre. Don’t use without permission.
