Wow! Thank you for sharing, Teresa. What an amazing and beautiful garden. Probably your packed pickup truck didn't make a dent in this treasure trove of plants. It is sad to think of new owners bulldozing any of this under, but you're probably right that not many people would be up to the task of maintaining it all.

Wow, is right. Any chance you can go get more? Even if you were an avid gardener, how much time would be required just to weed and get it back to rights? It would certainly be worth the effort, though, wouldn't it?

Are you sure it will be bulldozed, or are you guessing?

There is no chance of getting more! In fact my friend was called yesterday by the person who gave him permission to dig and they recinded the offer(not knowing he had already been over there). So we got there just in time.
All the oriental lilies are going to my friend's courtyard restaurant; and I was able to get some red daylilies for myself.
I was told the the late owner spent approximately 40,000.00 a year on these gardens. He worked all day everyday in them, and also employed a full time gardener.
The new owners are going to keep the gardener employed in some capacity, but are probably not going to upkeep all the flower beds.

Just amazing. I still can't stop thiking about it.

Teresa

Wow! Quite amazing! Too bad you didn't get better pictures. What on earth did the gardener spend $40K on?

"...What on earth did the gardener spend $40K on?.."

Well,a good part of that probably went to the full-time gardener!

Such a beautiful piece of property. Hopefully the new owners will retain a lot of it, and if they are keeping the gardener hopefully she/he can find homes for the plants not staying. So beautiful...

Dee

If you've got the money and can afford a full-time gardener, I can EASILY see spending $40K a year on a garden that size so you can still enjoy gardening by doing the jobs you love and leaving the rest to the gardener and temporary hired help! That's the luxury of funds--you get to give somebody else jobs you hate, like getting rid of quack grass. Of course, that assumes the paid people actually do a good job! If the owner died then I assume he was getting on up in years and might have needed the help for some taxing jobs.

Oh, my goodness, Teresa! What a treat to have been able to see this property before changes are made to it by the new owners! I especially loved the fact that the original owner, while they could afford a gardener and spending $40,000 a year on the garden, also worked in the garden every day.

That person really loved their gardens --- it reminds me of Runktrun's post about the Monet''s gardens --- that Monet believed his garden was his most beautiful creation. Certainly this owner felt that way about his/her garden. Too bad it could not have been turned over to the Nature Conservancy and kept in its original state.

It's great that you and your friend were able to save some of the plants and that these beautiful specimens piled in the truck are going to good homes where they will be appreciated and cared for. I'm sure the original owner would have liked that.

P.S.
I keep thinking about the years and years this man worked on these gardens to create his "secret garden by the sea". I'm hoping new owners come to love and appreciate it too. Who could not be moved by that covered grass path to the sea?

Stunning! You were lucky to get to visit. Hope the new owners are able to keep it up or at least some of it.

I would think that half of the 40,000.00 would probably go to the gardener; then there is soil amendments, mulch, irrigation, and money spent on annuals. There were many empty(or rather, weedy) spaces along the front of many of the flower bed, and I am assuming when the garden was in it's prime there were many annuals in those spaces. And yes, the owner really did work in his garden everyday, despite being wealthy enough pay people to do it all. My friend told me that the man owned the property for about 15 years. Isn't it amazing he was able to get all that in there in 15 years?
Molie---I agree with you about it being turned over to a Nature Conservancy. It's a shame that didn't happen. I asked my friend if the property was on garden tours and he said no; that it was just for himself and his family. I think not very many people knew about this place. If more people realized what was there, perhaps it could have been bought by the town and perserved, but now it is too late.

Teresa

Actually, I find this sad beyond words. Such a beautiful garden, so lovingly created. Yes, the owner had the joy of it, hopefully for many years, but a thing of such beauty should be preserved.

The Garden Conservancy saves some gardens but not as many as I wish they--and other preservation groups--could. When there is a death or economic downturn, the first thing to go is the garden. I wish America valued gardens as they do in England--not that everything is preserved there either, but enough.

Thanks, Ginny, for saying The Garden Conservancy, which is what I meant to reference in my earlier post--- not the Nature Conservancy! They're two different organizations.

You are right that preserving specific gardens is a tough sell. Because this man's garden was so private, there probably were few people who knew it existed. Many of the GC gardens I've seen (like Hollister House in CT) are owned by people prominent in gardening or design "circles" and they have support/encouragement from others to preserve their creations.

When Teresa posted those pictures from this garden, I was struck with how personal it looked. I thought about all the time it took the owner to create that rock-lined path to the ocean. Here is an example of one gardener's love for their land. It's not a landscape that was designed. I'm not slamming landscape designers here at all --- just saying that the owner obviously created this over time, adding colors and shapes where he felt they belonged. You can tell he loved his yard. So yes, it is sad that it can't be preserved.

Wow! What a beautiful garden. I wish I could have seen this in person. How sad that it's being neglected. How sad that the owner is no longer here to continue. Oh boy, if this was my famIly I would do everything in my power to gaurantee it continues. Sadly, with the economy the way it is lately, that's not something many ppl can spend money on these days.
Thanks for sharing this.
PS, I pointed out the $40,000/yr to my hubby. I dont think he'll even flinch at my nursery bills anymore. Lol.