Tea for two at Perennial Pleasures Nursery & Tea Garden in Vermont.
Some time ago, I had the delight of a special early baby shower treat of having my best friend take me to tea at the Perennial Pleasures Nursery & Tea Garden in Vermont. What a special place! A delightful elder British lady, Judith, made taking cream tea all the more enjoyable, due to her great pride in the special way she made her cucumber & dill finger sandwiches (with the crusts trimmed, of course). The scones were an absolute dream, with clotted cream & delectable strawberry jam.
A lovely image of a proper scone, one of the best things on Earth.
Of course, my best friend remembered our magical trip to England together, visiting places like Highclere Castle & Blenheim Palace (which are covered in other posts), so she wanted to remind me of our time together there. She’s an amazing friend. And she’s an incredible horticulturist, so checking out the gardens was not only a must for me but an imperative for her!
A lovely way to add ornament to one’s garden.
After leaving the tea room, one enters a shaded area next to a rustic fence decorated with all kinds of plants & vegetative greenery. An admitted hosta fanatic, I loved seeing all of the varieties of green plants that subtly gave their own beauty in a contrasting spectrum of creams & light yellow to dark & forest greens.
Texture & shapes were & remain the defining features in landscape design employing a number of shade perennials. Its beauty springs from the seemingly cruel acts or pruning, dividing, & uprooting unruly growth in order to bring out what might be lying dormant. But the garden depends on those actions.
The rustic fence.
Certainly, there were also all kinds of cut flower varieties that were showy in the sunniest fields at the edge of the inner garden, so you could look to purchase those should you ever visit, but I preferred the treasures hidden in the shade, an appreciation that has been developed out of my own gardening at the farm.
There’s something poetic in clinging to life despite harsh winters & deep freezes, coming back stronger, taller, prettier, in verdant glory. That speaks to me.
An example of texture in shade gardening.
Under an arbor covered with vines and hanging leaves, you can step into a small sanctuary. There’s a small water feature, a pool with statuary & water plants, mosses. A lovely place of quiet for any introvert to enjoy.
The meditation pool, shaded with filtered sun.
In my mind, I return to this place of English charm in the Vermont countryside rather frequently. This is one of the many places & experiences that comforts me in daydreams & reveries. The added bonus of being there with my best friend made me feel a bit like Anne Shirley & Diana Barry.
And, too, by visiting different gardens, fellow introvert gardeners can find inspiration & ideas for planting & landscape design. Perennials especially demonstrate quite tangibly that loveliness can thrive even in shaded, quiet places.
This reminds me of life itself, symbolically. A true but profound beauty earned, deepened by trials of clime & cutter alike.
Another example of how visual texture holds function in garden planning.
After walking the grounds & taking cream tea, we were sad to leave a place of such charm & character. To find a bit of English countryside in New England provided me with such restorative pleasure. I feel like the UK is in my bones, like it’s my happy place.
As I wrote in “The Orchard” post, my dream is to recreate an outdoor tea room in the farm’s own orchard. And what a dream that is. Yet, like many things, it just takes time.
The outside of the gift shop.
More hostas to love.