Garden Spots

Today I want to shout to the world, "The Dogwoods are blooming! The Dogwoods are blooming!" The Hawthorne Hotel has bright yellow pansies in its flower boxes, and gardens are coming alive all across Salem.




Here are three of my favorite garden paths to follow:

1. The seaside garden at The House of the Seven Gables, which incorporates "four centuries of floral color" into the property's landscape.
2. The 18th century formal garden behind the Derby House at the Salem Maritime National Historic Site, which "contains more than 150 varieties of heirloom annuals, perennials and bulbs, all documented to 1798 or earlier."
3. The Ropes Mansion, 318 Essex Street - The Peabody Essex Museum meticulously cultivates and maintains the Colonial Revival garden, which dates to 1912, behind the Ropes Mansion.

It is still early for gardens, but they are budding and this is a great time to begin observing the gardens, and chart their development as the season continues.