Barbara Ellis is a garden book editor and author , most latterly of the terrificChesapeake Gardening and Landscaping(from UNC Press , with Atkins Arboretum ) , and she blogs atEastern Shore Gardener . I confab her at her home near Chestertown , Maryland with another dear garden writer , the horticulturistRuth Rogers Claussen . Ruth retire to Easton , MD , also on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay . I trust to show you Ruth ’s new garden someday but this post is about Barbara ’s garden and lifetime in lovely Chestertown .
The Garden
Barbara and her hubby bought the 10 - Akka property outside of town in 2004 but could n’t start transforming the garden until wide renovations to the place were make out in 2007 . Then the delawning began and it ’s now lucullan and interesting and a petty chaotic .
Yes , there are locoweed coming up through the gravel in the private road , but really , who cares ? Certainly not Barbara . And why should nation gardens look pristine ? She ’s not a neatnik on the two acres she gardens , and I would n’t be , either .
As for the other eight landed estate , her goal is to rid them of English ivy and other invasives , so her work may never be done .
There ’s more about her garden and her journeying to Chestertownhere .
Barbara ( leave behind ) and Ruth admire oxeye ( Heliopsis helianthoides ) blossom in the meadow , which was sown using a mix from Ernst Conservation Seeds , with a few other plants added .
Above left , you could see the edge of a red-hot - tub top and the panorama Barbara has while using it . On the right , the sight from the master bedroom . Now we see what makes this prop so special .
Peter Ellis , a retired societal prole , has taken up metalworking as a hobby – one of many .
Here ’s a small part of the twosome ’s appeal of lachrymation crapper .
Living in Chestertown , with Border Collies
I asked Barbara what spirit is like in Chestertown – she and Peter moved there after years in Berks County , Pennsylvania – and she respond :
There ’s always something going on here . Lots of music venue , plus free medicine in the park . ( Here ’s a data link . ) One of the late events is the National Music Festival , which has been based here for three years now I retrieve . River Arts has been a real blessing to the community . They always have a show run .
In addition for Chestertown in worldwide are all the Washington College outcome . They have lectures , plus a life acquire school . Also , there are all the water - orient event such as the logarithm canoe subspecies in summertime . Oh , and there is a National Wildlife Refuge on the peak of the peninsula ( they have a great butterfly garden ) south of Rock Hall .
I actually was involved withMid - Atlantic Border Collie Rescuebefore I moved here . We have station about 1,800 dogs since our initiation , including thoroughgoing - cover Border Collies , BC mixes , and quite a few little dogs that came our way .
Indeed , a litter of Border Collie puppies was in residence and being trained for adoption at the time of my visit .
Waterside gardens , lunch with two terrific women and puppies , too ? The arrant twenty-four hours .
