Beyond Rye – The Well-Heeled Hamptons Landscape
 
– By Robin Jovanovich –

Gardeners need patience, good knees, strong backs and inspiration. We found plenty of the last earlier this month on a Garden Conservancy trip to the Hamptons. Beyond those enormous privet hedges lies uninterrupted splendor, with nary a weed or non-working sprinkler head in sight.
Over a long weekend we were taken to 14 gardens, where we were able to talk to landscape designers and architects and the owners about their creations. We were treated to meals at many of the owners’ clubs and estates and toured a famous nursery.
The Garden Conservancy works to preserve many of the country’s most extraordinary gardens, including artist Robert Dash’s “Madoo” in Sagaponack, which was one of the gardens we toured. Having the charming artist and his dog Barnsley — both characters — there to lead us made the visit memorable.
The Conservancy conducts several tours a year all across the country. Their “Open Days” program allows public access to many private gardens, and it’s a great introduction to the organization. 

At the end of the trip, our hosts and organizers asked what we’d learned. Looking over the 300 photos I took and my pages of notes, I’d have to say the most significant thing I learned is that one can create a remarkable garden out of very little. Nearly all the estates we toured had formerly been potato fields. Secondly, great gardens are a series of inter-related “rooms” that hold your interest in all seasons. Most of the great gardens offered surprises at every turn — a mauve gazebo, knot gardens, meadows that were both wild and tamed, a new take on an Italian grotto, landscapes created around important works of sculpture, and views that defied our greatest expectations.
Most of the gardens we toured could have been created without an artist’s vision and commitment and tremendous wealth. One of the most striking gardens we visited had views of the Atlantic and Georgica Pond, in addition to a multitude of magical terraced spaces. The owner graciously came out to greet us, apologizing for not welcoming us earlier. She told us that she and her husband had just returned from Paris with their gardener. “Can you believe he’d never been to Giverny before?”
Every trip needs a little ironic amusement and stepping into fantasy worlds is fine every so often.