Down the garden path: Create a little magic with plants, paths and whimsical touches

Now that in person garden tours are back, I’m making the most of it. I got hopelessly lost in this one last week. Although it’s only an acre of property there was so much to take in! Fortunately, the owner, Brian Darling was kind enough to let me come back again. Plants are only part of the charm of his garden. The real magic unfolds as you meander through it - a wild walk through an exuberant tapestry of plants and whimsical little nooks that slowly reveal a series of garden rooms.

I’m big on creating magical spots in my own garden, so I paid close attention to his artistry as I walked around.

I was immediately drawn in through a vine covered arbor leading to the backyard - one of many entrances that direct you to the heart of the garden. Curvaceous beds along the edge of the lawn extend to a series of paths that take you into a seemingly endless array of outdoor rooms. Each one is packed with delightful surprises. “The paths provide a way to see the garden,” Brian explained. The curves were inspired by his stint on a landscape crew back in college days.

Bee balm, Datura and Dill frame a path on the lawn.

Iris, his English gardener mother-in law and several trips across the pond provided a further appreciation for design and unusual plants - especially trees. As the trees he planted matured, they created natural boundaries that eventually became rooms.“ It happened kind of serendipitously,” he said. Brian has spent the last 22 years creating rooms, building structures and adding seating areas. There are plenty of spots for a tired gardener to rest.

“I needed places to sit so I could appreciate what I’d done,” he said. He likes hidden areas - you don’t see his gardens all at once. Little surprises unfold as you venture through them.

From this cool spot underneath a wisteria covered pergola, you can make out some large stumps and something that looks like a fire pit.

And here it is - sunk into a bed of gravel surrounded by an a mix of butterfly bushes, elderberry, and a slew of self seeding poppies. Hang a left and you arrive at a greenhouse crammed with an assortment of peppers, eggplants, squashes, stray annuals and some tropicals.

Keep going and you hit the vegetable garden - almost hidden by a myriad of vines and self seeders growing on and around a chicken wire fence (deer protection). Whimsical touches pop up here and there, reflecting Brian’s fun loving spirit.

Influenced by his mom’s huge vegetable garden, Brian followed in her footsteps and grows most of his own food.

This one stopped me in my tracks. A collection of antique watering cans hung on a dead tree trunk - genius!

You definitely need a sign post here….

Even the path that leads to the compost pile is entertaining. Did I mention how many self seeding plants are growing in this garden? They roam around through perennials, under trees and along every path. This guy is a serious plantaholic.

Each bed is a little jewel box overflowing with colors and textures.

Dill, poppies and daturas weave their way through the perennials - it looks so effortless!

Every spot holds one more surprise - another room, a place to sit or an unusual plant missed along the way. It looks effortless - like it just decided to happened on its own.

The kind of garden I aspire to.