BELFAST — Visit a classic, well-loved Belfast garden at the Belfast Garden Club’s Open Garden Day on Friday, July 24. Anna Strickland and Edward Earle’s garden at 66 Church Street will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., rain or shine. Admission is $5 (checks or exact change is appreciated); additional donations to support the Garden Club are also welcome. To protect Open Garden visitors, volunteers and homeowners during the current COVID situation, we ask everyone to wear face masks and to maintain appropriate physical distancing while touring the gardens. We will provide hand sanitizer and have masks available for those who cannot bring their own.
Muriel Krakar created Anna and Edward’s English-style perennial garden 40 years ago, and it has been included in many fundraisers over the years. Anna and Edward consider themselves to be stewards of the garden, which they feel was a “gift” that came with the house they bought in 2007. With invaluable guidance from friend Cary Slocum, they strive to maintain the essence of the garden.
Krakar prioritized year-round structural interest in the garden, and she included several walking paths, stone walls and edgings for the garden beds, arbors, and places to sit. Anna added a modern trellis that surrounds the porch and supports wisteria vines, and she incorporated large boulders into the garden that were dug up during house renovations. Anna is interested in plants that attract pollinators, particularly hummingbirds, which she and her husband enjoy photographing. One of the couple’s favorite areas of the garden is an Italianate herb garden, which now includes the highest concentration of pollinator plants and is quite lovely this time of year. There should be much in bloom in the garden by the 24th, including daylilies, poppies, monkshood, hosta, astilbe, clematis, coreopsis, Asian lilies, hydrangea, phlox, crocosmia, fuchsia, honeysuckle, balloon flower, delphiniums, and more.
The Belfast Garden Club has promoted public gardens and stimulated the knowledge and love of gardening for more than 90 years. Proceeds from fundraising support local public gardens and several scholarship funds. For more visit BelfastGardenClub.org.