Garden Tour of Tarbin Gardens, Franklin, NH, August 13, 2011

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At Tarbin Gardens in Franklin, New Hampshire, you will see plants, shrubs, and trees that you may not see elsewhere in northern New England. Besides the amazing variety of flora, there’s also a wildness about these gardens that can make the selection and placement of plants and trees seem random.

But Richard Tarbin knows every plant and tree as you would know your own child or an old, dear friend – he’s known each one from their beginning. Trees that are now anywhere from 30 to over 80 feet tall now, Richard started from seedlings 25 years ago. He can tell you where he acquired the seedlings, how they’ve weathered harsh winters or hot summers, what their strengths and weaknesses are, and extol their unique beauty or lovable homeliness.

Did you know that magnolias, of which Tarbin Gardens has several varieties, when cut back severely, can grow back quickly because of their extensive root system? Around the corner from where we live, there is a large magnolia tree that puts forth beautiful pink blossoms in the spring. Several years ago, it suffered terribly in an ice storm. I thought for sure it was a goner and was saddened by the idea of no longer seeing that beautiful tree in bloom. But it has recovered and grown back amazingly well. Now I know why.

That’s what you experience on a garden tour with Richard Tarbin. He is not only enthusiastic about Tarbin Gardens, but loves to hear about your experiences of plants and trees, commiserate on the difficulties and share in the pleasures, and offer explanations for anything that puzzles you.

My husband commented later that he felt as if he weren’t even in New Hampshire as we toured the gardens. “It felt like stepping into another world.”

If that’s true, it’s the world of Richard Tarbin. A world he has been creating for over 25 years on his own and before that with his parents who bought the property in 1973. Out of 32 acres of woodland, he has created five acres of paradise. Besides having to clear land and dig out rocks and boulders, he has had to build up and enrich a clay soil that originally offered only an inch of covering.

There are currently over ten gardens that showcase plants and trees in a variety of conditions from full sun to full shade, from alpine to tropical. The alpine garden features minitature evergreens while the tropical house, an indoor botanical garden, contains an array of exotic plants. In the Catalpa garden a canopy of the Catalpa trees provide shade for a variety of plants such as Crown Imperials, foxgloves, campanulas,and magic lilies. The Sensory Garden adjoining the children’s play area allows children to experience plants up close. The gardens are balanced by three pond areas including a Koi pond complete with water lilies and a small waterfall.

The formal garden, originally created by his parents, has dramatic flora displays in large, decorative stone containers at one end leading to a grapevine-covered pergola at the other end. It is also the venue for weddings that are held throughout the summer. During our visit, large Oriental lilies in white and various shades of pink were in bloom in this garden as well as daylilies and astilbe. Stone planters in the middle of the garden held beautiful fuschias. Did you know they grow better in large containers offering a mix of sun and shade with moist, fertilized soil? They don’t last long in those hanging planters from the nursery, which dry out quickly.

Richard is constantly adding and extending gardens. One of the new gardens he is developing is at the entrance. The 60-foot raised bed border is in full bloom with a dazzling array of annuals: Zowie zinnias, Mexican sunflowers, castor bean, dahlias, salvia, marigolds, portulaca rose, and flowering tobacco.

His mother manages the English cream teas served in the Rose Garden patio. You can bring a picnic lunch to enjoy beforehand, and then indulge in the scones and pastries that come with a large pot of tea kept warm by knitted tea cozies, which you can also purchase.

These are gardens to return to throughout the spring and summer to experience the change in the landscapes as each plant and tree comes into bloom and the color of foliage changes. There are plenty of places to sit in each garden, which allows you to rest and simply take in all that your senses will allow. You’ll hear the sounds of birds as well as the exotic animals that reside here, including peacocks from India, guinea fowl and goats from Africa, and parakeets from South America. There’s also Scottish highland cattle that were instrumental in helping to clear that land as they apparently will eat anything including tree stumps!

You can easily make a day of visiting Tarbin Gardens, which seems to have enough variety to interest a wide range of visitors from young to old, garden enthusiast, or someone just looking to enjoy another world for a short while.

For more information, visit their website at TarbinGardens.com.

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