Beyond the Garden Gates
It’s been ten years since the Cassina Garden Club began hosting the annual Tabby & Tillandsia Garden Walk. In that time attendees have visited approximately seventy unique and notable private gardens on St. Simons Island and Sea Island. The gardens are chosen each year for their horticultural beauty and their ability to inspire gardeners with varying levels of expertise. They have encompassed formal English gardens, pondscapes and poolscapes, floral showcases, native wildscapes, and more. On Saturday, May 14, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., in celebration of its 10th annual Garden Walk, themed “One More Thyme!” Cassina will throw open the garden gates once again on six of the most notable gardens from prior years. These gardens are gorgeously maintained and tended primarily by the homeowners, passionate garden lovers, and in many cases, green thumbs themselves. Four of the six featured stops are gardens of Cassina Garden Club members! Highlights include soothing water gardens, elegant koi ponds, a unique tea house, kitchen gardens, hardscape masterpieces, and a stunning collection of roses. Docents and many of the homeowners will be on hand at each stop to direct visitors’ attention to unique features, plant material, hardscapes, and garden art.
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Garden Walk Stop 1
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Garden Walk Stop 1
The owner’s love of horses and roses are abundantly in evidence at Stop #1 in Sea Palms East. The rose bush surrounded pool overlooking a serene pond would be a dream escape for anyone. A riot of color greets you at Stop #2 in Hampton Plantation and provides a spectacular marsh view. A koi pond and prayer garden are other highlights of this garden.
Garden Walk Stop 2
Stop #3 in West Point is a gorgeous example of a formally designed English garden and it has its own tea house as well!
Garden Walk Stop 3
A beautifully landscaped property, an interesting feature worth noting in Stop #4 in The Commons is the repurposed brick, concrete, and stone used artistically in the hardscaping.
Garden Walk Stop 4
Sea Palms West Stop #5 with its Koi pond, honeysuckle, jasmine, and bright vegetation is a veritable haven for butterflies and birds, including frequent appearances by flitting hummingbirds. Other features are a kitchen garden, citrus trees, and a greenhouse that demonstrates that the homeowner is passionate about his horticultural pursuits.
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Garden Walk Stop 5
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Garden Walk Stop 5
Stop #6 in Island Club boasts not only a serene garden retreat with fountain and sitting area, but a functional garden where herbs, vegetables and fruit are happily harvested by the homeowner. Presenting sponsor ACE Garden Center is featured as a special interest stop on the Garden Walk as well, and will display plants found in the garden tours and provide other gardening tips and inspiration.
Garden Walk Stop 6
Also included in the Garden Walk experience is the Southern “Old Fashioned” Garden Party at Cassina Garden Club’s tabby cabins on Gascoigne Bluff between 2:00-5:00 p.m. Enjoy refreshments, see interesting demonstrations, and tour the restoration progress of the cabins. (Ask to see where they found the “haint blue!”) The Hamilton Plantation Garden Club will also be hosting a Plant Sale at the cabins between 8:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.
Tickets for the 10th Annual Tabby & Tillandsia Garden Walk presented by ACE Garden Center and The Dentist in Redfern are $25 and can be purchased at ACE Garden Center, G.J. Ford Bookshop and St. Simons Drugs on St. Simons Island; at Cunningham Jewelers and Gentlemen’s Outfitters in Glynn Place Mall in Brunswick; and will also available at the tabby cabins on May 14. All proceeds from the Garden Walk benefit the historic preservation of Cassina’s Hamilton Plantation tabby slave cabins and the surrounding grounds at Gascoigne Bluff. For more details about Cassina Garden Club, the Garden Walk, garden descriptions, and ticket information, visit cassinagardenclub.org. Spend a spring day on the island with the Cassina Garden Club celebrating ten years of Garden Walks and discovering what beauty lies beyond the garden gates.
