The month-long merging of the spring and summer seasons seems to unleash the beauty of this area’s natural scenery. The greenery and flowers are at their peak before their verdant reign is scorched by August’s heat and ended by the onset of winter.
It’s time to get out and take a look at some of the unusual or unique gardens of area residents – and, on one tour, the interior of their homes, too.
All tours go on, rain or shine.
The 18th annual Secret Garden Tour is Saturday and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m.
This is a rare opportunity to see some of the private gardens in the Historic Annapolis District, however the homes’ interiors are not part of the tour. All of the gardens are within easy walking distance and are open to ticket holders this weekend to benefit Hammond-Harwood House.
An eagerly-awaited annual event, the tour will take ticket-holders through one of Annapolis’ most historic areas along the streets of Charles, Cathedral, Conduit and Franklin Streets and Acton Landing, near the old site of Anne Arundel Medical Center.
Guests to the Secret Garden Tour will relish venturing beyond the gates of beautifully tended private gardens that are not normally visible from the sidewalks, each displaying the tastes and lifestyle of the homeowners. As tour goers enjoy the gardens they visit, they’ll discover ideas for enhancing their own plantings and outdoor living areas.
Tickets are $30 per person in advance. They are $35 on Saturday and Sunday at the “day of” ticket sales tent at 137 Charles Street. For information, reservations or tickets, call 410-263-4683 x 10 or visit hammondharwoodhouse.org .
June 10, from 1 to 5 p.m. the 13th annual Eastport Home & Garden Tour will be in full swing, hosted by the Eastport Civic Association. There will be nine historic home and garden sites on display, plus a bonus beekeeper exhibit.
Move at your own pace through each of the sites – see the interiors, too. Click bit.ly/2GPdpZY for pictures of the sites.
Tickets are $25 and can be purchased online via Eventbrite at bit.ly/2Ipejx7 or in-person at the following businesses: BruMar Gardens, K&B True Value, Ahh Coffee, Leeward Market, Eastport Shell, Winwood Gardens, Glamour Nails, and Bakers & Co. The website is eastportcivic.org/events.html. For more information, contact Eastport Civic Association committee member Michael Leonard at michael.p.leonard@gmail.com .
A short drive north is the 27th annual Garden Tour hosted by the Horticultural Society of Maryland. It is 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.
The tour of five properties in northern Maryland will take visitors down winding roads, and landscapes mostly hidden from view. The landscapes have been designed and maintained by serious horticulturists.
Among the offerings are serene Asian-inspired gardens in a park-like setting, charming farms with colorful flower beds and historic farm buildings, plus a contemporary garden lavished with native grasses in the New American style. Tickets are $35 for non-members if purchased by Saturday either online or, in Anne Arundel County, at Graul’s Markets in Annapolis and Cape St. Claire. After Saturday, tickets are $40 and can be purchased at the first garden, located at 13901 Mantua Mill Road, Reistertown MD 21136. Visit mdhorticulture.org for details.
When you go
As these special tours involve walking along streets, sidewalks or through gardens, wear sturdy, flat-soled shoes. The private homes or gardens on these tours are not handicap accessible. Wheelchairs cannot be accommodated.
No food or drink is allowed on the property of the tour homes. While on the properties, please do not pick or remove any plants or other objects.
Photos may be taken of tour home exteriors and the gardens.
One more …
On Sunday, from 1 to 3 p.m. there will be a free, public outdoor concert and dedication of a World War I centennial monument with keynote speaker, Diane Rehm, at the Epiphany Chapel & Church House grounds in Odenton.
It is an opportunity to explore a historic site, renovated to resemble its original condition in 1918, and its new, inspiring Centennial Memorial Gardens.
The event includes WWI music by The Maryland Military Band and an opportunity to discover online information about family members who served in the war.
Diane Rehm, whose own father was deployed through Camp Meade to the trenches of WWI, will address the crowd with her speech, “Keeping Faith in Troubled Times.” The Diane Rehm Show was distributed nationally and internationally by National Public Radio until her retirement in December, 2016. Rehm now hosts a weekly podcast, On My Mind (NPR).
Her father, Wadie S. Aed, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Mersin, Turkey, enlisted and served in France with the Army, Camp Meade Detachment 147th Infantry 37th Division at the age of 22.
In 1918, the Episcopal Chapel was a home-away-from-home for soldiers and included “reinforcements to the Chaplains of the colored regiments.” Second-floor rooms provided overnight accommodations for the soldiers and their families who came to say goodbye.
The chapel is a National Register Historic Site featuring a Chaplains’ Peace Garden near the current front entrance. In the garden are several bronze plaques naming 2,929 WWI chaplains, among them 24 rabbis and 108 African Americans. Its museum is staged to evoke the atmosphere of 1918 with bunk beds, original posters, Victrola record players, trench art, uniforms, board games, and items of everyday life and culture during WWI.
The Centennial Memorial Gardens has recently been landscaped in the chapel’s verdant cemetery, hidden from the hustle and bustle of the nearby town of Odenton, its MARC station, and Fort George G. Meade. It is a tranquil, half-acre, open-space chapel created with granite boulders from a Maryland quarry and featuring dozens of iron poppies forged by blacksmiths from Belgium.
The Epiphany Chapel & Church House is located at 1419 Odenton Road, Odenton. For more information, visit epiphany-md.org , or email the Rev. Dr. Phebe McPherson at epiphanyodenton@gmail.com .
