In addition to some outstanding trees and shrubs, the collection here includes an extensive rose garden, medieval herb garden, kitchen garden, perennial borders, and shade garden areas. I grow annuals, perennials, herbs, roses, vegetables, cut flowers, shrubs, trees, and lawns in one of the most beautiful settings on campus. Topographically the grounds are unique, with long green vistas to Paradise Pond, stone walls, and steep stone steps behind the statue of St. Francis leading to the upper terrace. To the right of the house beyond the terrace, the land slopes dramatically to a deep, shaded ravine whose sides are covered with pachysandra and ferns, with a brook running along the bottom. In the heat of summer this appears as cool and exotic as a rain forest.
Hummingbirds visit the gardens, and the kingfisher's rowdy call drifts up from the pond.
Herbaceous and woody plants of interest grace the area surrounding the house. First to bloom, some years through the snow, is Adonis amurensis on the back terrace. Adonis amurensis is native to Manchuria and Japan. Unfortunately, it flowers before any insects are available to pollinate it, so we are never able to collect seed. Another interesting member of the Ranunculaceae on the terrace is one of my favorite perennials, Anemonopsis macrophylla , false anemone.