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CHAT Cottage garden workshop review

Yesterday I attended a day-long workshop by Margaret Hensel, 
author of "English Cottage Gardens for American Gardeners".  This
is one of the better and more attractive gardening books I've
seen in recent years, and I was eager to attend.  Several 
posters here asked me to post a description, so here it is.

The workshop was held at Margaret's garden, on a farm near
West Stockbridge, MA (near the NY border).  Nearly 40 people
attended from all over the Northeast.  I talked to folks
>from  Long Island, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Vermont, New
Hampshire, and Massachusetts.  We began the day with a slide
show of English cottage gardens.  Many of the pictures (not
all) were from Margaret's book.  She is equally interested 
in plants and in garden design.  She analyzes all of the 
components in a garden--paths, walls, hedges, gates, shrubs,
and trees are as important as flowering plants.  Toward
the end of the talk she showed before and after photographs
of gardens she has designed in New England.

After lunch we went to the garden for an identification tour
and a workshop of dividing plants.   I came home with about
10 small plants--achillea "Moonbeam", some Siberian iris,
some daylilies which are guaranteed not to be orange, astilbes
and a blue hardy geranium (not Johnson's Blue).  I made some
new friends with similar interests with whom I expect to
stay in touch.  

At $125, the workshop seemed a bit pricey when I signed
up, and it still seems high.  Everything was well
done, however, and especially if one is just getting started
with English style gardens it is probably worth it.  I'm glad
I went; even though I already was familiar with most of the
plants I did learn some new ones and got some experience 
dividing plants.  She does a fall workshop on bulbs as well.

In summary, I'd recommend this workshop for those who want an
introduction to the plants and design methods used for small
informal English gardens, for those who aren't familiar with
dividing perennials, and for those who can afford it!  If you
can't afford it, the book is quite good and is available from
many public libraries.

You can reach Margaret Hensel at Box 167, Richmond, MA 01254,
413-698-2291.

Linda French
zone 6
Westwood, MA
...who has just planted 6 Old Garden Roses, and lots of delphiniums,
hollyhocks, campanulas, dianthus and is contemplating her own
cottage garden.