ROCKPORT — When newlyweds Barbara and Greg Furey dug a pond behind their house, they envisioned it surrounded by gardens where, after a day of weeding and planting, they could sit and watch the turtles and listen to the birds. Sixty years later, what began as a vegetable garden and a raspberry patch has become a mature compilation of fourteen gardens.
The Gardens at Dickens Pond will be open to visitors on Saturday, July 13, from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Located at 120 Park Street in Rockport, the Dickens Pond gardens are part of the Belfast Garden Club’s Open Garden Days.
The $5 admission to the garden helps to support the club’s public service projects throughout the year. The event will be held rain or shine. Season passes will be available for $35 on site.
Now in her 80s, Barbara Furey still does the gardening herself, with the help of son Bart. Husband Greg died in 2002. “I admit that these days, Bart does the lion’s share of the physical work,” Furey says. “But I can still put in two hours or so before collapsing into one of the strategically-placed chairs near the pond.”
Furey confesses to having a soft spot for the shade garden where, in high summer, ferns, astilbes, and hostas flourish. “I’ve also come to love the Japanese forest grasses and the sedges that love the shade and add a completely different texture to the garden,” she adds.
Daylilies take center stage during July in both the sun and shade gardens. Furey shares some advice about this garden workhorse. “Don’t plant them in a row or next to each other,” she says. “They will lose all their individual beauty.” Most important, though? “Get out there every morning and snip off yesterday’s blooms. Yesterday’s blooms are not a pretty sight.”
Furey also loves the splashes of color a healthy selection of annuals provides, choosing to plant vigorous re-seeders such as cosmos, nicotania, and salvia. “Please come and enjoy it,” she says. “I’ll be around to answer questions.”
Open Garden Days will be held each Saturday through Aug. 17. For the complete Open Garden Days schedule, visit belfastgardenclub.org. Proceeds support the garden club’s school programs, camp scholarships, library donations, and the 13 public gardens in Belfast that are maintained by club volunteers.
