Show of colors Barrington Hills yard a highlight of local garden and antique faire
Charlie Denny wants visitors to see the pergola by the swimming pool and his rose garden with myriad colors of hybrid teas and floribunda. He wants them to notice his yard’s shady areas covered with pachysandra, transplanted and spread from a single patch planted close to the house. And oh, yes, the compost bins.
“We’ve been composting ever since we moved in 13 years ago. I saw the plans for the bins in a book from the ‘Victory Garden’ TV show,” Denny said. “You pull the slats up on this side and dig up the compost. The other side is open to give it plenty of air. You want moisture and air.”
While Denny brags about the worms in his 12-section compost bins, his wife, Sandy, enjoys the sights and smells of the gardens around their home in Barrington Hills. She loves to open the windows in the guesthouse, which she does every summer day it’s not inhabited with friends, relatives or her adult children. There she’ll catch the fragrance of the nicotiana sylvestris growing outside the kitchen window.
The Dennys’ five secluded acres will be part of the estate tours for the Barrington Country Garden & Antique Faire, Friday, June 15, and Saturday, June 16. Also open this year is Wandering Tree, a North Barrington estate with gorgeous gardens; and the well-known Gloree and Tryumfant Garden Railway, which chugs through 6,000 square feet of miniature landscape designed just for it.
Charlie Denny has help with his composting. Michelle d’Arcy, whose Horticultural Associates of Gurnee takes care of the plants and ornamental trees, believes that only large branches should be taken away from a residential property.
“You don’t have to be fancy about it (composting),” she said, showing two bins that were filled late in the fall and now look almost like rich soil.
“We throw stuff in as we work. Branches and woody, too, old potting soil, daffodil leaves. Not grass or food waste. It doesn’t make sense to me to carry these things away and pay to put them somewhere.”
The beds at the entrance to the estate show monarda, iris, sedum Autumn Joy and nepeta Siberia with its tall, blue blooms. Watch for the butterfly bush, apple trees and hemlock.
D’Arcy has forced dahlias for the special occasion, but both tree and bush peonies have ended their show of lavender, purple and yellow blooms.
Huge hostas including chartreuse Sum and Substance, Charlie Denny’s favorite, and the blue Eelegans grow in the shade of trees as old as 150 years, including shagbark hickories, cedar and oaks. Cinnamon ferns and lamb’s ear also luxuriate, and don’t miss the Annabelle hydrangeas or astilbe. Houttuynia or chameleon plant is a colorful ground cover that thrives in sun or shade.
The Dennys as well as a family of raccoons that lost its home mourned the recent loss of an ancient tree killed by oak wilt.
Charlie Denny said the couple has planted willows, redbuds and podless honey locusts on the property and have worked on the 1963 house and had the guesthouse built.
The rose garden, near both houses and not far from the pool, shows classics like Peace, yellow and cream tinged with pink; the red Mr. Lincoln; and apricot Brandy Rose. Annuals here include white alyssum, and snap dragons and zinnias grow nearby, as do the day lilies that Charlie Denny loves. Visitors will see colchicum, which has leaves now that will die back before fall flowers appear.
Red and white climbing roses decorate the fence, which is part of the Dennys’ deer-thwarting program. The fence is wire between white posts, but the secret is it is only 4 or 5 feet inside a stone-capped brick wall.
“Deer could jump that size fence, and they would eat the roses,” said Charlie Denny, “but they don’t feel safe jumping when they can’t see where they would land.”
Jasmine for nighttime fragrance and petunias grow in bright blue pots set around the patio, right by the swimming pool.
After the pool and an elegant pergola, the yard slopes down to a grassy lawn, rimmed by a woods. Sunny spots here host gardens of miscanthus, Karl Foerster grass, monarda, iris and varieties of nepeta or catmint that bloom all summer when deadheaded.
Lest visitors think all this beauty was each to achieve, Charlie Denny tells of early struggles removing buckthorn, “the tree of Barrington Hills.”
The couple gazes back up the slope at the gardens and wish for a family wedding to host.
“Maybe we should just rent it out for weddings,” they joke.
If you go
What: Three estates open for the Barrington Country Garden & Antique Faire.
When: Friday, June 15, and Saturday, June 16.
Hours: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Early shopping Friday is 8:30 a.m.
Tickets: $40 today, June 10; $50 June 11 and later; $75 for early shopping Friday, June 15. Tickets may be ordered online through the website, <a href="http://www.handsofhopeonline.org">Handsofhopeonline.org</a>, or purchased in advance and held at the entry by sending a check or money order to: Hands of Hope, 800 Hart Road, Suite 100, Barrington, IL 60010. They are also available at shops listed online.
Etc.: French market and upscale flea market of items collected by volunteers. Horticultural workshops and music are included, and food is available.
Where: Shuttle busses will depart every 15 minutes. Friday: from Barrington High School, 616 W. Main St.; and 800 Hart Road (across the street from the high school). Saturday: from 800 Hart Road only.
Benefits: Hands of Hope, a Barrington group that has worked for 12 years to raise funds for women and children in Africa.
Information:<a href="">Handsofhopeonline.org</a>, (847) 622-5201 or Hands of Hope on Facebook.com