When Art Phinney started to build his garden in Fairfax in 1964, he did not know that almost 40 years later it would be a part of a nationwide program. “The Garden Conservancy’s Open Days Program is the only national program that invites the public to visit America’s very best private gardens,” according to The Garden Conservancy’s Open Days Directory. “Modeled after similar programs abroad, including England’s popular Yellow Book and Australia’s Open Garden Scheme, the Open Days Program began in 1995 with 110 gardens in New York and Connecticut. Since then the program has grown to include more than 450 private gardens in 26 states and the District of Columbia in 2002.”
How does The Conservancy find all the gardens? “They have what I call ‘scouts’ around the country,” Phinney said. “You can introduce yourself to this representative.” He explains that The Open Days Program is a fund-raising event for the Garden Conservancy. The money will be spent to support the national preservation work of the Conservancy as well as for local not-for-profit organizations designated by individual hosts.. Phinney likes the idea of fund-raising, but that is not the only reason for his participation in the program. Phinney really likes to show people his garden. “It is a part of the enjoyment I get,” he explained, “when people come and visit and enjoy it. ... I personally invite people to come when they will year around,” he added. “I like to have people come anytime.”
HOW MANY PEOPLE COME to a garden during an Open Days Program? “I think we had 88 people last year,” Phinney said. “I think we will have 65-100 this year,” he added.. But his dreams see other numbers. “We would like to have 500 people,” he said with a smile.
Phinney explains that he thinks of a garden as a work of art, but somewhat different. A work of art is hanging on the wall and looks exactly as it did when you painted it, but a garden needs maintenance. He knows how hard it can be working in a garden. “I was still working full-time when I started the garden,” he said with another laugh. “It is hard work, but it is restful too.”
Phinney has done all the actual gardening by himself. He got some help with the stones he has, and he contacted a professional designer for the design. Phinney's wife, Dorothy, does not work in the garden, but she is helping in another way. “She gives me the ideas,” Phinney said.
When asked which part of the garden he likes most, he answered, “It varies every day, as my favorite flowers change from hour to hour, minute to minute.” He explains that a garden is changing every day, hour and minute. It does not look the same now as it will on June 15, when The Open Days Program will be held.
Phinney has two close friends who are interested in gardening, his daughter and his granddaughter. Both live close to his house and help with the garden. They will help him on June 15, when people come to visit the garden. Even his grandson will come. “He will help me tidy up,” Phinney said.
So what will happen at 3212 Chichester Lane in Fairfax on June 15? “You don’t really tell them [the visitors] anything,” Phinney said. “You just open the gate and let them come in.” Everybody is allowed to take pictures; Phinney even encourages it. “I have a lot of things that are uncommon,” he said. “That is one of the enjoyable things, for me to have unusual things.”
Other gardens available to visit during The Open Days Program are Hilltop Cottage at 2046 Rockingham St. in McLean, owned by Patricia Galagan and Philip Metcalf, and Ridder Garden at 1219 Crest Lane in McLean, owned by Mrs. Walter Ridder.
According to The Garden Conservancy’s Open Days Directory, Hilltop Cottage is “a complex series of rooms on different levels that have to be sought out to be enjoyed.” In 1999 the garden was described as a standout by The Washington Post, and last year the ponds were profiled in Water Gardening magazine’s September/October issue.
Mrs. Ridder is deeply concerned about how her garden will look in June. As Phinney did, she pointed out that a garden is changing all time. She does not know how it will look during The Open Days. “It depends on what comes up,” she said. She explained her garden as simple. “This is a garden made up of flowers and plants that everybody can do,” she said. In The Garden Conservancy’s Open Days Directory, you can read this about the garden: “My effort has been to grow regionally appropriate flowers and vegetables and have a garden that flowers from March to November. The garden is divided between a woodland walk with wild and shade flowers and a series of parterres with perennials.”
Phinney has a word of advice to people who want to start their own garden. “Visit as many gardens as you can” he said. “Write down the exact name of the plants that you like, and when you buy your plants, get sure you get exactly the right name.” Good flowers to start with, according to Phinney, are daylilies, hosta and astilbe.
<sh>Admission and More
<lst>The Garden Conservancy's Open Days Program will return to the Northern Virginia area on June 15 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. with seven private gardens for the public to enjoy. These will be among the 453 private gardens throughout 26 states that will be open for visits.
Four of the gardens are in Arlington: the Burnet-Deutsch Garden, the garden of Linda Scott and Mary Dufour, the garden of William A. Grillo and Cozy Shack. Two gardens, Hilltop Cottage and Ridder Garden, are in McLean; and Dorothy and Art Phinney's garden is in Fairfax.
The gardens are listed in the Garden Conservancy's Open Days Directory, a 512-page book that includes driving directions and vivid descriptions of each garden Call the Garden Conservancy at 1-888-842-2442 to order the book, which may also be purchased wherever books are sold. Admission to each garden is $5; no reservations are necessary. Call 1-888-842-2442 for more information.