Public gardens reflect private personalities

Like the arrangement of artifacts in the house, the intimately scaled gardens are charming in themselves, even though their abundant flowers and decorative touches reflect Colonial Revival imaginings of 18th-century American life, rather than the more utilitarian gardens of that time.

Now that 80 years have passed, it is easier to see that these fanciful embellishments embody the yearning for an idyllic past.

Berkshire Botanical Garden The naturalistic gardens laid out on these 12 acres in Stockbridge are designed to display plant collections and to educate visitors. But you don’t need to study the labels to enjoy the gardens on this gently sloping hillside. A circuit path takes visitors through 25 garden areas in and around a central lawn, which is punctuated by mature shade trees. Ample shade and seating take the sting out of hot days. Because many of the gardens are composed of trees and shrubs as well as flowers, the landscape feels as integrated as those at the neighboring country estates.

Plant collections range from tiny sedums and alpine plants to towering beeches. In late summer, a lavish daylily border showcases varieties in every color that can be wrung from the original orange and yellow flowers — black-red to salmon pink to exuberant lemon-yellow. Two current art exhibitions show contemporary artists’ takes on the garden shed and bench, respectively, and these objects are tucked throughout the gardens.

Jane Roy Brown can be reached at janeroybrown@verizon.net.