Sick of this wet, cold, crummy weather? So are we!  But the weekend forecast is good, making the Garden Festival at Ladew all the sweeter!  The gardens will be in their glory (April showers bring May flowers, remember?), and the grounds will be filled with some of the best plant and garden ornament vendors on the east coast.  Read below for more details. – The Eds.

Originally published on April 11, 2013 at 1:30 p.m. - The immediate weather forecast is not too pleasant, so we’re just going to skip right ahead to planning for May. Does that work for everyone? We’re going based on the old “April showers bring May flowers” clause; and all we can say is that it had better be true. Assuming that it is, we’ll be first in line for this spring’s Garden Festival at Ladew—the incredible topiary that regularly hosts lectures, concerts, and more. Saturday, May 4^th, they’ll be holding their annual garden festival, where guests can shop for hard to find perennials, rare annuals, unique small trees, unusual exotics, and container specialties from leading plant vendors. There will even be a few choice antique and ornament vendors from New England to Virginia, who will offer decorative furniture, urns, statuary, other architectural treasures for your garden. The festival will also feature a lecture by renowned author, researcher, and horticulturalist, Allan Armitage. Oh, and did we mention we’re giving away tickets? Read More →

Alright. If you haven’t made it out to Ladew Gardens yet this year, we can’t completely hold it against you. After all, this year’s “spring” weather doesn’t exactly entice one to spend gobs of time outside. Yet. But it should be noted that for those who do take an interest in gardens (theirs and others), Ladew offers so much more than simply the chance to take in the incredible topiary (named one of the Top Five Gardens in America—look out, Edward Scissorhands). Ladew offers a number of events every year, and they’re currently in the middle of one of their best, the Spring Lecture Series.

The remaining lectures for this season include on April 10 “The D. Landreth Seed Company and The Story of America’s Great Seedhouses” with Barbara Melera and on April 17 “Rosemary Verey: The Life and Lessons of a Legendary Gardener” with Barbara Paul Robinson. The story of the D. Landreth Seed company should be of particular interest to gardeners who care about the history of vegetables, the idea of “heirloom” varieties, and our culture’s relationship to growing our own food. The Rosemary Verey lecture will address the style and legacy of “the apostle of the ‘English style’…the ‘must have’ adviser to the rich and famous, including Prince Charles and Elton John.” For an extra charge, lectures can also be accompanied by lunch, with a reservation.  Both lectures begin at 10:30 a.m.

If you can’t make it to the remaining lectures, you may want to mark your calendars now for Ladew’s Garden Festival in May. Tickets are available through Ladew Gardens directly—or you can keep your eyes peeled here at the Baltimore Fishbowl for our ticket giveaway! Each week, a pair of tickets will be awarded to a reader who can answer this question correctly: “How many hounds are running through Ladew’s iconic hunt scene?” Winners will be contacted through Facebook or e-mail.

For more information about the Ladew Gardens Spring Lecture Series, or to purchase tickets, visit www.ladewgardens.com. 

HOT HOUSE: 16835 Gerting Rd,  Monkton 20111 

Shaker-style low-country farmhouse, with Amish barn and guesthouse, designed and built by local architects.  10 acres of paddocks and 65+ acres of wooded land in My Lady’s Manor: $2,395,000

What: Built in 2000, and designed by Faith Nevins Hawks, this is a stunning home in its own right, currently listed in the New York Times Great Homes and Destinations.  The façade is at once impressive and disarming, with a second-story, screened ‘sleeping porch’ that offers panoramic vistas over rolling countryside. The rooms are airy and well proportioned, uniting traditional and modern in quintessential Shaker manner. Five bedrooms, three and a half baths, with a lovely master bedroom suite and that amazing porch upstairs offer comfort.  Nice kitchen/great room as well as cozy, more formal dining room on the ground floor make for great family hang out space.  Marble baths, cherry floors, built-ins, crunching pea-gravel entrance and paths, perfect gardens —everything to a very high standard. But it is largely about the horses here in My Lady’s Manor, and the Amish-built barn that houses the stables is  a cathedral to equine culture.  Pristine and serene, with sunlight weaving through the vaulted wooden beams, the workmanship competes only with the bucolic setting and the horses themselves for attention.  Inside: six stalls, post and beam construction and heated tack room.  When you’re not out in the barn or riding on the 65+ acres, you can work-out in the house gym, swim in the pool or visit the chickens in their custom coop. 

Where: Follow York Road all the way north to the tiny village of Monkton, about 10 miles north of Shawan Road. Nearest landmark is the bike crossing at the NCR trail. 

Why: ecause you love to breed, race or ride horses, or love someone who does. Also, because you appreciate the Shaker aesthetic,  “’tis a gift to be simple.” Here, it’s all about the luxury of fine design and materials, as opposed to giant columns and acres of granite.

Why Not: “Goodbye, city life!” For an urban or suburbanite, this location is pretty far out there.  Forget to pick up the milk, and you’ve got a good long haul ahead of you, unless the picturesque little store in tiny Monkton village happens to be open. Good new is, your only 10 miles from Dover Saddlery, and 4 miles to the Manor Tavern, the local watering hole. 

Would suit: Stylish but serious horseman.