On May 2nd the Hollister House Garden once again opens for visitors until September. This Washington landmark boasts wild color, beautiful vistas, and spectacular plantings.

How does a romantic English garden end up in the Litchfield hills? In 1979 antiques dealer George Schoellkopf planted his historic property with exotic plants in beautiful colors along with common plants. Over time the garden evolved into “a unique synthesis of the formal and the natural, the right angles of paths, walls and hedges melting seamlessly into the lush surrounding landscape, which forms a magnificent backdrop to the garden’s exuberant plantings.”

George Schoellkopf was born in 1942 in Dallas, Texas, where as a child, he battled against the harsh Texas climate to make his first garden. He was educated in Connecticut at The Hotchkiss School and at Yale University. He also holds a Master’s degree in Art History from Columbia University in New York City, where for many years he ran a gallery specializing in 18th and 19th century American antiques and folk art and was thus only able to garden on weekends. He now divides his time between Hollister House and Santa Barbara, in California.

Today, Hollister House Garden is an American interpretation of such classic English gardens as Sissinghurst , Great Dixter and Hidcote, formal in its structure but informal and rather wild in its style of planting. George Schoellkopf continues to be involved and the garden has become a premier horticultural resource for northwest Connecticut and beyond.

Situated on 25 acres of mostly wooded countryside, the garden complements the 18th century farmhouse and barns on the property. The garden spaces are defined by 8-to-10-foot walls and hedges that provide drama and create an architectural framework. The flowers are spectacular all season. In May one can expect to find irises, tulips and forget-me-nots; in June there are roses and peonies; in July the 60-foot tall Tewartia pseudocamellia is covered in white blossoms; in July and August one can’t miss the daylillies; and during the month of September, the dahlias are at their peak.

As one meanders through the property, the Brook Walk is an informal gravel path follows a little upper brook on the left and intersects several formal areas on the diagonal. There are self-seeded oxeye daisies and Silene armeria in the spring and red and melon colored daylilies in the summer. The Gray Garden and the house lie ahead.

From the gravel terrace of the Crabapple Walk one progresses through the Double Borders to the steps between the yews leading up toward the Gray Garden. The Gray Garden is a formal parterre overlooking the Walled Garden below and looking out to the landscape beyond. The Double Borders are divided by a long swath of green lawn and are situated just south of the Walled Garden. This is the heart of the garden where the aim is to orchestrate a continuing succession of constant bloom throughout spring and summer.

From the steps above the Upper Lawn one can see a large part of the lower garden unfolding in the distance with the landscape rising beyond. The Long Border is predominantly yellow with accents of blue and deep maroon red.

There is an intimate little garden on the South side of the original 1760 section of the house. Its circular cobblestone terrace is squared off at the corners by a hedge of the miniature 8” high boxwood ‘Kingsville Dwarf’ and accented at the center with an antique laundry copper overflowing with double impatiens. There are superb views across the 18th century style crisscross fence of the Gray Garden below and the landscape beyond.

Work has begun on the refurbishment of the beautiful 18th century post and beam barn. When completed it will be a venue for educational programs and other garden events.

Hollister House is owned by George Schoellkopf and Hollister House Garden Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the house and garden.

If you aren’t already familiar with Hollister House Garden, place it at the top of your list of  things to do this summer. And enjoy a little bit of the English countryside right here in Litchfield County.