Treepeony

Cricket Hill Garden’s Annual Peony Festival 2011

May 1st to June 19th 2011
Garden hours : Tuesday - Sunday, 10 am to 4 pm.
Closed Mondays ... except Memorial Day, May 30th we will be open.

2011 marks our 22nd year of growing peonies here at Cricket Hill Garden. We have invited people to see the bloom since 1993. Our still expanding display collection of 300 + varieties of peonies begin to bloom in early May. Every week for a period of about 6 weeks, there are different peonies in bloom. The Chinese tree peonies bloom first, followed by the Japanese tree peonies, and then American varieties.

A trip to our garden/nursery will delight you. Our 7-acre garden, is set in a terraced woodland of northwestern Connecticut. Visit us for a great day trip from all parts of Connecticut, western and central Massachusetts, most parts of New York and New Jersey. Come see the garden and bring home a plant of your own from our selection of potted peonies. We have many container plants, though not every variety we list on our web site is potted. Many are field grown and we will reserve for digging. We have additional varieties not listed on our website in pots. We also have a selection of younger potted peonies in our 'Prudent Purchase Corner' as well as older plants in the 'Collectors' Corner.'

We are open for visitors in April, before the bloom, on Wed. - Sat., 10-4pm.

Special weeks and bloom times during our celebration of the flowers:

Peony Heaven Opening Weekend: April 28th to May 1st

We’ve worked hard to put hundreds of peonies in pots for you to choose. Specials and limited edition varieties. Open 10 am to 4 pm. The garden bloom is usually limited at this early date, but plant selection is most plentiful.

Celebrating Mother’s Day - Specials May 3rd to the 8th
Get Mom a peony for a lasting gift of love and beauty. Many plants tagged on special for this weekend only. Typically, the tree peonies will begin to bloom in the warmest parts of the garden. We invite you to stroll the garden or sit on a bench and enjoy the flowers. Last year, in 2010, this weekend was near peak bloom for Chinese tree peonies due to an extremely warm April, but this was VERY unusual. If averages reign, allow us to predict these bloom dates:

Celebrating Chinese Tree Peonies Week - May 10th to the 15th
See some of our most mature tree peonies in bloom, our Ladies of China reveal their many charms. Cold weather will make them shy, we can never command them to bloom. Visit and enter to win a free Chinese tree peony!

Saturday May 14th
Cricket Hill Garden will have a booth at Trade Secrets hosted by LionRock Farm in Sharon, Connecticut. Rare plant and garden antique sale to benefit Women's Support Service of the Northwest Corner.
www.tradesecretsct.com

Sunday May 15th
2-5 pm Opening "Mundy Hepburn Garden Glass." The garden will be aglow with blown glass sculptures in a vivid array of shapes and colors. www.mundyhepburn.com
Join the artist for an opening reception in the garden. Free and open to the public.

The All Bloom Week - May 17th to the 22nd
Chinese & Japanese tree peonies, early herbaceous hybrids, and intersectional peonies should all be showing.

Friday, May 20th
6-8 pm 'Wine, Jazz and Peonies' benefit for CT NOFA 2011_CricketHill_fundraiser
Tickets available through the NOFA website or by calling the office at 203-888-5146. NOFA Members -$50 and Not yet members - $65.

Saturday, May 21st
1pm - Be captivated by the spoken word of Dovie Thomason, renowned storyteller. Free and open to the public. www.doviethomason.com

5-7pm Benefit for the Thomaston Public Library. Hors d'oeuvres, wine and peonies. Contact the TPL for tickets (860) 283-4339. Tickets $25, seniors $20.

Fancy Bloomers Peony Party I - May 24th to the 30th
Japanese tree peonies, late Chinese, American tree peonies, herbaceous and intersectional peonies all come to the party. We are open on Memorial Day Monday, an exception to our regular closed Mondays. See plant specials tagged in our potted area, and get a new peony for your garden.

May 28th
1-3pm Jazz with Jake Habagger and his band. Free and open to the public.

May 29th
11- 2pm Chinese tea tasting by Savvy Tea of Madison, accompanied by live classical Chinese music. Free and open to the public. www.savvyteagourmet.com

Fancy Bloomers Peony Party II - May 31st to June 5th
Japanese tree peonies, late Chinese, American tree peonies, herbaceous and intersectional peonies- all bloomin’ their heads off for you.

Grand Finale Peony Herbaceous – June 7th to the 12th
The late bloomers send us off into summer. Many herbaceous peony specials, be sure to visit.

The garden will be open during our regular hours of Tuesday -Sunday, 10 am to 4 pm for the late herbaceous blooms until the Sunday, June 19th. Depending on the weather, the peony bloom may last this long into the season. In 2003 to 2008, we did have late blooming herbaceous peonies go to the first day of summer. In '09 and '10, very warm and early springs ended the season by June 10th. We will post updates as we see the weather progressing in 2011.

For directions to Cricket Hill Garden click here .

We are located in Thomaston, CT, in the foothills of the Berkshires, northwestern Connecticut. It's a lovely area to visit for an afternoon, a day or a weekend. For where to stay and other places to see near us, go to www.litchfieldhills.com