This was another of our East Coast stopovers.
A delightful town but with an overly heavy emphasis for me on the 1692 Witches trials.
There's more to Salem than this as it has a wonderful historical and sea faring past which seems to have been sidelined.
The town itself is pretty and compact and thanks to the help of the two lovely ladies of the Tourist board I managed to find two very different but gorgeous gardens to visit.
The first was Ropes Mansion garden.
How elegant does this 1727 building look?
Fronting the street with the garden primarily to the right and rear, the house was sadly closed when we visited (it is now a museum) but it was possible to get into the garden via a pergola to the right hand side.
A classical formal layout greeted us with plenty of plant interest, some I had never seen before and still cannot identify.
Anyone any ideas?
But the real show stopper of the visit was the garden at the House of the Seven Gables.
http://www.7gables.org/
Can you imagine sitting outside on a lovely summer's day with the backdrop of the whole of Salem harbour at your feet?
And what a joy to garden there.
The kind of place you would choose to be for all eternity (provided tea and cake or a glass of good wine was thrown in too).
Loved the metal garden furniture which was thoughtfully placed around the garden so you could sit and just look - and I did.
These chairs and tables have a strong French influence but others, shown below, date from the late 1600's and were specially commissioned by the then owners.
Definitely a place to visit........or re-visit.
But the real show stopper of the visit was the garden at the House of the Seven Gables.
http://www.7gables.org/
Can you imagine sitting outside on a lovely summer's day with the backdrop of the whole of Salem harbour at your feet?
And what a joy to garden there.
The kind of place you would choose to be for all eternity (provided tea and cake or a glass of good wine was thrown in too).
Loved the metal garden furniture which was thoughtfully placed around the garden so you could sit and just look - and I did.
These chairs and tables have a strong French influence but others, shown below, date from the late 1600's and were specially commissioned by the then owners.
Don't go expecting to see rare plants or horticultural supremacy but do go for the sheer delight of the vista and how the garden's traditional layout exudes charm and timelessness.
And the gardeners are happy to chat too! Well done them.
Definitely a place to visit........or re-visit.
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