The 2023 Cape Cod Hydrangea Festival

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The Festival helped to raise much needed funds for YPL.

The Hughes Garden
Owners: Diane and Peter Hughes

The garden radiates out from the homestead of Captain William Hedge, who settled in Yarmouth in the seventeenth century and whose descendants lived and added to it for three centuries. It contains a formal area of shrubbery and perennials, an area of woodland with azaleas and Japanese maples and, rabbits permitting, a space devoted to vegetables and cut flowers.

Singing Marshes
Owner: Sally Hockenbury

This interesting garden borders conservation land, overlooking Barnstable Harbor and the Sandy Neck Lighthouse.  The home is situated down a narrow road among native oaks and pines. The gardener has her own kitchen garden containing raspberries, blueberries, beach plums, and vegetables such as asparagus, rhubarb, squash, beans, and cucumbers. Its unique fencing was designed to keep out deer, foxes, rabbits, and other wildlife.

The property features walking paths through beach plum and juniper shrubs to views of the marsh beyond, along with a nearby osprey nest. Hydrangeas flourish on the home’s north side. An interesting arbor constructed by a friend from small cedar trees stands by the garden shed.

The Condon Garden
Owners: Mal and Mary Kay Condon

Mary Kay and Mal Condon were commercial hydrangea propagators and growers for 40 years and, as one might suspect, this is a very hydrangea-centric site. They continue to expand their collections, which now include over 300 hydrangeas in the ground, with additional container specimens to emphasize this growing technique. H. macrophylla is the dominant species, along with collections of H. paniculata and H. quercifolia cultivars.

More recently, a number of H. serrata and H. arborescens plants have been added to the mix. The Condons are also serious veggie growers, utilizing raised beds to produce a wide range of favorites. Fruit is in the mix, too, with berries and figs (always hopeful), along with a recent peach and plum orchard. 

BIRDHOUSE RAFFLE

A beautiful painted red cedar double birdhouse with copper roof was raffled.