Children learn about “Flying Friends” at Fort Ticonderoga’s King’s Garden. Photo Credit Fort Ticonderoga.
Fort Ticonderoga recently received a grant from the Stewart’s Foundation supporting new King’s Garden programs in 2012.
The walled King’s Garden was originally designed in 1921 by leading landscape architect Marian Coffin. The formal elements – a reflecting pool, manicured lawn and hedges, and brick walls and walkways – are softened by a profusion of annuals and perennials, carefully arranged by color and form. Heirloom flowers and modern cultivars are used to recreate the historic planting scheme. Visitor favorites include the lavender border, towering hollyhocks, bearded irises, dinner plate dahlias and many types of phlox.
Outside of the nine-foot brick walls of the colonial revival King’s Garden, the Discovery Gardens include a children’s garden, military vegetable garden, and Three Sisters Garden. The restored Lord and Burnham greenhouse, charming gazebo, sweeping lawns and shady picnic spots invite visitors to explore the landscape at one of America’s oldest gardens dating to the French occupation of the Fort in the mid-18th century.
The new program will encourage young visitors to learn about different vegetables, flowers and insects. The funds will specifically support the development of four new themed areas within the Children’s Garden including Flying Friends, a garden bed devoted to attracting pollinators; Vegetable Maze, a non-traditional free-form vegetable area; Edible Petals Patch, a garden devoted to plants with edible flowers; and Onion Island, a garden bed devoted to the onion genus. The Children’s Garden, located in the stunning King’s Garden at Fort Ticonderoga, offers a wonderful opportunity for families to explore beauty and nature at one of America’s oldest and most significant historic sites.
The King’s Garden is open June 1 through October 8 and offers a wide variety of horticulture programs throughout the season.