Sayen Gardens in Hamilton Square, New Jersey

I don't know if you are tired of flower pictures or if the blogosphere is too saturated with flower photo essays, but this blogpost began writing itself so I let it go on. This morning I dragged all of my camera gear to Sayen Gardens in Hamilton Square. (Sayen rhymes with lion.) This used to be the home and garden of Frederick and Anna Sayen whose family had a rubber plant nearby. The Sayens bought the thirty acres in 1912 and built the Arts & Crafts Style bungalow house there.

The 1912 Sayen House

The Sayen house features a "TB room." These rooms with windows on three sides, were commonly built a hundred years ago for convalescing tuberculosis patients. There's no record of anyone in the Sayen family suffering from this disease, however.

A sign of the time: the "Tuberculosis Room" at the Sayen House

Hamilton Township bought the estate in 1981 and turned it into a park. The house is used for weddings and other special occasions.each weekend in the nicer weather. I planned my photo shoot for a Saturday morning before the bridal invasion began. That is a better time for flower photography, anyway.

The gardens are maintained by the township and volunteers and are open to the public from dawn to dusk. On Mother's Day every year, Sayen Gardens plays host to a popular Azalea Festival, and every other weekend year 'round, the grounds are crawling with bridal parties posing for pretty pictures. Fifteen to twenty brides find their way here every weekend in the nicer weather.


Frederick and Anna Sayen were travelers and brought plant specimens home from all over the world. These days the park is known for its azaleas in all possible colors, some so tall they form archways over your head.

Kids, brides, and photographers seem to flock to the pond where the quaint footbridge and fountain pose for photos daily.

Superstorm Sandy came through here in the fall, and groundskeepers are still chopping up fallen tree trunks. I'm glad that is not my job. That root ball is as tall as I am.

And of course there are flowers everywhere.

Don't forget to look up!

Sayen Gardens is located at the corner of Mercer Street and Hughes Drive in Hamilton Square, NJ.

Leaming's Run

I've passed the sign for Leaming's Run hundreds of times on Route 9 just north of Cape May Court House dozens of times and always meant to stop in and see what they offer. It would be hard to beat the gorgeous blooms of Hereford Inlet about which I blogged earlier (see below). As it turned out, Leaming's Run is an entirely different kind of garden...

First, the flowers here are predominantly annuals. There's not a purple cone flower in sight! Most are arranged in color-coordinated flower beds viewed from a wooded trail. But before you finish saying "ho hum" consider that part of this forest is bamboo! These very tall, perfect-looking stalks create an unusual environment as you walk the trail. Their leaves create a canopy high above human heads, and the older leaves carpet the ground.

Crowing roosters announce that a barnyard setting might be just ahead, and sure enough, there's a replica of the seventeenth century two-room house the first Mr. Leaming may have lived in. The current owner and gardener, Jack Aprill, created a replica farmhouse, barn and chicken coop among the farm-style gardens here. The chickens are actually special breeds from arround the world with fancy crests atop their heads and silly-looking feet.

Moving along the wooded trail, the next surprises are in the landscape: ponds, bridges, and natural tableaux perfect for photographing flowers, reflections and each other. I was lucky that these blue-clad ladies were visiting the gardens when I was there. They gave some of my photos interesting color contrast. (This area of the gardens kind of reminded me of Monet's gardens at Giverny!)

After walking through another section of the bamboo forest, the visitor comes upon the original permanent Leaming residence built in 1706. Mr. and Mrs. Aprill bought the house in 1957 and raised their family here. Mrs. Emily Aprill happily greets visitors in the Cooperage where she sells her own dried flower arrangements and a selection of books they have written about gardening and Leaming's Run in particular.

The whole walk takes about ninety minutes, but it's definitely worth the stop. Cameras are a must!