13 Photos
The rose garden has been restored to its former glory. DANA SHAW
The rose garden has been restored to its former glory. DANA SHAW
The rose garden has been restored to its former glory. DANA SHAW
The rose garden has been restored to its former glory. DANA SHAW
The rose garden has been restored to its former glory. DANA SHAW
The rose garden has been restored to its former glory. DANA SHAW
The rose garden has been restored to its former glory. DANA SHAW
The rose garden has been restored to its former glory. DANA SHAW
The rose garden has been restored to its former glory. DANA SHAW
The rose garden has been restored to its former glory. DANA SHAW
The rose garden has been restored to its former glory. DANA SHAW
The rose garden has been restored to its former glory. DANA SHAW
Labels for the different types of roses at Kirk Basnight's garden. DANA SHAW
Peter Bertram plucked stakes from a pail to mark the types of blooms—David Austin, Queen Elizabeth, New Dawn, Sally Holmes and many more—for the Southampton Rose Society’s tour this coming Saturday.
Meanwhile, Kirk Basnight pointed out parts of the former garden of Adeline Christie, a former Rose Society president who now lives in New York City, that he’s restored since he bought her house three years ago.
“I just cut it back and talked to her,” he said on Friday of one arbor of roses. “She had a hard winter,” he said of one hydrangea.
Ms. Christie created her rose garden around 20 years ago, introducing some types of roses to the United States for the first time and carefully selecting which roses she included, some of which are not all that easy to identify so many years later. “She knew what she loved,” Mr. Basnight said of Ms. Christie.
Gardening is a relatively new interest for Mr. Basnight, who owns Red Bar and Little Red and also has refurbished several homes in Southampton Village. He said Ms. Christie taught him to incorporate curved lines into the design of his garden, and also that he’s also spent lots of time pruning on his back.
Hal Goldberg, the Rose Society’s president, gave him credit not only for bringing Ms. Christie’s collection back to life—many a new homeowner would have bulldozed it, especially since many of the roses, chosen for qualities more lofty than ease of maintenance, were on the verge of ruin—but also for doing so much of the work himself.
“I’ve just had the privilege of bringing them back to life,” said Mr. Basnight before he and Mr. Goldberg went on to discuss the possibility of serving mint juleps and cucumber sandwiches during the tour.
Saturday’s garden tour will run from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., and it costs $75 to take part. Maps and registration will be at the rose garden at the Rogers Memorial Library the day of the tour, which is self-guided and takes in a total of five Southampton gardens.
Virginia Garrison on Jun 22, 2015