Stunning Virginia Garden Tour

Virginia's annual Historic Garden Week is a chance to see the state's most spectacular gardens...and get some ideas for your own.

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May 31, 2016

By: Felicia Feaster

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Photo By: Roger Foley

English Conservatory

Virginia's Historic Garden Week is a wonderful opportunity to take in some of the region's most remarkable, luxe gardens. Historic Garden Week is an 83-year-old event that bills itself as "America's largest open house" and crisscrosses the state, from the tony, equestrian enclaves ringing Washington DC to the Chesapeake Bay. One of our favorite: Jewelry designer Elizabeth Locke's gorgeous 1816 Federal-style home in Millwood features a breathtaking 19th century-style glass conservatory that houses her orchids and palms.

Grand Gardens

The exterior of Elizabeth Locke's Millwood, Virginia 100-acre Federal-style estate Clay Hill and gardens. The estate's location was chosen for its proximity to Washington D.C. and airport for the jet-setting designer.

Classic Retreat

An aura of calm defines the screened-in porch filled with classic, vintage details on Elizabeth Locke's Virginia estate.

All in the Details

Jewelry designer and journalist Elizabeth Locke adds a personal touch to her Millwood, Virginia home Clay Hill with this design painted on her screened-in porch floor.

Lush Life

Euphorbia and tulips mingle in this stunning arrangement gracing the library mantle at Elizabeth Locke and John Staelin's Virginia home.

Indoor Citrus

Not every garden property can boast an orangerie, but the exquisite Millwood, Virginia home of Elizabeth Locke features not only an orangerie for her citrus plants and indoor pool, but an ice house, conservancy, parterre gardens, a chicken coop, edible gardens and a black walnut tree that is one of the largest in the Commonwealth.

The Great Outdoors

The hallway at Elizabeth Locke's home, filled with riding boots and sun hats, belies the owners' interests, in the outdoors and horses. The 100-acre estate offers dramatic views of the Virginia countryside and pastures for horses.

Formal Pond

A lily pond in Elizabeth Locke's Virginia garden.

Color Blast

A garden bed filled with a cheerful, colorful mix of tulips and pansies in Elizabeth Locke's Virginia garden.

Rustic Chic

The lovely patina of this repurposed wooden vessel makes a wonderful garden container for the kitchen island in Elizabeth Locke and John Staelin's Millwood home.

Salmon-Colored Tulips

Many varieties of unusual tulips in beautiful colors ornament Locke's extensive gardens.

Keep it Simple

Many of the garden club members who created the arrangements for Historic Garden Week used branches and blooms from their own gardens to ornament tour homes. Search in your own yard and garden for items to use in flower arrangements. And remember to work with the unique character of the room where the arrangement will appear: this simple arrangement doesn't compete with the toile wallpaper behind it.

Preserved Boxwood Containers

Balls of preserved boxwood make a lovely, simple indoor decoration when placed in pretty, rustic containers.

Vintage Tableau

At the Culpeper, Virginia estate Deer Ridge, the owners have upcycled a charming vintage cart into a container for geraniums.

Bike Planter

This fun welcome to the Fredericksburg, Virginia garden tour used a bicycle basket as a planter.

Fresh Wreath

This beautiful wreath ornamented with fresh, local flowers was created by the Rappahannock Valley Garden Club to ornament the exquisite, meticulously preserved ca. 1786-1792 private home Federal Hill, one of the home tour highlights during Historic Garden Week in Fredericksburg.

Edibles Mixed With Ornamentals

Edibles continue to be a hot trend in floral design, and this Fredericksburg home features a vase ornamented with asparagus and kumquats created by one of the members of the Rappahannock Valley Garden Club.

Simple Pleasures

A flower as bold and authoritative as a geranium doesn't necessarily need a super-fussy container. This simple, homespun pot is just right.

Upcycled Vase

Several of the gardens of the Garden Club of Virginia's Historic Garden Week used rain boots as planters: a great idea for a garden party centerpiece.

Lavender in Container

This topiaried lavender makes for a wonderfully whimsical container plant.

Multi-Color Tulips

In April, the tulip seems to be the official flower of Virginia horse country. These stunning multicolor tulips graced the downtown beds in picturesque Middleburg, Virginia.

Container Appeal

A dramatic black urn in a Fredericksburg, Virginia garden looks great when filled with colorful flowers and really pops against this bright white fence.

Pink and Green

Upcycle those garden or rain boots by turning them into a clever planter or vase.

Stylish Chicken Coop

Afraid a chicken coop will spoil your outdoor style? This stylish chicken coop in Fredericksburg, Virginia shows how great design can elevate backyard homesteading.

Well-Designed Container

Make your containers suitable for all seasons like this pretty urn in Fredericksburg, Virginia by anchoring them with an evergreen plant and changing out additional flowers and plants each season.

Treehouse and Chicken Coop

This clever Fredericksburg, Virginia homeowner has created a dual-purpose treehouse and beneath, a chicken coop, in her yard.

Double-Duty Outdoor Structure

This Fredericksburg, Virginia treehouse features a chicken coop underneath, a great space-saving idea.

Oatlands Historic Home

The 1803 historic Oatlands home in Leesburg, Virginia features incredible gardens that represent farming and gardening trends of the 19th century.

Weathered Container

When a parterre garden is this formal, a simple, nicely weathered container is often enough to punctuate the design. This historic container commands prime real estate at the historic Virginia home, Oatlands.

Oatlands Tree

The Oatlands gardens in Leesburg, Virginia are distinguished by unusual and old-growth trees including gingko, blue atlas cedar, black walnut, European larch, shagbark hickory, horse chesnut, littleleaf linden, Japanese zelkova and osage orange, among many others.

Living History

Federal Hill is a historic Fredericksburg, Virginia home that has been meticulously preserved.

Fire Works

A gorgeous mix of orange, turquoise and gold define this Federal Hill den in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

Color Burst

The garden club members at each of the stops on Virginia's Historic Garden Week garden tours create the flower arrangements in the tour home using local botanicals.

Warm Welcome

A charming front porch welcomes visitors to this Fredericksburg, Virginia home.

Room With a View

Historic Garden Week in Virginia allows visitors to tour the gardens and interiors of area homes.

Pretty Pony

A fjord pony in his Virginia pasture.

Elegant Entrance

This Winchester, Virginia home is one of the grand horse country estates featured on the home tour for April's Historic Garden Week.

Country Estate

This stately Culpeper home framed by a dramatic outdoor brick staircase and acres of lawn is included on the annual Historic Garden Week home tour.

Spectacular Staircase

A dramatic staircase lends drama to a Virginia horse country estate.

All About the Drive

Homes in Virginia horse country derive some of their grandeur from long tree-lined driveways.

Oatlands Vista

The historic 1803 estate and gardens Oatlands in Leesburg, Virginia, features expansive edible and ornamental gardens maintained with historical practices in mind.