The Cottage Garden

This charming and cozy garden offers visitors a peaceful place to unwind beneath the canopy of a magnificent magnolia tree and a Japanese umbrella pine. The garden showcases the beauty of layered planting, combining a wide selection of trees, shrubs, flowering bulbs, herbaceous perennials, seasonal annuals, and decorative grasses.

Thoughtfully arranged plant groupings create interest throughout the year. Spring begins with colorful bulbs, summer brings blooming perennials and annual flowers, while the textures and shapes of different plants provide visual appeal during autumn and the beginning of winter.

A Historic Garden with a Home-Garden Spirit

The Cottage Garden was the first exhibition garden created after the Worcester County Horticultural Society acquired Tower Hill Farm in 1986. Located beside the 1740s farmhouse, which now serves as a home for some of the Garden’s administrative spaces, this area highlights plants that work beautifully in residential landscapes. Featured examples include classic garden favorites such as peonies and a bearded iris that was carefully preserved from the farmhouse’s original garden.

Seasonal Highlights and Agricultural Heritage

One of the garden’s special features is its collection of uncommon spring wildflowers, including yellow trillium and rattlesnake orchid. When the white-flowering forsythia, a spring-blooming shrub, bursts into flower, its sweet fragrance can be enjoyed from a great distance.

A garden border filled with edible plants further connects the space to its agricultural history. This area includes ornamental vegetables, blueberry bushes, herbs, and edible flowers, creating a beautiful combination of practicality, tradition, and ornamental design.