Marcia Reid Marsted prepares for visitors to her "Garden of Whimsy" on Indian Hill Road. Photo: dotCANTON
Some of the “whimsy” in Marcia Reid Marsted’s garden has been created by the Canton resident herself. Some has been crafted by friends. And some has been assembled by “a very creative gardening assistant,” Marsted says, who is able to take thoughts bouncing around her head and turn them into reality.
Marsted, who hesitates to use the word “artist,” prefers to describe herself as “a photographer, a writer and a gardener,” and, oh yes, a fly-fisherman. She recently showed photographs at Gallery On The Green in Canton of some of the exotic places she has fished … Senegal, India, New Zealand and the Farmington River among them.
Whimsy in a Canton garden. Photo: dotCANTON
After a little prodding, Marsted finally says, “I’m beginning to think of myself as a gardening artist.”
On Saturday, June 12, Marsted will be showing her “Garden of Whimsy” at 125 Indian Hill Road to anyone who wishes to visit as part of The Garden Conservancy’s annual Open Days program. In fact, the Marsted garden is one of two in Canton that are open to the public this weekend. The other, billed “Small Pleasures” by the conservancy, belongs to Walter Kendra (see post from June 10) at 16 South St. in Collinsville.
Marsted’s garden will be open on Saturday only, from noon to 4 p.m. Kendra’s garden will be open Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. Admission to each garden is $5 per person (the money goes to the Open Days program), with children 12 and under admitted free. The gardens will be open rain or shine.
Marsted, like Kendra, is a busy person. A member of the Cherry Brook Garden Club, she has written the book “About My Hair: A Journey to Recovery.” In 2004, she established the Capelli d’Angeli Foundation to help women artists with cancer.
Visitors to Marsted’s garden will want to look for one of those ideas of hers that became reality thanks to her creative gardening assistant. A hint: Late in the year this creation is likely to be topped by a star, but that’s not what’s on top of it now.
– dotCANTON
