Straw Hats go to Deep Cut Gardens

Deep Cut Gardens, located in Middletown, NJ, were commissioned by Vito Genovese to be reminiscent of his birthplace in Naples, Italy. The gardens are a mixture of English and Italian styles. Work on the gardens was ended prematurely when Genovese left the country and the house burned down. The property passed through a series of owners before being willed to the Monmouth County Park System. The 54 acres of gardens and greenhouses are planned as a living catalog of cultivated and native plants to be observed through the seasons.

Between the parking lot and the Horticultural Center (a house that was built to replace the one that burned down) is a lovely lily pond filled koi of all sizes including enormous ones similar to the fish we saw at the Chinese Scholar’s Garden last year.



Surrounding the Horticultural Center are pretty little gardens.




The building rests on a hill. The main gardens descend the hill along a stone staircase with incredible trees and cascading pools.





A special feature that Genovese insisted upon, is the Mt. Vesuvius rockery.


A fire is built inside and the smoke coming out of the top is supposed to make it look like Mt. Vesuvius.

At the bottom of the hill is the parterre Rose Garden, currently undergoing renovation.


At the far end of it, barely visible under the vegetation is a round pergola.


We doubled back and strolled through the Shade Garden.


On our way to the Display Greenhouse, we passed the Bonsai Display.


Inside the greenhouse were more bonsai as well as cacti and succulents.



In the next room were orchids and other tropical plants.



Outside of the greenhouse is a Japanese themed garden filled with plants from that island nation.


I especially liked this shrub.


Another short walk brought us to the Display Garden featuring AAS winners.



Behind the Display Garden is a production greenhouse, a shadehouse and a compost demo area.




Then it was back to the van for a quick lunch and then off to our next destination, Barlow Flower Farm in Sea Girt.

More pictures of our trip to Deep Cut Gardens can be seen on Flickr.