Historic Garden Photographs on Exhibition at Wilton's Weir Farm
Photojournalist Margaret Waage photographed 10 historic gardens around the state, including Weir Farm National Historic Site.
There are a total of fourteen historical gardens in Connecticut, as listed on the Connecticut Historic Gardens (CHG) website, and Wilton’s Weir Farm National Historic Site is one of them.
Each year the CHG organization holds an annual day specifically designed to get people out and headed to the beautiful gardens which dapple the state from one county to another.
Last June photojournalist Margaret Waage set out on this appointed day, camera in hand, to explore these gardens and immortalize their early summertime blooms in print.
“That’s how it all started,” explained Waage, a Waterbury resident and writer for the Republican-American newspaper. Waage covered the 7th Annual Historic Gardens Day for the paper.
“I went to the first one, which was Harkness Memorial State Park in Waterford and I just felt compelled to continue and see all of them.”
To this day Waage has photographed 10 of the 14 historic gardens and the resulting images are currently on display at Weir Farm.
The combination of artistic life at Weir Farm and the property’s stunning natural surroundings make it especially pertinent to Waage’s journey of photos and gardens.
There are two gardens at Weir Farm, both with their own qualities and aesthetic aspects.
“The 'Sunken Garden' is where you feel sort of more reflective,” said Waage. “Maybe because they have the little water fountain in that garden. It gives you pause to think.”
The "Secret Garden" is open and sunny, which is Waage’s favorite. “I like the fact that you have to walk down a nice path to it and you get more of a feeling of entering this garden.”
Although Waage enjoys gardening, her busy schedule does not allow much time for her to be digging around in the dirt. She keeps her love of gardens close to her heart by taking photographs.
“As a photographer, gardens are a natural curiosity because you will always come up on something that is beautiful.”
And beauty certainly abounds in the 10 gardens that Waage visited and photographed.
Waage’s favorite photograph taken at Weir Farm isn’t actually in either of the park’s two gardens, but rather on the farm's trail.
“It’s a wooded scene,” she said. “The canopy of trees and the way the light comes through is just beautiful.”
Waage’s Legacy Landscapes exhibition can be viewed by visitors Thursdays through Sundays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Burlingham House Visitor Center at Weir Farm through October 9th.
