Artful gardens of Santa Fe

Southern Living, Jun 2000 by Millman, Anne

Step across the Texas border into New Maxico to visit the fabulous gardens that grace its capital city.

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A gentle breeze tosses the tall, feathery grasses around the hilltop pool that overlooks Santa Fe, and the rays of the setting sun turn their fronds into spun gold. A nearby bench invites visitors to linger and contemplate the lush garden, its artful arrangement of carvings and crystals, and the desert vista beyond.

Looking down at this luxuriant landscape, it's hard to believe that Andrew and Gay Ungerleider's gem of a garden was wasteland just a few years ago. "The hillside was completely eroded," says former Texan Donna Boner, the Ungerleiders' head gardener. "It started as a blank palette, but now, through the Ungerleiders' vision, it's a work of art."

The transformation of this 3-acre estate speaks volumes about the world of gardening in Santa Fe. Residents of this picturesque city have cultivated a distinctive style-one that fits the offbeat personality of this popular artists colony

Set against the city's ubiquitous adobe walls and surrounded by dramatic highdesert landscapes, Santa Fe's gardens possess an inviting warmth and serene charm. Typically, they mingle wildflowers and grasses adapted to the arid surroundings with temperate-zone cultivars. The mix creates a relaxed beauty that reflects the cultures living in harmony with the desert environment.

Santa Fe's choicest gardens are privately owned, but that shouldn't deter travelers. At most, it requires some planning ahead because, fortunately, more than a dozen residences open their grounds to the public by appointment or on regularly organized tours.

The easiest gardens to explore are the ones that adorn the galleries along Canyon Road and nearby streets, the hub of Santa Fe's art district. There, galleries welcome visitors with colorful front yards and beautifully landscaped courtyards.

Nedra Matteucci Galleries boast one of the most ambitious gardens in town. With its central pond, fountains, wellgroomed lawns, and tall trees, this cool glen is perfect for viewing the changing display of sculpture or for just taking a break from the hot sun. Located at 1075 Paseo De Peralta, the galleries are open from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

Other gardens worth visiting-smaller and more typical-can be found at Patricia Carlisle Fine Art, 554 Canyon Road; the Waxlander Gallery, 622 Canyon Road; the ZaplinLampert Gallery, 651 Canyon Road; and the Gerald Peters Gallery,1011 Paseo De Peralta.

A few civic institutions maintain gardens to showcase heirloom plants or state-of theart horticultural techniques. Among those, the Garden at El Zaguan is a compact delight full of Southwest history and enchantment.

El Zaguan, a late-19th-century hacienda located in the middle of town, now houses the Historic Santa Fe Foundation. Its covered porch overlooks a garden originally laid out by the wife of its first owner. Redesigned in 1990, today's garden features the plants and design of a late-19th-century garden. It showcases a variety of stately old trees and beds of richly textured perennials. The Garden at EI Zaguan, 545 Canyon Road, is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Among Santa Fe's private gardens, the most popular belongs to Elspeth Bobbs, who moved to Santa Fe in 1953. Situated just behind the Zaplin-Lampert Gallery, the Bobbs Garden sprawls across 4 acres and, as Elspeth herself says, is "a monument to a sense of humor:' Born in England, Elspeth grew up around flowers but didn't pursue the hobby until after her husband died in 1984. Then it became her passion. Over the years, her garden has evolved in stages as one thing or another tickled her fancy: a wish for a mural, a fascination with model trains, or a new plant discovered in a seed catalog. Today, the garden unfolds like a series of rooms or chambers, each with its own personality.

Now in her late seventies, Elspeth contin

ues to design by intuition and trial and error. Her current project: a labyrinth to replace the lawn and save water. To visit the Bobbs Garden, join a garden tour (see box).

For another treat, look for tours that include the Ungerleider garden. Donna oversees it all, down to preparing her own natural fertilizer-YumYum Mix. As she makes her daily round, she playfully pets the giant sunflowers, ruffles the cheerful purple asters, and plucks a fragrant sprig of sage.

When she discovers a newcomer-an uninvited hollyhock-she remains unperturbed. In fact, she welcomes such intruders, pointing out that others have arrived the same way.

In her view, the garden is always a work in progress, a collaboration between man and nature. As it matures, wildflowers, grasses, and herbs-even the intruders that take hold-will make it stronger. Letting nature take its course whenever possible is what Donna calls "God's plantings." Her attitude goes a long way toward explaining what makes this garden such a spiritual space, suf fused with peace and tranquility o

TOURING THE GARDENS