A Sneak Peak Inside "Outstanding American Gardens"

Marion Brenner

To preserve the view of Nantucket Harbor, Susan Burke dug a trench for a garden about six feet below the porch of her house. A path winds through this romantic double border.

Ruth Bancroft's three-acre dry garden in Walnut Creek, California, inspired Frank Cabot to establish the Garden Conservancy; it was the organization's first preservation project.

Judy and Michael Steinhardt open Iroki, their 58-acre Westchester County, New York, garden, twice a year for the Open Days program. Their collection of Japanese maples is a sight to behold in autumn.

The Gardens of Alcatraz were created in the mid-1800s before falling into disrepair decades ago. The Garden Conservancy led the efforts to restore the landscape on this infamous rocky island.

Landcraft Environments nursery owners Dennis Schrader and Bill Smith have created a plant collectors' paradise on Long Island, New York, filled with colorful tropical, subtropical, and annual plants.

George Schoellkopf's Hollister House Garden, in New England, reinterprets the classic English cottage garden stateside. The preservation project is divided into lushly planted garden rooms.