Find Your Favorite Green Spot
Discover the beauty of native plants in distinctive places
色界吧's eight properties throughout New England form a loose continuum of the region's natural conditions, from cultivated to wild. Our six native plant sanctuaries, in particular, offer a sampling of habitat types, where rare plants thrive in the specific conditions in which they evolved, from sandplains to rich mesic forests: You'll find stunning lady's-slippers sprouting from the mire of a Vermont bog, dozens of fern species thriving on the floor of a rich maple forest in New Hampshire, and more than 100 wildflower species thriving in a forest and marsh along the shore of Maine's Merrymeeting Bay.
At Garden in the Woods, in eastern Massachusetts, you'll experience the most cultivated end of the spectrum on a spectacular site鈥攁 botanic garden showcasing native plants on a glacial landscape rippling with ravines and ridges.聽
Those who visit the seasonal Garden Shop at聽Nasami Farm, in Whately, Massachusetts, will find a nursery with expansive views of farmland in the Connecticut River Valley, part of New England's largest watershed.
At all our properties, please leave pets at home. Service dogs are welcome.
For the safety of all visitors and the protection of plant collections and other natural resources, we do not allow bicycles, off-road vehicles, and vehicles or other power-driven devices used for mobility assistance (with the exception of wheelchairs聽and scooters) on the paths at Garden in the Woods or in our sanctuaries.聽Only the entrance plateau at Garden in the Woods is聽accessible. The聽natural terrain of the property is too steep for wheelchairs, scooters, and most other motorized mobility devices and presents a safety hazard to visitors using such devices.
Hobbs Fern Sanctuary Holds More than Fronds
In Lyman, New Hampshire, varied geology underpins the diversity of plant life.
Tucked between the Connecticut River and the White Mountains聽in northwest New Hampshire, this 260-acre sanctuary is a trove聽of biodiversity wrapped in the enchantment of a secret garden. Explore groves of beech, birch, and聽maple; rich sugar maple woods at the base of steep ledges; dense聽stands of balsam fir and red spruce; swamps of red maple and聽black ash; and meadows and shrub lands.聽
These distinct communities contain the sanctuary鈥檚 500-plus聽native plant species, including more than 50 different ferns, club mosses,聽and horsetails. In the moist woods, spring wildflowers聽abound鈥攕harp-lobed hepatica, Canada violet, wild ginger, bloodroot,聽blue cohosh. These varied plant communities support an聽equally impressive mix of wildlife, notably moose, beaver, woodcocks,聽red-tail hawks, and several species of warbler.聽
The secret of聽this richness lies in the land itself: The geology, topography, and聽hydrology range from low-lying wetlands to dry, steep slopes.聽For at least 200 years, human use鈥攆arming and timber harvesting鈥攁lso聽shaped this land. Its last private owners, Christina聽and Sturtevant Hobbs, recognized the property鈥檚 unique聽character and asked the Society to continue the conservation they聽had begun, donating it in 2004. Today, the surrounding area聽remains rural, and with no major roads nearby, the property offers聽not only a sanctuary for native plants and animals, but a peaceful refuge for聽human beings.
