Innisfree, a 185-acre garden in Millbrook, New York, is the crowning achievement of landscape architect Lester Collins, who worked on the project from 1938 until his death, in 1993. Before it opened to the public, in 1960, Innisfree was owned by Walter Beck, an artist and teacher, and his wife, Marion Burt Beck, who bought the property in the mid-1920s. The weeping willow pictured here has been pruned to hang like an umbrella over Tyrrel Lake.
Borrowing heavily from Japanese and Chinese gardening traditions, Innisfree features large rocks throughout the property, specifically placed according to Walter Beck’s instructions.
An 11-foot-tall wooden water sculpture sprays a mixture of rain, spring, and lake water.
A cluster of Bradford pear trees.
A dawn redwood shades the path near the garden’s entrance.
Slow-growing weeping spruce and a weeping Japanese red-leaf maple punctuate the Middle Terrace.
A cluster of Siberian irises.
Dark- and light-pink Japanese primroses.
Dogwoods in bloom beyond.
The Yarimizu stream, devised by Collins, features an oxbow design.
Weeping willows on the shore of Tyrrel Lake nearly meet the bubbling water, the result of a man-made spring.
