The Gardens at Mill Fleurs – A Spring Tour with Barbara Tiffany

The Hardy Plant Society, Mid-Atlantic Group has received a special invitation to tour the Gardens at Mill Fleurs on three separate occasions in 2026. Mill Fleurs is the home of Barbara and Robert (‘Tiff’) Tiffany. Barbara will be our tour guide extraordinaire. If you have never been to Mill Fleurs, or haven’t been there recently, plan to visit this extraordinary garden with us this year. The two subsequent tours will be held on June 10^th and July 22^nd.

Barbara has shared what we can look forward to on this first visit:

I am excited to share my garden with my knowledgeable friends at Hardy Plant – with the caveat that EVERYONE’S garden is a joy as it unfolds in the magical Spring of the Mid-Atlantic!

Rhododendron in every color are, of course, the Stars of the Season, although on May 6th you will not be seeing the sprinkling of rhodies that bloom in summer – or my favorite, a gorgeous white thing, ‘August to Frost’… in bloom from August to Frost.

In early May you will see remarkable trees in flower, such as the double-flowered Cornus florida, and the fused-bract Cornus, as well as the variegated Dove Tree and several variegated Chestnuts.

Because there are a lot of weird and wonderful things unfolding; and because the terrain is challenging, perhaps your visit might best be spent just exploring. I will spend as much time answering questions as you wish.

You are more than welcome to bring a picnic lunch. We are happy to offer iced tea and homemade (gluten-free) cookies.

The Gardens Mill Fleurs – as described by Barbara:

The Gardens at Mill Fleurs are collection gardens, but primarily they are an experience. Personal and unique – as is every garden – Mill Fleurs definitely qualifies as an “eccentric American garden.”

Against all good advice we have spent 25⁺ years creating an impossible garden on an impossible site. It certainly is romantic – a grist mill and a sawmill side by side on the banks of the sometimes-raging Tohickon Creek. We are fortunate that our stream-side site, featuring massive rock outcroppings and steep woodland slopes, is magnificent all on its own. Into this challenging grade, we have shoe-horned all the shade plants we can secure. And keep alive.

At Mill Fleurs we are trying to stretch horticultural and zonal boundaries by planting every possible species of any genus we can grow. This is a conscious effort to acknowledge the rapid and violent daily loss of plant species around the planet due to habitat degradation, climate change, and the survival needs of the peoples who inhabit these places.

Tiffany Perennials, our growing retail nursery, offers selections billed as “Really, Really Rare Species, Interesting Natives, and Fancy Weeds!” In support of the preservation of biodiversity, we trial and share plants from around the globe.

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