Gardening | Waterperry Farm

2025 horticulture commendation

Janet Dob — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 18:05:44 +0000

Katherine Kane – Waterperry Farm

Citation: In admiration for her exemplary dedication to horticulture, her encyclopedic knowledge, her genuine love of gardening, and for sharing her generous spirit and enthusiasm.

On behalf of the James River Garden Club, it is an honor to propose Katherine Kane of Waterperry Farm for the GCA Club Horticulture Commendation. Since 1990, Katherine has transformed 60 acres in Free Union, Virginia, from a functional dairy farm into a breathtaking horticultural masterpiece that captivates visitors throughout the seasons. Where a dairy barn, milk house, and bullpen once stood on the property formerly known as Braeburn, Katherine’s visionary touch has created an awe-inspiring tapestry of gardens. She christened her sanctuary “Waterperry Farm” to honor the prestigious Waterperry School in Oxfordshire, England—a pioneering institution dedicated to women’s horticultural education from 1932 to 1971. Katherine’s genius lies in her seamless blend of two distinguished English garden traditions: the cottage garden’s exuberant, informal abundance of diverse cultivars, and the naturalistic landscape garden’s sweeping vistas framed by majestic trees and reflective waters. As both master horticulturist and devoted conservationist, Katherine generously shares her living masterpiece with visitors. Waterperry Farm unfolds as a dynamic theater of nature, presenting a fresh performance with each passing season. Her unwavering stewardship and artistic brilliance have cultivated a paradise featuring: • Tranquil ponds and elegant parterres • Lush borders and a distinguished arboretum • Undulating hills and majestic mountain vistas • Meandering streams and enchanting rose gardens • Butterfly havens and vine-covered arbors • A bog garden and productive cutting garden • An authentic English greenhouse • An emerging kitchen garden • Secret passages and intimate retreats for reflection Katherine possesses an encyclopedic knowledge of the thousands of specimens thriving under her care—discerning which cultivars excel where, which flourish in clay, which prefer moisture at their roots, and which reward the attentive gardener’s pruning shears. In essence, Katherine Kane extends an extraordinary gift to all who visit: the opportunity to wander through a living work of art, lovingly crafted by a true master of the horticultural arts.

—James River Garden Club

Art for Garden’s Sake – Waterperry Farm in Virginia Living Magazine

Erin Bishop — Wed, 14 Mar 2018 15:44:34 +0000

We were honored to have Virginia Living Magazine contact us for an interview about the gardens. Thank you, Taylor Pilkington, for the enjoyable visit and your generous, in-depth write-up.

historic waterperry farm & gardens

Janet Dob — Tue, 13 Mar 2018 18:28:18 +0000

ENGLISH-INSPIRED GARDENS AT THE ELEGANT WATERPERRY FARM RETREAT

words by Sarah Short | photos by Robert Radifera, R.L. Johnson and Jeff W. Morgan

When Katherine Kane and her husband, Olin West, first viewed the property that is now Waterperry Farm, Kane’s creative side took the lead. “I knew I would make a garden here. We loved the mountains and the age of the house, but there was only pasture in all directions, hardly any trees,” she shares. Like many artists and designers, Kane found the “empty canvas” of the land to be inspiring. She decided to build her own English inspired garden oasis on the property.

Full article

Candlelight Dinner in the Glass House

Erin Bishop — Wed, 15 Mar 2017 14:10:15 +0000

In 2017, we hosted a lovely group of thirty donors from the Chicago Botanic Garden President’s Circle for a late afternoon tour of the gardens followed by dinner in the greenhouse. The event launched the group’s several day tour of the area’s finest gardens. It was an immeasurable delight to share Waterperry with enthusiasts and experts from the CBG community and to note the pleasure they took in the experience, especially given their immersion in one of America’s premier public gardens. It was a thrill for us, and we treasure the thank-you letter shown below from Fred Spicer, the Executive Vice President and Director of the Garden.

Katherine & Olin,

Thank you sincerely for our recent tour & dinner of your marvelous farm & garden. Rarely is a singular garden vision so well-expressed, not to mention loved (which was obvious)!

Your articulation of spaces, and passage, was memorable and surely the result of careful study, and an intimacy with the land. I was captivated by the restrained repetition of circular forms amidst so much rectilinearity– it was most welcome to my eye, and never gratuitous. I wish I had had more daylight (and less hunger!) in which to examine your plant diversity more carefully. It was impressive!

Please visit us in Chicago if you can, & don’t hesitate to contact me for a tour.

Cheers!

Fred Spicer

In Memoriam

beneppard — Mon, 06 Oct 2014 15:52:10 +0000

Walking the grounds in the evening with a glass of wine, I often find myself thinking of, if not talking to, Joe Saury, gardener and close friend, sadly gone from this world. He was a man of great intellect and kindness, who loved conversation and books, and cooking side by side with friends.

About his friends he understood so much: our ranges and requirements, our limitations– just as he had an aptitude for horticulture and how to nurture plants. We used to talk, as people in their fifties will, about the transience of everything; the seeming randomness of disaster and disease; and more than once he remarked that it takes sheer courage on everyone’s part to simply get out of bed in the morning. In a sense he was right of course.

Something else he said that has stayed with me and helps when I am feeling ‘excessive-compulsive’ as I like to call it, particularly in my acquisition of plants: that gardening should be a big, extravagant experiment. I miss you, Joe.