Jon Cutrell and Beth DeFries at the Fall Building

Elisabeth DeFries, the benefactor of the Calendar Garden, lived in a Nineteenth Century farmhouse east of New Paris, Indiana for fifty years with her husband, Dr John DeFries. Upon his passing she donated the property which she had worked for many years to landscape, to the Elkhart County Park System so it could be enjoyed by the public.

In 2003, I began working with Beth to design and build my dream of a Calendar Garden at DeFries Gardens. I started with a visualization I had imagined as a child of a circular view of the year. A path that is 365 feet around, with a marker for each day of the year is accompanied by plantings that follow the seasons. Four buildings represent, by their design, the beginning of each of the four seasons, placed on the Spring and Fall Equinoxes and the Summer and Winter Solstices. In addition there are symbols for the full moons that are reset each year. In the middle is a pond and rock gardens. The beds inside the path are garden varieties of plants and the outside are native plantings that all follow the seasons in their bloom.

The Calendar Garden has become a venue for small weddings and gatherings. It can be reserved by calling the Elkhart County Parks Department at 535-6458.

In navigating this site to find information about the calendar garden, it is easiest to do so through the sets. This will allow access to various aspects of the garden and see how it is organized conceptually and physically.

www.flickr.com/photos/newparis/sets

Thanks for visiting and please come see us!