In August 2004, I visited two remarkable - and very different - landscapes in upstate New York. Innisfree, in Millbrook, is an American embodiment of what has been called a Chinese "cup garden," in which particular views are framed or enclosed in order to enhance their experience for the viewer. A "cup garden" can be as small as an individual stone, carefully placed and growing mosses in its cracks, or as large as a terraced area surrounded by trees.

     Opus 40, in Saugerties, NY (near Woodstock), is the creation of Harvey Fite, a former professor at Bard College, who built the massive stone structure shown below completely by hand, using only blasting powder and the stone in the quarry at the site. Not a garden in the traditional sense, Opus 40 nonetheless is one of the most powerful landscapes I have seen. It is open on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and holiday Mondays. Check its website for details and contact information. For more photos and additional information about my visit, click here to visit the American Garden Museum's showcase page.