Defries Gardens

SITE OF THE GARDEN 2003

SITE OF THE GARDEN Photo by: Jon Cutrell. Taken in 2003 The site of where the garden is today. To the left out of site is where the first planting was, a Catalpa Tree planted by Mrs. Defries and Jon Cutrell. It is there today still. Jon's Calendar Garden site is at this url. Please check it out. It's wonderful and educational. Just copy and paste the url in your browser search http://www.flickr.com/photos/46211765@N04/

MAP OF WHERE THE GARDEN IS LOCATED

THE GARDEN FROM THE AIR

This is an Aerial shot of the garden in approx. 2004 several years into the project. Its changed a lot now with the buildings, brick walkways, grass and lots of plantings !

WELCOME TO MY DEFRIES GARDEN SITE

Hi, my name is Pamela Peterson. This my personal web page on the Calendar Garden which is a part of the Elkhart County Park's River Preserve and the home of DeFries Gardens. The Calendar Garden was dreamt and realized by Jon Cutrell and funded by Beth Defries, for whom the garden is named. My job is to help Jon take care of the garden.

The garden is located 1.25 miles east of New Paris, Indiana, on CR 46 on the north side of the road. The garden contains a beautiful brick circle walkway and has all the days of the year placed within the bricks, 365 feet around. On the outside of the brick walkway the plants and flowers are native to the USA but inside the circle are non native plants.

The garden has four buildings that are located on the first day of each season, the Equinoxes and the Solstices.. The Spring building is a lovely greenhouse where we start plants and protect them in cold weather. The Summer building is an open structure with a nice deck on top and chairs on which to relax. This affords a great view of the entire garden. The Fall building, enclosed with books and seating and has an old railway car table and seats that doubled on the train as a sleeper, salvaged by Beth herself. Also in the Fall building is a guest book for visitors to sign. To the north is the foundation for the Winter building. This will be an enclosed structure with a fireplace and stained glass, appropriate for Winter and Christmas. Presently the site has a picnic table and a few chairs so people can sit in the shade.

   Mrs. Defries and her husband John lived on the property for over 50 years. He was the town doctor in New Paris for many years and my doctor in the 60s and 70s, and was loved by all! He passed away in the mid 90s and after a few years Beth moved to Goshen where she lived until she was ninety. She passed away on December 16, 2011 and will be missed by all of us. If not for Beth this fine garden would not be there, and also for Jon Cutrell who, with help from others on the structures, made the garden possible. He did this by himself for many years until I came around in 2009 needing a job. I had been coming to the garden for a couple of years prior, to take photos, relax and enjoy the peace. Jon hired me and I have loved every minute of everyday there. It is the best job I have ever had but I don't see it as a job; it's a privilege to be there. Jon and I both try to capture the beauty of the garden through photography. We both take tons of photos there, along with the visitors who come, and my family, but you must come there if your able to see it in person, I know you would be glad you did.


  * New to the site is the FB like button up at the top of the page if you like this page or site please click the like button up above ! And thank you !
   * As of 9-1-2012 I have added a new page which is the Notification page for Defries Gardens, not all parks just the garden. I will list when made available to me any upcoming events in the garden that might prevent you from going in, like a wedding. They vary on the times that they reserve it, but as soon as I know of anything upcoming I will list on that page and I hope this helps those that travel and for all who may come to visit the garden. thank you !
   *  Their is a new feature on here now where when you click on some of the photos the smaller ones it will bring up a larger view of that photo !!   I hope you enjoy that new feature.
* I am also changing the size of the text below the photos on each page but that will take me some time to do so please be patient with me I think it looks better and is easier to read..
    *  LOCATION of Defries Gardens is: 17477 C.R. 46 1.25 miles east of New Paris
      Hours of the Park and Garden: January,Feb. November, December 9am-6pm
                                               March, October 9am-7pm
                                               April, September 9am-8pm
                                               May, June, July, August 9am-9pm
* Below is the url for Defries Gardens  on Facebook a wonderful page on the garden done by Jon Cutrell, the designer of the garden ! Just click on it and it'll take you there.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/DeFries-Gardens/111368432230919?ref=ts&fref=ts

*BELOW IS A BUTTON THAT WILL TAKE YOU TO JON CUTRELL'S FLICKR PAGE WHICH IS EDUCATIONAL AND INFORMATIVE WITH MANY PHOTOS AND DESCRIPTIONS OF THE PLANTS, TREES AND FLOWERS. CHECK IT OUT !

Caldendar garden on flickr

ELISABETH DEFRIES

I am sorry to say we lost Beth Defries, the benefactor of the garden, on December 16th, 2011. She was 90 years old and even though she has passed she will always live on in the garden, which we all have to appreciate because of her generosity. I will personally think of her each spring when the little flowers pop up because that was her favorite time of the year.
Born: July 26 1921 Passed: Dec.16, 2011

This is a photo I took of Beth and always liked very much she was one of a kind !

This is now hanging in the Fall Building in the garden, it was painted by Beth in 1975

EVENTS AND WEDDING INFORMATION

We welcome people that want to have small events and small weddings. It is a beautiful place to have either. For information please call the Elkhart County Parks Department at (574)535-6458 and ask for Marlene. She will be happy to help you! Thank you, Pam Peterson

ENTER THE GARDEN

Welcome to the Garden. This is the view as you enter. In the Spring we have Pansies in the Planter. You will enter into May and either go left or right. Their is no right or wrong way to go..

The greenhouse was started on September 1st of 2009 and did not take many days to complete. I did help with putting the windows in it, along with Jon and Gerald Stutzman. The foundation had been built in the spring by an Amish mason, Lester Miller and his helpers. Its the most wonderful thing to have and we have used it many times. During the Art in the Park we had in the garden in June of this year, they displayed some of the art in the greenhouse, which looked marvelous, I thought. The Greenhouse was purchased as a kit from a company in British Columbia, Canada.In the spring we usually force daffodils in the windows and then use it for house plants and tropical plants in the summer and fall. There is also a cold frame on the south side to winter over starts of plants we take from the garden.