Like a fairytale book, the lush greenery and vibrant flowers trailing along the rustic pathways and “cozy nooks” throughout the nearly 1-acre space of Lynn Purse’s garden feels like a magical wooded wonderland.
However, this eye-pleasing natural paradise isn’t out of a book. It’s nestled in McCandless, with Purse’s leafy backyard delight featured as one of three Pittsburgh-area homes for the Garden Conservancy’s Open Days on June 13.
“Lynn’s garden, ‘A Beautiful Habitat,’ is an intriguing garden because it combines the art of gardening with the art of photography. She has combined the two so seamlessly and beautifully in her images and videos. What she creates is very inviting,” said Amy Murray, program manager for Open Days.
Twenty-five years in the making, Purse’s near-perfect outdoor adventure combines her artistic skills with proper planting techniques, emphasizing habitat and its interaction with outdoor life.
“Habitat-building combined with garden design has been my focus for the past several years, but I’ve been an avid gardener for a very long time,” Purse said. “The combination of garden design and habitat-building has made this a thriving and beautiful haven for both wildlife and people.”
When Purse was 13, her parents bought a farm in Westmoreland County, where her father focused on organic gardening. It was there she learned her basic skills.
Purse began taking classes at what is now Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens and eventually started teaching. She is an award-winning garden photographer and videographer who uses music to view gardens from an artistic point of view.
Having retired from Duquesne University as a college professor and course designer in music, Purse can see the connection between song and gardening.
“All art forms share similar attention to color, texture, balance and nuance. I find that orchestrating a garden is very much like orchestrating a piece of music,” she said.
Calling her garden “a place for people, plants and wildlife,” every corner and space is purposefully tributed with a unique element. A copper birdbath sits year-round on the ground for any creature to enjoy, and a rose arch covered with the large single flowers of Rosa Complicata provides a delightful entryway into her circular garden, blooming once a year for several weeks.
“I leave the spent flowers to fall naturally so that the rose hips ripen in winter and feed the birds,” she said.
She shares her gardening in a blog, as well as her photography and videography, at lynnpurse.com.
Her “Spring Flowers Everywhere in the Garden” video received the Gold Laurel Media Award and “Garden Dreams Creating a Beautiful Habitat” received the Silver Laurel Media Award, both in 2025, by Garden Communicators International.
She also develops and teaches classes on garden design and videography. Beautiful Habitat is a current course offered through Phipps Conservatory.
Purse is sharing her garden story through a yearlong In My Garden series that goes out via the Garden Conservancy’s national email network, Instagram and Facebook feeds, according to Leah Rae, the group’s communications manager.
Purse and the other two featured Pittsburgh gardeners in Open Days commit to nature-friendly practices of the Nibbled Leaf program, Murray said. This includes refusing to use pesticides and fertilizers and growing native plants — or two-thirds for the birds. The latter meaning that for every three new plants purchased, make two of them native plants.
They also commit to “close the loop,” meaning all of the biomass is kept on the property and not sent to a landfill.
Purse’s present paradise took some work, with her documenting her garden’s journey from start to finish.
She talks about the importance of “textures and shape” moreso then just the color of the plants. But she does love to edge her garden beds with wild violets, which bloom beautifully in the spring.
As with many other gardens, animals eat her plants. A deer fence helps with some, but browsing cannot be completely avoided, she said. She suggests mass planting so when things do get eaten, it’s not so striking.
Habitat gardening can be done in any size garden, she said.
About 40 registered guests attended Open Days in Purse’s backyard. Her husband played guitar on the back deck. Both she and her husband used to perform worldwide as musicians.
Based in Garrison, N.Y., the Garden Conservancy is a national nonprofit organization that features Open Days throughout the United States.
The Open Days program enables America’s finest private gardens to open to the public on specific days. It is the only nationwide garden-visiting program, according to gardenconservancy.org.
Founded by Director Emerita Page Dickey and friend and fellow gardener Pepe Maynard, the Open Days program, which began in 1995, has showcased more than 4,500 gardens in 40 states.
This is the first time the group has featured Pittsburgh gardens, which also included gardens at the Choderwood home in Highland Park and the historic Wilpen Hall estate in Sewickley Heights.
“The three gardens emerged naturally as we were seeking out new locations to include in the Open Days program. We heard first from the gardener at Wilpen Hall, who was interested in taking part, and then two others nearby — just by chance. All the gardeners got to know each other and were excited to be a part of this together. It’s always so nice to see these connections take root through the Open Days network,” Murray said.