Pressroom

A few highlights of media coverage of Garden Conservancy programs and those of our partners nationwide

Wine & Country featured Garden Conservancy board member and Society of Fellows member Elizabeth Locke’s garden, dahlia tips, and favorite dahlias in an article entitled “Elizabeth Locke’s Secret Dahlia Garden." (October 8)

The REACH at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts was featured as the cover article of the September issue of Washington Gardener magazine. The article included quotes from Garden Conservancy president and CEO James Hall and highlights from our program “The New Kennedy Center Gardens,” at the REACH on September 8.

The Register Citizen, Sharon, CT, featured our July 10 Litchfield County Open Day. (June 29)

Janet Mavec's blog featured an interview with landscape architect Joseph Marek, a member of the Garden Conservancy board of directors, rose hybridizer, and chair of our Open Days Committee, in "The Plant Nut: Joseph Marek." (June 29)

The Garden Club of the Back Bay included announcements of our July 10 Martha's Vineyard Open Day and our July 24 Bristol County Open Day and Digging Deeper program with Nan Sinton on the garden club's blog. (June 25; June 28)

The Keene Sentinel, Keene, NH, featured the return of our Open Days program to New Hampshire's Monadnock region in "Let's drop our trowels for a day and go take a look at... Other People's Gardens...." (June 24)

The Newtown Bee, Newtown, CT, reported on our June 5 Open Day at Jean Sander's garden in "A Rare Look at a Private Sandy Hook Garden." (June 15)

The Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee, WI, announced our Milwaukee Area Open Day on July 31 in "Garden tours in Milwaukee area gain extra luster from a year of at-home living." (June 3)

Garden writer, Garden Conservancy board member, and Open Days program co-founder Page Dickey reflected on her garden and current Covid-19 challenges in Berkshire Style. (May 19)

Ceramist and Garden Conservancy board member Christopher Spitzmiller was featured in the New York Times article “Cultivating the Growth of a Lifestyle Pundit.” (May 13)  Christopher, Clove Brook Farm, and his new book were also highlighted by Martha Stewart in Town & Country magazine. (April)

The Milwaukee Art Museum's recent blog post about the 100th anniversary of the its Garden Club mentioned our Milwaukee Open Days on August 28 and 29, presented in partnership with the Milwaukee Art Museum Garden Club. (May 5)

SPACES, a national architecture and interior design magazine ran a recent interview with Ben Lenhardt about his book, Gardens of the North Shore of Chicago. (May 4)

Chronogram featured “Seven Must-Visit Public Gardens in the Hudson Valley,” which included Blithewood Garden in Annandale-on-Hudson, Stonecrop in Cold Spring, and Innisfree in Millbrook, all in NY. (April 30)

The Anne Spencer House & Garden Museum, in Lynchburg, VA, was the subject of “Poetry and Song in the Landscape,” recently published in The Field, the American Society of Landscape Architect’s Professional Practice’ Networks’ blog. The article highlights the importance of documenting historic landscapes and encouraged participation in the 12th annual Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS) Challenge competition. (April 22)

An alert for our virtual talk on May 6 by Douglas Tallamy, The Nature of Oaks, was included in Tom Karwin's "Home and Garden" column, “On gardening: biodiversity in the garden,” in the Santa Cruz Sentinel, Monterey Herald, and other regional CA newspapers. (April 22)

The Journal News (Westchester, Putnam, and Rockland counties, NY) covered our Open Days program, including the changes we are making to ensure a safe and seamless return to in-person garden visiting this year. (April 16)

The Voice-Tribune featured Yew Dell Botanical Gardens' “Largest Big Bloom Ever,” for which the garden planted more than 17,000 bulbs. The Crestwood, KY, garden is a preservation partner of the Garden Conservancy. (April 15)

Veranda magazine included an interview with Bunny Williams, the subject of a new PBS documentary, a feature on a Greenwich, CT, garden designed by Kathryn Herman—a garden that also was awarded an Outdoor Living Award by the magazine, and an introduction to Harlem Renaissance poet Anne Spencer and her garden. (March/April edition)

Society of Fellows member, art collector, and philanthropist Agnes Gund was interviewed by Art News. (March 24)  Gund was also recently featured in a documentary film, Aggie, about her life and philanthropy with a focus on racial justice, which was covered by another article in Art News, among other publications. (October 9, 2020) 

Bettie Pardee's blog, Private Newport, described Craig Bergman's garden and Ben Lenhardt's book, Gardens of the North Shore of Chicago. (March 18)

Landscape Architecture magazine featured a housing project in San Francisco with a landscape designed by Andrea Cochran. (February)

On February 25, Cultivating Place, on NSPR radio, interviewed Garden Conservancy board member, gardener, author, and Open Days co-founder and host Page Dickey.

Veranda magazine's article "Can the Garden Save Us?" included several Garden Conservancy friends, including the Anne Spencer House & Garden Museum, in Lynchburg, VA, New York City-based landscape designer Wambui Ippolito, and British psychiatrist and author Sue Stuart-Smith (February 18). A few weeks prior, Veranda also ran an in-depth article on Harlem Renaissance poet and gardener Anne Spencer.

Another article in Veranda featuring one of our friends and Open Days hosts – designer Bunny Williams – and a new documentary about her, "Bunny Williams: Not a House But a Home." The film, produced by the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art, will air on PBS in April.

Longwood Gardens unveiled plans for a transformation of the core conservatory garden areas, reported the Chester County Press, Jennersville, PA, on February 22, 2021.

Press 2020

The life and artwork of Jack Lenor Larsen, innovative textile designer and creator of LongHouse Reserve in East Hampton, NY, was featured in a New York Times obituary on December 23, 2020. Antiques and the Arts weekly also honored him on December 29.

On December 8, 2020, the Chicago Tribune included Ben Lenhardt's new book, Gardens of the North Shore of Chicago, among the best gift books for the holidays, as did GardenDesign.com on December 13. Janet Mavec also interviewed Ben in a blog post, "A Garden Preservationist Explores Chicago's North Shore," on November 24. 

The November issue of the UK-based Gardens Illustrated magazine featured an article about Page Dickey and Bosco Schell's new home and garden at Church House in Connecticut, as well as a review of Page's latest book, Uprooted: A Gardener Reflects on Beginning Again.

"The Little-Known Women Behind Some Well-Known Landscapes" was the focus of an article in the New York Times print edition on October 25, 2020. It highlights many unfamiliar names of women who have shaped significant American landscapes. 

On October 21, 2020, the National Geographic published an article on the history of gardening on the island of Alcatraz, including a description of the rehabilitation project that the Garden Conservancy spearheaded, starting in 2003.

American Gardener magazine, September/October 2020, features moss gardener Dale Sievert, an Open Days host and one of the people also featured in our book #OpenDays25: A Quarter Century of America's Gardeners and Their Gardens, which was published in June 2020.

The Houston Chronicle profiled the John Fairey Garden and Randy Twaddle, the garden’s new executive director, on October 2, 2020.

The October edition of Martha Stewart Living magazine showcases the garden of Rita Ramirez and Tom Bodett in Dummerston, VT, which was scheduled to participate in Open Days in 2020 and is now scheduled to be part of the 2021 season. 
 
The October edition of House & Garden magazine has an extensive feature article on the work of potter and Open Days garden host Frances Palmer. Her new book, Life in the Studio, was released on October 6.
 
On September 28, Margaret Roach interviewed garden writer and Garden Conservancy board member Page Dickey about her new book, Uprooted, on Margaret's A Way to Garden podcast on Robin Hood Radio, a local NPR station in Western Connecticut.

On September 14, Bay Area News Foundation’s localnewsmatters.org site reported on new developments at the Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek, CA, including Brian Kemble’s 40th anniversary as curator.
 
Sideofculture.com reported on the September 13 re-opening to the public of Greenwood Gardens in Short Hills, NJ.

On September 11, Garden Conservancy board member Elizabeth Everdell and her garden design work were featured in the Nob Hill Gazette, San Francisco, CA.

Jardin de Buis, the Open Days garden of Andrea Filippone and T. Fleisher in Pottersville, NJ, was featured in the September issue of Flower magazine.

Garden Conservancy board member and interior designer Katie Ridder's new book, Katie Ridder: More Rooms, (Vendome Press) was released on September 29.

Horticulturist and garden communicator Peggy Riccio and her co-host, Teri Speight, recently included the Garden Conservancy in their “Learning Gardening from African Roots” podcast (September 1, 2020).

Under the heading of "advance your garden knowledge," gardening columnist Tom Karwin highlighted our four-part webinar series, "Gardens for a Changing World," in the Monterey Herald, Monterey, CA (August 20, 2020).

The garden of Sharon and Joseph Pryse in Knoxville, TN, was recently featured in a Finch Photospread in VIP magazine. The full spread of aerial photos shot from a drone can be viewed online. A member of our Society of Fellows, Sharon was elected to the Garden Conservancy board of directors in June.
 
The July 10 edition of the New York Times included garden design tips from Bill Noble, former preservation director at the Garden Conservancy and author of the recently released book Spirit of Place. Bill was also interviewed in the Washington Post and on Margaret Roach's podcast, A Way to Garden. 

Our Open Days program got a shout-out in the Journal News (May 24, 2020, Rockland/Westchester counties, NY), which mentions several stunning gardens we have shared during the past 25 years of Open Days.

The garden of Stan Fry, in Peterborough, NH, was featured in the Keene Sentinel (May 21, 2020). Stan’s garden was slated to be part of our Monadnock Area, NH Open Day in July, which has been canceled this year.

Garden writer, Garden Conservancy board member, and Open Days program co-founder Page Dickey reflected on her garden and current Covid-19 challenges (Berkshire Style, May 19, 2020).

The garden of Roger De Muth, in Cazenovia, NY, was featured in Garden Design magazine (May 14, 2020). Roger, author of A Hobby Gone Berserk, has shared his garden through our Open Days in past years.

Horticulture Rising, a podcast on the future of horticulture hosted by Brandon George and Jordan Foreman, interviewed James Brayton Hall, President and CEO of the Garden Conservancy, on March 9, 2020.

Press 2019

Public Garden magazine, volume 34, issue 4, includes an article describing the Garden Conservancy Northwest Network (GCNN), as well as a profile of Justin Henderson, garden director at PowellsWood, a GCNN member organization.

Our Austin Open Day, November 2, 2019, was chronicled in Pam Penick’s Digging blog in a series of posts per garden. The final installment is on the Two Coves Drive Residence; posts on other gardens in the Open Day can be accessed at the bottom of this post.

In related coverage, Central Texas Gardener on KLRU-TV in Austin, TX, interviewed designer Casey Boyter and the Garden Conservancy’s Patrick MacRae in a preview of the Austin Open Day.

Steepletop, the house and garden of poet Edna St. Vincent Millay in Austerlitz, NY, received a grant from the New York Council for Nonprofits to develop an action plan for the future.

The autumn 2019 edition of Hortus magazine (UK) includes an article by landscape historian Judith Tankard about the history of Greenwood Gardens in Short Hills, NJ. It includes a description of the garden's transition from private estate to public garden, led by Peter and Sofia Blanchard and done in partnership with the Garden Conservancy.

Bellevue Botanical Garden in Seattle, WA, a member of the Garden Conservancy Northwest Network, was profiled in the September/October 2019 issue of American Gardener magazine. 

Better Homes & Gardens magazine, September 2019, includes a page of gardening tips from Margaret Roach, garden writer and longtime Open Days host. 

Congratulations to the Ruth Bancroft Garden, in Walnut Creek, CA, on winning Sunset magazine's 2019 Travel Award for Best Botanical Garden on August 26.

The American Public Gardens Association reported on August 20 that the Rhododendron Species Foundation plans to keep its Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden (a member of the Garden Conservancy Northwest Network) in Federal Way, WA, despite a recent change in the property’s landowner.

Philadelphia magazine, July 30, reported the real estate listing of Hortulus Farm & Garden, Wrightstown, PA.

Into the Garden, a new book featuring watercolors and gouaches of 28 inspiring private gardens around the world by painter Christian Peltenburg-Brechneff, including the gardens of interior designer, longtime Garden Conservancy supporter, and Open Days garden host Bunny Williams and Open Days garden host Peter Wooster. The preface is also by Bunny Williams. 

The Cummer Museum, in Jacksonville, FL, announced the completion of its garden restoration project and full reopening of the historic gardens, which sustained extensive damage from Hurricane Irma in 2017.

Open Days hosts Scott Warner and David Kirchner's cottage and garden on Cape Cod were featured by Gardenista.

On June 26, the Ruth Bancroft Garden held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new Visitor and Education Center.

The Milwaukee Sentinel featured Sanger House Gardens, part of our Milwaukee Open Day on July 13.

The Associated Press published an article about the Garden Conservancy and our Open Days program by Lee Reich, garden writer and himself an Open Days garden host and Digging Deeper presenter. The article has been picked up in nearly 100 media outlets across the country, including newspapers and social media.

The Greenwich Sentinel, Greenwich, CT, featured Sleepy Cat Farm, part of our Fairfield County Open Day on June 15.

Garden writer and blogger and Open Days garden host Margaret Roach was profiled by the Poughkeepsie Journal, Poughkeepsie, NY. 

The Elizabeth Lawrence House & Garden, in Charlotte, NC, has been selected for the Historic American Landscape Survey, a cooperative documentation program with the National Park Service, the Library of Congress, and the American Society of Landscape Architects. The Elizabeth Lawrence Garden has been a preservation partner with the Garden Conservancy for many years; we hold a conservation easement on the property. 

In late May, the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy interviewed horticulturist and program manager Shelagh Fritz on finding sustainable sources of water for the Gardens of Alcatraz in San Francisco.

The Brattleboro Reformer reported that the Garden Club of America named longtime Open Days garden host Gordon Hayward an honorary member.

An April 28, 2019, New York Times article "The Healing Power of Gardens" included excerpts from a posthumous collection of writings by neurologist, author, and plant lover Dr. Oliver Sacks.

The February issue of the American Public Gardens Association's quarterly magazine, Public Garden, includes a feature article on the Rogerson Clematis Collection, a member of the Garden Conservancy Northwest Network.

The February issue of Connecticut Cottages & Gardens magazine featured the four seasons in Buddy Nixon's garden in Kent, which opened for a Garden Conservancy Open Day on June 16, 2019. 

The January issue of Gardens Illustrated magazine (UK) features a modernist garden in San Francisco designed by Andrea Cochran and the home garden of Bernard Trainor. 

The Winter 2019 edition of Berkshire Botanical Garden's quarterly magazine featured Nat and Lucy Day's donation of their topiary collection.

Press 2018

Google Street Views explores seven Northwest gardens! Read about Ben Streissguth's adventures trekking through seven gardens in the Garden Conservancy Northwest Network in the fall 2018 issue of Public Garden magazine from the American Public Gardens Association (APGA).

Great news for Stoneleigh Garden in the Philadelphia area! The Lower Merion School District will not build athletic fields on the Stoneleigh property, as reported by Philadelphia CBS Local on November 20, 2018.

The fall issue of Garden Citings, the newsletter of the Cherokee Garden Library, published an article in support of preserving Clermont Lee's garden at the Girl Scouts headquarters in Savannah, GA. A proposed renovation of the Juliette Gordon Low House in Savannah, GA, threatens to destroy the garden. Earlier, the Garden Conservancy issued a letter in support of exploring alternatives that can preserve the garden.

Robin Hood Radio (NPR), “Rural Intelligence Report with Mark Williams,” a program rounding up report on upcoming Hudson Valley programs of interest, includes a plug for Linda Allard’s Digging Deeper on October 13. 

The Week: The Best of US and International Media magazine named the Garden Conservancy "Charity of the Week" on August 10, 2018. 

On July 28, 2018, Rural Intelligence, South Lee, MA, reported on the potential closing of Steepletop, the garden of poet Edna St. Vincent Millay in Austerlitz, NY. 

Mother Nature Network featured the Pearl Fryar Topiary Garden in Bishopville, SC, on July 20, 2018, including an interview with Pearl Fryar and a comment from James Hall.

Garden Time TV, Portland, OR, interviewed a garden host from our July 14 Portland Open Day and a representative of our co-sponsor, the Hardy Plant Society.

On July 5, 2018, the Register-Guard, Eugene, OR, reported on our upcoming Garden Conservancy Open Day in Eugene. 

Our first Garden Conservancy Open Day in Saratoga, NY, was highlighted in Saratoga Today on June 22, 2018.

The Hudson Valley's Chronogram magazine featured us in their June issue.

Marin Independent Journal, Marin County, CA, featured our Open Day in Tiburon, presented in partnership with Marin Art & Garden Center. 

The legacy of Ruth Bancroft, "Gardener of Earthly Delights," is distilled by Johanna Silver in the Journal of Alta California, San Francisco. 

Garden at Risk: the background of Steepletop's uncertain future is explained in a feature article in the New York Times on May 14, 2018.

The May 6 Los Angeles Open Day was featured in the Los Angeles Times on April 27, 2018.   

Itchy Acres, a participating garden in our Open Day on April 28, 2018, in Houston, TX, was featured in the Houston Chronicle the day before. 

The Millay Society, stewards of Steepletop, the home of Edna St. Vincent Millay, has launched a "Save Steepletop" fundraising campaign to avert having to close at the end of the year, as reported in the New York Times, Poughkeepsie Journal, and other publications. 

The Spring 2018 edition of Quercus, the newsletter of the Landscape and Arboretum Program at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, is a special issue about Blithewood Garden.

On April 20, 2018, the Poughkeepsie Journal featured a complete listing of Hudson Valley Open Days in Dutchess, Ulster, Putnam, and Columbia Counties, NY, for the upcoming season. 

The April 14, 2018, edition of the Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville, FL, reported that Garden Conservancy president James Brayton Hall announced that the Garden Conservancy will donate $20,000 to the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens to help the Cummer restore its gardens after the damage from Hurricane Irma last September. 

Nord Eriksson's drought-tolerant garden was featured in a Los Angeles Times article announcing our April 22 Open Day in Pasadena.

Keeyla Meadows' garden, part of our San Francisco East Bay Open Day, was featured in the San Francisco Chronicle on April 11, 2018.

The Spring 2018 issue of Garden Design magazine includes features on several of our Open Days and Digging Deeper hosts, including a Designer Portfolio on Gary Ratway of Digging Dog Nursery,kitchen gardening profiles of Ellen Ecker Ogden and Matthew Benson, and a news brief about Margaret Roach's blog, A Way to Garden. View a few selected clips here. For the full articles, please subscribe to Garden Design magazine. 

The Gardener film was reviewed in the New York Times and Hollywood Reporter. 

On March 29, 2018, the Journal News in White Plains, NY, ran an overview of upcoming Open Days in the region. 

The San Francisco Chronicle, March 4, 2018, carried an obituary in honor of our board member Antonia Hunter Breck. 

The East Bay Times, Walnut Creek, CA, reported the celebration of Ruth Bancroft's life on Saturday, February 17.

The January/February issue of American Gardener magazine includes an In Memoriam for Ruth Bancroft, mentioning how her garden inspired Frank Cabot to found the Garden Conservancy.

Our preservation partner Hollister House Garden was featured in a splashy 16-page article in the Winter 2018 edition of Garden Design magazine. View a few pages here or subscribe to Garden Design and get the full Winter issue. 

Press 2017

A tribute to Ruth Bancroft, creator of the garden that inspired Frank Cabot to create the Garden Conservancy and that became our very first preservation project, was published in the November 28, 2017, edition of the San Francisco Chronicle, as well as in many other local papers. Ruth Bancroft died on November 26 at the age of 109.

The November 17, 2017, edition of the Financial Times Weekend Edition includes a feature on the "Growing Obsession" of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Prince Albert, and other "founding fathers" and luminaries on both sides of the Atlantic. 

Our long-time Open Days hosts at Landcraft Environments in Mattituck, NY, were featured in the Fall 2017 issue of Gardens Illustrated.

On September 30, our San Antonio Open Days representative Shirley Fox provided a preview of the October 14 Open Day in a Central Texas Gardener interview.

The Fall 2017 issue of the Garden Club of America's Bulletin includes a feature article on Innisfree Garden, a Millbrook, NY, landscape designed by Lester Collins and a participant in our Open Days program.

Our October 14, 2017, Open Day in San Antonio, TX, was previewed on rockoakdeer.blogspot, including a portfolio of garden photos.

On September 1, the Carlisle Mosquito covered our Open Day and Family Time program at the Clock Barn in Carlisle, MA, on September 9.

Congratulations to our board member Robert Balentine and his wife, Betty, who were named Preservation Heroes by the Library of American Landscape History and profiled in the summer 2017 issue of View magazine. View also profiled the Southern Highlands Reserve in North Carolina, created by the Balentines.

HudsonValley360.com published an article, "Gardens Through History," highlighting Steepletop, Edna St. Vincent Millay's garden, and its recent Open Day. People "become aware that we exist because we’re on the Garden Conservancy tour," reports Martha Raftery, Steepletop's director of visitor services. Steepletop was also profiled in Gardenista.com on August 18.

Afterglow Farm, part of our Milwaukee Area Open Day on July 16, was featured in the July 9 edition of the Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee, WI.

On June 15, a Litchfield County Times article by Tovah Martin featured two Open Days hosts in Hillsdale, NY, who are participating in our August 19 Open Day. The same day, Chicago Tribune’s Evanston Review also wrote about the June 25 Open Day in Chicago's North Shore.

The May/June 2017 issue of American Gardener magazine includes a feature on Hollister House Garden, our preservation partner garden in Washington, CT.

The Eaton Dispatch News, Pierce County, WA, reported that Chase Garden is at a "crossroads."

The Boston Globe highlighted the West Roxbury garden of Christie Dustman, part of our Greater Boston Area Open Day on June 11. Separately, the Globe's magazine ran a feature profiling Maureen Ruettgers and her garden in Carlisle, MA, which will be open for an Open Day on September 9.

Congratulations to Pearl Fryar on receiving a 2017 National Garden Clubs Award of Excellence.

The Palm Beach Daily News reported on James Brayton Hall's departure from the Norton Museum to head north and join the Garden Conservancy as President and CEO on June 1.

DNAinfo.com posted the news about Piet Oudolf being selected to design the planting plan at the Jensen Formal Garden in Chicago's Humboldt Park.

GreatBigStory.com has posted an inspiring short video about Pearl Fryar and his topiary garden.

"It is, in a word, ethereal." Read the latest profile of the Chase Garden, from the May/June 2017 issue of Northwest Travel & Life magazine.

Garden Conservancy member, fan, and volunteer Laura Wilson talks about some of her favorite gardens and other highlights of the 2017 Open Days season in a "Cultivating Place" interview on April 6, 2017.

We are saddened to hear of the passing of Dorrance Hill Hamilton, a loyal supporter of the Garden Conservancy since our founding, and a leading patron of healthcare, education, and the arts—including her lifelong passion, horticulture. Read more in her obituary in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Congratulations to Renny Reynolds and Jack Staub on having their garden, Hortulus, featured among the "Great Gardens Across America" in the spring 2017 edition of Garden Design magazine!

Our March 25 Open Day in Houston was featured in the Houston Chronicle on March 17 and 22.

The Ruth Bancroft Garden is third on a list of twelve "top spots for floratourism" in the country, per Country Living.

The January/February 2017 edition of First Coast magazine, Jacksonsville, FL, profiled "weekend warriors" Pam and Jake Ingram in Avondale, who were garden hosts for our Jacksonville Open Day on March 25.

The January 2017 edition of the UK Royal Horticultural Society's monthly magazine, The Garden, includes a nice book review of The Bold Dry Garden. Earlier in January, the book was also reviewed in Pacific Horticulture magazine and the East Bay Times reported that "Bancroft Garden preps for major upgrade."

An interview with Peckerwood Garden's horticulturist Adam Black on KLRU's Central Texas Gardener on January 14, 2017, explains how new plants are introduced into the trade.

Press 2016

Bard College and the Garden Conservancy issued a joint press release on November 30 announcing a new preservation partnership to rehabilitate Blithewood Garden, a historic garden on the Bard campus in Annandale-on-Hudson.

On November 25, both the San Francisco Chronicle and Marin Independent Journal featured the Ruth Bancroft Garden and the new The Bold Dry Garden book.

The November/December 2016 issue of American Gardener magazine includes an announcement of our new preservation partnership with the Chicago Parks Foundation and the Chicago Park District to revitalize the Jens Jensen Formal Garden.

The Blissful Gardeners interviewed Andrea Wulf, a historian and author who spoke recently for us at the botanical garden at UC Berkeley.

Congratulations to Chase Garden on being voted Best Place to Send a Guest in Seattle!

Listen to Cultivating Place: Ruth Bancroft and Her Epic Dry Garden, a North State Public Radio interview with Gretchen Bartzen, executive director of the Ruth Bancroft Garden, which aired on October 6, 2016. Both the garden and the gardener have been beautifully captured in a new book, The Bold Dry Garden (Timber Press, September 2016).

A partnership agreement and launch of a project to revitalize the Jens Jensen Formal Garden in Chicago's Humboldt Park was announced formally in a joint press release on October 5, 2016.

The Garden at Federal Twist, in Stockton, NJ, created by James Golden and a participant in our Open Days program, is featured in the October issues of Gardens Illustrated magazine and Better Homes and Gardens.

Garden Collage interviewed landscape designer Larry Weaner, known for his meadow gardens. Weaner is speaking at Garden Conservancy events in Walnut Creek, CA, on September 29 and in Washington, DC, on November 1.

Architectural Digest's October edition features "Waterwise" tips on how to "paint with plants" by horticulturist Brian Kemble at the Ruth Bancroft Garden.

A new book about the Ruth Bancroft Garden, The Bold Dry Garden, by Johanna Silver, has also just been published by Timber Press. Visiting Ruth Bancroft's dry garden in 1989 was the spark that started Frant Cabot to create the Garden Conservancy.

Plantsman David Culp, a speaker at the upcoming Hollister House Garden Study Weekend, presented by the Garden Conservancy and Hollister House Garden, was featured in the Torrington, CT, Register Citizen on August 12.

Landscape designer Margie Ruddick, who will be speaking at a Wild by Design program that we are co-presenting on November 3 in New York City, was featued in Garden Rant on August 5. Read "Wild Designer Makes 'Beautiful Places for People to Love.'"

Jenny Young du Pont will step down as President and Chief Executive Officer after three and a half years of leading the Garden Conservancy. The board of directors is naming her a Distinguished Fellow upon her departure. Read the press release.

The Ruth Bancroft Garden, our first preservation garden, announced receipt of a Gerden Conservancy grant for a new Visitor and Education Center at the garden in Walnut Creek, CA.

Two new articles featuring the Chase Garden, our preservation garden in Orting, WA, are out! See Garden Collage's "The Secret World of Chase Garden." The summer issue of Pacific Horticulture magazine also covers the work of mid-century landscape designer Rex Zumwalt, including the Chase Garden, described as Zumwalt's "most noteworthy garden," which he helped Ione and Emmott Chase design in 1962.

Hot summertime requires a hot color palette. Read about "high-voltage gardens" in Connecticut, including our preservation partner Hollister House Garden, in the Hartford Courant magazine.

The Nantucket Inquirer and Mirror includes a great "Gardening by the Sea" preview of our June 23 Open Day on Nantucket Island.

Our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Morris Cheston, Jr., our former vice president and longtime senior member of the Garden Conservancy board of directors, who died on June 5. A memorial service was held on Monday, June 13, in Fort Washington, PA.

The American Public Gardens Association announced its 2016 awards at the annual APGA conference in Miami. Congratulations to all award winners, including Paul Redman and Sally and Dick Lighty! Paul Redman is Vice President of our board of directors; Dick Lighty is a director emeritus and he and Sally have been longtime members of the Garden Conservancy Society of Fellows.

Congratulations to our board member Betsy Everdell, recipient of the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art, Northern California Chapter's 2016 Julia Morgan Award for Landscape and Garden Design. Betsy and her firm Elizabeth Everdell Garden Design were honored at the annual Dinner and Awards Ceremony in San Francisco on June 16.

The Hannah Carter Japanese Garden has been sold, reports the Los Angeles Times. The Garden Conservancy played a key role in ensuring that any sale would include a guarantee to maintain the garden for at least thirty years.

The Alcatraz Florilegium is growing bigger, building up to a book to be published in the fall of 2016. Read more in Public Garden magazine.

The Foundation for Landscape Studies honored John Fairey with the Place Maker award at a luncheon in New York's Central Park on Wednesday, May 11.

On May 10, the Charleston Horticultural Society announced a new scholarship honoring our former board member Patti McGee. Congratulations to Patti!

The June 2016 issue of Veranda magazine includes a photo of Hollister House Garden in a feature story on “the power of preservation” that includes a sidebar on the Garden Conservancy’s work “to save the next generation of green spaces.”  In the same issue, there’s also a “designer in residence” profile of our board member Suzanne Rheinstein.

We were saddened to hear of the passing of George Fenn, longtime friend and supporter of the Garden Conservancy. George was a gracious Open Days Garden Host in Amenia, NY. for many years. His family will generously open his garden, Mead Farm House Garden, during our Dutchess County Open Day on May 21.

Garden-visiting season is here, reports Margaret Roach, and visitors can give you a new perspective on your own plants. She offers a personal view from her experience as a twenty-year garden host with our Open Days program.

Congratulations to our board member Suzanne Rheinstein on being selected Grand Marshall of the Friends of Robinson Gardens 2016 tour.

The Garden Club of America Bulletin, Spring 2016, discusses some of the challenges of documenting gardens, with a nice mention of the Garden Conservancy.

Know someone looking for a beautiful garden property to buy in the Boston area? Garden historian, lecturer, Open Days host, and longtime member of our Society of Fellows Judith Tankard has put her Newton, Massachusetts, house for sale. Watch a short video of the house and garden.

The John P. Humes Japanese Stroll Garden in Mill Neck, NY, a former preservation garden, is one of nine gardens from around the world featured in a new book, Gardens of Awe and Folly [Bloomsbury Publishing, 2016] written and illustrated by Vivian Swift.  

Congratulations to the Lord & Schryver Conservancy on winning the Williamette Heritage Center's George Strozut Preservation Award for long-term advocacy of historic preservation. Statesman Journal, Salem, OR, April 4, 2016.

The March / April edition of American Gardener magazine includes a book review of our Outstanding American Gardens book and the news of the Liberty Hyde Bailey Award honoring Peckerwood Garden's John Fairey.

Town & Country posted a nice online slideshow, “13 Real-Life Secret Gardens Across America,” featuring Open Days photos from last year’s season. It’s a nice alert as our 2016 season opens.

The Los Angeles Times, March 18, 2016, included our May 1 (Arcadia and Pasadena) and May 7 (Los Angeles and Santa Monica) Open Days in a roundup of spring garden tours in southern California.

Outstanding American gardens "teach and inspire," says Martha Stewart in her opening letter in the March issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine. She features several gardens from our anniversary book and a visit by our Society of Fellows to her garden, Skylands, last summer.

American gardens embrace a distinctive "spirit of originality," says Page Dickey, in a Chicago Tribune feature story on the Outstanding American Gardens book and our Open Days program. The article has been placed on the newswire and is being picked up around the country, including in Duluth, MN; Richmond, VA; and Westchester County, NY.

Photos of giant rhubarb and much more are featured in an article describing our new book, Bill Noble's garden, and much of the garden preservation work he had directed at our organization. Published by the Valley News, West Lebanon, NH.

The January issue of Better Homes and Gardens features a six-page article of "Gardens That Inspire," showcasing the O'Byrne garden in Oregon and other gardens featured in our Open Days program and in our book, Outstanding American Gardens.

Press 2015

The New York Times annual roundup of gardening books leads off with our book, Outstanding American Gardens. Fran Sorin features it as a "must-have" book in a CBS Radio spot offered to 1,000 stations around the country. And don't miss Judith Tankard's book review in the Winter 2015 edition of Hortus magazine.

Recent developments at the Chase Garden in Orting, WA, are summarized in our "New Book Features Washington Garden Paradise Among Outstanding American Gardens" press release.

We are saddened to hear of the death of dedicated horticulturist and conservationist Patricia R. Bush on November 10. She served on the Garden Conservancy board of directors from 1996 to 2002 and then continued to serve as a Director Emerita.

In Atlanta on November 19, we announced a grant to help restore the historic Swan House Boxwood Garden at the Atlanta History Center.

Significant Beauty Takes Time, per a Houston Chronicle interview with John Galston Fairey, creator of Peckerwood Garden in Hempstead, TX. 

In Westchester County, NY, the Westchester Land Trust announced the transfer of Rocky Hills conservation easement to them, protecting the property as green space in perpetuity.

Outstanding American Gardens is the perfect holiday book for gardeners!

Traditional Building magazine, October, published "Private Garden Goes Public,"  a project report on the transition at Greenwood Gardens, Short Hills, NJ, acknowledging the Garden Conservancy's guidance.

Edible gardens featured in our Outstanding American Gardens book were highlighted in an article by Barbara Damrosch in the Washington Post and Atlanta Constitution. Read other selected highlights of national and local media coverage of the book to date as of October 16, 2015.

UCLA and the Hannah Carter heirs reached agreement on the future of the Hannah Carter Japanese Garden in Los Angeles, CA. The garden will be protected for 30 years, and potentially longer.

John Fairey, creator of Peckerwood Garden, Hempstead, TX, was profiled in the September/October 2015 edition of American Gardener magazine.

Elle Décor, Serendipity, and Sunset magazines were among the September publications announcing the release of Outstanding American Gardens.

The Oregonian presented a "behind-the-scenes" look into Gordon and Marcia Peck's garden, one of the 42 private gardens featured in Outstanding American Gardens, along with eight Preservation gardens we have assisted.

The Journal News (Westchester County, NY) highlighted our new book and featured Open Days garden owner Dick Button.

Hollister House Garden Study Weekend, our new book, and the September 18 Litchfield County Open Day in Connecticut were featured in the Connecticut Post.

On September 22, Abrams will release a new book celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the Garden Conservancy and including gorgeous photos of 50 gardens from coast to coast. Read more in our press release and in our media kit.

A milestone towards becoming a cultural resource for the community: the Lord & Schryver Conservancy purchases the Gaiety Hollow, the house, office, and garden of pioneering landscape architects Elizabeth Lord and Edith Schryver in Salem, OR. There's more info in Gaiety Hollow's latest newsletter — don't miss the description on page 3 of their collaboration with the Garden Conservancy.

The Garden Conservancy and Hollister House Garden are presenting Hollister House Garden Study Weekend V on September 12-13. Read more in our June 18 press release or on our web page.

Congratulations to Untermyer Gardens in Yonkers, NY, on receiving a wonderful grant from Scenic Hudson to restore the signature water feature in the Untermyer walled garden!

We are saddened to see a New York Times death notice for Richard Galef, a popular Open Days host in upstate New York. We extend our condolences to his wife, Susan Anthony, and their entire family — as well as our sincere thanks for asking that donations in Richard's name be directed to the Garden Conservancy. Read also our February 2012 interview with Richard during an Open Day at his and Susan's garden.

The Russell Page garden at the Frick Collection in New York City will be spared, reports the New York Times on June 4. Architectural Digest noted that the Garden Conservancy "hailed the garden as 'a living, breathing work of art.' " Last September, we issued a Garden Conservancy press release in support of preserving the garden.

The May 21 Journal News (Westchester County, NY) discusses the future of Rocky Hills and the May 23 Open Day.

On May 19, the Garden Club of America honored our Board member Page Dickey by naming her an Honorary Member. Earlier in the month, fellow Board member Allison Bourke was presented with the Marcy Crutcher Zone Award for Horticultural Excellence at the GCA’s Zone II meeting and awards luncheon in Greenwich, CT. 

Recent awards honor key people at some of our Preservation partner gardens: Jack Lenor Larsen, the creator of LongHouse Reserve, received Cooper Hewitt’s National Design 2015 “Director’s Award.” Paul Cappiello, the executive director of Yew Dell Botanical Gardens, received an Award of Excellence from the National Garden Clubs, Inc.

The May 2 issue of the Los Angeles Times features the Open Days garden of Julie Newmar.

The May issue of Greenwich magazine (Greenwich, NY) includes a full-page "People & Places" feature on our 25th Anniversary Celebration in early December.

The spring edition of Garden Design magazine highlights gardens opening to the public through our Open Days program in May and June.

View a short video of a colorful garden in our Houston Open Day, April 18, 2015, thanks to ABC 13 Eyewitness News.

"Living Dirt," our Rocky Hills Environmental Lecture on April 16, 2015, was featured in a Westchester County's Journal News article.

Henriette Suhr, creator of Rocky Hills in Mount Kisco, NY, a highlight of our Open Days program every year since 1995, died on March 17, 2015. Read more: death notice in national edition of New York Times, press release,  Westchester County's Journal News article, and a Chappaqua-Mt. Kisco Patch article.

Bettie Bearden Pardee, author and an active member of our Society of Fellows, has posted a vivid new article on her blog, Initial Thoughts, about the restoration and re-opening of Newport's Blue Garden, one of Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr.’s notable landscape designs.

A fan of the Garden Conservancy and a recent visitor to Hortulus Farm & Nursery produced a "visual poem" for our newest Preservation partner that beautifully captures its unique beauty.

John Fairey and his Peckerwood Garden, one of our Preservation partners, is profiled in this Houston Chronicle feature story (February 23, 2015) that also includes information about our Open Day event there in April.

Tanya DeMarsh Dodson, coordinator of the Garden Conservancy Northwest Network, is quoted in a February 8, 2015, Seattle Times article about the importance and challenges of preserving gardens as "living museums."

The January 2015 edition of UK publication Gardens Illustrated has highlighted the Garden Conservancy in two items: a book review of Nancy Berner and Board member Susan Lowry's "Gardens of the Garden State," featuring several of our Preservation or Open Days gardens, and a news update on the Gardens of Alcatraz.

We recently announced the completion of a 10-year garden rehabilitation project for the Gardens of Alcatraz.  Garden Design magazine ran a feature story and Canadian Gardening magazine includes Alcatraz as one of “six unexpected gardens in the most unlikely places” the world.

Press 2014

Early in December, 2014, Henriette Granville Suhr was honored by the Town Board of New Castle, NY, and Bedford 2020 for her dedication to "conservation, preservation and acquisition of open spaces in the Town." New Castle Now details Suhr's life, and The Journal News provides a recap. Mrs. Suhr has shared her garden, Rocky Hills, through Open Days for the past 20 years.

Gaiety Hollow, the Salem, OR, residence and personal garden of early landscape architects Elizabeth Lord and Edith Schryver, has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Read the press release.

The Garden Conservancy launched the celebration of our first quarter century with a glittering dinner/dance at the Metropolitan Club in New York City on December 3, 2014. Read the press release.  

The Garden Conservancy, Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, and National Park Service announced the "graduation" of the Gardens of Alcatraz after the successful, ten-year rehabilitation of the historic landscapes, a project led by the Garden Conservancy. Read the October 30, 2014 joint press release.  

"See What This Man Can Create From a Bush." In October 2014, National Geographic produced a short film about Pearl Fryar's topiary garden exclusively for its website. Watch it here.

The Garden Conservancy supports the preservation of the iconic Russell Page garden at the Frick Collection in New York City. Read our September 22, 2014, press release.

Hollister House Garden is featured prominently in a Wall Street Journal article on gardening with vines in the June 21, 2014, weekend edition.

Read about the Ruth Bancroft Garden in the May 16, 2014, edition of the Financial Times.

Read an interview with Garden Conservancy president Jenny du Pont in the May 2014 edition of WAG magazine, a high-end monthly in Westchester County, NY.

"California Inspiration: Ruth Bancroft's Garden" discusses the legacy of Ruth's visionary garden and the organization launched to preserve it. American Gardener, March/April 2014

Make room of "happy surprises" in your garden, as Garden Conservancy board member and Open Days co-founder Page Dickey does in hers. Read "Sense & Spontaneity" in Martha Stewart Living, April 2014.

Read about the legacy of poet and gardener Anne Spencer in the New York Times, Febuary 6, 2014. The garden Conservancy has assisted in the renovation of the Anne Spencer Garden.

The winter 2014 edition of the Washington Park Arboretum Bulletin includes a feature article by Tanya DeMarsh-Dodson on the Garden Conservancy's activities in the Pacific Northwest.

Multiple views of Greenwood Gardens in winter garb were featured in the New York Times, January 12, 2014. Also includes images of Untermyer Gardens and other New York City public gardens.

Press 2013

Public Garden magazine, Fall 2013, highlights both the Gardens of Alatraz and Greenwood Gardens in an article on managing change in historic landscapes

Federal Twist, a new garden in our Open Days program in October 2013, was the centerpiece of a New York Times article on October 17, 2013.

Stonecrop Garden, Frank Cabot's garden in Cold Spring, NY, was featured in Martha Stewart Living magazine, November 2013.

Martha Stewart Living magazine, July/August 2013, features ten pages on Hollister House Garden, one of the Garden Conservancy's preservation gardens.

Listen to a short "Garden Freak" interview from the June/July 2013 issue of Sheridan Road magazine, from the North Shore of Chicago.

Fine Gardening magazine, June 2013, includes Useful tips from garden creator George Schoellkopf on balancing formal structure and exuberant plantings. You can also watch a short video tour on Fine Gardening's website.

Click here to view a lovely slideshow by Traditional Home magazine featuring our 2013 Open Days season.

Traditional Home magazine, April 2013, showcases the Charleston garden of Garden Conservancy chairman Ben Lenhardt and his wife, Cindy. Read the article, view a slideshow.

Elle Décor magazine, April 2013, features Greenwood Gardens on the occasion of its restoration and public opening on April 28.

See lovely photos of Hollister House in Gardens Illustrated magazine, January 2013, with words by Page Dickey.

Read a splashy feature on the Chase Garden in Garden Design magazine's February/March 2013 issue. Photography by Marion Brenner.

Press 2012

Read The American Gardener magazine's profile of Nancy Goodwin and her masterful garden, Montrose, in North Carolina. November/December 2012 issue.

The Fall 2012 edition of the Foundation for Landscape Studies' journal Site/Lines includes a thoughtful history of gardening on the island of Alcatraz as well as of the restoration of the gardens since 2003 by the Garden Conservancy in partnership with the National Parks Service and the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy. A second article profiles our garden manager, Shelah Fritz, as a "Place Keeper."

The October 2012 issue of Pacific Horticulture magazine includes Serving Time on Alcatraz, a personal account by Zann Cannon Goff, a volunteer at the Gardens of Alcatraz.