Upcoming
|Past
Past Programs
Small-Space Container Gardens
A Talk with Fern Richardson
Thursday, May 10
”Create A Potager Garden…With a Twist!”
Growing your own food need not turn your small outdoor space into an eyesore. Popular garden DIY gardener Fern Richardson will share ideas for creating beautiful container gardens that just happen to be full of edible plants.
Gardening is both very “here and now” and also forward focused. Yes, most edibles are fleeting and must be enjoyed in the moment. But at the same time, for example, if you want vegetables in the fall, you have to start planting in summer. In addition to planning, Fern will introduce you to fruits and vegetables that you may not have thought of growing before – and that you can grow in a container garden. Fern will also show you how to upcycle found objects like BBQs, wine boxes, and flour sifters into fun containers that will add whimsy to any garden.
And Fern will advise you on how to create a fun, funky (and budget friendly!) vertical planters that will make good use of the small amount of space many urban gardeners have to work with.
Fern Richardson is the award-winning garden blogger behind Life on The Balcony. Her new book, Small-Space Container Gardens, publishes in February 2012, and expands on the popular designs and projects from her blog.
Fern has a BA in graphic design and a law degree (although she doesn’t practice law, nor work as a graphic designer!). In 2010 Fern became a certified master gardener and she lives with her husband and four cats in Southern California. By day, she works in marketing for Kellogg Garden Products. Learn more at lifeonthebalcony.com.
Photos from top to bottom by: Marie Viljoen, Kevin O’Shea, Jenny Peterson, Richard Mount, Caitlin Atkinson
Doors open at 6pm; talk starts at 6:30pmFree
RSVP to info@thehort.org
Introduction to Rooftop Urban Agriculture
A Course with Ben Flanner of Brooklyn Grange
Friday, May 4
Learn about multiple approaches to growing food on rooftops through design and maintenance principles, and case studies drawn from across North America. This course:
- Familiarizes participants with the diversity of physical applications of urban agriculture and the growing technologies that apply.
- Explores the social, environmental and economic benefits of urban agriculture and rooftop farming.
- Describes the governance, personnel and economic options for implementing urban agriculture and rooftop farming systems and operations.
- Examines the conditions that lead to a successful urban agriculture project.
- Identifies strategies for overcoming common challenges associated with developing an urban agriculture/rooftop farming project.
- Describes basic installation and maintenance principles.
Ben Flanner is the head farmer and one of the founders of the Brooklyn Grange, a 1-acre (40,000 square foot) rooftop farm in Long Island City, Queens. The Grange is built on the roof of an industrial warehouse. The entire space is covered with a green roof membrane and soil in raised beds. Started in collaboration with Roberta's restaurant in Bushwick, the farm is a pioneering endeavor, in that it is the first financially sustainable commercial farm in the city. The farm’s vegetables are sold via CSAs, markets and restaurant deliveries with the profits being used to pay rent, farmers' salaries, and other expenses. Prior to founding the Brooklyn Grange, Ben co-founded and managed the Eagle St Rooftop farm in 2009. There, he collected critical information on sales by crop, in order to make the business plan and calculate the necessary area to create a scaled up viable rooftop farm.
Building on the success of their flagship location, Brooklyn Grange is expanding their operations to a 45,000 square foot rooftop at Brooklyn Navy Yard in May 2012, with funding support from New York City's Department of Environmental Protection.
8:30 am - 12:00 pmSpace is limited. Reserve your seat now.
Tuition is $175 US for Hort and GRHC members, and $199 for non-members. Tuition includes an 85-page course manual. Admission for the tour and lunch at Brooklyn Grange rooftop farm is $40.
Click here for more information and to register on GRHC's website.
Timber Press Celebrates Landscape Architecture Month
From Art to Landscape
with W. Gary Smith
Monday, April 30
"Unleashing Creativity in Garden Design"
Designers solve problems; artists raise questions. Step beyond creating “solutions” in garden design and find delight in a world where there are more questions than answers. Renowned landscape designer W. Gary Smith will teach you how to ask and answer those daunting design questions: How do I begin this creative process?; Where can I find design inspiration?; How will I know if my design is successful?
After exploring a visual vocabulary of shapes, patterns, and processes that drive the Universe, Gary will show you artists’ techniques for observing and recording it all.
If you approach garden design like an artist, with an artist’s tools and ways of looking at the world, you will be able to design gardens that combine the unique character of a place with imaginative spirit. You’ll also create inspiring gardens that have real meaning, for yourself as well as others.
One of North America's leading landscape designers, W. Gary Smith specializes in botanical gardens and arboretums, as well as public art installations and private gardens, often weaving together local ecological and cultural themes.
He received the Award of Distinction from the Association of Professional Landscape Designers for his work on Enchanted Woods at Winterthur in Delaware, Peirce's Woods at Longwood Gardens, and the Stopford Family Meadow Maze in Pennsylvania. Peirce's Woods also received a Design Merit Award from the American Society of Landscape Architects. From Art to Landscape, his recent book from Timber Press, received American Horticultural Society Book Award. Learn more at WGarySmithDesign.com
All photographs and illustrations by W. Gary Smith
Doors open at 6pm; talk starts at 6:30pmFree
RSVP to info@thehort.org
Recreation
An Interactive Walking Tour with Jon Cotner
Saturday, April 28 and Sunday, April 29
“The primary purpose of Central Park is to provide the best practicable means of recreation for the inhabitants of all classes.” –Frederick Law Olmsted
Recreation is a new interactive walk designed by Jon Cotner. To celebrate National Landscape Architecture Month, as well as the legacy of Frederick Law Olmsted, Cotner will lead dialogues with participants as they stroll through Central Park. Olmsted’s architectural philosophy will be put into play, bringing everyone closer to the Park’s physical and social landscapes.
Jon Cotner is an artist and poet. His work revives the ancient, endangered practices of walking and talking. Recent projects for the BMW Guggenheim Lab, Elastic City, and the Poetry Society of America have been praised by Bookforum, The New Yorker, and The Wall Street Journal. Cotner is the author, with Andy Fitch, of Ten Walks/Two Talks. He lives in Brooklyn, NY, and teaches at Pratt Institute.
3:00-4:30 pm
Starting Point: Southwest Corner of Sheep Meadow
in Central Park
$10 per walk; maximum 8 people per walk
Mushrooms Wild and Cultivated
A Workshop with Ari Rockland-Miller
Thursday, April 26
We’ve all done it: you walk past a mushroom, appearing as if by magic after a heavy rain, and wonder what exactly it is. Is it edible? Poisonous? Medicinal? Mushroom identification is an invaluable skill, especially if you want to learn the art of foraging: without it you could find yourself in a very uncomfortable situation, but take the time and caution to learn the nuances of different species, and you could find yourself with a delicious bounty. Ari Rockland-Miller will be teaching us the basics of the gourmet and medicinal mushrooms common to our region, connecting us with a hobby that will enrich our understanding of the natural world and build appreciation for an ancient, critically relevant, and useful body of knowledge.
Join us for an illustrated lecture introducing us to some of the safest and most distinctive species for beginners, focusing on those in season for our region. After an explanation of Ari’s approach to the safest and most fruitful way to forage for mushrooms, he will be showing us how to inoculate a log with shiitake mushroom spawn. Everyone in attendance will take home an inoculated log, giving you fresh shiitake mushrooms in your own kitchen and the resources needed to kick start your new hobby.
Ari Rockland-Miller, co-founder of The Mushroom Forager, is an ardent mycophile who enjoys nothing more than the exhilarating feeling of the mushroom hunt. Over the past few years he has found hundreds of pounds of gourmet and medicinal wild mushrooms, and he loves sharing his knowledge with blog readers. Ari became an expert in shiitake cultivation after managing Cornell University’s Mushroom Research Project and the MacDaniels Nut Grove, Cornell’s forest farming demonstration site. He has a BA from Brown University, where he studied Buddhist philosophy as well as environmental policy and ethics. When he is not out in the woods filling baskets with mushrooms, Ari enjoys writing songs and playing music with friends.
All materials included
NOTE: Classes must be paid in full at the time of registration. A full refund will be given with a 5 business day notice only or if the workshop is cancelled.
Doors open at 6pm; workshop starts at 6:30pm
Hort members $20; Non-members $30
This workshop is now sold out.
Building Sustainable Communities
2012 NYASLA Design Awards Projects & Panel Presentation
Tuesday, April 24
Join us for an evening of presentations and discussion on building sustainable communities presented by 2012 NYASLA Award Winners. Presentations of these projects, ranging from master planning for an entire city to building a community garden, will illustrate the importance that sustainability has at various scales and different landscapes within the public realm. The discussion to follow, led by Nette Compton, Director of Green Infrastructure at the NYC Parks Department, will focus on how the lessons from these sites can transfer to work throughout New York and beyond. Issues that are often the focus of public work, such as funding, community engagement, lasting design and maintenance will be examined through the lens of sustainability.
Presenters:
Elena Brescia / Scape Studio / 103rd Street Community Garden, Harlem, NY
Robin Key / Robin Key Landscape Architecture / Serviam Gardens, Bronx, NY
Jeffrey Longhenry / Nelson Byrd Woltz / Greening America's Capitals, Hartford, Connecticut
Elena Brescia, RLA, ASLA, joined SCAPE in 2005, after 12 years of practice, and became a partner in 2007. She plays a crucial role in the firm, advancing ideas throughout the design process from concept to built form. Her backgrounds in the fine arts and conservation have fostered a deep interest for the creative process and the importance of remaining faithful to its integrity. She understands the value of preservation as well as the need for current inhabitation, and believes that judicious interventions can both preserve and enhance our environment. Elena earned a Bachelor of Arts in Art History from Fordham University in 1985, receiving the Sophocles Papanicolaou Award for Excellence in Art History and Studio Art. She holds a Master of Landscape Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania in 1993, where she received the ASLA Certificate of Honor.
Robin Key, RLA, ASLA, has over 30 years of experience in the field of landscape architecture. Her work emphasizes a background in site planning and plant knowledge. Since 1987, Robin has been the principal of her own firm which has a strong foundation in residential design and has expanded, in the past decade, to include a portfolio of educational and institutional projects as well as pro bono work. Currently the firm is working on projects at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Stony Brook University and Manchester Library in Manchester, Vermont. Robin graduated from the University of Vermont with a degree in Plant and Soil Science and pursued her graduate studies in landscape architecture at Cornell University.
Jeffrey Longhenry, RLA, ASLA, is a project manager at Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects New York office, with more than ten years of experience on a wide range of work, from large scale ecological restoration projects within the firm's Conservation Agriculture Studio to urban master plans, campus design, small urban parks, and private gardens. Varied in typology and in scale, these design projects collectively place a high value on the contemporary expression of ecological systems within the working landscape, through engaging native plants, processing site water, and maximizing habitat value, while offering a memorable experience. He earned his Master of Landscape Architecture degree from the University of California Berkeley in 2002 where he received the Beatrix Ferrand Memorial Fellowship and several design competition awards.
Nette Compton, RLA, ASLA, is the Director of Green Infrastructure for the New York City’s Parks Department. She was project manager and fellow for Parks’ High Performance Landscape Guidelines, and now works with the Department of Environmental Protection on implementing their Green Infrastructure Plan. She has worked on sustainability initiatives with multiple city agencies over the past 5 years. She holds a MS in Urban Ecology and is an adjunct professor at Fordham University.
Doors open at 6pm; talk starts at 6:30pm
Free
RSVP to info@thehort.org
Tablescape
A Public Viewing with the Designers
Tuesday, April 17
Please join us at 583 Park for the public viewing of our annual Spring gala, The New York Flower Show Dinner Dance. Come to enjoy these extravagant tablescape designs and meet some of New York City’s top designers. You’ll also see how the space is transformed into numerous elegant and dramatic dinner party settings in a spectacular range of styles.This year’s theme is “Couture en Fleur” and we know that you’ll be inspired by the designers’ creative and unique floral interpretations.
To learn more about the 2012 Designers, click here.
3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
583 Park Ave (at 63rd Street)
Hort members FREE; Non-members $10
Botany For Designers
A Lecture with Kimberly Duffy Turner
Thursday, April 12
"Like dabs of paint and brush strokes in a painting, individual plants and their placement are what creates a garden or yard. It’s easy to walk into a nursery or garden store and become overwhelmed by the wide selection of plants. With so many choices, how is it possible to comprise plant schemes with ease, especially when microclimatic conditions are difficult? This lecture will give an overview of the steps to take in creating a successful plant palette. I will discuss the design features of plants and how to use them in combination to transform a garden space into the retreat you wish it to be. Topics will include using plant forms to define outdoor rooms, using leaves and/or bark as a prominent feature of the garden, and using flowers and fruits to accent the garden. I’ll talk about plant biological requirements, color theory, and the use of texture to create a balanced composition in the landscape."
Kimberly Turner is a registered landscape architect who has been designing landscapes for nearly 15 years. She has a background in both horticulture and landscape architecture, having earned her B.S. in Landscape Horticulture from the University of Maine and her Masters of Landscape Architecture from the University of Massachusetts. She received an ASLA honor award in 2001 for her graduate work and is an associate member of ASLA.
Kim has designed all types of landscapes from parks and monuments to college campuses, healthcare facility gardens and private homes. Possessing both strong graphic and presentation skills, Kim finds working closely with clients the most rewarding and believes strongly in the power of collaboration during the design process.
Kim has always been interested in the ways plants and landscapes impact people on a psychological level. She devoted her thesis work to therapeutic gardens and was asked to present her research in Edinburgh, Scotland. She strives to make gardens and landscapes accessible to everyone who may benefit from them."
Doors open at 6pm; talk starts at 6:30pm
Free
RSVP to info@thehort.org
The Kitchen Gardener’s Handbook
A Talk with Jennifer Bartley
Thursday, April 5
“American Potager Gardening”
No longer content with separating the plants they grow to eat and the plants they grow for beauty, American gardeners are discovering the French method of incorporating both edibles and ornamentals into their home landscapes. Jennifer Bartley makes it easy by showing how a well-designed landscape can yield both bounty for the table and beauty for the soul.
Jennifer Bartley runs a landscape architecture firm founded with the belief that gardens can be beautiful, productive and restorative. Inspired by the grand potagers of France, Jennifer Bartley passionately communicates how to create these edible havens in our own back yards. She is the author of Designing the New Kitchen Garden and The Kitchen Gardener's Handbook. Learn more at americanpotager.com.
All photographs and illustrations by Jennifer Bartley
Doors open at 6pm; talk starts at 6:30pm
Free
RSVP to info@thehort.org
Botanical Hand Salves and Lip Balms
A Workshop with Hilda Krus
Thursday, March 22
Many of the plants that we know and interact with every day have been used for their healing properties for centuries. Aside from traditional herbal medicine, many plant-based materials can be easily converted into healing balms and salves to support healthy skin. Shea butter, a natural fat derived from the shea nut, is a wonderful moisturizer; lavender, in addition to its wonderful fragrance, is touted for its antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties; rose hips are celebrated for their ability to deliver skin-nourishing vitamins as well as their high antioxidant levels. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Please join us for an evening of learning more about these wonderful herbal traditions and how we can use simple techniques to harness their benefits through homemade hand salves and lip balms. Hilda Krus, Director of the GreenHouse Program at the Horticultural Society will teach us everything we need to know using an array of organic, dried herbs and botanical materials, including calendula, lavender, rose hip seed oil, shea butter, mango butter and olive oil. Come prepared to learn and dig into these rich traditions, and return home with your own healing salves, as well as the knowledge to recreate them for years to come.
Hilda Krus is a registered Horticultural Therapist and graduated social worker and is the Director of The Hort’s GreenHouse Program on Rikers Island. There, she provides male and female students with class room horticultural training, year round hands-on experience in horticulture and ongoing horticultural therapy, encouraging the men and women to grow new hope and dare to change after their release. Hilda grows a wide range of ornamental, aromatic and edible plants on the island, many of which she harvests and uses to teach her students to make botanical hand salves and lip balms.
All materials included
NOTE: Classes must be paid in full at the time of registration. A full refund will be given with a 5 business day notice only or if the workshop is cancelled.
Doors open at 6pm; workshop starts at 6:30pm
Hort members $20; Non-members $30
This workshop is FULL. Thank you to everyone who registered!
The Edible Front Yard
A Talk with Ivette Soler
Wednesday, March 21
“Gorgeous Edible Gardens”
Garden designer/writer Ivette Soler, aka “The Germinatrix,” wants us to re-think our relationship to our forward-facing green spaces—specifically, she wants us to rid ourselves of useless front lawns or green patches and replace them with well-designed gardens filled with the most ornamental varieties of vegetables, fruits, herbs, and edible flowers.
Soler teaches you all the tricks for laying out the design and choosing the best plants. She’ll give clear instructions for a bounty of exciting projects like a fragrant carpet of herbs, a trellis privacy screen using runner beans, and an eye-catching raised bed that turns your "hell strip" into a little patch of paradise. From the curb or sidewalk right up to your front door, the information in this class will include everything you need to have beautiful landscaping—and eat it too!
Ivette Soler is a garden designer and writer living in Los Angeles, California. Her plant design work for Elysian Landscapes, and her own personal garden, has appeared in magazines such as Metropolitan Home, Sunset, and House & Garden. She is the author of The Edible Front Yard, and her garden writing has been featured in numerous magazines. Ivette was also the resident gardening expert on NBC's The Bonnie Hunt Show.
Her popular gardening blog, The Germinatrix, originated in 2006 as a part of Domino magazine’s website; since 2009, Ivette's blog has been thriving independently. Learn more at thegerminatrix.com.
All photographs by Ann Summa
Doors open at 6pm; talk starts at 6:30pmFree
RSVP to info@thehort.org
In Praise of Chickens
A Talk with Jane Smith
Wednesday, March 7
Fascinated by chickens? You are in good company, from Aristotle to Darwin to Harriet Beecher Stowe. Join us as Jane S. Smith, author of In Praise of Chickens, explores centuries of poultry lore gathered from scientists, artists, poets, philosophers, breeders, feather fanciers, and egg-coddlers through the ages.
Ever wonder if chickens have their very own vocabulary, how to get hens to lay in winter, or why churches have weathervanes shaped like roosters? Can't remember which royal court it was where the ladies hatched eggs in their bosoms? Whether you want the earliest recorded instructions on how to hypnotize a chicken, or nineteenth-century tips on sending a year's supply of fresh eggs to your child in college, you'll find the answer here, along with portraits of prize-winning breeds both fierce and fluffy.
Jane S. Smith writes about the intersection of natural history, science, business, and popular taste. Recipient of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and, most recently, the Caroline Bancroft Prize for Western American History (for The Garden of Invention: Luther Burbank and the Business of Breeding Plants), she is a member of the History Department at Northwestern University. She lives in Chicago, where she works in a very small room with a very large window.
Doors open at 6pm; talk starts at 6:30pm
FREE
RSVP to info@thehort.org
Designing a Living City
A City Soft Walks Charrette
Tuesday, March 6
Facilitated by:Transdisciplinary Design MFA students from Parsons the New School for Design
New York City has over 6,000 sidewalk sheds that
total over 1 million linear feet of enclosed sidewalk
area. Installed from a month to as long as ten
years, these tunnels of steel scaffolding are an
ideal opportunity to transform an otherwise gray
infrastructure into one with myriad benefits. How
might these structures contribute to storm water
management, reduced heat island effect, and an
improved pedestrian experience?
Join us for a collaborative design workshop to reimagine sidewalk sheds.
How might these utilitarian scaffolding structures that line the streets of
New York City serve a multiplicity of functions? Can they be a community
asset rather than an eyesore? In this workshop we will prototype ideas
to green grey infrastructure. Learn about native plant species, urban art
initiatives, and community programming.
We welcome experts and students engaged in landscape architecture,
urban policy, construction management and related disciplines to join in
and unearth possibilities.
4:00 pm–8:00 pm
Free (workshop capacity is 20 people, reserve your spot soon!)
RSVP to info@citysoftwalks.com
For more information visit citysoftwalks.com
Writing the Garden: A Literary Conversation across Two Centuries
A Lecture by Elizabeth Barlow Rogers
Wednesday, February 29
Focusing on gardeners’ words about the art of gardening, Writing the Garden: A Literary Conversation Across Two Centuries by landscape historian Elizabeth Barlow Rogers brings together a diverse array of authors. For the most part they are not professional landscape designers or how-to horticulturists but rather hands-on gardeners who write with their own gardens in full view. Ranging in time and place from Enlightenment France to modern-day New York City, they invite the reader into the natural world of soil and flowers, insects and sun, pride and frustration.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Thomas Jefferson, Henry David Thoreau, Gertrude Jekyll, Andrew Jackson Downing, Celia Thaxter, Vita Sackville-West, Russell Page, Rosemary Verey, Hugh Johnson, Paula Deitz, Lynden Miller, and Michael Pollan are among the fifty writers whose works are excerpted and discussed by Rogers.
Elizabeth Barlow Rogers is the president of the Foundation for Landscape Studies. A native of San Antonio, Texas, she earned a bachelor’s degree in art history from Wellesley College and a master’s degree in city planning from Yale University.
A resident of New York City since 1964, Rogers was the first person to hold the title of Central Park Administrator, a New York City Department of Parks & Recreation position created by Mayor Edward I. Koch in 1979. She was the founding president of the Central Park Conservancy, the public-private partnership created in 1980 to bring citizen support to the restoration and renewed management of Central Park. She served in both positions until 1996.
Subsequent to guiding Central Park’s restoration and instituting a new management structure during the Conservancy’s first fifteen years, Rogers resumed her career as teacher, lecturer, and writer on the subject of place. At the same time, she has maintained her commitment to the preservation of living landscapes through good design and sound management practices.
Doors open at 6pm; talk starts at 6:30pm
FREE
RSVP to info@thehort.org
The Hort Celebrates Black History Month
Food is Medicine
A Lecture with Queen Afua
Friday, February 24
Queen Afua is a pioneer and landmark figure in holistic healing and research. The author of several seminal works on healing and women’s issues, Queen Afua will share key insights into the role food plays in sustaining and supporting vital health, with a special emphasis on the devastating and pandemic health problems facing communities of color. Food is Medicine will provide a blue print for a lifestyle that emphasizes nutrition as a key tool in creating and maintaining optimal health for people of color and all communities in a country beset by a host of lifestyle-induced disease.
For over 37 years, Queen Afua has been revered as a community scientist/healer/health activist, within Brooklyn, New York, and abroad, deeming success stories from around the world praising her work. She has traveled through Europe, the Caribbean’s, Bahamas, Africa, and North America spreading her wellness message and well-known herbal supplements.
Her institute, Queen Afua Wellness Institute, has been located and operating within the very community she grew up in, servicing, and providing wellness programs for over half a million people for the past 15 years. Her restorative collection of herbal formulas have been clinically approved and considered household brands by her loyal customers and clients.
Through such a large response from Women following her for years, that have cried out about suffering from ‘womb’ issues, she was inspired to introduce stories of inspiration through her latest book, ‘Overcoming an Angry Vagina; the journey to womb wellness’. The book expresses the point that many of us know about fighting off disease in general, but not about the connection between the womb, good health, and relationship success.
Doors open at 6pm; talk starts at 6:30pm
Suggested donation of $15 (Hort members) and $20 (Non-members)
Register online or email info@thehort.org
The Hort Celebrates Black History Month
Three Black Chicks Digging Deep
with Angela Davis, Shatia Jackson, and Chido Tsemunhu
Thursday, February 23
Three powerful, passionate, active black women discuss topics usually avoided, but of great importance when seen against the escalating crisis in our ecological, economic and energy systems. What role does the legacy of slavery and share cropping play in the lack of involvement in urban farming and community gardening in Black Communities? Why are so few Blacks visible in the sustainability and food movements? Facing a pandemic health crisis, how can we activate our communities? These and other questions will be addressed by a powerful panel and a night that promises lively discussion, and unique insights.
Angela Davis is the Community Food Education Coordinator for Just Food, a New York City based nonprofit organization, that works to unite local farms and city residents of all economic backgrounds with fresh, seasonal, sustainably grown food. Angela is a holistic health coach, certified healing foods specialist, and food justice activist. She also serves as chapter leader of the Jersey City Chapter of the Weston A. Price Foundation, a national nonprofit nutrition education foundation that is dedicated to restoring nutrient-dense foods to the human diet through education, research and activism. Angela is a graduate of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York City. She has a Master of Education degree from the George Washington University and a Bachelor of Arts from Oberlin College. She is a 2009 Environmental Leadership Program Fellow.
Shatia Jackson is a Bedstuy native and resides there with her fiancé and young son. Her family has lived in the 1899 Brownstone for five generations and has deep roots to the neighborhood and community. She has a passionate desire to be instrumental in implementing change in ways that will force us to re evaluate our priorities and our ambitions. She wants to increase participation in agricultural independence and to raise the health standards of those living in Bedstuy while maintaining the diversity and integrity of the community. She, along with Kristen Bonardi Rapp, founded the “462 Halsey Community Garden” in September 2011 with a goal of reaching as many people as possible with messages and actions toward changing and empowering our communities. She loves baking, craft projects, reading, pets and spending quality time with her family.
Chido Tsemunhu is a Brooklyn resident living in BedStuy. She spent much of her youth in Zimbabwe before moving to the U.S. She currently works in the health communications industry and nurtures a growing interest and commitment to all things sustainable and self-sufficiency. Chido is a member of Brooklyn Permaculture, a diverse group of Brooklynites united by a fervent commitment to mobilize and empower Brooklyn communities to create a new sustainable way of life in the urban environment. An avid reader and dog lover, Chido is a firm believer in breakfast, hugs and smiling.
Doors open at 6pm; talk starts at 6:30pmFREE
RSVP to info@thehort.org
Green Walls 101: Systems Overview and Design
Led by Melissa Daniels
Thursday, February 23
This updated version of our Green Walls 101: Introduction to Systems and Design course discusses design and construction best practices for green facades and living walls, as well as the latest research findings on the environmental benefits of these technologies.
- Determine major functions and components of green walls.
- Describe characteristics and assess advantages of different green wall systems.
- Understand market drivers encouraging green wall implementation in North America.
- Understand how to design green walls for maximum benefits and LEED point.
1:00 pm–5:00 pm
Tuition is $175 USD for Hort and GRHC members, and $199 for non-members. Tuition includes a 100-page course manual.
Click here to register through GRHC's site.
Hydroponic Gardening
A Workshop with Boswyck Farms
Wednesday, February 22
This is a time when we’re all paying more attention to what we eat. It seems that we’re finally waking up and seeking out safe and nutritional fruits and vegetables, free of pesticides and with minimal impact on the environment they grow in. Regardless of whether you approach gardening as a foodie, looking for delicious, fresh produce all year long, as an environmentalist, concerned about the future of our food, or simply as an enthusiastic beginner, hydroponics has a lot to offer the home gardener. Hydroponics, or ‘agriculture without soil,’ may well be an answer to our produce prayers.
Come learn the basics of hydroponics, as a hobby and an industry, with Boswyck Farms, a hydroponic research, development, and education company based in Brooklyn. The lecture will serve as informative introduction to the world of hydroponics, including its history, the development of hydroponic practices, and various growing methods and techniques. Following the lecture, everyone in attendance will have the chance to build a soda bottle planter: your very own passive hydroponic system made out of a reused plastic bottle. Come eager to learn, leave with a hydroponic starter garden and the knowledge to provide yourself with fresh, delicious vegetables all year long.
Boswyck Farms is a hydroponic farm in Bushwick Brooklyn. It was founded in 2008 by Lee Mandell with the idea of growing fresh food for the surrounding community. Lee is an urban farmer specializing in hydroponics with over 20 years of experience in the field. Located in Lee’s 1,000 square foot loft, Boswyck Farms has grown into a research and development space to build and test hydroponic systems with the purpose of bringing sustainable methods of growing into the hands of people.
All participants must bring an empty 2-liter bottle. All other materials provided.
NOTE: Classes must be paid in full at the time of registration. A full refund will be given with a 5 business day notice only or if the workshop is cancelled.
Doors open at 6pm; workshop starts at 6:30pm
Hort members $35; Non-members $45
Register online or email info@thehort.org
Beekeeping as a Force for Good
A Talk with Andrew Coté
Thursday, February 16
People have been harvesting honey from domesticated bees for most of recorded history, providing a reliable source of food and oftentimes income. Recently, beekeeping has experienced something of a renaissance, bringing hives to seemingly unlikely places. Young homesteaders and urbanites alike are contacting local beekeeping clubs to learn as much as they can about raising their own colonies, whether for personal enjoyment or profit. Even New York City has seen an upsurge; since the Department of Health recently lifted the ban on keeping hives within the city, they’re popping up on rooftops and backyards with greater frequency.
Join us for an informative lecture with fourth generation beekeeper Andrew Coté, owner of Silvermine Apiaries of Connecticut. You may know Andrew from his New York Honey stand at the New York City Greenmarkets, but you might not know that he is the founder of a bee-based international development nonprofit, Bees Without Borders. Andrew and a group of dedicated apiarists teach beekeeping skills to groups of people in economically depressed areas of the globe as a means of poverty alleviation. This involves developing culturally appropriate training programs and materials for local beekeepers to increase honey yield and providing them with the opportunity to learn about and create new markets for their products. Join us for a honey-tasting and learn the basics of beekeeping, its challenges in an urban environment, and the progress that Bees Without Borders is making worldwide, most recently in a trip to Kenya.
Andrew Coté is a former high school dropout and vagabond turned Fulbright Scholar and professor. He was born into a beekeeping family in Connecticut and is (at least) the fourth generation to carry on this ancient art. When he's not busy with hives, Andrew teaches English as a Second Language at Housatonic Community College and runs Silvermine Apiary, home of Andrew's Taste-Bud Bursting Local Wildflower Honey, as well as the development non-profit Bees Without Borders.
Doors open at 6pm; talk starts at 6:30pm
Hort members $5; Non-members $15
Register online or email info@thehort.org
The Hort Celebrates Black History Month
Aquaponics: The History of the Future
A Lecture by Philson Warner
Tuesday, February 14
A modern day George Washington Carver, for 45 years Philson Warner has quietly pioneered a revolution in sustainable agriculture. As the founding director of the Cornell University Hydroponics, Aquaculture, Aquaponic research and learning laboratories and one of the leading innovators, he coined the term aquaponics and catalyzed a paradigm shift in the way food is produced. Today aquaponics and hydroponics are at the forefront of technologies that hold profound promise as solutions to a world plagued by dwindling access to arable farmland, potable water and fish protein.
Join us on February 14th to celebrate the work of this agriculture pioneer. Dr. Warner will share highlights of his career and insights about the future of sustainable agricultural technology.
Philson A. A. Warner is the Founding Director of the Cornell University Coop Ext (CUCE)., NYC Hydroponics, Aquaculture, Aquaponics Applied Research,Teaching and Demonstration Learning Labs, and is the Coordinator of Science, Technology and Sustainable Agriculture at CUCE, NYC.
Over the past 35 years he has invented and developed the following technologies: The NDFT Hydroponics Technology; BHS Aquaculture Technology; NDFT/BHS Aquaponics Technology and several others. He is also the major author of the following publications: “Grow With The Flow,” “Hydroponics Learning Model,” and is the author of several other publications such as: “Aquaponics Techniques,” “Hydroponic Gardening In The Home,” “Basic Plant Propagation Techniques,” and co-author of “New York Aquaculture (Status, Constraints and Opportunities).” He has also developed programs in Science and Technology for regular public school systems, afterschool and summer programs through large partnerships with the New York City Department Of Education School System (NYCDOE), New York City Department of Youth and Community Development NYCDYCD), the Police Athletic League (PAL), NYC GreenThumb and NYC Housing Authority Garden Program to name a few. His professional background is as follow: Tropical, International and Temperate Agriculture and Horticulture; Medical Micro Biology and Medical Parasitological; Public Administration and Community Health.
Doors open at 6pm; talk starts at 6:30pm
FREE
RSVP to info@thehort.org
Manhattan Chapter of the North American Rock Garden Society Meeting
Tweeting the Alps or Texting Farrer, a Century Later
A Talk with Matt Mattus
Monday, February 13
The Bernese Oberland is surely one of the most beautiful regions of Switzerland, and of course it is home to the most iconic alpine plants, which we all love to grow, but if you haven’t seen the photos of Matt Mattus on his blog or in his digital publication Plant Society Magazine, you are in for a treat. Matt is going to share with us his most favorite images from his summer trips to Switzerland, Austria, and the Dolomites of Italy. Better yet, Matt does all of this botanizing completely wired, with a laptop strapped to his back, documenting every detail and sharing it on his blog each night. With an artist’s eye and a scientist’s curiosity, Matt will inspire you to learn more about how new technology is changing everything. If you are still grousing about the loss of Ektachrome, then this talk is for you. A hundred years after Reginald Farrer famously introduced the world to this most well-known of alpine environments, Matt will share how he rediscovers it in the new millennium by using Facebook, texting, iPads, laptops, and digital technology to document his discoveries and observations and how they have opened all sorts of new possibilities for plant lovers.
Talk starts at 6:00pm
Hort/NARGS members FREE
For more information, please email ManhattanNARGS@verizon.net
Or visit www.mcnargs.org
The Hort Celebrates Black History Month
Emancipation Oaks:
Seeing the African-American History of a New York Landscape
with Morgan Powell, Landscape Designer
Tuesday, February 7
Hampton University in Virginia began like the NY Stock Exchange, under a tree in a simpler time. One Live Oak (Quercus virginiana) at Hampton has come to signify that Historically Black College—however a whole urban forest in New York City's northernmost borough has shaded sites of many professional and lay ecologists and civic builders whose work and lives have remained obscure until now.
Come see and hear over three hundred and fifty years of local African-American history—historic sites, epochal events and noteworthy people—as it has unfolded beneath a dynamic arboreal canopy.
Morgan Powell is a Landscape Designer who has written about public open spaces from Monaco's succulent garden to the Stuyvesant Cove Park in Manhattan. His earlier work on this subject includes:
• 2004 Walking tour: Images of the Bronx in the Metropolitan Museum of Art
• 2004 NY Open Space Coalition health walk from Woodlawn Cemetery to the Bronx Zoo
• 2005 Multi-modal tour of Bronx River Architecture and Public Art for teen-agers
• 2011 Wrote the West Farms Rapids park historical sign for the Department of Parks and Recreation of the City of New York
• 2011 Power Point talk for the New York Public Library, 100 Golden Moments: the Bronx River's African-American Heritage
• 2011 Walking tour of the Bronx River's African-American Heritage
Doors open at 6pm; presentation starts at 6:30pm
Hort members $5; Non-members $15
Register online or email info@thehort.org
The Transition Activist Initiative
with Charles Eisenstein
Sunday, February 5
Join acclaimed author-teacher, Charles Eisenstein, in a day-long intensive aimed to revolutionize your effectiveness as a leader, healer, and/or social activist in times of rapid change. Our society is entering a time of profound transition. Crises in the economy, the ecosystem, health, education, water, energy, and more are propelling our civilization toward a radically different way of living on planet earth. Such conditions call for a new kind of leader, and even a whole new paradigm of leadership. At stake are the deep questions: "Who are we?" "What are we here to create?" "What is the role of humanity on earth, and how may I contribute to it?"
Charles Eisenstein is the author of Sacred Economics and The Ascent of Humanity. A faculty member of Goddard College, he writes and speaks on themes of transition, money, and cultural evolution. His work may be found on charleseisenstein.net.
In this gathering we will explore, in concept and in practice:
• Our unique historical moment: from separation to connection.
• The dynamics of transition (personal, organizational, planetary).
• Leadership independent of power structures and hierarchies.
• The necessity for miracles, and how to access them.
• What does leadership mean in a non-hierarchical setting?
• A leader: "One who holds the story of what-is-to-be."
• A leader: "One who creates opportunities for others to express their gifts."
10am – 4pm
Suggested registration for workshop: $40
(you will have the opportunity to pay in advance or gift Charles the day of the workshop)
Click here to register on NYCharities.org
The Hort Celebrates Black History Month
African Herbal Traditions: The Diaspora and Beyond
A Talk with Brandon Rosser
Friday, February 3
Professor Rosser, through first-hand experience as a traditional healer and spiritual guide, shares the history of traditional herbalism and herbal medicine and its importance to traditional African cultures in Africa and throughout the diaspora.
Brandon Rosser is a former professor of African and African American Studies, as well as Africana Folklore. He has had the pleasure of teaching at various institutions, including New York City College of Technology, Borough of Manhattan Community College, Passaic County Community College, and Nassau Community College. Mr. Rosser has also lectured at the City University School of Law, Columbia University, SUNY Downstate Medical Center, and Syracuse University. Additionally, he has contributed articles to numerous publications, and conducted radio interviews on WBAI, a prominent public radio station in New York City. Furthermore, he has made several television appearances on the Public Broadcast Service Network. Currently, Mr. Rosser is a practicing herbalist and a priest of the Congo/Lukumi tradition.
Doors open at 6pm; talk starts at 6:30pm
Free
RSVP to info@thehort.org
16th Annual Plant‐O‐Rama
A Trade Show and Symposium for Horticulture Professionals
Tuesday, January 31
Join the Hort at the 16th Annual Plant-O-Rama and connect to over 50 commercial and nonprofit exhibitors representing specialty nurseries, wholesale growers, horticultural suppliers, greening organizations and public gardens from NYC and the tri-state region.
Author Dr. Michael A. Dirr will be the keynote speaker this year. Dr. Dirr is the author of the brand new book Dirr’s Encyclopedia of Trees & Shrubs, the most comprehensive, best-illustrated, and most authoritative
reference to trees and shrubs for gardens and landscapes.
Palm House Exhibit Hall at Brooklyn Botanic Garden
For more information about this event, click here.
Manhattan Chapter of the North American Rock Garden Society Meeting
Throwing Pots and Raising Dahlias: My Life in a Connecticut
Garden
A Talk with Frances Palmer
Monday, January 23
Frances Palmer
discusses her work, her process and how botanical interests influence the
classic, one-of-a-kind vases and bowls that she hand-throws for a wide
array of clients. Each piece is a perfect vessel for the myriad dahlias
and other flowers lovingly grown in the spectacular, organic cutting
garden adjacent to her equally gorgeous windowed studio. Frances will
describe the profound connection between her work and her garden, as well
as the dynamic relationship between these outdoor and indoor spaces.
Frances Palmer's work has been featured in many publications, from HOUSE & GARDEN and VOGUE, to THE NEW YORK TIMES and NEW YORK MAGAZINE. Among the many distinguished sites where her work may be found is the Philip Johnson Glass House, for which she created a collection of white porcelain bisque vases in 2010, and an ongoing, exclusive group of pots that are for sale in the Design Shop and Catalog of the Neue Gallery, NYC.
Talk starts at 6:00pm
Hort/NARGS members FREE
For more information, please email ManhattanNARGS@verizon.net
Or visit www.mcnargs.org
Herb Terrarium Workshop
Thursday, January 19
Although it’s handy to pick up a package of fresh herbs at the store, it’s even nicer to have them on hand at your back door, terrace, or even on your windowsill. As Americans are more concerned about where their food comes from, gardening is now the ‘new’ obsession. Growing herbs in open or closed terrariums is rather simple, and learning how to match the right plant with the right container becomes second nature. Join us as we discover the steps to creating a successful and productive herb garden that will last you even through winter.
A terrarium is the perfect way to jump-start your herb garden indoors as a winter project. We will cover the basics of herb gardening in terrariums, including proper soil, plant options, water and nutrient needs, container choices, and harvesting. Whether you’re planting herbs for culinary use, attractive foliage and blooms, or fragrance, there are herbs to satisfy everyone’s yen.
All materials included, be sure to bring something to carry your terrarium home. Experienced and novice gardeners welcomed!
Space is limited,
RSVP required by Monday, January 16
Doors open at 6pm; Workshop starts at 6:30pm
Hort members $50; Non-members $75 (Materials included)
Register online or email info@thehort.org
Manhattan Chapter of the North American Rock Garden Society Meeting
The Alpine Garden in Fort Tryon Park
A Talk with Kean Teck Eng
Monday, December 12
Kean Eng grew up in a family with a farming background in Malaysia. He was trained as an agronomist in the tropics and graduated with a Bachelors (Honors) Degree in Agricultural Science from Putra University in Malaysia. He worked in food crop production and in the floriculture industry focusing on post-harvest physiology to extend the shelf life of cut flowers for export. He also worked for Dupont on field trials of warm temperate crops and ornamental plants in high altitude cultivation. In New York, he was an intern at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden where he obtained his Certificate in Horticulture. He is currently working in the Alpine Garden in Fort Tryon Park with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, where he has been since 2008.
His topic, “Restoring the Alpine Garden at Fort Tryon Park” will address the history of the garden, originally designed by the Olmsted Brothers, changes effected since 1935, and challenges presented in the restoration work he’s spearheading.
Talk starts at 6:00pm
Hort/NARGS members FREE
For more information, please email ManhattanNARGS@verizon.net
Or visit www.mcnargs.org
Soap Making
A Workshop with Tara and Jeff of Meow Meow Tweet
Thursday, December 8
Botanically-derived essential oils have been used in soap-making for centuries, either to evoke a specific scent of a much-loved plant or a healing property touted by holistic medicine. Cold process soap-making is a simple way to capture the benefits of these botanicals in your own home.
Discover the fun and creativity of cold process soap-making with Tara and Jeff of Meow Meow Tweet. They'll teach you how to design and formulate your own recipe, the proper use and storage of lye, basic properties of oils used for soap making, essential oils, natural additives and botanicals, coloring, molding and curing, plus share helpful hints and favorite supply sources. We’ll divide up what’s made during the class, and everyone in attendance will take home their own hand-made soap.
Supplies for students to bring:
• Rubber gloves (the dishwashing kind)
• Eye protection
• Safety mask that covers mouth and nose
• Three containers for your soap (paper cups, empty half-gallon milk or juice paper carton with the top cut off and washed thoroughly, or Tupperware)
All of Meow Meow Tweet’s soaps are carefully crafted to evoke a certain quality or healthful property. They use only essential oils and organic, all-natural ingredients. Each bar is sealed with a hemp paper wrapper and hand-stamped with one of their drawings.
Doors open at 6pm; workshop starts at 6:30pm
Hort members $20; Non-members $25
THIS WORKSHOP IS CURRENTLY FULL.
Please contact info@thehort.org to be added to the waitlist.
Grisaille Technique in Botanical Painting
A Workshop with Wendy Hollender
Monday, November 21
Join botanical artist, instructor, and author Wendy Hollender to learn the techniques outlined in her new book Botanical Drawing in Color: A Basic Guide to Mastering Realistic Form and Naturalistic Color (Random House). Students will learn how to use a grisaille technique for undertones in a neutral color and then how to layer color on top to create depth, using watercolor and watercolor pencils in combination with dry colored pencils. This technique is very immediate and materials are simple, allowing the artist to work easily in multiple locations and it is especially useful for work in the field.
Wendy Hollender began a career in botanical illustration after completing a certificate at the New York Botanical Garden in 1998. Previously a home furnishing textile designer, she started WH Art & Design, using her botanical artwork in various products. Her work was included in the 13th International Exhibition at Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, and in exhibitions at the Royal Botanical Garden, Kew and the Smithsonian National Museum for Natural History. Hollender’s illustrations have been published in the New York Times, Oprah Magazine, and this October issue of Real Simple magazine.
Hollender’s paintings, Arctium minus (Burdock), and Pseudobombax ellipticum (Shaving Brush Tree), are featured in The 14th Annual International Juried Botanical Art Exhibition, currently on view through November 23.
SOLD OUT—please call 212.757.0915 X121 to be added to the wait list.
Morning session: 10am to 1pm
Afternoon session: 2pm to 5pm
Click here to view a materials list (PDF)
Year-End Celebration & Reception
with special guests from Dekalb Market & Farm
Wednesday, November 16
Join us as we celebrate another successful year at The Hort with a cocktail reception for our members, friends, and partners. Local treats will be provided by special guests from Dekalb Market & Farm.
Enjoy a drink with our staff and growing community of supporters, and learn about our accomplishments from the past year, including: the piloting of our new educational program for middle school adolescents, GreenTween at MS 57 and MS 171 in East Harlem; the remediation and restoration of the DEEL Community Garden in Harlem; and the installation of a new learning garden at PS 84 in Astoria, featuring a living stormwater management system. We’ve also launched a fresh new look, with a newly designed logo, revamped website, and a revised mission statement.
The reception will feature seasonal refreshments and treats created by vendors and farmers from the Dekalb Market & Farm. Dekalb Market is a new community destination in Downtown Brooklyn. Housed in a collection of salvaged shipping containers, the project brings together NYC’s creative entrepreneurs and community organizations in a unique setting that includes a farm, an events venue, and a collection of eateries and work-sell spaces.
Dekalb Farm is a platform for members of NYC’s urban agricultural community to design and implement a unique educational experience within a working garden. The gardens include a permaculture garden by Brooklyn Grange, an educational garden by Family Cook Productions, a grassroots community plot by Kujichagulia, a nutrient-dense organic plot by Newton Farm Collective, and a research garden by artist-collective and education center, 3rd Ward.
5:30pm | Annual Meeting (members only)
6:15pm | Erika Brenner, Farm Coordinator at the Dekalb Farm
A brief presentation on the history, development, and operations of the Dekalb Market & Farm.
6:30pm | Special live performance by Teen Battle Chefs
Using seasonal produce, locally grown at Dekalb Farm, students from this Family Cook Productions program will prepare their own recipes to be served throughout the evening.
7:00 - 8:30pm | Cocktail Reception
Enjoy seasonal refreshments and treats with The Hort and our special guests from Dekalb Market & Farm.
RSVP to membership@thehort.org
Green Infrastructure: Policies, Performance and Projects
Friday, November 11
This half-day course provides attendees with a review of various vegetative technologies in urban areas (i.e. green walls, green roofs, urban forests, rain gardens), presents the latest research on their many performance benefits, and showcases a variety of leading edge policy and program developments in cities such as Chicago, Seattle, New York and Toronto that support the greening of our cities. Ideal for policy makers and other advocates of urban greenery. Includes a 250-page course manual.
1PM-5PMHort members $175 (use discount code "HSNYmember"); Non-members $225
Click here to register through GRHC's site.
Space is limited. Reserve your seat today.
This course is approved by USGBC for 3.5 GBCI CE Hours for LEED Professionals. AIA and ASLA members can earn 3.5 continuing education credits for participating. GRPs can earn 3.5 CEUs.
Homebrewed Beer
A Workshop with Claire Briguglio and Sam Adels
Wednesday, November 9
Beer is undergoing a renaissance in the United States. An industry once controlled by six corporations is now dotted with thoughtfully and locally crafted beers in an ever-widening array. Simply put, Americans are rediscovering their centuries-old brewing traditions.
In the mid 1880’s, there were over 4,000 breweries in the U.S. producing 9 million barrels of beer each year. By the 1920’s Prohibition dismantled this diversity. Fortunately, a small band of adventurous brewers changed all of this. Home brewers transformed their personal brewing operations into microbreweries as they discovered that Americans love craft beer.
Before it was produced for the public, much of the craft beer you enjoy had a humble beginning on the kitchen stove. Home brewing not only allows you to control the quality of the beer, but also to customize its flavor with an almost unending choice of natural ingredients.
Join us as we welcome award winning home brewers, Claire Briguglio and Sam Adels, as they demonstrate how simple creating and brewing your own beer can be. Experience for yourself the joys and satisfaction of home brewing as they explain the brewing process and offer a sampling of their handcrafted beers.
All materials included.Doors open at 6pm; workshop starts at 6:30pm
Hort members $15; Non-members $20
Register online or RSVP to info@thehort.org
NOTE: Space is limited. Advance registration required.
Prickly Subjects
A Botanical Illustration Workshop with John Pastoriza-Piñol
Thursday, November 3
Join botanical artist John Pastoriza-Piñol—visiting from Australia!—for a class that explores the techniques for achieving intricate and precise edges in your paintings. Whether your subject is dried flowers or the autumn’s harvest, properly protectingyour drawing with masking fluid before laying down your watercolor washes is an invaluable process that ensures crisp, detailed results. With these tools, your paintings can be brought to a new level of realism and accuracy. Students should have skills in drawing and watercolor.
John Pastoriza-Piñol received a doctorate in botany from University of Vigo, Spain. His work is in numerous public and private collections around the world, including: Hunt Institute; Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; State Collection at Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne; RMIT University; and the Collection of Alisa and Isaac M. Sutton. He is the recipient of many awards and recognitions, including a commission for the Highgrove Florilegium through the Prince of Wales’s Charitable Foundation. Pastoriza-Piñol currently teaches at the Geelong Botanic Gardens and is represented by Nellie Castan Gallery in South Yarra. For more information, please visit www.botanique-art.com.
Pastoriza-Piñol’s painting, Castanea sativa (Spanish Sweet Chestnut), is featured in The 14th Annual International Juried Botanical Art Exhibition, currently on view through November 23.
Morning session: 10am to 1pm
Afternoon session: 2pm to 5pm
Course fee (for both sessions):
Hort members $115; Non-members $150
Click here to view a materials list (PDF)
An Elegant Wilderness:
Great Camps and Grand Lodges of the Adirondacks, 1855-1935
By Gladys Montgomery
Wednesday, November 2
An Elegant Wilderness: Great Camps and Grand Lodges of the Adirondacks, 1855-1935, by Gladys Montgomery, recounts the story of the private retreats of the Gilded Age industrial rich who traveled north from New York City to experience wilderness. Light-years away from other upscale resorts, the Adirondacks was a place where constricting social proprieties were relaxed; women shed their corsets to hike, hunt, fish, and play tennis; and children learned to appreciate the great outdoors. Gladys Montgomery illustrates her talk with dozens of rare evocative photographs of rustic homes, idyllic lakes, and recreational pastimes.
Gladys Montgomery is an award-winning writer and editor. The author of five books and the founding editor of Berkshire Living Home + Garden, she has penned more than 200 magazine features about architecture, design, antiques, and historic buildings, which have appeared in regional, national, and international publications.
Doors open at 6pm; Lecture starts at 6:30pmHort members $10; Non-members $15
Register online or RSVP to info@thehort.org
Make Your Own Pickles and Relishes
A Workshop with Robert Schaeffer of Divine Brine
Wednesday, October 19
Pickling originally came about as a method of preserving food from the harvest, but has since evolved into a culinary art. From traditional dills to mouth-watering watermelon rinds, pickling has become an incredible diverse craft, one that lends itself well to the do-it-yourself ethos.
Please join us as Robert Schaeffer of Divine Brine Foods teaches us to bring this delicious skill into our own kitchens. Robert will talk about the history and basics of pickles, relishes and chutneys, and give a hands-on demonstration of each. Everyone will have the opportunity to create their own batch of Robert’s delicious Hot Bread and Butters, Classic Cucumber Relish and Fall Tomato Chutney. Robert is a strong believer in using seasonal, local produce, and founded his business on one principle: “we have to get back to the garden.”
After attending Hunter College, Chef Robert Schaeffer began his career as an apprentice and later full-time chef at the 21 Club in New York City. He went on to work for the notable White House Chef Pierre Chambrin and later Hilton Hotels. Robert later opened several restaurants around the country, including the posh venue Portfolio, located in the Hamptons. After a successful catering career, he founded Divine Brine in 2010.
All materials included.Doors open at 6pm; workshop starts at 6:30pm
Hort members $15; Non-members $20
Register online or RSVP to info@thehort.org
NOTE: Space is limited. Advance registration required.
Exploring the Science of Botanical Art
A Drawing Workshop with Dick Rauh
Monday, October 17
Join experienced botanical artist and former ASBA juror, Dick Rauh, for a class that explores the science behind the flowers we all love to paint. For his own work, Rauh focuses on flowers, dry fruits, and other remnants of out-of-season natives, magnifying them to highlight their botanical structure and composition. Participants of the class will learn the vocabulary and processes underlying the reproductive functions and life cycles of flowering plants. Using magnifying glasses to examine their subject, students will identify and transcribe the special characteristics that distinguish one plant from another and scale the minute details of the plants into beautiful botanical drawings.
Dick Rauh came to botanical painting after a career in motion picture special effects. After completing a certificate program in Botanical Art at the New York Botanical Gardens, Rauh received a doctorate degree in Plant Sciences at the City University of New York in 2001, and is currently a fellow of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden Florilegium and President of the ASBA Board of Directors. His exceptional technique has earned him awards at the 2006 Royal Horticultural Society Flower Show in London, as well as inclusion in notable collections such as the Lindley Library, London; New York State Museum, Albany; and the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, Pittsburgh, PA.
Rauh’s painting, Paeonia sp. (Peony Follicles), is featured in The 14th Annual International Juried Botanical Art Exhibition, currently on view through November 23.
Morning session: 10am to 1pm
Afternoon session: 2pm to 5pm
Course fee (for both sessions):
Hort members $115; Non-members $150
Register online or call 212.757.0915 (space is limited)
Click here to view a materials list (PDF)
Celebrate openhousenewyork with The Hort
Saturday, October 15
The Horticultural Society of New York, designed by Marpillero Pollak Architects, is an oasis tucked between Times Square and Penn Station. Our headquarters, which houses our library, gallery, and offices, is an open, light-filled space rich with plant life. Join us for special weekend hours this Saturday for America's largest architecture and design event, openhousenewyork weekend. Architect Linda Pollak will give a special tour at 1pm. Other activities and events are listed below.
Linda Pollak, AIA, Affil. ASLA, is a principal of Marpillero Pollak Architects (MPA), a member of the NYC Design + Construction Excellence Program. MPA’s current NYC public projects include Elmhurst Branch Library, Queens Plaza, and New Stapleton Waterfront. MPA designed the Hort's home in 2006, and collaborated with their GreenBranches program in 2006-8 to design and implement learning gardens for three branch libraries in Brooklyn and Queens. Pollak’s research on architecture and urban landscape has been recognized with grants and fellowships from the American Academy in Rome, National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, New York Foundation for the Arts, and the Graham Foundation, among others. She is co-author, with Anita Berrizbeitia, of Inside Outside: Between Architecture and Landscape.
openhousenewyork Schedule
11am-5pm | Free and open to the public—Our gallery and library will be open with special hours for the event. For those of you who can’t make it during the week, this is a great chance to come see our current exhibition, check out our library (and book sale), and enjoy one of the fun activities listed below.
All day | Pumpkin Carving—Celebrate the harvest by carving pumpkins grown in the Hudson Valley.
All day | Make Your Own Tea—Craft your own organic herbal blend from seasonal plants and flowers.
12pm | Home-brewed Beer—Come and sample the season’s best beers, including a Pumpkin Ale, Apple Ale, and an Indian Brown Ale, handcrafted by Brooklyn home brewers.
1pm | Tour of The Hort with Architect Linda Pollak
3pm | Gallery Tour—Join us for a rare opportunity to view the 14th Annual International Juried Botanical Art Exhibition on a guided tour with our curator Chris Murtha.
Houses of the Berkshires, 1870-1930
By Richard S. Jackson and Cornelia Brooke Gilder
Wednesday, October 12
The scenic hills of the Berkshires, with their beautiful lakes, clean air, and spectacular autumn foliage, have provided a respite from city life for New Yorkers and Bostonians since 19th century. In Lenox and Stockbridge and surrounding communities, grand houses were built by the nation’s leading architects. The resort area’s pioneer visitors, in the 1840s, were intellectuals: Ralph Waldo Emerson, Herman Melville, Nathaniel Hawthorne, the actress Fanny Kemble and the painter Thomas Cole, among others. Patrons soon followed, hiring the best architects from New York and Boston, to build magnificent “cottages” and elaborate gardens and greenhouses. Houses of the Berkshires is an unmatched chronicle of this distinctive social and literary colony and now vanished way of life.
Richard S. Jackson Jr., a native of Greenwich, Connecticut and a graduate of Yale University, moved to the Berkshires in 1962. As past chairman of the Lenox Historical Commission and the Tanglewood Council, member of the Naumkeag committee, and trustee of Hancock Shaker Village he has worked to preserve several of the houses mentioned in this volume. A real estate agent specializing in historic properties, he lives in Stockbridge, Massachusetts with his wife Linda.
Cornelia Brooke Gilder spent most of her childhood in Lenox, Massachusetts, in the house her grandparents bought in 1906. A graduate of Vassar College, she continued her graduate work at the Institute for Advanced Architectural Studies in York, England. She worked at the New York State Historic Preservation Office in Albany and has since contributed to a number of exhibits and publications, including A History of Ventfort Hall (Ventfort Hall Association, 2002), Hawthorne's Lenox (2008) and Architects in Albany (2010) She lives in Tyringham, Massachusetts, with her husband George.
Doors open at 6pm; Lecture starts at 6:30pmHort members $10; Non-members $15
Register online or RSVP to info@thehort.org
Homemade Jams, Jellies and Chutneys
A Workshop with Beth Linskey of Beth’s Farm Kitchen
Wednesday, September 28
Canning your own preserves is one of the best ways to save the flavors of a season for another day. Beth Linskey of Beth’s Farm Kitchen has been doing exactly that, and selling the delicious products at New York City’s Greenmarkets, for over 30 years. Beth’s commitment to her craft means that she only uses fruits and vegetables that are in season and grown locally, and her jams, jellies and chutneys are produced in small batches, so that you get the fullest, freshest flavor of the produce. Not limiting her source of inspiration to just fruits, Beth’s creations range from spicy pepper chutneys to garlic jelly to new takes on traditional flavors, like strawberry-rhubarb jelly.
After a short lecture, Beth will demonstrate the techniques that she uses to create her delicious jams and chutneys, and teach you how to begin making your own at home. Using only the freshest, seasonal produce from the New York City’s Greenmarkets, we will craft delicious jams or chutneys for everyone in attendance to take home. Sourcing her ingredients from local farmers, Beth will teach us to make plum jam, hot pepper jelly, a cranberry-horseradish chutney, and raspberry jelly that can easily be reproduced in your own kitchen.
Beth Linskey has been making jams and chutneys for over 30 years for customers of the New York City Greenmarkets. A long-time advocate of locally-sourced, seasonal fruits and vegetables, Beth was recently invited to attend the Slow Food Movement’s annual conference in Turino, Italy. Beth’s Farm Kitchen now offers over 90 flavors of jams and chutneys, and currently operates out of a farmhouse in the Hudson Valley that dates back to 1850. Beth’s new cookbook, Cooking with Jams and Chutneys: Recipes from Beth’s Farm Kitchen, will be available for purchase.
Doors open at 6pm; workshop starts at 6:30pm
Hort members $15; Non-members $20
Register by Sept 28 for all 4 workshops and save:
Hort members $50; Non-members $70
Register online or RSVP to info@thehort.org
NOTE: Space is limited. Advance registration required.
The du Ponts: Houses and Gardens in the Brandywine, 1900-1951
By Maggie Lidz
Wednesday, September 14
No American family dominated a single state longer than the du Ponts of Delaware. French immigrants who arrived in America January 1, 1800, the du Ponts became a dynasty of publicity-shy entrepreneurs, engineers, horticulturists, and collectors. They built neighboring houses, gardens, and farms that spanned miles of rolling hills in Delaware’s Brandywine Valley. With their fortunes from the DuPont Company, the family pursued many passions, resulting in the exquisite art collections, spectacular botanical gardens, and libraries now enjoyed by the American public. Winterthur Museum’s estate historian Maggie Lidz captures the life of the du Ponts at home with hundreds of rare period photographs from private archives and family albums and never before published autochromes, diascopes, and Dufay color images.
Maggie Lidz is Winterthur Museum’s full-time historian. She researches, writes, and lectures about the history of Winterthur, a du Pont family estate that dates back to 1839. Although best known as a museum of American decorative arts, the horticultural and social history of Winterthur have been fertile territory for historical investigation. Lidz’s interest in Winterthur began while in the art history graduate program at the University of Delaware as a student of the eminent architectural historian Damie Stillman. She is the author of Life at Winterthur: a du Pont Family Album (2001).
Doors open at 6pm; Lecture starts at 6:30pm
Hort members $10; Non-members $15
Register by Sept 14 for all 3 lectures and save!
Hort members $25; Non-members $38
Register online or RSVP to info@thehort.org
Exploring Gardens and Green Spaces
From Connecticut to the Delaware Valley
A Talk with Magda Salvesen
Tuesday, September 13
Nestled all along the northeast corridor, a profusion of horticultural gems and designed landscapes beckons visitors, from celebrated formal parks, estates, and arboretums to less familiar-and often hard to find-gardens. This unique guidebook features 148 of them, providing readers with an incomparable resource for locating and exploring the region's green spaces-many with historic homes at their center.
Whether large, sumptuous, and impressively maintained, or modest in size, budget, and staff, all have distinctive historical, artistic, and horticultural offerings that make them well worth a trip. Mt. Cuba Center and Winterthur in Delaware, Longwood Gardens in southeastern Pennsylvania, Grounds for Sculpture and the Leonard J. Buck Garden in New Jersey, the Humes Japanese Stroll Garden on Long Island, Stonecrop Gardens and Innisfree in the Hudson Valley, and Elizabeth Park and Hollister House in Connecticut are just a few of the great gardens highlighted.
Featuring more than three hundred color photographs and twenty-nine maps, with a fund of practical information for each entry-including transportation, nearby eateries, and other sites of interest, Exploring Gardens and Green Spaces is a veritable tour guide at your fingertips, showcasing an array of gardens that await discovery.
Magda Salvesen, the curator of the Jon Schueler Estate, is a garden and art historian, and a NYC local. She has taught courses at the New York Botanical Gardens and given many talks as an independent lecturer. She currently teaches at NYU in the Art History & Urban Design and Architecture Studies department.
Doors open at 6pm; talk starts at 6:30pm
Hort members $5; Non-members $15
Register online or RSVP to info@thehort.org
Manhattan Chapter of the North American Rock Garden Society Meeting
Plantsman's Choice: "Plants I Like and the Reasons Why"
A Talk with John Grimshaw
Monday, September 12
John Grimshaw has been interested in plants all his life, as both gardener and botanist. He holds a first class degree in botany and doctorate in African forest ecology from Oxford University. African plants remain his principal botanical interest. He is however fascinated by all plants and will attempt to grow anything in the garden. The origins of garden plants are a particular fascination and he has travelled widely to see plants growing in habitat. His first book was The Gardener’s Atlas (1998), recounting the journeys plants have made from their source to our gardens. He is co-author of the monograph Snowdrops (2002) by Matt Bishop, Aaron Davis and John Grimshaw, published by his own publishing company, Griffin Press. Between 2004-2009 he was principal author of a major book on trees introduced in the past 35 years, entitled New Trees, Recent Introductions to Cultivation, sponsored by the International Dendrology Society. It was published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in May 2009.
He is a member of the Royal Horticultural Society’s Advisory Committee on Nomenclature and Taxonomy, and Woody Plant Committee. John is particularly proud to be an honorary elder of the Masai community of Lerang’wa, Tanzania.
Talk starts at 6:00pm
Hort/NARGS members FREE
For more information, please email ManhattanNARGS@verizon.net
Or visit www.nargs.org/manhattan
The Paper Garden
Talk and Art Demonstration with Molly Peacock
Wednesday, September 7
“At age 72, Mary Granville Pendarves Delany (1700-1788) invented a precursor of what we know as collage,” writes internationally acclaimed poet Molly Peacock in her new book, The Paper Garden, which is at once a biography of an extraordinary eighteenth-century woman and a fascinating meditation on late-life creativity.
The Paper Garden examines the life of Mrs. Delany, married off at age sixteen to a sixty-one-year-old drunken squire to improve the family fortunes. Widowed by twenty-five, she cultivated a wide circle of influential and creative friends, including Handel and Swift. In mid-life, she met Jonathan Swift’s friend Dean Patrick Delany, and remarried – this time, for love. Upon her second husband’s death twenty-three years later, she picked up a pair of scissors and, at the age of seventy-two, created a new art form. “I have invented a new way of imitating flowers,” she wrote to her niece. Over the next decade, Mrs. Delany created an astonishing 985 botanically correct, breathtaking cut-paper flowers—so accurate that botanists still refer to them. They are now housed in the British Museum and are referred to as the Flora Delanica.
Please join us for a talk by The Paper Garden author Molly Peacock, followed by a demonstration of the very paper-cutting technique described and celebrated in the book.
Molly Peacock is the award-winning author of five volumes of poetry, including The Second Blush. Her poems are widely anthologized in The Best of the Best American Poetry and The Oxford Book of American Poetry. Among her other works are How to Read a Poem… and Start a Poetry Circle and a memoir, Paradise, Piece by Piece. Peacock is the general series editor of The Best Canadian Poetry in English and serves as a faculty mentor at the Spalding University Brief Residency MFA Program. A transplanted New Yorker, she lives in Toronto. For more about Molly, visit www.mollypeacock.com.
Read The New York Times book review of The Paper Garden here.Doors open at 6pm; talk starts at 6:30pm
Admission: FREE
RSVP to info@thehort.org
All photographs © Andrew Tolson.
NY ASLA and The Hort Presents:
McGregor Coxall: An Antipodean Conversation
Wednesday, August 31
McGregor Coxall was created in 2000 when mcgregor+partners, founded in Sydney in 1988 by Adrian McGregor, was joined by Philip Coxall. A Melbourne office was established by Mark Haycox in 2011.
McGregor Coxall has completed over 300 projects, using new green technologies to solve complex urban planning and design problems, and leave a legacy of environmental, social and economic improvement. The firm’s approach aims to blur the boundaries between urban design and landscape architecture, achieving quality in the built and natural environments through a rigorous process of questioning, investigation and continuous design refinement. Projects are framed within a modernist outlook, drawing on a diverse in-house team with expertise in urban design, landscape architecture, architecture, planning, horticulture and environmental graphics. Through design excellence and strategic community and political consultation, the firm’s work often brings developers, government and community together to create mutually beneficial results.
McGregor Coxall has worked on projects in Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Korea, the Philippines, Taiwan and the United Kingdom. It has received more than 40 awards, and was the first non-European firm to win International Landscape Architecture Practice of the Year 2009 from the prestigious Topos journal. Other honors include the 2010 World Waterfront Award for Ballast Point in Baltimore; a 2011 International Architecture Award from the European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies, The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design, and Metropolitan Arts Press Ltd.; and the top prize in Toronto’s first international AZURE awards.
With over twenty years experience as an Urban Designer and Landscape Architect, Mark Haycox manages the McGregor Coxall Melbourne Studio. Before joining the firm in 2011, Mark worked more than 10 years with Vic Urban and prior to that, with DCM. Working with many of Australia’s leading private sector developers, all levels of Government and various community organisations, Mark has delivered internationally recognised projects . His expertise lies in leading multidisciplinary teams in all aspects ofthe design process. Mark’s experience ranges from design management and preparing design briefs through to award winning landscape, public realm, environmental, civic and community based projects, commercial buildings, high and medium density residential and retail developments.
Georg Petzold is a German educated and trained Landscape Architect. Prior to relocating to Australia Georg worked on a number of large scale projects in both Germany and Austria at the design and documentation level. His work in Australia has ranged from projects in China and Taiwan to construction documentation of the external work for the competition winning National Portrait Gallery in Canberra. Georg’s design capabilities extend from macro scale down to fine grain detailing. His passion is to ensure consistency in the design process so that the end product is true to the design philosophy.
Stephanie Bailey is currently studying Landscape Architecture at the University of New South Wales. She has a keen interest in the role of urban design and landscape architecture in the development of healthier, social and ecologically sustainable public spaces. Currently, Stephanie is one of the Landscape Ambassadors for UNSW.
Admission: FREE
RSVP to info@thehort.org
Introduction to Rooftop Urban Agriculture
A Course with Keith Agoada and Ben Flanner
Saturday, July 9
Learn about multiple approaches to growing food on rooftops through design and maintenance principles, and case studies drawn from across North America. This course:
- Familiarizes participants with the diversity of physical applications of urban agriculture and the growing technologies that apply.
- Explores the social, environmental and economic benefits of urban agriculture and rooftop farming.
- Describes the governance, personnel and economic options for implementing urban agriculture and rooftop farming systems and operations.
- Examines the conditions that lead to a successful urban agriculture project.
- Identifies strategies for overcoming common challenges associated with developing an urban agriculture/rooftop farming project.
- Describes basic installation and maintenance principles.
Following the course, at 1:30 pm, an optional tour and lunch will be offered at Brooklyn Grange, a successful one-acre rooftop farm in Queens.
Keith Agoada, Urban-Ag
Ben Flanner, Brooklyn Grange
8:30am-12pm
Tuition is $299 and includes an 85-page course manual.
Admission for the tour and lunch at Brooklyn Grange rooftop farm is $50.
HSNY members receive a $25 discount. The discount code "hsnymember"
can be applied on the payment page to get the reduced rate.
This course qualifies for 3.5 GRP Continuing Education Units and is pending approval for continuing education credits through GBCI, AIA, RCI, ASLA, and APLD.
For more details and to register online, please click here.
Top photograph ©Recover Greenroofs, The Ledge Kitchen & Drinks
Planning Your Garden for Seed Saving
A Lecture with Shanyn Siegel
Monday, June 27
An evening with Seed Savers Exchange, presented by GreenThumb,The Horticultural Society of New York and New York Restoration Project
If you’re interested in seed saving, understanding some basic concepts before you get started will make the process easier. Learn the difference between open-pollinated and hybrid seeds and gain an understanding of plant taxonomy, reproductive structures & pollination methods. Presenter Shanyn Siegel will also touch on isolation methods by sharing techniques for home gardeners as well as techniques used at Heritage Farm, the 890-acre home of Seed Savers Exchange.
Seed Savers Exchange is a non-profit, member- supported organization that saves & shares the heirloom seeds of our garden heritage, forming a living legacy that can be passed down through generations.
Shanyn Siegel is the curator of Seed Savers Exchange's heirloom and open-pollinated seed collections. She works with thousands of different seed varieties ranging from amaranth to watermelon.
7:00 to 8:30pm
Admission: Free
Email events@nyrp.org by June 24 to RSVP
Rooftop Gardens:
The Terraces,
Conservatories
and Balconies of New York
Author talk by Denise LeFrak Calicchio and Roberta Model Amon
Tuesday, June 21
Rooftop Gardens showcases some of the most extraordinary outdoor spaces in New York City. High above street level, above the noise and congestion exists a sumptuous array of gardens ranging in styles, created by urban dwellers as retreats from the daily chaos of life. This is an invitation to see these private spaces made possible by real estate insider Denise LeFrak Calicchio and Roberta Model Amon whose personal connections have provided glimpses into the various English cottage gardens, Japanese rock gardens, and artist installations that pepper the topmost plots of the city’s most prestigious addresses.
Featured landscape architects include Adele Mitchell Inc.; Greensleeves Gardens Ltd.; Barbara Britton, garden design and consulting; Gresham Lang Garden Design, LLC; Halsted Welles Associates, Inc.; Miguel Pons Landscaping, LLC; Paula Hayes; Plant Specialists; Rebecca Cole GROWs; Snap Décor, Marjorie Reed Gordon; Studio Gerard Landscape Architecture; Thomas Hays Interiors; WORKSHOP: Ken Smith Landscape Architect; and WRJ Design Associates, LLC. From the lush fantasy enclosure of a Japanese-inspired moss garden to a glass-enclosed conservatory perched atop Park Avenue in which amaryllis, paperwhite narcissus, and cyclamen grow during the winter months, Rooftop Gardens offers a sneak-peek into some of the most innovative and original idyllic urban oases New York City has to offer.
Denise LeFrak Calicchio is a member of the prominent LeFrak real estate family and a coauthor of High Rise, Low Down. Roberta Model Amon is active on committees of the Guggenheim Museum and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
All photographs ©Norman McGrath.
12pm – 2pm
Hort members $5; Non-members $15
Register online or email info@thehort.org
Herb Container Gardens
A Workshop with George Pisegna
Thursday, June 16
Although it’s handy to pick up a package of fresh herbs at the store, it’s even nicer to have them at your back door, terrace, or even on your windowsill. As Americans are more concerned about where their food comes from, gardening is now the ‘new’ obsession. Growing herbs in pots is rather simple, and learning how to gauge the right plant for the right pot becomes second nature. Join us as we discover the steps to creating a successful and productive herb garden.
Almost anything that will hold soil can be used as a container for herbs. A clay pot, an old tin, a wooden crate, or even a tea pot can make good container. We will cover the basics of herb gardening; including proper soil, plant options, water and nutrient needs, container choices, and harvesting. Whether you’re planting herbs for culinary use, attractive foliage and blooms, or fragrance, there are herbs to satisfy everyone’s yen.
All materials included, be sure to bring something to carry your container home with. Experienced and novice gardeners welcomed!
All photographs ©Rob Proctor, Joe Coca, & Interweave Press.
Space is limited, RSVP required by June 14
Doors open at 6pm; Workshop starts at 6:30pm
Hort members $45; Non-members $70 (Materials included)
Register online or email info@thehort.org
Tropical Gardens of the Philippines
A Lecture with Lily Gamboa O’Boyle and Elizabeth V. Reyes
Tuesday, June 14
Offering a rare glimpse into some of the most beautiful tropical gardens in the world, Tropical Gardens of the Philippines presents spectacular contemporary gardens—large and small—situated in and around the Metropolitan Manila area and the nearby provinces of Laguna, Batangas and Tagaytay. Introducing a contemporary gardening style that has been evolving in the Philippines over the past decade, as well as more traditional formal styles, the book traces the development of garden design in all its forms. Designers new and old are showcased along with a number of talented home owners, many of whom are proficient gardeners themselves. Experimenting with both indigenous and introduced species, use of hardscapes such as local stones and pavers, bonsai, clipped shrubs and water features, some work along Oriental lines, others follow Western models. All are finding their own niches in the attempt to define a unique tropical gardening style. There is no one school of gardening in the Philippines, much as there is no one term to describe the Filipinos themselves; this book celebrates the many diverse aspects of this “new tropical garden design”.
Lily Gamboa O’Boyle is an accomplished home entertainer and avid gardener originally from the Philippines where she distinguished herself as an actress. Lily divides her time among her homes in Connecticut and Florida in the USA and Manila. She is the author of Philippine Hospitality, Pacific Crossings and In the Gardens of the Philippines.
Elizabeth Reyes is a travel, arts and feature writer for various Asian magazines and the author of many books on Philippine design and architecture, including her groundbreaking Filipino Style.
All photographs ©Luca Invernizzi Tettoni.
Doors open at 6pm; Talk starts at 6:30pm
Hort members $5; Non-members $15
Register online or email info@thehort.org
Succulent Container Workshop
Thursday, May 26
With their wonderful architectural shapes, array of colorful leaves, and minimal care, succulents are perfect, forgiving plants for containers. They can sit on your terrace or patio in the summer, come in for the winter and thrive almost anywhere in the world. Since garden space is at a premium in places like New York City, a sunny windowsill can be brought to life with an extravagant succulent garden. If you travel often and are not at home, succulents allow you to garden on your own terms. Because most succulents come from extreme environments, they are able to survive even the most neglectful of gardeners.
Every succulent is unique and has its own personality. Echeverias come in brilliant hues with fat, frilly foliage. Sedums are delicate, Senecios cascading, and Agaves edgy. Smaller succulents like Graptopetalums and Sempervivums resemble stars, roses, and daises. Join George Pisegna, our Director of Horticulture, as he walks you through the basics of designing and caring for succulents. There will be a brief lecture about succulent planting and care along with the basics of design, including how textures or colors contrast, using lines and repetition, scale and proportion, and pairing a plant with its container. Come and discover how a well-designed succulent container garden can be a three-dimensional work of art.
All materials included; please bring something to transport your finished container garden.
Space is limited, RSVP required by Tuesday, May 24
Doors open at 6pm; Workshop starts at 6:30pm
Hort members $85; Non-members $125
Register online or email info@thehort.org
Gertrude Jekyll and the Country House Garden
A Lecture by Judith B. Tankard
Tuesday, May 24
Gertrude Jekyll was one of the most important garden designers of the twentieth century. A prolific writer and a hugely influential plantswoman, her circle of friends included some of the most distinguished architects, horticulturists, artists, and writers of the time. Judith Tankard celebrates Jekyll’s gardens and her legendary theories on color, planting, and design, with a selection of her famous collaborations with Edwin Lutyens and other architects. Jekyll was renowned for her naturalistic plantings in a formal framework, which in turn inspired generations of garden designers, including Beatrix Farrand. Jekyll’s home and garden at Munstead Wood, seen for the first time in magnificent new photographs, remains her finest creation.
Judith B. Tankard is an art historian specializing in landscape history and the author of 8 illustrated books. Her books include The Gardens of Ellen Biddle Shipman, Gardens of the Arts and Crafts Movement, and Beatrix Farrand: Private Gardens, Public Landscapes. She also writes articles and book reviews for Hortus, Landscape Architecture, Country Life, and other publications and is currently publications editor of the Beatrix Farrand Society in Maine. Judith taught at the Landscape Institute of Harvard University for 20 years and in 2000 she was awarded a gold medal by the Massachusetts Horticultural Society for her work in preservation. Judith gardens in the Boston area and on Martha’s Vineyard, where she organized an Open Day for the Garden Conservancy in 2010.
Doors open at 6pm; Talk starts at 6:30pm
Hort Members $5; Non-members $15
Register online or email info@thehort.org
Wicked Bugs
A talk with Amy Stewart
Monday, May 23
In this darkly comical look at the sinister side of our relationship with the natural
world, Stewart has tracked down over one hundred of our worst entomological
foes-creatures that infest, infect, and generally wreak havoc on human affairs.
From the world’s most painful hornet, to the flies that transmit deadly diseases,
to millipedes that stop traffic, to the “bookworms” that devour libraries, to the
Japanese beetles munching on your roses, Wicked Bugs delves into the extraordinary
powers of six- and eight-legged creatures.
With wit, style, and exacting research, Stewart has uncovered the most terrifying and
titillating stories of bugs gone wild. Intricate and strangely beautiful etchings and
drawings by Briony Morrow-Cribbs capture diabolical bugs of all shapes and sizes
in this mixture of history, science, murder, and intrigue that begins—but doesn’t
end—in your own backyard.
Amy Stewart is the award-winning author of five books on the perils and pleasures of the natural world, including two New York Times bestsellers, Wicked Plants and Flower Confidential. Stewart is a highly sought-after public speaker, she has appeared on hundreds of national and regional radio and television programs, including CBS Sunday Morning, NPR's Morning Edition, and Good Morning America. She has written for the New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, and every national garden magazine, including Fine Gardening, where she is a contributing editor. Stewart lives in Eureka, California, with her husband Scott Brown. They own an antiquarian bookstore called Eureka Books and tend a flock of unruly hens in their backyard.
Doors open at 6pm; Talk starts at 6:30pm
Hort members $5; Non-members $15
Register online or email info@thehort.org
Architecture Safari: Brooklyn
Tour led by Landscape Architect Marcha Johnson
Saturday, April 30
Presented by the New York Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects
Lurking in the waters of public fountains, guarding doorways, peeping around cornice corners, running across walls, twining up columns, forming the handles of garden urns…there is a jungle of carved animals and plants inhabiting New York! And each one has a story. Join us on a one-hour walking tour as we hunt for fruiting flora and fierce fauna in plain view on buildings and in plazas. For all ages.
Tour starts at 11:00am
(meet on the steps of the Brooklyn Public Library, at Eastern Parkway and Grand Army Plaza)
FREE; RSVP to Morgan@nycivic.org
or call 212-564-4441
The Gardens of Paris
A Lecture with CeCe Haydock
Wednesday, April 27
Paris gardens were originally inspired by the romantic styles found in Italy and England. Over the past two hundred years, designers have created a uniquely Parisian look to the gardens, as they have become a cultural way of life. Today, Paris boasts of more than 400 private and public gardens, each one appreciated for its distinct place in the fabric of the city.
The tour will begin with such well-known parks as Luxembourg, Tuileries and Bagatelle, smaller gardens such as Monceau, Rodin, and Carnavalet, and also a few surprises such as Promenade du Plantee, Hotel du Sully and Mosque du Paris.
In Paris, a park is almost never a mere plot of grass reserved for leisure, and a garden is rarely a random selection of flowers and plants. Parisians pride themselves in making their city's parks and gardens places of elegance, artistic detail, and symmetry-- even the romantic gardens have been carefully planned to imitate nature.
CeCe Haydock is a lecturer on historic gardens and a practicing landscape architect. In 2007, she researched Roman villas as a Visiting Scholar at the American Academy in Rome. She recently returned from a trip to France where she studied more than 25 large and small Parisian parks and gardens.
12 to 2pm
Hort/ASLA members FREE; non-members $15
Members RSVP to info@thehort.org
or 212-757-0915 (x100);
Non-members can purchase tickets online
or at the number above.
21st Century Trends in New York City Parks
A Panel Discussion
Wednesday, April 20
Join us for an illustrated panel discussion with ASLA award-winning firms on current trends bringing NYC parks into the 21st Century. This event is part of Landscape Architecture Month at The Hort and is held in conjunction with the 2011 NY ASLA Awards Exhibition.
In response to increasingly environmentally conscious and sustainable design practices, the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, in collaboration with Design Trust for Public Space, created a series of guidelines for the planning of NYC parks that meet needs of the 21st century urban environment. According to the guidelines, parks must improve the ecological viability of the city while providing a better quality of urban life. In addition, they should ensure that NYC’s parks clean our air, absorb storm water, reduce the urban heat island effect, provide habitat, and address the challenges of climate change.
This panel highlights five Award-winning landscape architecture and design projects featured in the exhibition. Each panelist will give a brief presentation on their project, followed by a discussion about current and future trends in landscape architecture and urban park design. In addition to the High Performance Landscape Guidelines manual, projects include: the ongoing restoration of the Central Park Lake; the continued development of Fort Totten Park by Nancy Owens Studio; the master plan for Shoelace Park on the Bronx River Greenway by Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects; and the plan for Governors Island Park and Public Space by West 8 Urban Design and Landscape Architecture.
Panelists include: Nette Compton, Senior Project Manager for Sustainability, NYC Department of Parks & Recreation; Kim Mathews, Principal, Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects; Christopher Nolan, Vice President of Planning, Design and Construction, Central Park Conservancy; Nancy Owens, Principal, Nancy Owens Studio; and Marc Ryan, Project Manager, West 8 Urban Design and Landscape Architecture.
Doors open at 6:00pm; Panel starts at 6:30pm
Hort & ASLA members $5; non-members $15
Register online or call 212-757-0915 (x100)
1.0 LA CES (HSW) credit available
Image credits (top to bottom): Governors Island Park, West 8 Urban Design and Landscape Architecture; View of Bioswale, Fort Totten North Park, Nancy Owens Studio, LLC; Cover of High Performance Landscape Guidelines: 21st Century Parks for NYC, Design Trust for Public Space and the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation; Stormwater Strategies, Shoelace Park, Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects.
The Restoration of the Central Park Lake
A Private Site Visit and Tour
Friday, April 15
Join us for a tour of the recently restored lake led by the Central Park Conservancy. At 20-acres, it is the largest of the naturalistic water bodies conceived by the Park’s designers, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux. Envisioned as the heart of the Park, the lake was one of the first areas to be opened to the public, and played a significant role in establishing both the experience and meaning of Central Park.
One of the last features to be restored in the course of the Park’s three decade turnaround, the Central Park Lake has been returned to its former prominence. The project included the restoration of inlets and coves along the lake, many of which had been completely silted in, the stabilization of the shoreline, and the restoration of historic architectural elements, including the reconstruction of Oak Bridge based on its original design. The project aimed to recapture the inherent qualities of the Lake that have been degraded or obscured over time, and improve the scenic quality of the landscape, in order to revive the ability of this quintessential Central Park landscape to provide visitors with a sense of wonder, pleasure, and a respite from city life.
This event is presented with the New York Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects in conjunction with our current exhibition.
Meet at 5:15 by the Bethesda Fountain
(Enter at 72nd)
Hort & ASLA members FREE; non-members $15
Members RSVP to info@thehort.org
or 212-757-0915 (x100);
Non-members can purchase tickets online
or at the number above.
1.0 LA CES (HSW) credit available
Trees in the Urban Landscape
A Lecture by William Bryant Logan
Thursday, April 14
New York City often proves to be a very stressful environment for ornamental plants, throwing constant challenges at professional horticulturists and amateur gardeners alike. Landscape architects and designers face the difficult task of carefully selecting plants that will withstand soil compaction, vandalism, drought, and salt exposure in addition to being able to thrive within our hardiness zone and seasonal weather fluctuations. Trees of any size, no matter how established, face these problems as much as any other ornamental plant. In the urban landscape, trees provide visual and environmental relief in the midst of concrete high rises and asphalt, and it is our duty as city dwellers to learn to properly care for them. Join us for a lecture by Bill Logan on how to ensure that trees not only survive but thrive in the urban landscape.
Bill Logan is an award-winning natural history writer and environmental columnist. His book on gardening tools won the Best Book of the Year award from the Garden Writers Association of America. In 1992, Logan founded Urban Arborists to care for trees in New York City. Three years later, "Dirt: The Ecstatic Skin of the Earth," was published. Logan's most recent book, "Oak: The Frame of Civilization," published in 2008 by W.W. Norton.
Doors open at 6pm; Talk starts at 6:30pm
Hort & ASLA members $5; Non-members $15
Register online or call 212-757-0915 (x100)
1.0 LA CES (HSW) credit available
Post-certification for ISA Certified Arborist CEUs will be filed
Tablescape
A Private Viewing with the Designers
Tuesday, April 12
This year, the event previously known as Flowers & Design will reprise the spirit of The Hort's famous and historic New York Flower Show by offering a private viewing of the extravagant tablescape designs. Join us at 583 Park to meet some of New York City’s top designers and be inspired by their creative and unique floral designs.See how the space is transformed into numerous elegant and dramatic dinner party settings. Mingle with the designers and experience a first-hand look at their work and the spectacular range of styles.
To learn more about the 2011 Designers, click here.
3:00-5:00pm
583 Park Ave (at 63rd Street)
Hort members FREE; Non-members $10
North American Rock Garden Society Meeting:
The Gardens I Remember:
What about them has influenced my gardening and my life
A Talk with Anne Raver
Monday, April 11
What makes one garden so memorable, while others fade from the mind almost as soon as you run home to see if the bluebells are up? After more than 25 years writing about gardens, first for Newsday, a daily on Long Island, then for the New York Times, as well as many other publications, Anne's answer is basically the same. For her, it comes down to the proverbial bones of the garden -- though those bones can be curving or straight -- and to the spirit of the place. She prefers gardens made by gardeners to those made by professionals for wealthy clients (which are often more pleasing to the eye, than to the soul). She remembers the gardens that reveal as much about the gardeners, as the rocks and soil of the site. These include Bill Noble and Jim Tatum in their rolling valley in Norwich, VT; Dan Hinkley and Robert Jones at Windcliff, overlooking the Puget Sound in Indianola, WA; Dennis and Cheryl Kamera on nearby Whidbey Island; and closer to home, Duncan and Julia Brine, who have created six acres of wild, painterly gardens in Pawling, NY. She also tips her gardener's cap to the hawthorns that Abbie Zabar pruned into a bower on her rooftop in Manhattan (and may they thrive once more!) and the hopvines that Ben Granger, a chef and beer-maker grows in his Brooklyn backyard. Anne Raver has written about gardening and the environment for 25 years. As an award-winning columnist and feature writer for Newsday, in the 1980s, and then for the New York Times, she has explored the meaning of gardens from river farmers in the Amazon to the urban pioneers of New York City, who not only famously turned trash lots to gardens, but who are now farming -- on rooftops, in schoolyards and on actual acres in the city. She also tells the stories of the dogs, cats, bugs and tomatoes burgeoning in her own garden down in Maryland, where she battles stinkbugs with her partner, Rock Singewald. A graduate of Oberlin College and Johns Hopkins University, and a former Loeb Fellow at Harvard University, she is the author of Deep in the Green, published by Knopf in 1995, and still in print as a Vintage paperback.
Talk starts at 6pm
Hort/NARGS members FREE
For more information, please email ManhattanNARGS@verizon.net
Or visit www.nargs.org/manhattan
Architecture Safari: Manhattan
Tour led by former NYC Parks Commissioner Henry Stern
Sunday, April 10
Presented by the New York Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects
Lurking in the waters of public fountains, guarding doorways, peeping around cornice corners, running across walls, twining up columns, forming the handles of garden urns…there is a jungle of carved animals and plants inhabiting New York! And each one has a story. Join us on a one-hour walking tour as we hunt for fruiting flora and fierce fauna in plain view on buildings and in plazas. For all ages.
Tour starts at 11:00am
(meet at 86th Street & Park Ave.)
FREE; RSVP to Morgan@nycivic.org
or call 212-564-4441
The Gardens at Bedell Cellars
A Lecture and Wine Tasting with Trent Preszler
Thursday, March 24
What began as the David’s family potato farm in 1640 was planted to vineyards in 1980 to become Bedell Cellars. The property was recently transformed into a living showcase of local flora during a four-year period of intense hardscape and landscape renovation. Bedell CEO Trent Preszler worked in conjunction with Edmund Hollander Design and local master gardener Anne Trimble to renovate and refresh the plantings around the property. The newly completed gardens celebrate many local, native plants, from coastal fruits, grasses, and culinary herbs to East End Long Island classics like boxwood and hydrangea. Mass plantings of Nepeta add dramatic flair to the property and are accented by towering, columnar European hornbeams lining the driveway, while an old-growth apple orchard surrounds the guest cottage. Italian red slate comprises most of the stone work on the property and, like the architecture of Bedell, the landscaping evokes a sense of place firmly rooted in the North Fork of Long Island, while also infusing sophisticated elements from other parts of the world, most notably Provence. Bedell Cellars has been a sustainably farmed, family-owned winery since 1980 and is considered one of the most prestigious wineries in the United States, having been called a “world class estate” by the New York Times and named one of the world’s “Top 10 Hottest Brands” by Wine Business Monthly.
Please join us as we welcome Trent Preszler for an evening celebrating both the fascinating history and exciting developments of Bedell Cellars. In addition to an illustrated lecture exploring the beautiful grounds of the winery, we will offer a tasting of the wines produced by Bedell.
Trent Preszler, Chief Executive Officerof Bedell Cellars, was raised on a cattle ranch in South Dakota and later earned a B.S. in Global Science Policy and Bioethics from Iowa State University, a Master’s Diploma in the Biodiversity of Taxonomy of Plants from Edinburgh University and the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (U.K.), and a M.S. in Agricultural Economics from Cornell University. He is also currently a Ph.D. Candidate in Horticulture at Cornell, where he is a frequent guest lecturer. Now at age 33, he is one of the youngest winery CEOs in the world and has led Bedell through its important brand, facility, and personnel transformations during Michael Lynne's ownership. An active scholar in addition to running a winery, Trent's writings have been published by Oxford University Press, the American Journal of Enology and Viticulture, and the Huffington Post. He is currently on the Board of Directors of WineAmerica and the New York Wine and Grape Foundation.
Doors open at 6pm; Lecture starts at 6:30pm
Hort members $25; non-members $40
Register online or email gpisegna@hsny.org
Monday, March 21
North American Rock Garden Society Meeting
Rocking in the Rockies
An adventure with Francisco Correa, Judith Dumont and Michael Riley
The magnificent Rocky Mountains of Colorado are familiar to hikers and nature enthusiasts far and wide. To attend a "meeting" in such a setting does not sound so exciting until one realizes that it is the Annual Meeting of the North American Rock Garden Society. Several members of our Manhattan Chapter of NARGS participated in this event last July and they are just now “coming down to earth” from the exhilarating mountain air, incredible nature found in those lofty habitats, and magnificent gardens of their fellow rock gardeners – not to forget the Denver Botanic Garden. You might wish to bring a canteen; trail mix will be served..
Judith Dumont exercises her passion in her Brooklyn garden; "back 40 acres", front container gardens, tree pits, community gardens and anyplace else she finds one square inch that might support vegetation. Francisco Correa and Michael Riley garden on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, on the rooftop and indoors under lights and on the walls and in tree pits; in alpine troughs and other containers growing tropicals, subtropicals, heirloom vegetables and anything that will survive on this "Big Rock" called New York City.
Talk starts at 6pm
Hort/NARGS members FREE
For more information, please email ManhattanNARGS@verizon.net
Or visit www.nargs.org/manhattan
Urban Agriculture Conference
Friday, March 18
The Horticultural Society of New York invites you to come explore the present state and future of agriculture and the way that we, as city residents, connect with our food and farmers. We are very excited to be joined by seven influential representatives from the field of agriculture. Each approaches food production from a different angle, but all share a love of farming and a passion for sustainably feeding our communities.
This is a very dynamic time for our nation’s farmers. More than ever, we, as a nation, are starting to ask questions about where our food comes from, how it’s grown, and what we can do to take more control over such an important part of our lives that, for years, has started to resemble an industry more than a livelihood.
We hope that you’ll join us to discuss the challenges facing organic farmers, food production at urban farms, community gardens, the new agrarian movement, and the obstacles facing all of those who grow our food. We look forward to your attendance at what promises to be an informative and inspiring conference.
Click here to see the conference schedule.
Click here to read about the panelists.
Hort members $20; Non-members $45
Breakfast and lunch included
Must register online by Wednesday, March 16, or email gpisegna@hsny.org
Breakfast provided by Stonyfield Organic.
Photo credits clockwise from top banner: 1. Mindfuleats.com; 2. Chad Harder and Sepp Jannotta; 3. Chris Stevens; 4. Susan Reimer
Growing a Garden City
A Lecture with Jeremy Smith
Wednesday, March 16
In January 2010, the news broke that one in four families experienced at least one day in 2009 when they were too short of money to buy the food they needed. That same week, unrelated researchers released data revealing that a third of Americans were not just overweight, but obese. This food disconnect is a conundrum that we as Americans need to address, but how?
In Growing a Garden City, Jeremy N. Smith tells the remarkable, true story of a city learning to feed itself. With striking color photographs and compelling personal narratives, Smith demonstrates how diverse residents of one city embraced the local food movement by establishing city gardens, food kitchens, co-op subscriptions, college internships, agriculture-based education, and farm-work therapy programs to transform a population as at risk as any in America into one that now stands as a model for community-supported agriculture.
The surprising, inspiring results prove that it’s possible to eat well locally even if you don’t live on a rural homestead or in an elite urban area, and that volunteer-powered farms and gardens, even in a harsh climate, can provide satisfying food to feed a diverse population.
Jeremy N. Smith is a Harvard College graduate and received an MFA in creative writing from the University of Montana. Between degrees, he received a Henry Russell Shaw Fellowship to travel and write in Western Europe. He is an award-winning writer and popular public speaker whose work on food and food systems has appeared in Gourmet, Saveur, the Christian Science Monitor, and the Chicago Tribune, among many other publications. Jeremy appears frequently on television and radio and social media, including NBC News, The Write Question, AlterNet, and Change.org. Jeremy lives and works in Missoula, Montana with his wife, the activist and organizer Crissie McMullan, and their infant daughter Rasa.
Doors open at 6pm; Talk starts promtly at 6:30
Hort members $10; non-members $20
Register online or email gpisegna@hsny.org
New York City Gardens
An Illustrated talk with Betsy Pinover Schiff
Monday, March 14
Leave the pavement behind and enjoy thirty of New York's most outstanding gardens in this illustrated presentation by photographer Betsy Pinover Schiff. Her new book, with text by Veronika Hofer, features gardens by important landscape architects whose designs she will discuss, including Ken Smith, Topher Delaney, Halsted Welles, Brian Sawyer and some very talented home owners. Sam Roberts of The New York Times writes: "Readers get rare, lush glimpses" of city gardens in this "ambrosial paean to public and private spaces." A book signing will follow.
Betsy Pinover Schiff, of New York City and Montauk, L.I., is a photographer of landscape architecture, gardens, and travel destinations. Having an extensive background in the arts, she brings to her work a strong sense of color and graphics which are signature elements of her style.
Doors open at 6pm; Talk starts at 6:30
Hort Members FREE; Non-members $15
Songbirds of New York City
A Lecture and Workshop with Glenn Phillips
Thursday, March 10
A songbird is classified as a passerine, or perching bird. This group contains some 4000 species, and is characterized by a vocal organ that has developed to produce a diverse and elaborate song. The incredible diversity and vocal nature of this group makes them an engaging subject to watch in their natural habitat. Despite its seemingly unnatural landscape, many songbirds are happy to call New York City home every year, passing through as part of their seasonal migration.
Join us as we welcome Glenn Phillips, Executive Director of the New York City Audubon Society, who will help us explore what it takes to make your home more bird-friendly by reducing hazards, such as glass and pesticide poisoning, and teach us how to make a garden, of whatever size, more appealing to bird visitors. New York City hosts millions of songbirds during migration, and it is up to us as city residents to learn how to be the consummate hosts to our avian guests.
Following an illustrated presentation, there will be a hands-on workshop where we will create suet pine cone feeders and eco-friendly bird nesting kits complete with nesting materials. These will not only help our feathered friends make it through the cold winter but will provide them with warm nesting material for the spring to come.
As the Executive Director of New York City Audubon, Glenn Phillips worked to establish the Prospect Park Audubon Center as the premier site in Brooklyn for environmental education since it's opening in 2002. Glenn worked at the Columbia University Center for Environmental Research and Conservation, running adult education programs in conservation biology. Following that, he also worked at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx, where he helped develop the Everett Children's Adventure Garden, a hands-on outdoor museum within the Botanical Garden.
6:30pm
Hort members $20; non-members $35
Image credits: Top banner: Prothonotary warbler by Ardith Bondi; Top right: Tufted Titmouse by David Spelser
Gardens of the Hudson Valley
An Illustrated Lecture with Susan Lowry and Nancy Berner
Wednesday, March 9
The majesty of the Hudson River has captivated both artists and visitors for generations, and the gardens along its banks have a unique character. From the early gardens of riverfront estates like Clermont and Montgomery Place, with their sweeping lawns and spectacular views of the river and far-off mountains, to the Beaux Arts masterpiece Kykuit and the 1950s gardens at Manitoga, the historic gardens highlight the significant role of the Hudson Valley in the development of American landscape design. Many of the major figures worked here, including Andrew Jackson Downing, Frederick Law Olmsted, Beatrix Farrand, and Fletcher Steele, and their ideas continue to resonate in the 21st century. Included are a number of private, contemporary gardens that are informed by both the history and topography of the valley; the grand themes evoked in the larger historic properties are echoed in these smaller, more modest landscapes.
Susan Lowry and Nancy Berner wrote Gardens of the Hudson Valley, by Sue Daley and Steve Gross (photographers), which was published in October 2010, and are the authors of Garden Guide: New York City (revised edition published August 2010). They are longtime volunteers at the Conservatory Garden.
12 to 2pm
Hort members $10; non-members $15
For more information, email gpisegna@hsny.org
Photographs copyright 2010 Steve Gross and Susan Daly, All Rights Reserved.
Embroidered Ground: Revisiting the Garden
A Lecture by Page Dickey
Wednesday, March 2
In Embroidered Ground: Revisiting the Garden, the acclaimed author and garden designer Page Dickey writes of the pitfalls, challenges, successes, and myriad pleasures of the twenty-nine year-long process of creating her own remarkable garden, Duck Hill, in upstate New York. This winning book details the evolution of one especially loved and cared-for space: its failed schemes and realized dreams, and the wisdom gained in contending with an ever evolving work of art. The author shares her very personal views on what contributes to a garden’s success—structure, fragrance, the play of light and shadow, patterns and textures, multiseasonal plants. She writes of gardening with a husband, with wildlife, with dogs and chickens. And she grapples with how to adapt her garden—as we can adapt ours—to change in the years ahead.
Click here to read the recent New York Times article about Page Dickey's garden.
Page Dickey is the author of Gardens in the Spirit of Place, as well as the award-winning Breaking Ground: Portraits of Ten Garden Designers. Other books include Duck Hill Journal: A Year in a Country Garden, Inside Out: Relating Garden to House, Dogs in Their Gardens and Cats in Their Gardens. A contributor to numerous magazines over the years, she lectures across the country and is one of the founders of the Garden Conservancy’s Open Days program. She lives and gardens with her husband in the company of assorted dogs, cats, and chickens in North Salem, New York.
Lecture starts promptly at 6:30pm
Hort members $10; non-members $20
Top Image: Randy Harris for The New York Times
North American Rock Garden Society Meeting:
Little Daffs and their Habitats
A talk with Lola Horwitz
Monday, February 28
Little Daffs and their Habitats will focus on the many species narcissi that grow in southern Spain, parts of Portugal and the slopes of the Atlas Mountains in Morocco. Of course, other wonderful plants share that Mediterranean habitat and some of them will be discussed. The pictures were taken in the course of a two week Greentour of those three countries in late February and early March of 2010.
Lola Lloyd Horwitz is a charter member of the Manhattan Chapter of the North American Rock Garden Society where she has served as its president and as co-program chair. She has also served on the board of NARGS. Her interest in plants started in childhood when her mother grew plants in a sun room in Illinois. Later, a cousin shared his obsession with dwarf conifers and somehow led her to the existence of the American Rock Garden Society (its former name). Now she is the happy owner of her own attached 'alpine house' in Brooklyn where, with luck, a few 'little daffs' grace the bench in the depth of winter. In other seasons, she maintains and designs gardens.
Talk starts at 6pm
Hort/NARGS members FREE
For more information, please email ManhattanNARGS@verizon.net
Or visit www.nargs.org/manhattan
Terrarium Workshop
Wednesday, February 23
Whether you’re a novice or a seasoned gardener, join us at The Hort and discover one of the simplest ways to garden. George Pisegna, our Director of Horticulture, will share his secrets on how to create a wonderful garden under glass. Terrariums come in many shapes and sizes, from simple wine glasses to elaborate Wardian cases. Since space is a luxury to most city-dwellers, a terrarium is a perfect way to bring your favorite plants into your home. After a short lecture, George will help you create your own magical terrarium with simple step-by-step instructions on choosing your materials, designing, and
planting your garden under glass. We will provide everything you need to create your terrarium project. Be sure to bring something with you to carry your finished terrarium home.
6:30pm
Hort Members $80; non-members $100
Note: classes must be paid in full at the time of registration. Cancellations must be made within 5 business days of workshop for refund.
Wonders of the Winter Landscape
An Illustrated Lecture by Vincent A. Simeone
Thursday, February 10
While many gardeners retreat indoors during the drab months of winter, some gardeners prefer to think about the beauty that well-chosen trees and shrubs can bring to a winter landscape. Many deciduous and evergreen shrubs and trees are detailed in the book, with recommended cultivars highlighted. Showy flowers, berries, winter foliage, bark color and texture, and growth habits all contribute to make these stunning ornamentals the stars of the winter garden.
Although North America suffers through several dreary months of winter each year, this guide describes trees and shrubs that make the barren winter landscape a wonderland of texture and color. Simeone conveys the elegance of deciduous trees and shrubs with an extreme attention to detail—Persian parrotia offers twisted, sinuous branches and exfoliating bark; witch hazel presents distinctive yellow and orange strap like flowers; and beautyberry produces vivid purple berries the birds cannot resist. The book goes on to discuss the virtues of evergreens, both broadleaf and coniferous, and includes two useful appendices that cover evergreen care and deer-resistant trees and shrubs.
Vincent A. Simeone is a well-known horticulturist who teaches gardening classes at the New York Botanical Garden and the State University of New York at Farmingdale and has assisted in garden tours in Canada, England, France, Germany, New Zealand, and South Africa. He is the manager of Planting Fields Arboretum State Historic Park in Oyster Bay, New York.
Doors open at 6pm; Talk starts promptly at 6:30
Hort members $10; non-members $20
Photo credit: Arboretum Wespelaar
15th Annual Plant-O-Rama
Tuesday, January 25
The Hort is proud to be sponsoring the 15th Annual Plant-O-Rama, presented by Metro Hort Group &
Brooklyn Botanic Garden. This year's show features over 45 exhibitors representing the NYC metro region's specialty nurseries and wholesale growers, horticultural suppliers, public gardens and greening organizations. Come visit our table - we'll be there all day.
9am - 4pm at Brooklyn Botanic Garden
For more information, contact (718) 623-7227
North American Rock Garden Society Meeting:
Design in the Small Rock Garden: In Praise of Artifice
A talk with Steve Whitesell
Monday, January 24
This talk will describe a number of private and public rock gardens that display plants in architectural settings such as planted walls, raised beds, and arrangements of troughs that abandon any pretense at 'naturalistic' rock gardening. These gardens are easier to build, provide better growing conditions for difficult alpine and dryland plants, and are more easily integrated into the larger garden picture of an average residential garden than a rock garden that attempts to more closely mimic nature.
Steve Whitesell is a registered landscape architect in the states of New York and Connecticut and works for the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation. He has BFA and BLA degrees from the Rhode Island School of Design and a Master of Arts in Garden History and Landscape Studies from Bard College. He is active in several professional and amateur horticultural groups and has traveled widely in the US, Canada, and Europe visiting exceptional private and public gardens.
Talk starts at 6pm
Hort/NARGS members FREE
For more information, please email ManhattanNARGS@verizon.net
Or visit www.nargs.org/manhattan
Romantic Gardens:
Nature, Art, and Landscape Design
An Illustrated Presentation by Elizabeth Barlow Rogers
Wednesday, January 19
The Romantic Movement, its seeds planted in the seventeenth century, became the ascendant philosophical and aesthetic ethos of the nineteenth century. The opposite of Classicism, with its regard for order, rationality, rules, and balance, Romanticism gave primacy to the imagination, to the senses, to intuition and inspiration, putting a premium on the spectacular, the mysterious, the dramatic. Above all, its emphasis was faith in the self, in the individual. As a movement, Romanticism has been minutely examined in the genres of music, literature, and art. But in this comprehensive survey, we see its development in that most transient manifestation of human effort: the garden.
Romantic gardens were a source of sensory delight, moral instruction, spiritual insight, and artistic inspiration. Here nature stimulated reverie and sentiment. Rustic structures, inscribed monuments, sweeping vistas, and naturalistic lakes and cascades were elements in an ever-changing panorama. Nature, and by extension, gardens were expected to stir the imagination, to clear the mind, to relieve the soul of its burdens, to provide both solace and salvation.
Elizabeth Barlow Rogers is the president of the Foundation for Landscape Studies. A native of San Antonio, Texas, she earned a bachelor’s degree in art history from Wellesley College and a master’s degree in city planning from Yale University.
A resident of New York City since 1964, Rogers was the first person to hold the title of Central Park Administrator, a New York City Department of Parks & Recreation position created by Mayor Edward I. Koch in 1979. She was the founding president of the Central Park Conservancy, the public-private partnership created in 1980 to bring citizen support to the restoration and renewed management of Central Park. She served in both positions until 1996.
Subsequent to guiding Central Park’s restoration and instituting a new management structure during the Conservancy’s first fifteen years, Rogers resumed her career as teacher, lecturer, and writer on the subject of place. At the same time, she has maintained her commitment to the preservation of living landscapes through good design and sound management practices.
12 to 2:30pm
Hort/ASLA members FREE; non-members $15
Image credits: Clockwise from top: 1. Frederic Edwin Church, Scene on a Catskill Creek, 2. William Callow, The Garden at Versailles with Fishing Temple, 3. John Martin, View of the Temple Suryah and the Fountain of Maha Dao, 4. Samuel Palmer, Oak Tree and Beech
Contemporary Heirlooms
Preview Party & Exhibition Walkthrough
Thursday, December 9
Join us for an intimate reception with local hors d'oeuvres from Katchkie Farm and Great Performances and drinks from Hudson Real American Whiskeys. A talk and guided tour of the exhibition will be led by Ken Greene, co-founder of the Hudson Valley Seed Library.5:00 to 6:30pm
Hort and Seed Library members $10;
Non-members $20 online, $25 at door
For more information please call 212-757-0915 x121
Back to the Garden:
Reclaiming Landscape Design in the Age of Green
A Lecture by Margie Ruddick
Thursday, December 2
The Hort is pleased to welcome internationally renowned landscape designer Margie Ruddick, who will talk about her path from "green" pioneer into the Age Of Green. She will talk about retrieving landscape architecture from the checklists and prescriptions of sustainability, to define a personal practice that integrates green design with the art of making landscapes. Linda Pollak, Margie's collaborator on Queens Plaza, will introduce the talk.
Using lush images from her twenty-year practice, from the Living Water Park in Chengdu, Sichuan, China, to Queens Plaza in New York City, Margie Ruddick explains the practices we have adopted that constitute "green" landscape design. But she goes much deeper than technical practices and methods, to illustrate that "sustainability" or "green design" includes thoughtful collaboration, community-building, and most importantly recognizing the importance of art, the art of making landscapes, in creating a more sustainable world.
Margie Ruddick has taught at Harvard’s GSD, Yale, The University of Pennsylvania, and Parsons School of Design. Her upcoming publication is titled, What Are We Doing Here, Anyway? Meaning in the Age of Green.
Linda Pollak, founding partner of Marpillero Pollak Architects, received her Master’s Degree in Architecture from Harvard, where she also studied Landscape Architecture. Since 2004, Linda has dedicated herself to full-time practice in New York City, participating in civic initiatives.
Doors open at 6pm; Talk starts at 6:30
Hort/ASLA/AIA Members $10; Non-members $25
For more information please call (212) 757-0915 x115
No Experience Necessary: Drawing in Graphite
A workshop with Carol E. Hamilton
Friday, November 19
Workshop is full
If you’ve always wanted to learn to draw this is the class for you! With tools as simple as pencil and paper, we will develop the building blocks of realistic drawing technique that are the gateway to all other media. The workshop will focus on training eye and hand, as we learn to take control of the pencil for shading, creating texture, mastering perspective, identifying and drawing the basic shapes, and employing classical light and shadow to bring your subject matter to life.
Carol E. Hamilton has paintings in the collections of the Hunt Institute of Botanical Documentation, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden Florilegium and a number of private collections. Her work has been shown extensively in museums, galleries and botanical institutions. The watercolorist is published in Today’s Botanical Artists, by Marcus and Kyer (Schiffer, 2008). She is also the 2009 recipient of the "ASBA Award for Service to Botanical Art" for her 10 years of service to the Board. Hamilton has served as President of the ASBA, as well as the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators Greater NY Chapter.
Hamilton is one of the jurors for The 13th Annual International Juried Botanical Art Exhibition, currently on view at The Hort Gallery through November 24.
Morning Session: 10am to 1pm
Afternoon Session: 2 to 5pm
Course Fee (for both sessions):
Hort Members $100; Non-members $135
Click here to view a list of materials (PDF)
Last Look Juror's Walkthrough
Wednesday, November 10
Join ASBA Jurors Francesca Anderson, Carol E. Hamilton, Dick Rauh and Jessica Tcherepnine for a guided walkthrough of The 13th Annual International Juried Botanical Art Exhibition. Learn about the selection process from the jurors themselves, as they share insight into what makes for an award-winning botanical painting.
The exhibition will remain on view at The Hort through November 24, 2010.
1:00 - 2:30pm
FREE; ASBA & Hort Members only
Registration required; RSVP to Chris Murtha at
For more information, please email cmurtha@hsny.org
Annual Meeting Lecture
The Rockefeller Family Gardens: New York and Maine
With Special Guest Paula Deitz
Thursday, November 11
Paula Deitz has delighted readers for more than thirty years with her vivid descriptions of both famous and hidden landscapes. Collected for the first time, the essays in Of Gardens record her great adventure of continual discovery, not only of the artful beauty of individual gardens but also of the intellectual and historical threads that weave them into patterns of civilization, from the modest garden for family subsistence to major urban developments. Deitz's essays describe how people, over many centuries and in many lands, have expressed their originality by devoting themselves to cultivation and conservation.
During a visit to the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Garden in Seal Harbor, Maine, Deitz first came to appreciate the notion that landscape architecture can be as intricately conceived as any major structure and is, indeed, the means by which we redeem the natural environment through design.
n this lecture, Deitz will focus on the history of the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Garden, and other landscapes associated with the family. She will draw from several essays in Of Gardens, including "The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Garden: A Blend of Far Eastern and English Inspiration." A book signing will follow.
Paula Deitz is Editor of The Hudson Review. As a writer and cultural critic in the fields of art, architecture, design, and landscape design, she is a frequent contributor to The New York Times, The Architectural Review, and Gardens Illustrated.
Lecture starts promptly at 6:30
Hort members FREE; Non-members $15
For more information. please email gpisegna@hsny.org
Wild Urban Plants of the Northeast
Monday, November 8
See the city's weedy plants in a whole new light in this illustrated talk by Peter Del Tredici, a senior research scientist at the Arnold Arboretum and a lecturer at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design. Mr. Del Tredici offers a fresh perspective on our understanding of the natural world. As Michael Pollan says of the author's new field guide, "You will never look at an 'invasive species' the same way again." A book signing will follow.
Doors open at 6pm;
Lecture starts promptly at 6:30
Hort members FREE; Non-members $10
For more information please email library@hsny.org
Hort Book Club Meeting
Wednesday, November 3
"If all mankind were to disappear, the world would regenerate back to the rich state of equilibrium that existed ten thousand years ago. If insects were to vanish, the environment would collapse into chaos."
Who doesn't love a myrmecologist? Edward O. Wilson is a planetary treasure: champion of biodiversity, secular humanist, upbeat octogenarian. PBS calls him 'Lord of the Ants' and the 'Ant Whisperer' - see myrmecologist above. His encyclopedic work The Ants coauthored with Bert Holldobler won a Pulitzer Prize as did his book On Human Nature.
At the next meeting of The Hort Book Club, we're experimenting with our format. At least one of us is reading Anthill: A Novel, Wilson's foray into the fiction world. The rest of us are sampling the science straight, reading Creation, Journey to the Ants or The Future of Life.
Admittedly this sounds like a free-for-all. But if you've ever read anything by Wilson or always meant to, this could be fun.
6pm; Free and open to all
For more information please contact library@hsny.org
Painting Autumn Apples in Watercolor
A workshop with Karen Kluglein
Monday, October 18
October is apple picking time and the orchards are full of many varieties in a wondrous display of color. Besides being delicious to eat they can be a beautiful subject for botanical painting. The form of the apple and texture of a branch or leaves can be very interesting. Students will observe, compose, draw and paint in watercolor, working with volume, color, and texture. Apples, fresh from the orchard, will be provided as subjects.
Karen Kluglein graduated from The School of Visual Arts and worked as a commercial food illustrator. Her love of painting nature inspired her to pursue her talent as a botanical artist. Kluglein is currently represented by Susan Frei Nathan Fine Works on Paper, NY, and The River Gallery, Chattanooga, TN. Her work is in private collections throughout the country and she has received numerous awards for her botanical masterpieces. She currently lives and works in East Hampton, NY.
Two of Kluglein’s paintings are featured in The 13th Annual International Juried Botanical Art Exhibition, currently on view at The Hort Gallery through November 24.
Morning Session: 10am to 1pm
Afternoon Session: 2 to 5pm
Course Fee (for both sessions): Hort Members $100; Non-members $135
Click here to view a list of materials (PDF)
Edith Wharton and the Villas of Rome
An Illustrated Presentation by Constance Haydock
Thursday, October 14
Edith Wharton’s prolific career as a fiction writer is well-known. But her unusual ability both to write and to observe puts her at the forefront of Italian garden critics as well; her book Italian Villas and their Gardens remains today a scholarly resource on the subject.
Eight Roman villas described by Wharton in her influential book will be explored, as well as the influence of the villas on Wharton's own houses and her novels. Bring your lunch and join us for an insightful, informative session presented by landscape architect and historian, Constance Haydock.
12pm
Hort/ASLA members FREE; non-members $10
For more information please contact library@hsny.org
The Complete Mushroom Hunter
A lecture & workshop with Gary Lincoff
Tuesday, October 12
Gathering edible wild food is a wonderful way to forge a connection to the earth. Mushrooms are the ultimate local food source; they grow literally everywhere, from Central Park to your own backyard. The Complete Mushroom Hunter: An Illustrated Guide to Finding, Harvesting, and Enjoying Wild Mushrooms invites readers to connect with a hobby that will enrich their understanding of the natural world and build an appreciation for an ancient, critically relevant, and useful body of knowledge. Here, amateur mycologists and mushroom enthusiasts will find a source and guidebook for their passion. Mushroom guru Gary Lincoff escorts the reader from the mushroom's earliest culinary awakening, through getting started and equipped for mushroom forays, to preparing and serving the fruits of the foray, wherever you live. This is the only mushrooming book that treats you to the not-so "underground" hobby of mushroom hunting and gathering.
Gary will be presenting an illustrated lecture on his new book and leading a workshop with a hands-on demonstration of how to create your own mushroom spore print. All supplies will be included. (Sample print below.)
Gary Lincoff is the author, co-author or editor of several books and articles on mushrooms, including The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms. He teaches courses on mushroom identification and use at the New York Botanical garden. He has led mushroom study trips and forays to 30 countries across Asia, Africa, Europe and South, Central, and North America. Lincoff co founded and helped organize the Telluride Mushroom Festival for 25 years (1980-2004), and still participates as its principal speaker. Gary Lincoff is also a featured “myco visionary” in the award-winning documentary Know Your Mushrooms, by Ron Mann.
Doors open at 6pm; Lecture starts at 6:30pm
Space is limited, RSVP required
Hort members $10; non-members $25
For more information, please call (212) 757-0915 x115
Private Gardens of Connecticut
Tuesday, October 5
Oscar and Annette de la Renta, Bunny Williams, Anne Bass, Agnes Gund, and Richard and Sandra Bergmann and more!
Discover some of the finest private gardens in Connecticut with noted writer Jane Garmey. Her new book showcases stunning photographs by John M. Hall. Ms. Garmey, who gardens in Connecticut herself, is an astute guide with a keen eye for distinctive gardens. Her illustrated presentation beautifully captures the essence of her admittedly idiosyncratic selections as well as the gardeners themselves, visionaries all. A book signing will follow.
Doors open at 6pm;
Talk starts promptly at 6:30pm
Hort members FREE; non-members $20
For more information, please email library@hsny.org
New Green City Fair
Wednesday, September 29
GrowNYC presents NEW GREEN CITY welcoming more than 100,000 visitors to
New York City's largest annual green event in Union Square Park.
Following the success of Green Brooklyn...Green City in September of
2009, this year's family-friendly event showcases government agencies,
non-profits, entrepreneurs and community & corporate partners at the
forefront of environmental stewardship, education and awareness.
Come visit The Hort at Union Square during your lunch break or after work. We will be recruiting volunteers for community garden projects, hosting a craft table where families can create their own herbal tea concoctions, and offering a wide selection of literature at our library book sale.
10am - 6pm
Union Square Park, South Plaza
For more information, please call (212) 757-0915 x100,
or email sbush@hsny.org.
Botanic Watercolor Explorations
A workshop with Albert Massimi
Monday, September 20
Fall flowers and watercolor - the perfect combination! Learn how to capture the beauty of nature and improve your painting skills. We will focus on using warm and cool colors to your advantage, adding dimension to a work of art, designing with a focus in mind and creating a balanced composition. Whether you are a beginner or have been painting for some time, the goal is to move your art to another level.
Albert Massimi is President of the Brooklyn Watercolor Society. While in the Peace Corps in Korea, he studied brush and ink with a Korean master. Upon completing his graduate degree from Columbia University, he began painting at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden where he has been teaching botanic watercolor classes for the past several years. His work has been exhibited throughout the metropolitan area. You can view his work on his website, albertleemassimi.com.
Morning Session: 10am to 1pm
Afternoon Session: 2 to 5pm
Course Fee (for both sessions): Hort Members $100; Non-members $135
For more information, please call (212) 757-0915 x121
Click here to view a list of materials (PDF)
Tranquility by Design: Creating a Serenity Garden
A Lecture with Jan Johnsen
Thursday, September 16
"There is life in a stone, a plant, a tree and even water. When we are in a serene garden we connect to an 'aliveness' that resides in these living forms..."
-Jan Johnsen
We are pleased to welcome award winning landscape designer and author, Jan Johnsen as she reveals little known design secrets that can be applied to any outdoor space, large or small. Find out why a garden on the north side of a house is best suited for a viewing garden and why east is considered 'the most auspicious direction'. Learn what the 'moth theory' is and how to use it for the best outdoor lighting layout! Enjoy a lively discussion about geomagnetics and determining the 'power spot' in a landscape. And discover how the colors in a garden can arouse or calm and which plants are best for a serene outdoor space...Look at her blog for more about this.
Jan Johnsen has been in the professional landscape design and planning professions for over 35 years. She has worked in landscape architecture offices in Japan, Kenya, Hawaii, Vermont and New York. Her firm, Johnsen Landscapes & Pools designs and installs large scale projects in the Northeast. She teaches at Columbia University and the New York Botanical Garden. She is currently writing a book about her unique approach to landscape design.
Doors open at 6pm; Lecture starts at 6:30pm
Hort members $5; non-members $15
For more information, please call (212) 757-0915 x115
Hort Book Club Meeting
Tuesday, September 14
The Hort Library Book Club meets to discuss"Oak: Frame of Civilization" by William Bryant Logan. The book thoroughly explores the many contributions the tree has made to the flourishing of western civilization in lively, insightful prose that is a pleasure to read.
Join us as we resume our monthly discussions of some of the best books on gardening, the environment, landscape design, natural history and plant hunting. We welcome your participation!
Meet Bill Logan at the Hort for the screening of DIRT!
Meeting begins at 6pm
For more information please email library@hsny.org
Gardens of Lower Manhattan
A Tour with Nancy Berner & Susan Lowry
Wednesday, September 8
Explore the lesser known public gardens of Lower Manhattan with "Garden Guide: New York City" experts Nancy Berner and Susan Lowry, who will reveal the wonders of special places like Hanover Square Garden, the Elevated Acre at 55 Water St., and the Gardens at the Battery in this farewell to summer tour.
Please note: The first 5 registrants for this tour will receive a free copy of the revised edition of
Garden Guide New York City.
Tour begins at 6pm;
The British Garden at Hanover Square
Hort members $10; non-members $20
For more information, please email library@hsny.org
Global Change and its Effect on Native Pollinators
A Lecture with Ignasi Bartomeus
Thursday, August 12
Most plants depend on insect pollination for reproduction. As pollinators, bees engage in a symbiotic relationship with plants. They depend on nectar to survive while they are crucial for a plant’s pollination. This exchange between more than 20,000 bee species and plants is being affected, putting our bees and the environment as a whole at risk. Surprisingly, despite its ecological and economical importance, we know very few things about most bee species. We invite you to learn about the lives of bees that are natives to the New York area and exactly how human impacts are threatening them.
Ignasi Bartomeus completed his PhD dissertation in 2008 at Barcelona Autonomous University studying the integration and impact of invasive plant species on native plant-pollinator communities. He now works as a PostDoctoral Researcher at Winfree lab (Rutgers University) studying how different drivers of global change (land use, climate, pesticides) are affecting native pollinator communities.
6:30pm
Hort members $5; non-members $15
For more information call (212) 757-0915 x115
Hort Book Club Meeting
Tuesday, August 10
Book club member Kaitilin Griffin has offered to host our group at her digs in Central Park on August 10 at 6 pm. Kaitilin is the librarian for the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. In addition to her research responsibilities there, she maintains the container plantings on the rooftop garden at The Arsenal.
Join us for a delightful summer evening out-of-doors (weather permitting, that is!). We'll have fun meeting new members, catching up with one another, and putting together a great reading list for the fall and winter. Bring your good ideas, your bookish selves,
and let's have a drink to summer's passing.
Free and open to all. Pre-registration is required as space is limited.
5th Avenue at 64th St., 6pm
For more information, please email library@hsny.org
Family Day at the Noguchi Museum
Saturday, July 24
Please join us at the Noguchi Museum as we co-host this year’s annual Summer Family Day. The event will highlight the beautiful and serene sculpture garden designed by Isamu Noguchi. Families are invited to explore and discover the garden and Museum galleries. The Hort will create three scale model gardens based on eastern and western design. The workshop encourages families to make individual sculptures to scale, while they consider design and placement within a space. Their sculptures will then be installed in the model garden of their choice and photographed.
The event will also feature live performances at
12:30 and 1:30pm by Jukebox Radio.
For further information, please email education@noguchi.org or call (718)204-7088 x203.
Admission is free for families with children between the ages of 2 and 12.
Change: The Passage of Time
in the Garden
A Lecture with Sydney Eddison
Thursday, July 22
Change in a garden can be gradual as in the maturation of woody plants, like rhododendrons, or it can be sudden as in the felling of a large oak by lightning. But like it or not, gardens change from hour to hour, day to day, season to season, from one year to another, over a period of many years. Although this process is ongoing and inevitable, change is one of the least talked about aspects of gardening and one of the most fascinating.
For gardeners, time is the fourth dimension. How we respond to changes that occur due to the passage of time depends on our temperaments and on our gardening styles, but respond we must. Plants wax and wane. Some are long-lived; some are not. The decisions we make as we go along are what gives each garden its special character.
Join us as author Sydney Eddison presents an illustrated lecture and reading from her seventh and most recent book, Gardening for a Lifetime: How to Garden Wiser as you Grow Older.
Sydney Eddison writes with the joy, enthusiasm, and experience of a life-long gardener. She has written seven books on gardening including The Gardener's Palette: Creating Color in the Garden and The Gardener’s Color Wheel: A Guide to Using Color in the Garden. For her work, she received the Connecticut Horticultural Society’s Gustav A. L. Melquist Award in 2002; the New England Wild Flower Society Kathryn S. Taylor Award in 2005, The Federated Garden Clubs of Connecticut’s Bronze Medal in 2006, and in 2010 the National Garden Clubs, Inc. Award of Excellence. A former scene designer and teacher of drama, Ms. Eddison writes for Fine Gardening and other publications and is a popular lecturer.
6-7:30pm
Hort members $10; non-members $20
For more information, please call
(212) 757-0915 x115
Photographs were taken at Eddison's garden in Connecticut
The Visionary Reloaded:
New Scales of Operation in the Age of Information
Wednesday, June 23
A book launch and panel discussion featuring:
Amale Andraos & Dan Wood, WORK Architecture Co.
Fritz Haeg, Artist, Edible Estates
Adam Michaels, Project Projects & Inventory Books
Susan Gregory Thomas, author of Buy, Buy Baby
James Wines, SITE
Moderated by Jeff Gordinier, Details Magazine
In celebration of the launch of two books, WORKac’s Above the Pavement—the Farm!:
Architecture and Agriculture at PF1, and the expanded second edition of Fritz Haeg’s Edible Estates: Attack on the Front Lawn please join us for a discussion focusing on how a new generation of visionaries utilizes media, design and activism to promote radical “green” change. The evening will be moderated by Jeff Gordinier,
author of X Saves the World.
Doors open at 6pm; Event begins 6:30pm
Book signing and reception to follow
Admission $10; Students $5
Free for Hort & ASLA members
Admission & copy of Above the Pavement-the Farm! $20
For more information call (212) 757-0915 x100
Vegetable Container Gardening
with George Pisegna
Tuesday, June 22
Please note workshop date has been moved from June 14 to June 22
Not everyone has the room for a big edible garden, but even if you're limited to a lone container, you can still enjoy a summer's worth of homegrown produce. A windowsill, patio, balcony or doorstep can provide sufficient space for a productive container garden. Fruits, vegetables, and herbs provide wonderful aroma
and taste, and many varieties perform well in
containers. What's more, vegetables herbs, flowers, and other plants grow well together, as companion plants.
Container gardening is an easy and low-maintenance way to satisfy that garden urge. A dull patio area can be brightened by the addition of baskets with cascading tomatoes or a colorful herb mix. Planter boxes with trellises filled with beans and peas can be used to create a cool shady place on an apartment balcony. Container gardening presents opportunities for many innovative ideas.
Let HSNY's own George Pisegna teach you the basics of container gardening including soil mixes, plant and container choices, fertilizing and general plant care. There will be a brief lecture followed by a demonstration
of how to plant a container garden.
6 - 8pm
Hort Members $50; non-members $65
For more information call (212) 757-0915 x115
Celebrating Forgotten Treasures:
The Use of Uncommon Roses in Today's Landscape
with Sarah Owens
Thursday, June 17
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The rose has inspired artists, writers, and composers for centuries. Gardeners have been cultivating roses to perform in specific ways and possess desired traits for almost as long. Whether you’re a novice gardener wanting to know the basics of roses or a seasoned horticulturalist looking for tips on improving your blooms let Sarah Owens, curator of BBG's Cranford Rose Garden, offer her expert advice on how to include and care for roses in your garden.
Sarah will discuss the use of old roses and species roses with emphasis not just on flower but also fall color, bark, and hip display. Various landscaping issues and situations will be covered such as shade areas, prostrate roses for embankments, creating hedges, using specimens for interest, pergolas and trellises, fragrant roses for the landscape and companion plantings.
Sarah Owens is the curator of the historic Cranford Rose Garden and the Rose Arc Pool at Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Prior to joining BBG, she was head gardener at the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum. At the Battery Park Conservancy garden she worked to improve the garden’s aesthetics according to Piet Oudolf’s design. Owens also helped design and install the Native Plant Meadow and Edible Garden there. In addition, Owens is a ceramic artist, having designed sculpture and functional pottery for national retail and wholesale accounts, galleries, and exhibitions.
Doors open at 6pm
Lecture starts promptly at 6:30pm
Hort Members $15; Non-members $25
For more information call (212) 757-0915 x115
Drawing and Painting Roses
A Botanical Illustration Workshop with Maria Cecilia Freeman
Monday, June 14
Roses are an alluring but challenging subject for any artist. In conjunction with her exhibition, Rose Studies, the artist Maria Cecilia Freeman will be giving a 2-session full day workshop on the botanical illustration of roses.
The workshop will start with an introduction to rose botany and techniques for drawing these complex, delicate flowers. We will observe and draw from live plants (to be provided), moving from preliminary sketches to an edited drawing on watercolor paper. We will note color patterns, discuss color mixing, and practice some techniques of watercolor brushwork useful for painting rose petals and leaves. There will be ample time for individual attention while you develop your own drawings and begin painting. All levels welcome—suitable for beginners as well as experienced
artists.
Maria Cecilia Freeman is a botanical artist based in Santa Cruz, California. Her work includes scientific illustration and botanically
accurate fine art, often combining the two. She likes to create art that will serve the goals of education and conservation, with a particular interest in documenting rose species and heritage roses, and in portraying native plant species with a view to their preservation. Her work is included in the American Society of Botanical Artists’ exhibition Losing Paradise? Endangered Plants Here and Around the World, currently on display at the New York Botanical Garden through July 25. She is a member of the American Society of Botanical Artists, serving on the board of the Northern California SBA, and the Guildof Natural Science Illustrators. She is also a member of
the California Native Plant Society, the American Rose
Society and Heritage Rose Foundation.
Morning Session: 10am to 1pm
Afternoon Session: 2 to 5pm
Course Fee (for both sessions): Hort Members $140; Non-members $165
For more information call (212) 757-0915 x100
Click here to view a list of materials (PDF)
The Gardens of Florence
An illustrated tour and book signing with author Katie Campbell
Thursday, June 10
Not going to Florence this summer? Join us for an illustrated tour Paradise of Exiles: The Anglo-American Gardens of Florence by British journalist Katie Campbell. The crumbling, abandoned villas above Florence proved irresistible to an eccentric colony of late 19th century expatriates. Campbell's book features 20 of these characters and the unusual gardens they created. Book signing to follow.
Doors open at 6pm; lecture begins at 6:30pm
Hort Members $10; Non-members $10
For more information call (212) 757-0915 x100
The Hort Library Book Club discusses
A Reunion of Trees
by Stephen A. Spongberg
Tuesday, June 8
Dear Reader: We hope you can join us in the library for our next session. We are reading "A reunion of trees :the discovery of exotic plants and their introduction into North America and European landscapes" by Stephen A. Spongberg. It's a fascinating story.
Free and open to the public; bring a friend!
6pm at The Hort Library
For more information please email library@hsny.org
Word for Word Series: Green Acres, Green Gardens
A Panel Discussion in Bryant Park
Wednesday, June 2
Hosted by Maureen Hackett, Director of Horticulture, Bryant Park Corporation
Whether you have an atrium, yard, terrace, or a plant, join us for useful gardening tips by Bryant Park's own Maureen Hackett, and a host of writers and specialists in the field, including George Pisegna, HSNY Director of Horticulture and Peter Kukielski, Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden Curator, New York Botanical Garden and Author of Sustainable Rose Garden: Exploring 21st Century Environmental Rose Gardening
At Bryant Park Reading Room
12:30 — 1:45 pm
Click here for more information.
Overlooked Assets: Sustainable Urban Yards
Friday, May 14
Do you live in a building that has a front, side or back area that is concrete, neglected or just plain unsightly? Join us in discovering how to convert your outdoor space into a sustainable oasis.This day-long seminar featuring noted landscape and environmental professionals will inform and inspire you to reclaim overlooked City "yards" hidden behind rowhouses and apartment buildings by demonstrating how recycled materials, native endangered species and permeable surfaces can be used to maximize the environmental benefits of these overlooked spaces while beautifying and improving quality of life for all who breathe our city's air and drink its water.
Moderated by George Pisegna, HSNY Director of Horticulture
Speakers include:
Ken Smith, Ken Smith Landscape Architects
Mariellé Anzelone, DROSERA
Jennifer Bolstad, Local Office Landscape Architecture
Rebecca Cole, Rebecca Cole GROWs
Tricia Martin, WE Design
Evan Mason, Sustainable Yards
Tatiana Morin, NYC Soil and Water Conservation District
Steven Tupu, Terrain NYC
Sponsored by: The Horticultural Society of New York, The NY Chapter of The American Society of Landscape Architects, and Sustainable Yards
10am - 3:45pm, lunch provided
$35 Hort/ASLA members; $50 non-members
LACES credits (2.5) available for an additional:
$25 ASLA members; $45 non-members
Click here to view seminar schedule (PDF)
The Coastal Flowers at Big Sur
with Dodo Loechle
Thursday, May 13
Join us for an illustrated presentation on the magnificent flora of the Pacific Coast. Dodo Loechle has just returned from a month long trek to Big Sur to witness the explosion of spring flowers following this year’s phenomenal winter rains.
When you think of Big Sur, thoughts of sea-swept cliffs and expansive ocean views come to mind. What many do not experience are the exceptional biodiversity of the coastal plant communities, like the wildflower filled prairie, yucca-studded chaparral, and the oak woodlands and old-growth redwood forests.
With stunning photographs, Dodo will take us on a journey through one of America’s most beautiful coast along with a wide and varied ecosystem of unique plants.
Dodo Loechle is a certified horticulturist with extensive experience in chemical free gardening, concentrating on container and rooftops gardens. She has worked for various botanic gardens, including Kirstenbosch in Cape Town, Africa, where she worked exclusively with native cape flora. Specializing in plant identification, Dodo has logged countless hours as a tour guide along with putting her talents to use as an instructor at the NYBG and the BBG.
Doors open at 6pm
Lecture starts promptly at 6:30pm
Hort Members $15; Non-members $25
For more information call (212) 757-0915 x100
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