Mark Your Garden Calendars: Wave Hill's Annual Lecture Series features Sarah Raven 2/21; Timothy Young 3/21

Sarah Raven, Photo Credit: Jonathan Buckley

The 2018 Wave Hill Horticultural Lectures are devoted to the subject of garden design and the meaning of our interactions with plants and the natural world, offering the opportunity to enjoy three evenings -- two remain on the schedule - with speakers distinguished in their fields.

I always enjoy these artful garden lectures - the speakers are world-class and the content of the talks are all about the world of gardens - but not strictly in a horticultural perspective.

Plus, the venue is a good one - relaxed, sophisticated, and easy to get to.
Held at the New York School of Interior Design in Manhattan, the annual series is hosted by Wave Hill's Senior Director of Horticulture and the Friends of Horticulture Committee.

Sarah Raven: The Cutting Garden is the second in this year’s series.

An inspirational and passionate teacher and award-winning author, Sarah Raven has been running cooking, flower arranging, growing and gardening courses at Perch Hill—her farm in East Sussex—and across England, since 1999.

Her talk is all about how to prepare, plant, maintain and harvest buckets of flowers from your garden—from March to November—with her best sowing and growing techniques. Raven has written for The Saturday Telegraph, Country Living, Gardens Illustrated, The English Garden and more.




The final lecture of the series takes place on March 21, when Timothy Young focuses on the archival legacies of several 20th-century writers and artists who built gardens.

Timothy Young: Paper Trails−Writers and Gardens in the Archives
The stories of great gardens are told in their physical presence—and on paper. Archives show the planning and execution of gardens through journals and sketches. They also reveal the philosophy of the gardener.

This lecture focuses on the archival legacies of several 20th-century writers and artists who built gardens, including Vita Sackville-West, Robert Dash and Rupert Barneby and Dwight Ripley. Timothy Young holds the title of Curator of Modern Books and Manuscripts at Beinecke Library at Yale University.

Where:
New York School of Interior Design
170 East 70th Street · New York, NY 10021

When:
Wednesday, February 21, 2018, and Wednesday, March 21, 2018, 6–7:30PM

Tickets:
Single Lecture: $25/$20 Wave Hill Member or student

Seating is limited, and advance reservations are recommended, online.

Enjoy the garden glamour in this special series.
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A 28-acre public garden and cultural center overlooking the Hudson River and Palisades, Wave Hill’s mission is to celebrate the artistry and legacy of its gardens and landscapes, to preserve its magnificent views, and to explore human connections to the natural world through programs in horticulture, education and the arts.

HOURS: Open all year, Tuesday–Sunday and many major holidays: 9AM–4:30PM; Mar 15–Oct 31, closes 5:30 PM

ADMISSION TO THE GROUNDS: $8 adults, $4 students and senior 65+, $2 children 6-18. Free Tuesdays and Saturdays until noon. Free to members, children under 6.

DIRECTIONS: Getting to Wave Hill is easy - and kind of fun - because you pass my favorite train station stop: Spuyten Duyvil -- (I just love saying that name - maybe because it harkens back to my Dutch ancestors…) and also because Wave Hill actually picks you up in a van - so you feel like a star!

Located only 30 minutes from midtown Manhattan, Wave Hill’s free shuttle van transports you to and from their front gate and Metro-North’s Riverdale station, the W. 242 Street stop on the #1 subway line, and to and from our free offsite parking lot. Limited onsite parking is available for $8 per vehicle. Complete directions and shuttle van schedule at wavehill.org.

The Horticultural Society of NY Hosts Elizabeth Barlow Rogers’ New Book Premiere: “Writing the Garden A Literary Conversation Across Two Centuries”

The Horticultural Society of New York (http://www.hsny.org) hosted Elizabeth Barlow Rogers’ latest book:  “Writing the Garden A Literary Conversation Across Two Centuries”

It was Leap Day – a rare calendar happening and a wonderful topper to the lucky-extra day-- another chance to celebrate the joy of gardening with the "Garden Lovers Tribe" who break away from digging and writing and designing gardens long enough to learn even more about the world of plants.

Elizabeth Barlow Rogers was the featured guest speaker.  She doesn’t really need an introduction. She is an award winning doyenne of literary gardening and horticultural architecture and art.  She is the editor of Sitelines newsletter and a library of books.  She is the president of the Foundation for Landscape Studies, a landscape designer, preservationist and writer—three of her books explore New York’s Central Park enriched because of her close association and work there in the great urban park-she was the first Central Park Administrator: http://www.elizabethbarlowrogers.com and http://blog.classicist.org

Rodgers is an almost elfin presence but with a commanding presence and pedigree.  It’s always a bit of a shame that it’s a challenge to hear her diminutive, almost whisper-like voice at a lecture.  And she reads the material  -- so that it’s more of well, a reading, rather than an energized lecture or talk.  But no matter, Rogers is engaging, has the acumen, experience and passion that legions of fans respect and are keen to learn from.   

Her research and curating garden writers who are passionate about the “philosophy, structure, and overall culture of gardens as in the plants they contained,” according to Rogers’ book   is extraordinary, top notch.  We need more of Rogers. Clone this woman!

Rodgers is a pioneer in advocating and emphasizing the culture in Horticulture – pointing the way to the crossroads of art and horticulture and history and literature. 

The book jacket cover, ‘The Garden in its Glory” is a luscious watercolor by artist Childe Hassam, admired for his New York City renderings that are an homage to Gotham.

Rodgers says she produced the book, “Writing the Garden: Books from the Collection of the New York Society Library based on the 2011 exhibition of rare books by garden writers co-curated by Rogers. 

Elizabeth Barlow Rogers signing my copy of Writing the Garden A Literary Conversation Across Two Centuries

The cohort of illustrious gardener writers featured in the book is a Who’s Who, Dream Team of garden writers.  I so love the way Rogers put forth the table of contents based on the lifestyle and passions of the garden writers, including Women in the Garden, Warriors in the Garden, Humorists in the Garden, and Spouses in the Garden.

Your library needs this book.  Order from Amazon:

Or call 1-800-344-4771 or email publisher at info@godine.com

Coming up at HSNY is Urban Gardening (3/16) http://thehort.org/programs_forums.html#uac2012
Keeping Ag in Urban Gardening -- featuring grand landscape design and horticulture gurus from Annie Novak, NYBG (www.nybg.org) and from Randalls Island -- all artists in their own domain: Phyllis Odessey http://www.phyllisodessey.com/ and EunYoung Sebazco http://silverflowerdesign.com/
   

You won't believe the amazing talent Odessey and Sebazco demonstrated in what surely is the City's first rice paddy.  

It's a fascinating story of edible gardening and urban magic:  http://ricepaddyrandalls.wordpress.com/

Not a surprise that the rice paddy garden captured the attention of no less a food icon than master chef, David Chang from Momofuku fame: http://www.momofuku.com/   

I will attend and cover the glamorous garden news.

(http://www.hsny.org