You are welcome to arrive at Patty’s home at 10:00 am, find a seat and get settled as the Board meeting will begin promptly at 10:30 am. We plan to adjourn by noon.
Untermyer Gardens: A Garden for the World by Stephen Byrns | Lecture, Lunch & Book Signing
The lecture will describe the creation and design of Untermyer Gardens in 1917 by Welles Bosworth for Samuel Untermyer, who desired that it be the “finest garden in the world.”
Sprawling over 150 acres on the Hudson River in Yonkers, it was maintained by 60 gardeners and supplied by 60 greenhouses. The Walled Garden is the finest Persian garden in the Western Hemisphere, the Vista is the most monumental garden feature in America featuring two ancient Roman columns, and the Temple of Love contains five waterfalls and six cascades. It is a garden of superlatives.
The Walled Garden is based on the concept of the Garden of Eden, which is a shared concept of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Untermyer’s career as a leading progressive Jew in America brilliantly reflects this multicultural aspect of the garden.
Owned by the City of Yonkers, the garden was in very poor condition and little known until the establishment of the Untermyer Gardens Conservancy in 2011 by Stephen Byrns. Since then, ten gardeners have been hired, 175,000 visitors came in 2023, and many features of the garden have been restored.
The lecture contains beautiful photos of the garden in its heyday, its descent into ruin, and its rebirth. It also reviews the many historical accomplishments of Samuel and Minnie Untermyer.
Stephen F. Byrns founded the Untermyer Gardens Conservancy in 2011 and is its president. A graduate of Princeton and Columbia Universities, he was a founding partner of BKSK Architects, a successful architectural firm in New York City that was established in 1985. He was appointed by Mayor Bloomberg to serve as a Landmarks Preservation Commissioner on the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission from 2004–2010. He served on the Board of Wave Hill from 2000-2010.
A native of Michigan, Steve discovered Untermyer Gardens when he lived in Yonkers in the 1990s and became involved with local preservation efforts. He revisited it in 2010 when told that the fountains had been turned on after decades of disuse and proceeded to immerse himself in its history and become a volunteer. The more he learned about Samuel Untermyer’s garden, the more he was convinced that a conservancy should be established to work with the City of Yonkers to make it once again one of the greatest gardens in America.
Lecture, Lunch & Book Signing $48 / Book $25
Wednesday, April 3
11 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Click HERE to Register and Order Books
We recommend purchasing books in advance and picking them up at check-in. Limited copies will be available for sale on the day of events.
APRIL 4, Thursday, 12:00 noon
“Spring Flower Arrangements”
Speaker: Kate Brunson
Floral Designer, Maple & Mum, Branford, CT
Kate will create arrangements with flowers and materials from local farms.
OPEN MEETING, Guest donation $10.00
Program: Joan Martin
Flower arrangement: Bela Mandavilli
Tea sandwiches, cookies and beverages will be served.
You are welcome to see what we are doing to prepare for our club records for archival storage at the Noah Webster House.
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Ginkgo But Were Afraid to Ask by Peter Del Tredici | Lecture, Lunch & Book Signing
Join Dr. Peter Del Tredici of the Arnold Arboretum in Boston for an in-depth look at one of the most ancient and fascinating trees on the planet.
Peter has been studying the natural history and evolution of this tree for the last thirty-five years and is a world authority on the subject. His travels have taken him to remote areas in eastern and southwest China in search of wild-growing Ginkgos as well as to old estates and botanical gardens in Europe and the United States. He is an expert on the cultivation of Ginkgo trees for ornamental purposes as well as for the production of leaves used in the production of medicinal extracts.
Peter Del Tredici is a botanist specializing in the growth and development of trees. He retired from the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University in 2014 after working there as a plant propagator, editor of Arnoldia, Director of Living Collections, and Senior Research Scientist for 35 years. He taught in the Landscape Architecture Department at the Harvard Graduate School of Design for 24 years, and the Urban Planning Department at MIT for three years. He has published over a hundred scientific articles on a wide variety of subjects including: the taxonomy and cultivation of hemlocks and Stewartias, the history of plant introductions from Japan and China, the ecology and evolution of the Ginkgo tree, and the morphology of vegetative regeneration in trees. Since 2004, his research has focused on urban ecology and climate change, and in 2010 he published the widely acclaimed, Wild Urban Plants of the Northeast: A Field Guide (Cornell U. Press, 2010; 2nd ed. 2020).
Lecture, Lunch & Book Signing $48 / Book $34.95
Wednesday, April 10
11 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Click HERE to Register and Order Books
We recommend purchasing books in advance and picking them up at check-in. Limited copies will be available for sale on the day of events.
We will help to plant trees, shrubs, and plants at Wojan’s Woods, a West Hartford urban forest donated to our local land trust, Traprock Ridge Land Conservancy (TRLC). The West Hartford Garden Club has helped to remove invasive plants and has been an integral constituent in the selection of native plants, shrubs, and trees to repopulate the area. This effort to restore a natural balance for all creatures will result in a beautiful asset to the community. We have high schoolers who will dig some holes for the trees but need some able planting assistance. Another date will be scheduled later in the month – plantings that have been ordered are arriving in two installments. More information will be shared soon about additional planting date(s).