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Tag: Garden Conservancy

  • Thursday, March 3, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm – The Park and Gardens of the Domaine de Courances – “A Moveable Feast”, Online

    During the reign of François Ier, Fontainebleau and its surrounding area became very fashionable.  In 1552, Henri II’s secretary of state purchased land 12miles/20 km  west of Fontainebleau where he built the first Château de Courances and laid out a Renaissance water garden with 14 natural springs that now flow into 17 water features. It  also included the second Grand Canal ever excavated in France, which no doubt inspired Le Nôtre’s  use of the Grand Canal in the design of his formal Classical gardens 100 years later. In 1872, a new owner acquired the abandoned estate and hired the father and son team of Henri and Achille Duchêne to restore Courances’ park in the style à la française. Subsequent generations have continued to reinvent the magnificent park and gardens of Courances.

    Speaker Valentine de Ganay belongs to the fourth generation of her family to own the Domaine de Courances, and is the founder and manager of “Les Jardins de Courances”, an agricultural venture including a 7-acre/2.8-hectare potager (kitchen garden) adjacent to the domain. She has also converted 1,500 acres/600 hectares of fields to organic and regenerative agriculture. Valentine is the co-editor, co-author and author of the following three books in French: the hardcover Courances (2003, a collection of 30 essays with more than 450 images), the paperback Courances (2011, a book of photographs accompanied by French and English text), and Aristo ? (2013, a book about French society). 

    This lecture is pre-recorded and was originally given on June 9, 2021 as part of a series on “Unforgettable Gardens” organized by the Gardens Trust and the Historic Gardens Foundation. While the lecture is pre-recorded, the Introduction and Question & Answer session at the end of the lecture will be live with Valentine de Ganay.

    Register HERE. $20 for the general public, $10 for members of sponsoring organizations Alliance Française Chicago with communication support from the Federation of Alliances Françaises USA.  the French Heritage Society, the Historic Gardens Foundation, The Garden Conservancy and WICE

  • Thursday, February 24, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm – The Parks and Gardens of Paris, Online

    According to the Ville de Paris website, the city of Paris has 490 parks, gardens and municipal squares under the responsibility of the Direction des Parcs, Jardins et Espaces Verts (DPJEV), which Haussmann established in 1855. The first gardens created next to the Tuileries Palace of Catherine de Médicis and the Luxembourg Palace of Marie de Médicis, were in the Italian style, designed to be seen from the château and to reflect the power of its occupant. The structural elements of the garden evolved into the Classical garden intended to show man’s domination of nature. These “regular” gardens reached their apogee under André Le Nôtre and his gardens at Vaux-le-Vicomte, Versailles and Chantilly, but also at the Tuileries. The parks and gardens created in Paris during the 19th century were inspired by the “irregular” English landscape gardens of “Capability” Brown and his successors – jardins à l’anglaise – which sought to return to nature. After a lull, Paris has enjoyed an explosion of new gardens in the past 40 years, most of them in the outer arrondissements. The current city government is determined to continue the “greening” of Paris.

    Join with others on February 24 for a one hour live webinar with speaker Russell Kelley. He has lived in Paris for 30 years and is the author of The Making of Paris: The Story of How Paris Evolved from a Fishing Village into the World’s Most Beautiful City (Lyons Press, 2021).

    This program is presented by Alliance Française Miami Metro in partnership with the Alliance Française Chicago with communication support from the Federation of Alliances Françaises USA, the French Heritage Society, the Garden Conservancy, the Historic Gardens Foundation, and WICE. $10 for members of a sponsoring organization, $20 for nonmembers. Register HERE. Garden Conservancy members use code MERCIAFMM. The program is presented in English.

  • Thursday, February 3, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm – The Gardens of the Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte, Online

    This illustrated lecture via Zoom, live from France, is part of a series that traces the evolution of the French garden from the enclosed gardens of the Middle Ages, through the magnificent Renaissance gardens created by Italian gardeners in the Loire Valley for the Valois kings upon their return from the Italian Wars in the 16th century, through the Classical gardens created by André Le Nôtre for Louis XIV and his court in and around Paris in the 17th century, through the landscape jardins à l’anglaise that swept France from the late 18th through the late 19th century, and ending with the revival of the formal jardins à la française at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. After an introductory lecture to give an overview of the development of the French garden and their designers over the past 500 years, the owners and historians of six of France’s most prestigious state- and privately-owned gardens open to the public will tell the stories of how their gardens were designed – and often redesigned more than once over the centuries – evoking the key designers and historical figures and events associated with their gardens. The series will conclude with an overview of the major parks and gardens of Paris.

    Between 1641 and 1661, Louis XIV’s Superintendent of Finances Nicolas Fouquet built the magnificent Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte 34 miles/55 km southeast of Paris. He hired the architect Louis Le Vau to design the château, the artist Charles Le Brun to decorate it, and the landscape architect André Le Nôtre to design its gardens and park. It was the trio’s first major collaboration and became the model for the French Baroque style, less dependent on Italian influences. The gardens of Vaux represent the pioneering work of the French formal garden, where for the first time Le Nôtre created a garden from scratch as an extension of Le Vau’s château. The garden is celebrated for its perfect symmetry and Le Nôtre’s trademark “long perspective”, defined by a central axis that disappears into the distance. Inspired by the grandeur of Vaux-le-Vicomte, Louis XIV soon retained the team of Le Vau, Le Brun and Le Nôtre to build the château and gardens of Versailles.

    Speaker Alexandre de Vogüé and his two brothers are the fifth generation of their family since 1875 to own the Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte. Alexandre spent his childhood at Vaux, went to university in Paris, and then spent the next 20 years in Chamonix and traveling the world as a professional mountain guide. In 2011 he returned to Vaux, where he is now Director of Development and President of the French and International Friends of Vaux-le-Vicomte Conservancy. Alexandre is also responsible for Vaux’s art collection. He and his brothers are co-authors of A Day at Vaux-le-Vicomte (Les Éditions Flammarion, 2015). A new book about the domain, Vaux-le-Vicomte – Private Invitation, by Guillaume Picon, was published by Les Éditions Flammarion in October 2021.

    All the lectures will be in English. $20 – General admission $10 – Garden Conservancy members with code MERCIAFMM Register HERE.

  • Thursday, January 20, 1:00 pm – The Gardens of the CHÂTEAU DE VILLANDRY, Online

    The Garden Conservancy is pleased to extend a special rate to our members for Alliance Française Miami Metro’s “The Making Of The French Garden” Virtual Series, live from France via Zoom. The series traces the evolution of the French garden from the enclosed gardens of the Middle Ages, through the magnificent Renaissance gardens created by Italian gardeners in the Loire Valley for the Valois kings upon their return from the Italian Wars in the 16th century, through the Classical gardens created by André Le Nôtre for Louis XIV and his court in and around Paris in the 17th century, through the landscape jardins à l’anglaise that swept France from the late 18th through the late 19th century, and ending with the revival of the formal jardins à la française at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. After an introductory lecture to give an overview of the development of the French garden and their designers over the past 500 years, the owners and historians of six of France’s most prestigious state- and privately-owned gardens open to the public will tell the stories of how their gardens were designed – and often redesigned more than once over the centuries – evoking the key designers and historical figures and events associated with their gardens. The series will conclude with an overview of the major parks and gardens of Paris. All lectures will be in English. $20 for Garden Conservancy members with Code MERCIALLIANCE2022, $20 general admission.

    No gardens better exemplify the style of the French Renaissance period than the gardens of Villandry, which were recreated by Joachim Carvallo and his American wife Ann Coleman after their purchase of Villandry in 1906, replacing an English garden.  In the absence of the plan for the original garden, the design of the new Renaissance gardens was inspired by the engravings by Androuet du Cerceau of the gardens designed by Dom Pacello de Mercogliano for Charles VIII and Louis XII at Amboise and Blois around 1500. Speaker Henri Carvallo is the owner of the Château de Villandry and the great-grandson of Joachim and Ann Carvallo. Henri grew up at Villandry, handing out flyers for the château, acting as a guide, and helping with maintenance. Since taking over the estate from his parents in 1993, Henri has devoted himself full-time to managing Villandry, including the restoration and upkeep of the château and its extensive gardens. Among his other interests, Henri has been president of the French Chess Association for the past two years. Order HERE.

  • Thursday, December 2, 2:00 pm – Beyond Wild: Gardens and Landscapes with Raymond Jungles, Online

    For almost 40 years, Raymond Jungles, FASLA, has created design solutions that respond to surrounding natural systems while restoring nature’s balance and harmony on a micro-scale. His completed gardens from the mountains in Mexico to volcanic craters in Panama, Caribbean beach fronts, the Florida Keys, and densely populated cities like Manhattan and Miami, personify timelessness and beauty, entice participation, and soothe the psyche. Raymond is honored to present his most impactful projects to date, many of which are featured in his book Beyond Wild: Gardens and Landscapes, the fourth monograph to focus on his innovative yet classic designs.

    In this final webinar in The Garden Conservancy’s four-part Fall 2021 Literary Series, Raymond will share sketches, site plans, renderings, and images that evolve through a project’s lifecycle and capture his design principles of integrity, relevance, and honoring nature. He will discuss his relentless passion for restoring pre-existing ecologies and ethical stewardship of the land.  

    The Fall 2021 Literary Series is presented by the newly established Frank and Anne Cabot Society for Planned Giving, in partnership with Phaidon and Monacelli.

    Additional support for these programs is provided by Celia Hegyi, the Coleman and Susan Burke Distinguished Lecture Fund, and the Lenhardt Education Fund.

    Raymond Jungles is the founding principal of Raymond Jungles Inc., an award-winning landscape architecture firm based in Miami. An honors graduate of the department of landscape architecture at the University of Florida, Jungles is a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects. Beyond his practice, Raymond is acknowledged as an authority on the work of the legendary Brazilian landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx and curated a living exhibition of Burle Marx’s work at the New York Botanical Garden in 2019. He has lectured widely on his firm’s body of work at Cornell, Harvard Graduate School of Design, the New York Botanical Garden, the Museum of Modern Art, and the ASLA Conference on Landscape Architecture.

    REGISTRATION – A recording of this webinar will be sent to all registrants a few days after the event. We encourage you to register, even if you cannot attend the live webinar. Please note that registration will end 24 hours prior to this webinar.

    • $50 Webinar PLUS one copy of the book Beyond Wild: Gardens and Landscapes by Raymond Jungles (retail price $60)
    • $15 General admission
    • $5 Garden Conservancy members
      (This program is also eligible for purchase with an online membership credit.)
    • Free for members of the Garden Conservancy’s Frank and Anne Cabot Society for Planned Giving, but please pre-register by sending an email to Sarah Parker so that we can send you the Zoom link on the day of the program.

    Register at https://www.gardenconservancy.org/education/education-events/virtual-talk-Raymond-Jungles

  • Thursday, November 18, 2:00 pm – Sleepy Cat Farm, A Gardener’s Journey, Online

    Join The Garden Conservancy for the third webinar in our four-part Fall 2021 Literary Series, as Fred Landman and Curtice Taylor take us on a privileged tour of a lavish estate in Greenwich, CT, that features an abundance of garden experiences: formal boxwood and undulating hornbeam hedges, dense woodland, reflecting pools, arbors and follies—and a ferme ornée (ornamental farm) offering organic produce to the community.

    Sleepy Cat Farm is the vision of one man, Fred Landman, who acquired the handsome Georgian Revival house and grounds in 1994. Deeply committed to the concept of harmony between house and garden, he has dedicated himself to the landscape to create “a garden of which the house could be proud.”

    Curtice Taylor has been photographing landscapes and gardens for more than forty years. His work has been published in major gardening and shelter magazines including House & Garden, Architectural Digest, and Connecticut Cottages and Gardens. A childhood friend of Fred Landman, Taylor has been documenting the gardens at Sleepy Cat Farm for more than ten years.

    Fred Landman resides at Sleepy Cat Farm in Greenwich, CT, with his wife, Seen Lippert. After retirement from the business world, Fred went from a weekend gardener to a full-time gardener. Over the past 20 years, his garden has evolved from a quaint suburban backyard to a 13-acre multi-faceted experience, including a stroll garden through a woodland with its own grotto, a meadow with a sacred grove, a wetland with an elevated spirit walk through the iris garden, and several formal garden rooms with reflecting pools and koi ponds. Seen, a professional chef who spent more than a decade at Chez Panisse in Berkeley, CA, stays close to the culinary world and plans the extensive planting of the vegetable gardens and is the beneficiary of the fruit orchard. Sleepy Cat Farm operates as a foundation and it is open to groups by appointment. Seen and Fred have been Open Days hosts for more than seven years and members of the Garden Conservancy Society of Fellows since 2007. Fred was elected to the Garden Conservancy’s board of directors on December 10, 2020. 

    The Fall 2021 Literary Series is presented by the newly established Frank and Anne Cabot Society for Planned Giving, in partnership with Phaidon and Monacelli. Additional support for these programs is provided by Celia Hegyi, the Coleman and Susan Burke Distinguished Lecture Fund, and the Lenhardt Education Fund.

    A recording of this webinar will be sent to all registrants a few days after the event. We encourage you to register, even if you cannot attend the live webinar. Please note that registration will end 24 hours prior to this webinar.

  • Thursday, November 4, 2:00 pm – Flower Flash with Lewis Miller, Online

    Join The Garden Conservancy for the second webinar of our four-part Fall 2021 Literary Series, as Lewis Miller, author of Flower Flash (Monacelli, September 21, 2021) presents the evolution of his “Flower Flashes.” The presentation will document his Flower Flashes, from the first, spontaneous one in 2016 to the profound installations of the pandemic, and include behind-the-scenes snapshots, his inspirational material, and fan contributions.

    A recording of this webinar will be sent to all registrants a few days after the event. We encourage you to register, even if you cannot attend the live webinar. Please note that registration will end 24 hours prior to this webinar.

    $45 Webinar PLUS one copy of the book Flower Flash by Lewis Miller (retail price $55)
    $15 General admission; webinar only
    $5 Garden Conservancy members; webinar only
    (This program is also eligible for purchase with an online membership credit.)

    Free for members of the Garden Conservancy’s Frank and Anne Cabot Society for Planned Giving, but please pre-register by emailing Sarah Parker so that we can send you the Zoom link on the day of the program.

    All others, register at https://www.gardenconservancy.org/education/education-events/virtual-talk-lewis-miller

    photo by Laura Fuchs

  • Saturday, October 2, 10:00 am – 11:30 am – Enhancing Your Spring Garden with Bulbs

    From snowdrops to alliums, spring bulbs can enliven your garden, adding interest and splashes of color while taking little room. In this October 2 illustrated lecture at Hollister House Garden in Washington, Connecticut, Page Dickey will show and describe a succession of bulbs, some well loved, others little known, to consider and successfully plant.

    Page Dickey is a garden writer, lecturer, and designer. Her latest book, Uprooted: A Gardener Reflects on Beginning Again, was published in autumn 2020.  Page is on the Board of the Garden Conservancy and co-founded the Open Days Program in 1995.  She is also on the boards of Stonecrop Gardens, in Cold Spring, NY, and Hollister House Garden in Washington, CT.

    Page  lives and gardens with her husband, Bosco Schell, in the company of at least one beloved dog at Church House in Falls Village, CT. $25 for HHG members, $35 for nonmembers. REGISTRATION

  • Saturday, September 18, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm – East Providence Open Day

    The Garden Conservancy will host an Open Day in East Providence, Rhode Island on September 18 from 10 – 4.

    Tucked into a lot on Bullocks Cove, adjacent to the East Bay bike path, this Native Coastal garden is a wildlife refuge. Where a parking lot once met the cove, a rain garden edged by a sand dune now slopes to a little beach and a native buffer. Phragmites have been replaced by cordgrass and high-tide bush.

    But there is more. A roof garden with a little dune and prickly pear cactus. Another rain garden that collects water from the street to support swamp azalea. A small rectangular fishpond set into the only formal lawn serves as a dooryard, and creates privacy for a terrace below. The garden is a haven for people, birds, and insects that could not have been sustained by a parking lot.

    Conservancy members $5, general admission $10.

    • Pre-registration is REQUIRED for each garden. Pre-register for each on this website, except where specifically indicated otherwise. Children under 12 are free and do not need to be pre-registered if accompanied by pre-registered adult.
    • Capacity is limited. Sorry, no walk-ins allowed; no paper tickets or cash payments will be accepted on-site.
    • Masks are required, at the discretion of the garden owners, and social distancing is encouraged at all in-person events.

    Register at https://www.gardenconservancy.org/open-days/garden-directory/native-coastal-garden

  • #Garden Preservation: Preserving, Sharing, and Celebrating America’s Cultural Legacy

    For more than 30 years, the Garden Conservancy has been championing gardens and broadening the preservation narrative. This strategic, multidisciplinary approach to preserving gardens weaves together the practical and the intangible. The Conservancy facilitates on-the-ground restoration of historic gardens and also documents gardens, capturing their history and spirit through film, photography, interviews, and archives filled with plans and maps. It holds conservation easements that permanently protect “conservation values”—the most significant features of gardens, such as their plant collections, design, hardscape, and/or vistas. It advocates for gardens at risk, taking a public stand to raise awareness and encourage action. And, as preservation is not possible without education, it engages the community and provides professional development to garden leaders, board members, and staff, and provide mentorship and resources as well.

    #GardenPreservation: Preserving, Sharing, and Celebrating America’s Cultural Legacy, published in June 2021, is an oversize, 64-page volume containing essays by experts in the field as well as short summaries of more than 100 preservation projects of the Garden Conservancy since 1989. Illustrated by Dana Scott Westring. Click here to view an animated PDF of the whole book. 

    Seven essays from leading voices in preservation, landscape architecture, garden history, conservation, and documentation—and one interview—present a range of perspectives on garden preservation:

    A User’s Guide to Preservation: One Contemporary Designer’s Perspective on History, by Thomas Woltz

    Preserving Traces and Remnants of a Gardening Past, by Brent Leggs and Lawana Holland-Moore

    I am here. by Shaun Spencer-Hester

    Interview with the Stewards of Rocky Hills, Barbara and Rick Romeo

    The Importance of Preserving Gardens, by Walter Hood

    An Accidental Preservationist, by Judith B. Tankard

    Preserving Gardens that Spring from the Soul, by Lucinda Brockway

    Landscape and Memory at Sylvester Manor, by Donnamarie Barnes

    The essays are followed by short profiles of more than 100 of the Garden Conservancy’s preservation projects and partners since 1989.

    Both the essays and profiles reveal the garden as a cultural bridge, a site for scientific study and ecological conservation, a path to equity and social justice, a catalyst for design innovation, and a stimulus for spiritual expansion.

    Order a copy of #GardenPreservation here.