GardenDesignOnline

Happenings June 2025

Selected Events Around the Country:

Exhibitions:
thru October 26, Van Gogh's Flowers, NY Botanical Garden, Bronx, NY

Events:

June 1, "Hood Park: Gravel to Green," Charlestown, MA
10am-noon, Talk & Tour, COG Design, Garden Conservancy
June 1, "Plantings at Mt. Auburn Cemetery, Boston, MA
2pm-4pm, Talk & Tour, Garden Conservancy
June 1, Gardfen Conservancy Open Days Tours: CT, MA, NJ
CT: Fairfield Cty; MA: Norfolk, Middlesex, Suffolk Ctys; NJ: Essex, Bergen Ctys
June 7, Garden Conservancy Self-Guided Garden Tour, Mt. Pleasant, SC
10am-3pm, 5 gardens, Old Village of Mt. Pleasant
June 7-8, Garden Conservancy Open Days Tours: CT, MA, NH, NY, OH
CT: Fairfield Cty; MA: Franklin, Hampshire Ctys; NH: Hillsborough Cty; NY: Westchester Cty; OH: Summit Cty

June 12, Making of Sleepy Cat Farm Part II, ONLINE
2pm Eastern, Lecture, LA Charles Stick, Garden Conservancy
June 12, Book Talk & Workshop, "Life with Flowers," Bronx, NY
10:30am & 2pm, Author Frances Palmer, NY Botanical Garden
June 14, TCLF Garden Dialogues, Berkshires, MA, 01266
11am-12:30pm, Talk & Tour, Wagner-Hodgson LA
June 14-15, Garden Conservancy Open Days Tours: CA, CT, MA, MI, NJ, NY, WA
CA: Mendocino Cty; CT: Hartford, Litchfield Ctys; MA: Worcester Cty; MI: Oakland, Wayne Ctys; NJ: Hunterdon Cty; NY: Saratoga Cty; WA: Kitsap Cty

June 15, Frank Lloyd Wright Turkel House, Detroit, MI
2-5pm, Talk & Tour, LA Richard Hass, Garden Conservancy
June 16, Roses in the Garden, Lecture, Glencoe, IL
2-4pm, author Ngoc Minh Ngo, Chicago Botanic Garden, Garden Conservancy
Repeats June 18, 1-3pm, Missouri Botanic Garden
June 20-22, Newport Flower Show, Newport, RI
29th Annual Show, "A Floral Fair."

June 21, 30th South End Garden Tour, Boston, MA
10am-4pm, Self-guided tour, multiple gardens
June 21, Talk & Tour, Historic Arkansas Riverwalk, Pueblo, CO
10am-noon, Garden Conservancy
June 21, Garden Masterclass: Plant Systems Revolution, Washington DC
1-4pm, LA Thomas Rainer, National Building Museum
June 21, "Garden Rooms," Putney, VT
3-5pm, Designers Gordon & Mary Hayward, Garden Conservancy
June 21, "Line, Form & Color," Dartmouth, MA
3-4pm, Lecture, Designer Nan Sinton, Garden Conservancy
June 21, TCLF Garden Dialogues, Jamestown, RI
noon-1:30pm, Talk & Tour, LA Kate Field
June 21-22, Garden Conservancy Open Days Tours: CO, MA, NH, NJ, NY, PA, VT, WA

LOOKAHEAD:

July 8-11, National Children & Youth Garden Symposium, Hartford, CT
July 11-20, Cape Cod Hydrangea Festival, Cape Cod, MA
July 18, Woody Plant Conference, Swarthmore, PA
July 28-31, Perennial Plant Association National Symposium, Des Moines, IA

August 15-16, Speaking of Gardening Symposium, Asheville, NC
August 20-22, Farwest Show, Portland, OR

NYBG Van Gogh Exhibition

  Van Gogh's Flowers -- May 24-October 26, 2025

Experience nature as artist Vincent Van Gogh did, and wander through the world of flowers that inspired so many of his paintings. The show includes botanical displays, contemporary art, and a field of real and sculptural flowers that form a huge expanse of bright yellow blooms.

Outside the garden's Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, the lawn will feature huge flower sculptures by Cyril Lancelin, alongside living plants. Inside, you'll find more flower displays, and 3-D sculptures by Amie Jacobsen of irises, fritillaries, oleanders and roses.  Living flowers and architecture represent the garden of the hospital at Arles, which Van Gogh painted in 1889.

Throughout the exhibition, there are many other classes and special events, so make sure to check the garden's website.

 

Books: Roses & Castles

Over the years, I've had many a book on the subject of roses, but this is one you'll want to keep forever.  In Roses in the Garden (Rizzoli International Publications, Inc., 2025), author and photographer Ngoc Minh Ngo takes you on a personal journey from her childhood in Vietnam to 11 of the world's most famous rose gardens.  As she says in the introduction, "Much has been written about this ancient flower -- 2,500 years ago Confucius counted hundreds of books on the subject in the emperor's library -- but the rose continues to seduce, and I can't resist its siren call. From Asia to America, the protean rose comes in various guises, regal in formal beds, humble in vegetable plots, carefree in meadows, riotous on walls and tree branches....this book offers me a chance to celebrate the rose's enduring beauty and the place it has claimed in gardens all over the world."

The profile of each garden includes numerous photos of singular roses and surrounding landscapes, accompanied by an inspired, beautifully written essay on the history and current status of each.  From the Giardino di Ninfa in Italy to the Roseraie de Berty in France, to Sakura Kusabue-no-oka in Japan, Hillside in the UK, and North Sea House in Southampton, NY, you'll encounter roses you know and many others you do not.  In the back of the book, there's a selected list of roses featured throughout, a list of rose nurseries in Europe and the United States, and a selection of books that rose lovers may find useful. 

You may want to book a stay at Lismore Castle, in County Waterford, Ireland, home to the oldest continually cultivated gardens in Ireland. And you can learn about the castle's history and its current offerings in Lismore Castle (Rizzoli International Publications, Inc., 2025), by Laura Burlington.  The castle belongs to the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, whose son, William Burlington and his wife Laura, now have responsibility for the castle.

The castle dates back to 1185, and the gardens to the early 1600s.  Visitors can wander through the garden's seven acres, home to some spectacular magnolias, camellias, rhododendrons and herbacious borders, as well as a sizeable kitchen garden that supplies many of fruits and vegetables that guests enjoy.

In the book, you'll learn about the fascinating history of this property and landscape, and the many famous visitors, including Fred Astaire and JFK.  Laura supplies innuberable recipes that are served to visitors, as well as essays about the gardens, the house, the flowers, and the designers who made the castle what it is today.  You won't regret booking a stay the next time you're planning a visit to Ireland.

*small commissions earned on book sales