Hollister House Garden Fair

The Hollister House located in beautiful Washington Connecticut on 300 Nettleton Rd. is one of only 16 exceptional gardens currently designated a Preservation Project by the Garden Conservancy. In 2010, Hollister House achieved its listing on the National Register of Historic Places and was also named a Town Landmark Site by the Town of Washington. 

Hollister House Garden is beautifully situated on a gently sloping hillside behind a rambling 18th century farmhouse. The intimate outdoor spaces, bordered by dramatic hedges and the natural landscape, are lavishly planted with both familiar and exotic species and open onto stunning vistas.

The Hollister House is hosting a late summer garden fair featuring rare plants not usually available in the trade and one of a kind garden artifacts and containers will be held in the beautiful historic barn at Hollister House Garden on Saturday, September 7 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., rain or shine.  

Unusual plants such as specialty peonies, hard-to-find shrubs and trees, and herbaceous perennials that are traditionally planted in the fall will be on offer from four outstanding nurseries: Broken Arrow Nursery (Hamden, CT), Cricket Hill Garden (Thomaston, CT), Falls Village (CT) Flower Farm and Opus (Little Compton, RI). Each of the knowledgeable vendors will present an informative show and tell with timely tips on late season gardening and autumn to-do's such as dividing peonies, a task best done in September.

In addition to plants, playfully eccentric garden ornaments salvaged, restored and created by Kent, CT-based RT Facts and simply elegant Ben Wolff pots, each hand made in Goshen, CT and signed by the artist will also be available for sale.

Admission to the garden fair is $10 and includes entrance to Hollister House Garden. The $10 donation supports educational programs for the non-profit Hollister House Garden.

Hollister House Garden is also open to visitors every Saturday through September. August hours are 8 to 10 am and 3 to 6 pm; September hours are 10 am to noon and 2 to 5 pm. Information and directions to the garden's 300 Nettleton Hollow Road location are available on the website at www.hollisterhousegarden.org or by calling 860-868-2200.

For area information www.litchfieldhills.com

Creating Habitat Oases for Migrating Songbirds

Join Audubon’s Patrick Comins and Michelle Frankel on April 28 at the Garden Education Center of Greenwich on 1 Bible Street in Cos Cob for a special presentation and walk through Greenwich’s Montgomery Pinetum to learn about simple ways to enhance backyards, school grounds and public parks to provide quality habitat for migrating songbirds. This event is co-sponsored by Audubon Connecticut, Greenwich Tree Conservancy, Bruce Museum and Garden Education Center. An RSVP is suggested to the Greenwich Tree Conservancy at 203- 869-1464. The program takes place from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

The Audubon’s Habitat Oases program identifies, improves and conserves important stop-over habitat for migrating songbirds all along the Atlantic migratory flyway, focusing on urban and suburban areas and other landscapes where there is limited quality habitat. The program, performed in collaboration with Audubon chapters, state and municipal parks departments, and other groups, engages volunteer birdwatchers – citizen scientists – in migratory songbird surveys of urban/suburban green spaces. The surveys help to determine the characteristics of high quality stop-over habitat and which species of plants are most beneficial as food sources for migrating songbirds.

Audubon and its partners are using the results of this study to promote the protection of critical stop-over habitats by helping government agencies, corporations, land trusts, and other landowners make informed land use and land protection decisions. They also work to improve the quality of public and private lands as stop-over habitat for migrating birds by guiding the management and landscaping practices of natural resource managers, private landowners and professional landscapers and strive to develop regionally-specific lists of “bird-friendly” native plants that may be used to guide landscaping practices in parks, gardens and backyards.

Patrick Comins is a graduate of Trinity College in Hartford, and has worked in the bird conservation arena for the last 15 years. Patrick began his career with the Connecticut Audubon Society, doing bird surveys on the coast at the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge and then worked for the US Fish and Wildlife Service as a biological technician at the refuge. He has been with Audubon Connecticut as the Director of Bird Conservation for Connecticut since 2000, overseeing Connecticut’s Important Bird Areas and other conservation programs. He is the principal author of Protecting Connecticut’s Grassland Heritage. Patrick is a past resident of the Connecticut Ornithological Association and was the 2007 recipient of their Mabel Osgood Wright Award. He has written several articles on bird conservation and identification for the Connecticut Warbler and is currently chairman and vice president of the Friends of the Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge.

Michelle Frankel, Ph.D., is a Conservation Biologist with Audubon Connecticut and is coordinating the Habitat Oases program in CT, and facilitating the implementation of the program in a number of other states along the Atlantic migratory flyway. Michelle previously worked with Audubon of Florida, where she originally piloted the Habitat Oases program. Prior to her work with Audubon, she was Education Director for Earthspan, a nonprofit that develops and applies advanced technologies for wildlife conservation. Michelle received her Ph.D. in behavioral ecology from Boston University, focusing on forest fragmentation effects on migratory songbirds. She subsequently pursued a post-doctoral fellowship with Tel Aviv University and the International Center for the Study of Bird Migration in Israel, where she studied the impacts of urbanization on the globally-threatened Lesser Kestrel.

Stamford’s Bartlett Arboretum Presents “Garden Rooms by Design

The Bartlett Arboretum & Gardens of Stamford has announced its "Garden Rooms by Design" showcase now open June 8th – 15th. The week long event welcomes visitors to experience the top to bottom transformation of the Bartlett's historical homestead, once the home of the famed Dr. Francis A. Bartlett at 151 Brookdale Road, Stamford.   Tickets to see the "Garden Rooms by Design" showcase are $20/person.   Showcase hours are 10-4 daily and tickets can be purchased at the door. For more information and a sneak preview of each designer's ideas, visit www.bartlettarboretum.org events.

Top local designers and artisans have been given the challenge of bringing the outdoors inside to create the unparalleled "Garden Rooms by Design". This theme proves to be a fresh take on the Bartlett Arboretum's purpose: to inspire the community to explore, examine, understand and appreciate the natural history of the botanical world and its place in our lives. This inimitable design challenge has requested some of the area's top interior and landscape designers, artists and artisans to "think-out-of-the-box" and consider "green" elements in a not-so-usual sense.  This renovation of the
Bartlett homestead will include rooms, staircases, landings and gardens.

The Designer Showcase is a new element added to the Bartlett's ever-popular Spring Garden Tour Event going on concurrently. An added feature to the Designer Showcase is an informative lecture series featuring experts in hydrangeas, landscape design, design inspirations, photography, and creative design solutions.

All lectures are free of charge with admission to the Showcase with the exception of the featured presentation, "Success with Hydrangeas" by Famed Nantucketer Mal Condon which is $25 per person.  The Series kicks off from 10 a.m. to noon with Mal Condon's presentation on "Success with Hydrangeas" that will be held in the lecture room of the new Silver Educational Center on the arboretum's property.

Hydrangeas continue to be a very popular woody ornamental genus. Widely grown along our New England coastline, they create something special in so many gardens. This discussion will include the following topics; climate and plant siting, a major species review, cultural issues including fertilizing and bloom color control, best pruning practices, new varieties of merit, and propagation/making more plants. A lifelong gardener, Mal has always loved the genus hydrangea and began collecting plants from his extensive travels during his engineering career. His retirement in 1999 allowed him to pursue hydrangea nurturing with total commitment. Ever the engineer, he brings a strong technical and investigative nature to the continuing development of the genus – searching for new and better plants, evaluating their landscape performance, and finding superior ways to produce them.

Hydrangea Farm on Nantucket Island, Massachusetts has become a much visited location for serious hydrangeaphiles. This lecture is being partially underwritten by gifts made in memory of Barbara Saverine, lover of hydrangeas and wife of the Bartlett's executive director.   This will be a digital presentation featuring detailed graphics relevant to all topics. A Q&A session will follow the lecture. Class Fee $25. Call 203.322.6971 for more information or to reserve your spot.

Following Mal's presentation on Wednesday will be free lectures by Jan Johnson on Landscape Design at 1 p.m. and Victoria Lyon at 3 p.m. The Art of Design in Bringing the Outside In.  On Thursday, June 14th the series will feature at 11 a.m. Jamie Gotto of Bungalow 5 and Napa Home and Garden followed by Michael Yedowitz from Wainscot Solutions and concluding with Jeremy Keets Saladyga Photography. All free lectures will be held in the Showcase house.

Finally, the event will conclude on Friday, June 15th with a Designer Sample Sale of materials and props used in the showcase, including a variety of lovely potted plants and extra samples that the designers will bring in just for the sale. Designers will be donating 20% of their sales to benefit the Bartlett Arboretum & Gardens.  The showcase admission ticket must be purchased to enter the designer sample sale.

About the Bartlett Arboretum & Gardens
The Bartlett Arboretum & Gardens is a non profit 501 (c) (3) organization that inspires the surrounding community to explore, examine, understand and appreciate the natural history of the botanical world through its research, living plant collections, education and arts and cultural programs. The 91-acre property located at 151 Brookdale Road in Stamford is a living museum of champion majestic trees, rare plant collections, themed gardens, and natural landscapes traversed by hiking and walking trails. The historic site is the former residence, training school, and botanical research grounds of the renowned arborist, Dr. Francis Bartlett, dating back to 1913. With a summer concert series featuring both classical and contemporary selections, and a regular schedule of exhibits by local artists and photographers, the Bartlett Arboretum plays an ever expanding role in the regional cultural community. For more information about the Bartlett Arboretum and the events at the new Silver Educational Center including children's and adults' nature programs please visit the website www.bartlettarboretum.org or call 203-322-6971.

New Canaan CT Nature Center Announces Annual Secret Gardens Tour

The Annual Secret Gardens Tour benefiting the New Canaan Nature Center will take place on Friday, June 8.  The popular tour is a fund-raiser for the New Canaan Nature Center and an opportunity for homeowners, gardeners and anyone who appreciates the beauty of the outdoors to be inspired by several outstanding garden settings.  The self-guided tour takes place between 10:00a.m. – 4:00p.m., allowing attendees to visit the gardens at their own pace and on their own schedule.