Art Workshop: The Gardener’s Herbarium: Pressing Flowers
Presented by: Lisa Zurles
May 31 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm
Herbariums have been used for centuries to document and preserve plant species for scientific study. Today pressing plants serves both botanical and artistic purposes. Explore the history of herbariums and the art of flower pressing in this fun workshop. Learn techniques for pressing and preserving plants, and explore ways to use your specimens- whether for creating botanical artwork, building a personal herbarium, or as a special way to document your home garden. You will put together your own 8×10 inch wooden flower press, practice some basic pressing skills and learn what you need to start your own pressed plant collection. (Class size limited to 15.)
Lisa Zurles is Hollister House Garden’s education manager, a native plant enthusiast and a Connecticut Master Woodland Manager. She learned to press plants at the Native Plant Trust, where she studied botany and horticulture as part of their Native Plant Studies Certificate program. She loves sharing the joy of plants and the myriad way plants and flowers enrich our lives.
HHG Members $30
Non-members $40 (includes admission to the garden)
Materials Fee (required): $30
Hollister House Garden
300 Nettleton Hollow Rd
Washington, CT 06793 United States
The Gardener’s Herbarium: Pressing Flowers
Barn Talk: Hollister House Garden Tree Walk
Presented by: Christopher Roddick
May 31 9:00 am – 11:00 am
Trees have been around for few hundred million years and are some of the oldest, tallest, and largest living things on the Earth. But the reasons behind their success are just starting to be understood. Join arborist Christopher Roddick for a tour of the Hollister House tree collection, exploring the science and natural history of trees. We’ll cover the identification of some common native trees as well as a few rare ones and hear how they adapt and responded to changes in the environment over time. We’ll discover how trees form fungal partners and interspecies networks to communicate and stay healthy. And finally, we’ll talk about how we can be better stewards of the land we share with these wonderful ancient beings.
Note: This is an outdoor walking tour starting at 9:00am. Dress for the weather and walking on uneven terrain, and periods of standing. Group size limited, early registration suggested.
Christopher Roddick is an arborist who practices Conservation Arboriculture. This holistic approach to tree and land care uses a modern understanding of tree and soil biology, ecology, and organic practices as a base for maintenance and cultivation decisions. For over 28 years he was the head arborist and foreman of grounds at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. He is the author of The Tree Care Primer, a guide to the care of young, mature, and veteran trees. When he’s not working in Litchfield County and the Northeast, he is often on an expedition, traveling to the Neo-Tropical forests where he helps conducts canopy research as both a climber and a really bad camp cook.
HHG Members $30
Non-members $40 (includes admission to the garden)
Hollister House Garden
300 Nettleton Hollow Rd
Washington, CT 06793 United States
Hollister House Garden Tree Walk
Barn Talk: Designing with Containers in the Landscape
Presented by: Roberta DiBisceglie
May 17 10:00 am – 11:30 am
Whether you have a sprawling estate or a cozy backyard, container plantings offer a versatile way to elevate your outdoor space and celebrate the changing seasons. In this presentation you will learn the essentials of designing and planting container gardens. Learn how to choose the right vessels, select the perfect plants and ensure their health throughout the year. Explore fabulous and unexpected plant combinations and discover creative ways arrange them for maximum visual impact throughout the landscape. Join designer Roberta DiBisceglie of Columbine Gardens as she shares her professional tips for creating unique, high-impact container gardens with multi-season functionality.
Roberta DiBisceglie, a third-generation horticulturist, trained at the New York Botanical Garden’s School of Professional Horticulture and has been managing landscapes for over 20 years. She is a consultant for the Norwalk Pollinator Pathway, a NOFA Accredited Organic Land Care Professional, and serves on the Advisory Board of the East Norwalk Neighborhood Association. Roberta established a mentorship program for students of the School of Professional Horticulture and has mentored students in the Norwalk public schools since 2016. In 1998, she founded Columbine LLC, a landscape gardening and design firm. A passionate reader of fiction and poetry, she lives with her husband and their cat Zack near the Long Island Sound.
HHG Members $30
Non-members $40 (includes admission to the garden)
Hollister House Garden
300 Nettleton Hollow Rd
Washington, CT 06793 United States
Designing with Containers in the Landscape
Barn Talk: Deer Resistant Plants for the Northeast- and Deterrents That Work!
Presented by: Gregg Tepper
May 10 10:00 am – 11:30 am
Deer browse is one of the biggest challenges confronting northeast gardeners. Is there anything the deer won’t eat? Well, if a deer is hungry enough, it will try to eat almost anything. But there are wonderful plants and shrubs, both native and non-native, that have proven to be deer resistant. Join horticulturist Gregg Tepper for an entertaining and informative lecture inspired by his recent co-authored book, Deer-Resistant Native Plants for the Northeast. Gregg will share his experience landscaping with deer-resistant plants as well as strategies for rebuffing deer. Get the inside scoop on natural, safe and truly effective deer repellents as well as a new product that can eliminate buck rub on shrubs and small trees. Be inspired by beautiful, deer-resistant plant combinations, pick up cultivation tips and learn about newer, cultivated varieties of native plants now on the market.
Gregg Tepper is a professional horticulturist, lecturer, consultant, and life-long native plant enthusiast. He is the Senior Horticulturist for the Arboretum at Laurel Hill, a 265-acre property that encompasses two historic cemeteries in Pennsylvania. In response to heavy deer pressure, Gregg has developed a strategy for maintaining beautiful and resilient gardens using deer-resistant plants and effective deer repellents. He previously served as Director of Horticulture at Mt. Cuba Center in Hockessin, Delaware, and was Director of Horticulture at Delaware Botanic Garden where he was instrumental in developing the garden’s initial horticultural mission and implementing a two-acre meadow designed by Piet Oudolf. Gregg is co-author (with Ruth Rogers Clausen) of Deer Resistant Native Plants of the Northeast.
HHG Members $30
Non-members $40 (includes admission to the garden)
Hollister House Garden
300 Nettleton Hollow Rd
Washington, CT 06793 United States
Deer Resistant Plants for the Northeast- and Deterrents That Work!
Barn Talk: Flowering Vines
Presented by: Charlie Nardozzi
May 3 10:00 am – 11:30 am
There’s nothing like the stunning beauty of flowering vines. Their height, depth and color add so much visual interest to a landscape. Yet vines are often overlooked as a key component in a garden. Garden expert Charlie Nardozzi will introduce you to a variety of common and uncommon vines including woody vines, perennials and annuals. You will learn how to utilize support structures and provide the necessary care for plant health and maximum blooms. In addition, Charlie will offer some design and companion plant suggestions and share tips for overwintering tender vines. Take your garden vertical this year with flowering vines.
Charlie Nardozzi is a Regional Emmy® award winning, nationally recognized garden writer, speaker, radio, and television personality. He has worked for more than 30 years bringing expert gardening information to home gardeners through radio, television, talks, tours, on-line, and the printed page. Charlie delights in making gardening information simple, easy, fun and accessible to everyone. He’s authored seven gardening books, has three gardening radio shows in New England and a TV gardening segment in his home state of Vermont. He speaks at flower shows, garden clubs and gardening organizations around North America and leads garden tours to Great Britain and Europe as well.
HHG Members: $30
Non-Members: $40 (includes admission to the garden)
Hollister House Garden
300 Nettleton Hollow Rd
Washington, CT 06793 United States
Flowering Vines
Barn Talk: Beyond No-Mow May: Ecological Lawns
Presented by: Thomas Christopher
April 26 10:00 am – 11:30 am
Lawns have long been regarded as eco-villains, but a new generation of grasses and maintenance practices can produce a green lawn that is a contributor to biological diversity, resource sustainability, and carbon sequestration. These new lawns can contribute novel elements of beauty to the home landscape and require less mowing and fertilization. Over the past decade, horticulturist Tom Christopher has been working to return the American lawn to a more environmentally healthy condition. Join him for a tour of these new alternatives – this grass is greener.
Tom Christopher has been designing and maintaining gardens with an environmental emphasis for more than four decades. He is a graduate of the New York Botanical Garden School of Professional Horticulture, and the author of more than a dozen books, including Garden Revolution, the award-winning introduction to ecological gardening that he co-authored with Larry Weaner. Tom produces a weekly podcast and radio program, Growing Greener, that broadcasts on 20 radio stations nationwide and downloads to 12,000 additional listeners every month. He gardens with his wife Suzanne (an environmental scientist at Wesleyan University) in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts where they make vintage hard cider every fall from heirloom apples.
HHG Members: $30
Non-Members: $40 (includes admission to the garden)
Hollister House Garden
300 Nettleton Hollow Rd
Washington, CT 06793 United States
Beyond No-Mow May: Ecological Lawns
Art Workshop: Garden Watercolor Journaling : Tree Studies
Presented by: Betsy Rogers-Knox
April 18 10:00 am – 3:30 pm
Understanding tree structure is the basis for learning to sketch and draw trees correctly. Hollister House Garden provides us with an abundance of beautiful trees as subjects for this enjoyable watercolor journaling workshop. Venture out into the garden with botanical illustrator Betsy Rogers-Knox to practice close observation skills and as you learn to draw different tree trunks, barks, branches and buds. Then return to the barn for step-by-step watercolor lessons. All skill levels are welcome, beginners are encouraged to join!
Bring a bag lunch. Water and snacks provided.
Required Materials: Journal and pen, $30, are required for all new garden journaling students and should be purchased with your reservation. If you participated in a Hollister House Garden journaling workshop previously and wish to use the journal and pen you previously purchased, please be sure to bring them to class.
Betsy Rogers-Knox is an award-winning watercolor artist enchanted by the full lifecycle of plants and their habitats. She holds a certificate in botanical illustration from the New York Botanical Garden. Her work has been widely exhibited and is held in the permanent collection at the Royal Horticultural Society’s Lindley Library in London and at the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation.
HHG Members $90
Non-Members $120
Journal and Pen $30
Hollister House Garden
300 Nettleton Hollow Rd
Washington, CT 06793 United States
Garden Watercolor Journaling : Tree Studies
Opening Day April 16 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Hollister House Garden opens for the season today. We hope you will plan a visit soon!
Opening hours
Wednesday 1-4
Friday 1-4
Saturday 10-4
Hollister House Garden
300 Nettleton Hollow Rd
Washington, CT 06793 United States
Opening Day
Barn Talk: French Twist: Inspiration from the Gardens of Normandy
Presented by: Robert Clyde Anderson
April 12 10:00 am – 11:30 am
The gardens of France are renowned for their formality, precision, and attention to detail. However, the naturalistic design movement that has swept through the gardens of Holland, Germany, Britain, and the U.S. is slowly gaining a following there as well. The result? Gardens with a rich overlay of looser plantings on the classic French aesthetic. Join garden designer Robert Clyde Anderson for inspiration from the gardens of Normandy and see how wild elements are being introduced into formal design frameworks. Discover the intriguing possibilities these design choices open for gardeners looking to combine the naturalistic garden trend with elements of a more traditional landscape.
Following the lecture you are invited to take a sneak-peek at the garden before it opens to the public on April 16.
Robert Clyde Anderson is a garden designer, consultant and writer who found his way to the Hudson Valley after a New York City career in illustration and book design. A native of Louisiana and a lifelong gardener, he has designed and maintained gardens in Columbia County and worked in several area nurseries as well. Robert makes his home in Stuyvesant, NY, where he maintains a two acre “laboratory” garden that includes shrub borders, a sunny terraced xeric garden, a shady wooded streamside area, a moist meadow area, a kitchen garden and a small flock of chickens.
Members $30
Non-members $40
Hollister House Garden
300 Nettleton Hollow Rd
Washington, CT 06793 United States
French Twist: Inspiration from the Gardens of Normandy
Art Workshop: Create a Planting Plan for Your Garden: Live via Zoom, March 6th and 13th
Presented by: Daryl Beyers
Winter is a wonderful time to dream up ideas for the garden. Now turn your ideas into a practical and actionable garden plan ready to plant this spring! Join us for a live, 2-session course delivered on-line via ZOOM. Garden designer, author and New York Botanical Garden instructor Daryl Beyers will guide you through the process of designing your own detailed planting plan for a 100 square foot garden space. You will explore basic garden design principles and learn how to get your ideas clearly down on paper. Between sessions, you will use these new skills to draw your own garden design plan and generate a detailed plant shopping list. All students will have the opportunity to present their designs in the final session for valuable instructor and peer feedback. You will leave the class with a personalized planting plan and plant shopping list ready to implement this spring or further refine at home. Class size limited to 15.
This is a two-part, LIVE class via ZOOM. Students will receive their log-in information one week prior to class.
Class Dates:
Thursday, March 6th 6pm – 8:30pm EST | Session 1: Site Assessment, Plant Selection and Garden Design and Lay-out
Thursday March 13th 6pm to 8:30pm EDT| Session 2: Garden Bed Preparation, Planting and Design Feedback Session
HHG Members $125
Non-members $145
Virtual
Create a Planting Plan for Your Garden: Live via Zoom, March 6th and 13th
