<![CDATA[Untermyer Gardens Conservancy

<![CDATA[Untermyer Gardens Conservancy - Newsletters]]>Fri, 13 Mar 2026 19:47:43 -0400Weebly<![CDATA[Arctic Winter]]>Wed, 28 Jan 2026 05:00:00 GMThttps://www.untermyergardens.org/newsletters/arctic-winterJanuary 28, 2026

Dear Friends of Untermyer Gardens,
I for one do not mind an old-time arctic winter, especially the magical transformation that snow brings. Think of it as an adventure to be savored—though for some, ideally from the inside looking out! And don’t forget that you can get a suntan from the reflected snow while outside.

But with cold weather, we need to take special measures to keep the water from freezing in the Persian Pool. It’s critical to protect its beautifully restored mosaics, which can be damaged when freezing water causes the tesserae to buckle. The water in the pool is heated to some extent, but the other solution is to install temporary sump pumps, which activate and bubble the surface of the water. Though a bit unsightly, they are low-tech, inexpensive, and do the trick.

We are mindful of the fragile state of the retaining wall that supports the lower carriage trail immediately above the Old Croton Aqueduct, a New York State park. Its poor condition threatens both the carriage trail and the aqueduct below, so we have been deliberately setting aside funds to enable a replacement, hopefully in 2027. These efforts have taken a great leap forward with two recent grants from our devoted public officials, State Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins ($500,000) and State Assemblyman Nader Sayegh ($125,000). This is a critical, complex project, and their support is pivotal and deeply appreciated. Please give them your hearty thanks when you next see them.

I confess to being a bit of a Luddite when it comes to technological bells and whistles. This newsletter may be digital, but it is written by me with the help of others. Old-fashioned low-tech suits me just fine. However, my tech-savvier readers might like to download a digital wallpaper for their mobile and desktop devices, featuring pictures taken by our peerless gardener-photographer John Jacono.

Our Winter Lecture is fast approaching on Tuesday, February 10, at 6:00 p.m. at the Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church in Manhattan. Drew Schuyler, our excellent Assistant Head Gardener, is a brilliant horticulturist and a compelling speaker. Inspired by his in-depth five-week exposure to the gardens of Japan last fall, he will offer a rare look at these beautiful landscapes from a gardener’s point of view. Tickets are available here.

Timothy Tilghman is here with a video to discuss unusual tools that aid in accuracy and also save labor.

Kind regards,
Stephen F. Byrns, President

]]><![CDATA[Ring in the New]]>Wed, 07 Jan 2026 21:18:27 GMThttps://www.untermyergardens.org/newsletters/ring-in-the-newJanuary 7, 2026

Dear Friends of Untermyer Gardens,

As we ring in the New Year, I’m especially pleased to welcome Michele Rossetti to join us as Executive Director. While I will remain as President, working part time, Michele will manage our operations and our partnership with the City of Yonkers. (You can read more about Michele here.)

A few weeks ago, we inaugurated a new tradition: the first alumni reunion of our high school interns. Since launching our Youth Horticultural Initiative in 2019, we have provided paid internships to a total of 80 Yonkers public high school students who worked in teams alongside our gardeners, supervised by Liz Dreeben and John Jacono. It was a life-changing experience for them, and many have maintained close bonds. Look at this group of smiling gardeners-in-training!

This year’s Illumination was our most spectacular ever, but the weather was very cold, which made the hot chocolate even more appreciated. The snow on the ground was a classic wintry touch, but it forced the gardeners to do massive shoveling and plowing not once but three times! The new Grand March delighted all, young and old, and helped to keep our blood flowing during the arctic temperatures.

We are so grateful to our Illumination sponsors: Yonkers Economic Development Corporation, ArtsWestchester, AVR Realty Company, ENT & Allergy Associates, Macquesten Development, Montefiore Einstein, Schildwachter Oil, Sound Associates, St. John’s Riverside Hospital, and Orange Bank & Trust Company.

In addition, our hearty thanks go to all the community groups who generously volunteered to greet visitors and serve the hot chocolate at the Illumination, which ran for thirty nights this year, a record. They were expertly coordinated by Maura May, our devoted Education and Volunteer Coordinator.

The snow in the garden is one of winter’s most magical treats. Its juxtaposition with our strong architecture is an added highlight, which you can savor when walking around. And the barren trees have opened up views of the river and the Palisades. Bundle up and come for a visit, but please check our website first to be sure the garden is open. At times, we may need to close temporarily to allow the gardeners to remove ice and snow.

Our annual Winter Lecture is approaching, and this year our assistant head gardener, Drew Schuyler, will speak about Japanese gardens. Drew received a prestigious Chanticleer Scholarship, which allowed him to immerse himself in the gardens of Japan over five weeks last fall. He will share his observations and his design insights with us. The lecture will take place on Tuesday, February 10, at 6:00 p.m. at the Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, followed by a wine and cheese reception. Tickets are available here.

Kind Regards,

Stephen F. Byrns, President

]]><![CDATA[Grand Holiday Illumination]]>Wed, 26 Nov 2025 16:52:08 GMThttps://www.untermyergardens.org/newsletters/grand-holiday-illumination6915547Dear Friends of Untermyer Gardens,

I am pleased to share the details below for our tenth annual Grand Holiday Illumination, a joyous community celebration that is free to all. The Walled Garden will be aglow with thousands of lights as seasonal music from many cultural traditions resounds and visitors warm themselves with complimentary hot chocolate served by friendly volunteers.

This year, the Conservancy is establishing a new tradition—the Grand March—which will take place most nights at 6:30 p.m. (see schedule on website) on the lower terrace lawn, weather permitting. Lasting about ten minutes, this guided line dance is appropriate for all ages and promises to be a fun experience that adds warmth and camaraderie to the evening. The dance will be accompanied by lively march music as participants form twosomes, foursomes, a tunnel, a spiral, and a runaround.

We are grateful to the Yonkers Economic Development Corporation for their leadership support of the Illumination and to all our sponsors: ArtsWestchester, AVR Realty Company, ENT & Allergy Associates, MacQuesten Development, LLC, Montefiore Einstein, Schildwachter Fuel Oil, St. John’s Riverside Hospital, Sound Associates, Inc., and Orange Bank & Trust Company.

The Illumination opens on Saturday, December 6 at 5:30 p.m. It will then run daily December 7 through January 4 from 4:30 to 8:00 p.m. Please join us.

Kind regards,

Stephen F. Byrns, President

]]><![CDATA[New Sculptures]]>Wed, 05 Nov 2025 05:00:00 GMThttps://www.untermyergardens.org/newsletters/newsletter-11525November 5, 2025

Dear Friends of Untermyer Gardens,

Recently, we dedicated seven large bronze busts of Hudson River School painters by the noted sculptor Greg Wyatt against a stupendous backdrop of the Hudson River and Palisades in the Long Garden. Depicting Thomas Cole, Frederic E. Church, Jasper Cropsey, Thomas Moran, Asher B. Durand, Albert Bierstadt, and Sanford R. Gifford, the impressive ensemble is punctuated by our two towering ancient Roman columns at the Vista Overlook. A most generous gift of the Newington-Cropsey Foundation, they recall the artistic displays that peppered the landscape in Samuel Untermyer’s time. An engraved label on the back of each sculpture provides a detailed biography of the artist.

Earlier this week, the Untermyer Gardens Conservancy received the 2025 Excellence in Historic Preservation Award, which was presented by the Preservation League of New York State, the state’s leading preservation organization. It honored the Conservancy’s role in the metamorphosis of Untermyer Gardens over the past fifteen years and continues the regional and national recognition we have received. Samuel Untermyer’s ambition for the garden was grand, and so is ours.

With colder weather setting in, winter preparations are underway in the garden. Tropical plants are being moved indoors, annuals are being cut down, the cascades and canals will soon be drained, and our intrepid volunteer greeters are off duty until the spring. We are blessed with a huge community of volunteers who help in so many ways, and at the end of the season we celebrate them at our annual Volunteer Party. Look at all these happy faces!

Our high school interns conducted the last harvest in the Vegetable Garden, and it was quite a haul. They were the third cohort this year and did an outstanding job. The garden now looks somewhat bare, but its underlying geometry is still quite interesting.

Work on the Stumpery has picked up speed. The gardeners and garden class members have planted about 200 woody plants, and our creative masons went to town building ten whimsical stone cairns. Some of them contain bits of flotsam that have been recovered from the garden over the years. The Stumpery will be one of the most distinctive and original features of the garden, and I believe it will be the largest in the world when it’s completed.

Timothy Tilghman is here to share how he and his team go about installing the Grand Holiday Illumination – it’s quite an operation!

Kind regards,

Stephen F. Byrns, President

]]><![CDATA[Good News]]>Tue, 28 Oct 2025 04:00:00 GMThttps://www.untermyergardens.org/newsletters/good-newsOctober 28, 2025

Dear Friends of Untermyer Gardens,

It’s amazing to think it was nearly 15 years ago that I started the Untermyer Gardens Conservancy, when the garden was just a shadow of its former self. To date, about two-thirds of the garden has been gloriously restored and is now appreciated by 300,000 visitors every year. The combination of sophisticated horticulture married to monumental architecture is hard to beat, especially when accompanied by a compelling historical narrative and an incredible view.

To date we have restored four of Samuel Untermyer’s original gardens—the Walled Garden, the Vista, the Rock and Stream Garden, and the Temple of Love. We have reimagined two gardens that reference earlier ones—the Ornamental Vegetable Garden and Orchard and the Rhododendron Walk. We have created three wholly new garden features that are evolving beautifully—the Ruin Garden, the Meadow, and the Stumpery.

Alongside the garden’s rebirth, we have introduced a rich array of classes, tours, and music and dance performances. Our dazzling Grand Holiday Illumination, now in its tenth year (and also free to the public), has become a cherished multicultural holiday tradition. And our outreach to the Yonkers Public Schools is growing rapidly, with more than 1,600 students visiting this year.

This is a project like no other, and it has seized the imagination and passion of so many people. Our team of gardeners has grown from the one and only (literally!) Timothy Tilghman to eleven this year. Just as Timothy found he needed more hands to care for the garden, I gradually brought in more hands to help me manage an organization that now raises more than $2 million every year to operate the garden and run our many programs.

I am delighted to report that Michele Rossetti will become the Conservancy’s first Executive Director on January 2. Michele is well known in and knowledgeable about the world of public gardens, having spent 29 years at nearby Wave Hill, nine of them as Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. A lifelong Yonkers resident and longtime friend to the garden, she has generously assisted us behind the scenes over the years. She will bring managerial expertise, extensive experience in education and outreach, and fresh insights to enrich the formula that has served us so well. As she takes on the role of managing our operations and our partnership with the City of Yonkers, Michele will help propel us to an even higher level.

I have known Michele since 2000, so our mutual respect is deep. As a trusted partner, Michele will allow me to reduce my workload as I pursue an ambitious goal: to drive the completion of the final third of the garden’s reinvention with the critical fundraising this entails. There is much work ahead—renovations (the Color Gardens, the Long Garden, the Sun Dial Garden), innovations (the Quiet Garden), and building and rebuilding infrastructure essential to sustain the garden in its next century.

Stephen F. Byrns, President; Michele Rossetti, Executive Director; and Peter Boodell, Chair

I will continue as President, at my same desk by the window, but my presence will be somewhat less constant. And it will be my pleasure to continue to write this newsletter as long as you continue to read it!
Meanwhile, thank you for the role you have played in making Untermyer Gardens one of America’s finest gardens once again. I hope Michele and I, together with our board of directors, can count on your continued support during the Conservancy’s next exciting phase.

Kind regards,

Stephen F. Byrns, President

]]><![CDATA[Understory Plants]]>Thu, 16 Oct 2025 04:00:00 GMThttps://www.untermyergardens.org/newsletters/understory-plantsOctober 16, 2025

Dear Friends of Untermyer Gardens,

Fall is the best time to plant trees and shrubs, given its milder temperatures. A top priority for us is the Stumpery, where hundreds of understory plants are now going into the ground, such as bottlebrush buckeye, shadbush, chokeberry, buttonbush, redbud, dogwood, clethra, bush honeysuckle, witch hazel, holly, and more! They will complement the primary trees that were planted last year and will be followed by thousands of herbaceous and ephemeral plants in the years to come.

One of the outstanding features of Untermyer Gardens is its topography, which offers views that overlook the lower levels and architecturally interesting stairs to traverse, though some find them precarious. In addition to the array of accessible ramps that are being installed this year, we have added more handrails at some of the stairs. Here is one at the amphitheater, which will come in handy for many people attending our concerts.

We were excited to see the recent installation of seven larger than life bronze busts of Hudson River School painters by the internationally noted sculptor Greg Wyatt. Representing Thomas Cole, Frederic Church, Jasper Cropsey, Thomas Moran, Asher Durand, Albert Bierstadt, and Sanford Gifford, they anchor a future garden to be called the Long Garden, next to the Vegetable Garden. I love how their placement reinforces the existing geometry and complements the ancient Roman columns. The presence of the Hudson River in the background couldn’t be more appropriate. Greg Wyatt’s Peace Fountain at St. John the Divine in New York City is well known, as are his sculptures at Arlington National Cemetery and around the world. The sculptures are the generous gift of the Newington-Cropsey Foundation, located in nearby Hastings-on-Hudson.

Every year, one of my favorite autumnal activities is to lead a tour of Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, whose culmination of course is the Untermyer Memorial, where members of the family are buried. Woodlawn is one of the great cemeteries of the world, with splendid architecture, sculpture, stained glass, and towering trees. Like Untermyer Gardens, it is one of a kind! The tour will include a visit to the interior of the Collis Huntington mausoleum as well as the burial sites of Admiral David Farragut, R. H. Macy, William Earl Dodge, and Leopold Damrosch, among many others. Fall will be at its peak color, and tickets are available here.

Our annual Family Fun Day last week was our best ever, with perfect weather making it a big hit for the kids and their parents. Animals, magic, art, picnicking on the grass, and sundry games were enjoyed by all.

Kind regards,

Stephen F. Byrns, President

]]><![CDATA[Last Hurrah]]>Tue, 30 Sep 2025 04:00:00 GMThttps://www.untermyergardens.org/newsletters/last-hurrahSeptember 30, 2025

Dear Friends of Untermyer Gardens,

As we move ahead into autumn, it is time to give thanks to our outstanding team of gardeners. Their skills become ever sharper, and their work ethic is unsurpassed. You need only tour around the garden to see the exacting level of maintenance they provide. Led by Timothy Tilghman, we thank them for an outstanding year and look forward to a burst of planting during the cooler days ahead.

The Stumpery is the scene of much activity right now as a series of stone cairns is being assembled as a counterpoint to the plethora of stumps accentuating the landscape. They will house a surprising water feature, to be revealed next spring. Also underway is the installation of a whimsical rustic seating area that will overlook the entire Stumpery, perhaps one day with a subtle river view!

My favorite horticultural “last hurrah” of the season is the panorama of asters sweeping down the hillside adjacent to the Temple of Love cascades. Short, medium, tall—they are often covered with pollinators greedily ingesting the tasty offerings of the flowers. Yum-yum, they seem to say!

The grasses in the ziggurat beds flanking the Persian Pool are quite dense and shaggy now. While their geometric pattern is a bit blurred at the moment, they make a novel statement where one would expect to find a planting of flowers. It’s nice to be surprised.

Please note that our annual Family Fun Day will take place on Sunday, October 5. This is a great opportunity to bring children to the garden for a picnic on the grass, a magic show, a visiting menagerie of pettable animals, art projects, a scavenger hunt, and more in a magical setting. Much of the Walled Garden will be reserved for you and your little ones, so please indulge them.

Timothy Tilghman is back to share progress in the Stumpery.

Kind regards,

Stephen F. Byrns, President

]]><![CDATA[No Goats]]>Wed, 17 Sep 2025 04:00:00 GMThttps://www.untermyergardens.org/newsletters/no-goats9490978September 17, 2025

Dear Friends of Untermyer Gardens,

I am pleased to say we are making great strides in our goal to make more of the garden accessible to more people. Thanks to the generous response to the paddle raise at our Sunset Soirée in June, we have now installed a gently sloping paved path to the lower terrace entrance to the Walled Garden. For the first time, visitors who rely on wheelchairs or other assisting devices can get close to the restored Persian Pool, as well as the lower terrace’s stunning views and plantings. Soon, a steel ramp to the loggia will allow access to the spectacular view from the top of the Vista.

I recently learned that the gardeners are trying an experiment to eradicate a giant thicket of Japanese knotweed at the lowest stretch of the future meadow. There is no easy fix, and I have read that public parks and gardens spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to get rid of it. Or they bring in a herd of goats for many months. Our solution is regular mowing, which robs the knotweed of needed photosynthesis, thereby greatly weakening it and enabling other plants to take over. We shall see what happens …

The Conservancy has worked for 14 years to restore a ruined landscape that is now looking quite spectacular. While I believe that we are about two-thirds of the way to total restoration, what has been accomplished has seized the imagination of the public. So it is with real pride that we learned that we have won an award from the Preservation League of New York State, to be presented in November. Here is the press release.

While the garden is friendly to families every day, our special annual family event is coming up in three weeks on Sunday, October 5. Family Fun Day will take place in the Walled Garden, where picnic lunches will be permitted for one day only. Come see the magic show in the amphitheater, followed by a chance to cozy up to a variety of pettable animals from the Nature Center at Greenburgh. There will be a scavenger hunt, a creative recycled art activity, sea creature tattoos, and story time.

The final two Minnie Untermyer concerts are just around the corner and offer a splendid opportunity to experience early fall in the garden at its peak. Returning are Tom Gold Dance on Saturday, September 20, and Marc Molomot & Friends on Saturday, September 27, performing selections from The Great American Songbook and art songs. I hope you will join us.

Kind regards,

Stephen F. Byrns, President

]]><![CDATA[Every Nook and Cranny]]>Thu, 28 Aug 2025 04:00:00 GMThttps://www.untermyergardens.org/newsletters/every-nook-and-crannyDear Friends of Untermyer Gardens,

I encourage you to block out a bigger chunk of time than usual so you can enjoy a truly comprehensive experience on your next visit. So many people say that each time they come, they are surprised at the new things they discover in every nook and cranny. For instance, take a look at the castor beans in the pots in the amphitheater. The scale of the leaves works well in this monumental setting.

Or enter the magical world we call Drewtopia at the north loggia of the lower terrace in the Walled Garden. Pots of all kinds display an amazing array of tree ferns, staghorn ferns, bromeliads, palms, and various succulents. At the center is the Apollo Belvedere, a replacement for the one Samuel Untermyer once had.

Construction work continues, with new concrete gutters along the carriage trail below the meadow. This completes the first third of an extensive restoration of the trail and its drainage system.

As you enter the Walled Garden, take a moment to sniff the aroma of caramel, almost like cotton candy, emitted by the aging leaves of our magnificent Katsura trees. It is a seasonal thing, only during late summer, so enjoy it while it lasts.

The last segment of the Minnie Untermyer concerts is approaching. Our first ever presentation of folk music will feature the renowned Tom Chapin on Sunday, September 7. He will be followed by Tom Gold Dance on Saturday, September 20, unveiling an original new dance on our new floor surface. Our final performance will feature Marc Molomot & Friends, who will sing from The Great American Songbook as well as art songs on Saturday, September 27. All three concerts will take place at 5:00 p.m.

Warm regards,

Stephen F. Byrns, President

P.S. I’d like to plug my special VIP President’s Tour on Sunday, September 7, giving a deep dive into all things Untermyer, including some snacks!

]]><![CDATA[Slime Mold]]>Thu, 07 Aug 2025 04:00:00 GMThttps://www.untermyergardens.org/newsletters/big-newsDear Friends of Untermyer Gardens,

Part of the rhythmic horticultural structure of the Walled Garden are the upright, fastigiate European beeches that line the paths flanking the canals. They echo the smaller trees from Samuel Untermyer’s day and add dignity to the magisterial Persian layout. Their downside is the extensive annual pruning required to keep them in proportion to the garden. The gardeners, of course, are up to the task with the help of tall ladders and pruners.

Despite my deep familiarity with the garden, there are times when I am pleasantly caught by surprise. Timothy Tilghman and I recently went on a vehicular expedition through the garden that took us down to the evolving stumpery. Last year, when the gardeners removed some undergrowth near the carriage trail, they discovered two linked pits, whose purpose remains unclear.

Timothy took a shine to them and cleaned them out, while mentioning a desire to do something “woody” there. Voilà! A most interesting basketweave of branches is now being assembled around the pits. Timothy calls it our “dead hedge,” and best of all, it was built by our high school interns, sometimes using branches from the pruned beeches in the Walled Garden.

Thankfully, climate change has not yet dried up Yonkers, which has received a good amount of rain this year. Visible in various areas in the woods are what appear to be small pools of vomit (sorry to be so blunt). Not a pretty picture, but what is it? According to Timothy, what we are looking at is slime mold.

Our last concert for August will feature Sonnambula in a performance of early music on Sunday, August 10, at 5:00 p.m. There will be a harpsichord, a viola da gamba, and a violin—good stuff! Looking ahead to September, we will offer three concerts: the folk singer Tom Chapin on September 7, Tom Gold Dance on September 20, and Marc Molomot and friends on September 27.

Our gardeners John Jacono and Liz Dreeben are co-leaders of our Youth Horticultural Initiative, which receives critical support from the Thomas and Agnes Carvel Foundation, the St. Faith’s House Foundation, Con Edison, and CDBG/HUD. In this video they will talk about developments in the ornamental vegetable garden, along with our latest team of Yonkers high school interns. As a teaser, here is a photo of an artichoke flower!

Warm regards,
Stephen F. Byrns, President

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