Double Take

Dear Friends of Untermyer Gardens,

​We are so looking forward to welcoming many of you to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Conservancy at our Sunset Soirée on Tuesday, September 14. The garden will be at its absolute peak and will surely take your breath away. Please consider attending or supporting our most important fundraiser of the year.

Every once in a while, our gardener-cum-photographer John Jacono spies something that would have been missed by most of us. Take a look at this deceptive upside-down reflection in the north pool of the two sphinxes on top of paired columns magically framed by the blue blooms of caryopteris.

The latest addition to our Family Adventure Tour series—the Vista and the Ruin Garden—includes an unusual acoustical experience. The new concave/convex stair at the Vegetable Garden produces a dramatic echo in your inner ear when you speak while standing in the center of the circular landing. Kids and adults alike do a double take when this happens—it’s almost spooky!

Our historic Kousa dogwood in the meadow is putting forth a display of bright red fruit that is quite dramatic. When I first saw it, I thought it was showing some early fall coloring. This tree truly performs year-round, with beautiful spring flowers, brilliant summer fruit, intense fall color, and beautiful marbled bark in the winter.

Last week we experienced a record deluge of biblical proportions. Thankfully, our trees and beds were spared, but the paths and carriage trail suffered major damage. And this setback came just ten days after the previous record-setter.

Our final performance of the Minnie Untermyer Concert Series, on Saturday, September 25, will be a return appearance of Lori Belilove and the Isadora Duncan Dance Company, which was a smash hit last year. I can think of no better way to spend a beautiful early fall afternoon in the garden.