Dear Friends of Untermyer Gardens,
While one may marvel at the fabulous autumnal weather this year, the fact is, we are well into a severe drought, which has placed a big burden on the gardeners to keep our plants hydrated, happy, and healthy. Interestingly, the trees have responded to the stress with especially vibrant foliage.
While one may marvel at the fabulous autumnal weather this year, the fact is, we are well into a severe drought, which has placed a big burden on the gardeners to keep our plants hydrated, happy, and healthy. Interestingly, the trees have responded to the stress with especially vibrant foliage.
As the year winds down, we thank our wonderful volunteers, who now number more than 200. They wear many hats—as weekend greeters, garden class participants, docents, school tour leaders, concert aides, Illumination greeters, database maintainers, and more. Their collective work is of enormous value to the Conservancy: it underpins our every accomplishment. We celebrate and thank them every year at our Volunteer Party in the late fall. Here is a photograph from that event.
Before our weekend greeters went off duty at the start of November until the spring, they used a clicker to count every visitor to the garden. From April to October, weekend visitation was 128,279 in 2024; it was 69,886 in 2023. Our rule of thumb is to double that number to capture estimated weekday attendance and arrive at total visitation—256,558 for the year so far. We expect to welcome about 35,000 people to our annual Grand Holiday Illumination, which would translate to about 290,000 visitors in 2024. Not bad, compared to 170,855 last year and a mere 5,000 in 2011!
Our Grand Holiday Illumination is only three and a half weeks away, and we are on the lookout for a holiday tree to be installed in the center of the Walled Garden. Every year, we have been fortunate to receive a tree donated by a local homeowner, often because the tree has become too big for their property. We need an evergreen tree around 21–25 feet tall that will fit through the Walled Garden gate. If you have or know of a tree that might be donated, please contact Timothy Tilghman at [email protected] or 845-642-3688; he will meet with you to evaluate the tree’s suitability.
Our Grand Holiday Illumination is only three and a half weeks away, and we are on the lookout for a holiday tree to be installed in the center of the Walled Garden. Every year, we have been fortunate to receive a tree donated by a local homeowner, often because the tree has become too big for their property. We need an evergreen tree around 21–25 feet tall that will fit through the Walled Garden gate. If you have or know of a tree that might be donated, please contact Timothy Tilghman at [email protected] or 845-642-3688; he will meet with you to evaluate the tree’s suitability.
Our Illumination features more than 100,000 lights draped over the magnificent architectural and horticultural features of our Indo-Persian Walled Garden. We install them ourselves, which takes the gardeners about three full weeks, followed by their disassembly during much of January. Once again, students from Saunders High School in Yonkers will be fabricating framework for a new light display on the lower terrace. It’s quite an operation!
Kind regards,
Stephen F. Byrns
President
Stephen F. Byrns
President
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