Dear Friends of Untermyer Gardens,
Snow is the gift of winter I love most. The transformed landscape with trees brilliantly etched against the sky never fails to thrill me, particularly when I wake up and look out the window. But snow can tell stories that confuse and perplex. We were quite mystified recently by tracks in the snow that wandered all around the garden; we think it might have been an injured animal.
Snow is the gift of winter I love most. The transformed landscape with trees brilliantly etched against the sky never fails to thrill me, particularly when I wake up and look out the window. But snow can tell stories that confuse and perplex. We were quite mystified recently by tracks in the snow that wandered all around the garden; we think it might have been an injured animal.
Work will soon commence on rebuilding the crenellated parapet of the Walled Garden’s entrance tower. Water has been seeping into the masonry and causing significant damage when it freezes during the winter. A new roof and through wall flashing will be installed as well. This scaffolding signals the new work is about to begin.
A little-known fact about our one-room office is that we rarely need to turn on the lights, thanks to very generous windows on two exposures. I believe that we have become accustomed to way too much artificial light. Many years ago, I visited Sagamore Hill, Teddy Roosevelt’s home in Cove Neck, New York, and noted the soft light there. It was calming and enhanced the rich colors. Plus, it’s more natural--try it sometime!
Last year, one of our two offsite greenhouses collapsed, along with its retaining wall. This was a catastrophic loss, forcing us to build a replacement as soon as possible. We raised a significant portion of the budget at our Soirée paddle raise and are scrambling to rearrange our current capital spending so construction can begin. The silver lining will be that the new greenhouse will be here at Untermyer Gardens rather than at Trevor Park, over a mile away.
Here's the last call for my Winter Lecture about The Alhambra, which takes place in Manhattan a little more than a week from now. It is one of the great gardens of Europe and an inspiration for Untermyer Gardens. There will be a reception afterward, and it would be great to see many of you.
Timothy Tilghman concludes his horticultural life story in this video, the second of two parts. (Part One may be found here.)
Warm regards,
Stephen F. Byrns
President
Stephen F. Byrns
President
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