2013 Post Meeting Tour of Hudson River Valley

2013 ACS Post-Conference Tour
Historic Hudson River Valley
Join us for a four-day, three-night tour into the scenic grandeur and natural beauty of this historic river valley, home to
the influential 19th and 20th-century gardeners who developed the American garden and landscape tradition. We will
also have a chance to savor some of the delicious farm-to-table fare of this major food growing and food producing
region.
Sunday, August 11 Our bus will take us from the Holiday Inn in Mt. Kisco up Route 9 along the Hudson River, with
beautiful views on both sides. Our first stop is Storm King Art Center, an open-air museum and the largest scupture
park in the US, which celebrates the relationship between art and nature with works by many of the twentieth
century’s most influential sculptors displayed on 500 acres of landscaped fields and woodlands. Then we will visit
Innisfree Garden, a powerful icon in 20th-century landscape design over fifty years in the making. A site-specific
distillation of Modernist ideas with traditional Chinese and Japanese garden design principles, the result is a distinctly
American stroll garden on 185-acres surrounding a large, glacial lake—a sublime landscape of rock, water, wood, and
sky. A short drive away is Madava Maple Farm, where we will enjoy a farm-to-table early evening dinner. Each
week's menu features seasonal ingredients from Madava's own rustic chef's garden and other local farm partners.
Monday, August 12 This morning we drive an hour to Stonecrop Gardens, originally the home of Frank Cabot,
founder of the Garden Conservancy. At its windswept elevation of 1,100 feet in the Hudson Highlands Stonecrop's
display gardens comprise a diverse collection of gardens and plants including woodland and water gardens, a grass
garden, raised alpine stone beds, cliff rock gardens, and an enclosed English-style flower garden. A short drive takes
us to Boscobel Restoration, an elegant early 19th-century Federal-style mansion. Boscobel's gardens include a formal
rose garden an apple orchard, an herb garden, an orangery, and a woodland trail. A large lawn in front of the Federal
period mansion offers a dramatic vista of the Hudson River, and it is where we will be having our picnic lunch. The
Village of Nyack, on the banks of the Hudson, is a Victorian-era town filled with intriguing shops and restaurants. It
was also the home of actress Helen Hayes, and her home has been lovingly restored over the past few years by its
current owner to include a superb specimen conifer collection. Numerous cultivars of fir, spruce, juniper, pine,
sequoia, hemlock, cedar, false cypress, and more have been shipped from Bloom River Gardens in the Pacific
Northwest and artistically placed in their new home overlooking the Hudson River.
Tuesday, August 13 Closer to our hotel, we will visit two private gardens. A 13-acre estate in Greenwich, CT, a
work-in-progress, is a collaboration between a passionate gardener and a renowned landscape architect. It includes
massive rock outcroppings towering above a natural stream, world-class sculpture, a Chinese pavilion and a secret
grotto, all tied together by a “Golden Path” meandering through the woodland landscape. A walled vegetable garden,
greenhouse, and both formal and informal plantings dazzle the eye. The second garden in Pleasantville, NY is
lovingly tended by its owner, Jean Nonna, who designed and planted the garden and maintains it herself. After years
of collecting she has acquired a large and varied dwarf conifer garden, as well as a Japanese maple collection, and a
varied selection of shrubs. Divided into theme gardens that include a miniature, white, fern, and hosta and Asian
garden, the natural rock formations and garden ornaments lend interest and beauty to her work. Then our bus will take
us into New York City to view the innovative and surprising High Line. The one-mile linear park is built on the
former elevated rail line which runs along the lower west side of Manhattan. The park's attractions include naturalized
plantings that are inspired by the self-seeded landscape that grew on the disused tracks and new, often unexpected
views of the city and the Hudson River. That evening, we will embark on a 3-hour private dinner cruise on the
Hudson River to better view Manhattan's skyline, its famous landmarks, as well as the newly restored wterfront
gardens at the tip of Manhattan.
Wednesday, August 14 After breakfast, a short drive takes us to Kykuit, also known as the Rockefeller Estate, built
by oil tycoon, John D. Rockefeller. It is one of the preeminent Hudson Valley landmarks, known for its architecture,
remarkable gardens, art, history, and spectacular scenery. Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture, once part
of the Rockefeller estate, promotes sustainable, community-based food production. It was established by David
Rockefeller as a memorial to his wife, Peggy. The site is the home of the celebrated restaurant, Blue Hill at Stone
Barns whose chef, Dan Barber, is one of the leading proponents of local, sustainable cooking. Our group will have an
intimate, behind-the-scenes tour and enjoy a buffet lunch provided by the award-winning Blue Hill Café. Our tour
ends as the bus takes us back to the Holiday Inn in late afternoon.
Please Note: Our hotel is the Holiday Inn at Mt Kisco, the same hotel used for the National Meeting. However, you
must make your own reservations for the post-tour. See registration form for details.
For additional information contact Melanie Wyler at melanie.wyler@gmail.com or 203-222-1817.