Preserving America's Exceptional Gardens
New Ruth Bancroft Garden Manager
August 27, 2010
Charlotte Blome joined the Ruth Bancroft Garden as garden manager in May,2010.
Distinguished Garden Properties for Sale
August 27, 2010
As part of our mission to preserve America’s exceptional gardens, the Garden Conservancy periodically helps spread the word of gardens in need of new owners who appreciate their artistic and horticultural value.
Kentucky Botanical Garden and Arboretum launches membership program
August 27, 2010
In June 2010, Kentucky Botanical Garden and Arboretum celebrated the first anniversary of launching a very successful membership program.
Garden Conservancy receives top Charity Navigator rating
July 20, 2010
For the fifth consecutive year, the Garden Conservancy has received a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator, America's largest independent evaluator of charities.
Memorial Event Honors Emmott and Ione Chase
June 17, 2010
Revitalization at Elizabeth Lawrence Garden
June 11, 2010
A progress report from the Garden Conservancy’s ninth Marco Polo Stufano Fellow, Katie Mullen, who has just finished her stint at the Elizabeth Lawrence Garden in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Yew Dell Opens New Visitor Center
June 10, 2010
Sculpture Show Coincides with Grand Opening of Yew Dell Visitor Center
Louisiana Iris Collection Restored
June 10, 2010
Signature collection of 2,000 Lousiana irises fully restored at Longue Vue House and Gardens after devastation of Hurricane Katrina
Gardens, Golf & George
May 18, 2010
The Garden Conservancy gratefully acknowledges the hundreds of contributors who made the April 20 evening, Gardens, Golf & George, a resounding success and established the George W. Rowe Education Fund.
Join the Garden Conservancy’s Open Days Program for a Season of Exploring Gardens
April 23, 2010
Celebrating our fifteenth anniversary in 2010, the Garden Conservancy’s Open Days program offers thousands of people across the country hundreds of opportunities to learn and exchange gardening ideas—or to simply explore and enjoy magnificent gardens and spaces not normally open to the public.
Partnership Award for Gardens of Alcatraz
February 23, 2010
The restoration of the Gardens of Alcatraz won first place for a Partnership Program/Project.
Emmott Chase dies at age 99
February 19, 2010
The Garden Conservancy mourns the loss of T. Emmott Chase on January 17, at the age of 99, just a few months shy of his 100th birthday.
New Executive Director at Longue Vue House & Gardens
January 8, 2010
Longue Vue House & Gardens, a Preservation Project of the Garden Conservancy since 2006, has appointed a new Executive Director, Joe Baker.
Garden Conservancy Honored for Organizational Excellence
December 18, 2009
On October 15, the National Trust for Historic Preservation presented its Trustees Award for Organizational Excellence to the Garden Conservancy, the nation's first group dedicated to preserving gardens.
Alcatraz Project Wins Two California Preservation Awards
December 3, 2009
The Garden Conservancy’s Alcatraz Historic Gardens Project received two prestigious awards from the California Preservation Foundation on September 19, 2009.
Heritage Landscapes Receives Excellence Award for Work on Longue Vue House & Gardens Renewal Plan
October 30, 2009
Heritage Landscapes in Charlotte, Vermont, has been awarded the Vermont Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects 2009 Jury’s Excellence Award for their work on a renewal plan for Longue Vue House & Gardens in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Intern to Document Pearl Fryar Topiary Garden
September 2, 2009
Lindsey Kerr of Athens, Georgia will complete a 12-week research assignment in Bishopville, South Carolina.
Garden Conservancy’s Open Days Program Features Edible Gardens
April 14, 2009
The 2009 season of The Garden Conservancy’s Open Days Program offers more than 300 private gardens to visit in twenty-three states, and nearly twenty-five percent of these include edibles as part of their landscape.
Claire Sawyers Co-Chairs Screening Committee
April 10, 2009
"The people-garden interaction is what is most interesting and satisfying for me. What other organization has better potential to do that than the Garden Conservancy?” -Claire Sawyers, director of the Scott Arboretum of Swarthmore College since 1990 and a member of the Garden Conservancy Screening Committee since 1994
In Memoriam: Carola Ashford
February 1, 2009
The Garden Conservancy mourns the passing of Carola Ashford. Carola, the Garden Conservancy’s energetic and passionate project manager for the Alcatraz Gardens project, died February 24, 2009.
Garden Conservancy’s Open Days Directory is the Essential Tool for Gardeners
January 13, 2009
Cold Spring, New York --- Since 1995, the Garden Conservancy’s Open Days Program has been unlocking the gates to hundreds of America’s private gardens. Our Open Days Directory has become the essential tool for the public to learn about and gain access to great examples of outstanding American gardens.
Ruth Bancroft and Her Garden: A Centennial Celebration
January 1, 2009
“Ruth has never been one to shy away from prickly plants,” remarked Brian Kemble, Director of Horticulture at the Ruth Bancroft Garden...
Open Days Supports Garden Preservation
January 1, 2009
From coast to coast, the Open Days 2008 season was a delight for tens of thousands of garden enthusiasts and a boon for preservation efforts at a number of exceptional gardens, including several of the Garden Conservancy’s own preservation projects.
A MAN NAMED PEARL is available now on DVD
December 16, 2008
Intimate and uplifting, the documentary A MAN NAMED PEARL offers a captivating window into the life a man who turned obstacles into breathtakingly beautiful possibilities. Now available on DVD.
News
Louisiana Iris Collection Restored
The premier Louisiana iris collection at Longue Vue House and Gardens, devastated by the brackish flood waters that followed Hurricane Katrina, burst into full bloom this spring in its best showing since 2005. Longue Vue hosted the Louisiana Iris Day on April 3 and the flowers continued brightening the gardens for several weeks.
Located in the Wild Garden and now numbering more than 2,000, Longue Vue’s Louisiana irises were originally planted in the 1950s by Caroline Dormon, a conservationist, educator, and advocate for native plants. She brought many of the irises from her family home, Briarwood, now a nature preserve.
Longue Vue’s irises are one of the most extensive collections of these native plants in the country and have long been a spring garden highlight. The blooms in 2005 were particularly beautiful, and the plants were in peak health. Four months later, Hurricane Katrina and the levee failures would flood the estate with approximately two feet of brackish water, killing over 60% of the irises. Besides irises, Longue Vue also lost more than 200 trees and 60% of its shrubs and other perennial plants due to strong winds and flood waters that covered the grounds for approximately two weeks.
Shortly thereafter, head gardener Amy Graham returned to work. Her primary goal was cleanup and assessment, which took over six months. During this time, Longue Vue was aided by numerous volunteers from all around the country. Many who couldn’t come in person instead made donations.
The Garden Conservancy sent both volunteers and funds, and in 2006, it adopted Longue Vue as a Preservation Project. The Garden Conservancy helped Longue Vue secure a Stanley Smith Foundation Grant, which allowed Longue Vue to hire native plant specialists Tyrone Foreman, an expert in Louisiana irises, and Susan Norris-Davis. Upon joining Longue Vue in 2008, Foreman was 
charged with overseeing the restoration of Longue Vue’s iris collection. At that time, the iris beds had been cleaned, but no replanting had been done.
Foreman quickly partnered with the Greater New Orleans Iris Society, of which he is a member. A small group of dedicated volunteers, including the society’s president Patrick O’Connor, took on the task of reworking the few remaining irises. In addition, many members brought irises from their own gardens to plant at Longue Vue; others were donated by Plantation Point Nursery.
Graham, Foreman, and volunteers have waited patiently to see the results of their efforts, and they are now being rewarded. Foreman notes that, “Walking along the serpentine iris path of the Wild Garden gives you the sensation of floating along the wetlands in a canoe. The natural environment here reaches out to people in a very powerful way.” For more information on Longue Vue House and Gardens, visit www.longuevue.com.