Inspired by Nature: The New Perennial Movement at Hermannshof Gardens

Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies

Sat, Feb 25, 2017
2:30 PM

The High Line in New York City and the Lurie Garden in Chicago are major public landscapes that brought the style and ideology of the New Perennial Movement to life in the United States. These naturalistic landscapes use broad, painterly drifts of hardworking plants so well suited to their sites that they provide year- round interest yet require less maintenance than traditional mixed borders. Acclaimed models in Europe include horticulturist and designer Piet Oudolf’s own garden in Hummelo, the Netherlands, and Hermannshof, a public garden in the hills north of Heidelberg, Germany. In a rare American appearance, Hermannshof Director Cassian Schmidt will provide insights and inspiration for home gardeners and professionals alike.

Over the past thirty years, Hermannshof has broken new ground and set international trends with its innovative blend of ecology, artistry, and imagination. The garden’s dynamic mix of unique perennials and naturalistic grasses arranged by habitat and origin – woods, prairie, steppe, pond edge, dry meadow – creates an all-season kaleidoscope that is inspired by nature, without replicating it. In his eighteen years as director, Cassian Schmidt has kept Hermannshof at the forefront of planting design, developing signature methods that use natural plant communities as models for sustainable, low-maintenance plant combinations equally at home in private gardens and public landscapes. With a landscape architecture degree, a master's in horticulture, and more than twenty five years of experience as a professional plantsman, Cassian Schmidt is a designer, professor, author, and lecturer.

Location
Cary Institute Auditorium
2801 Sharon Turnpike/Route 44
Millbrook, NY 12545

Date and time
Saturday February 25, 2017
2:30 p.m.

Registration
$10 members of the Garden Conservancy, Innisfree Garden, or the Cary Institute.
$15 For non-members. 

Online registration for this event is now closed, registrations will be taken at the door - cash or check only.