2018 News

LongHouse Reserve's creator, Jack Lenor Larsen, was one of five "influencers and artists" profiled in Craft in America's PBS series, "Visionaries," on December 21.

On December 18, 2018, the National Trust for Historic Preservation's magazine, Preservation, featured the Pearl Fryar Topiary Garden as one of “40 Places Under 40 Years: Landscapes.”

Congratulations to Lynden Miller, who was honored by the New York Landmarks Conservancy at their 25th anniversary Living Landmarks Celebration on November 1.

After public outcry and letters supporting the preservation of Stoneleigh Garden, the Greater Lower Merion School District voted not to build athletic fields on the Stoneleigh Garden property, as reported by Phildadelphia CBS Local on November 20, 2018. 

Steepletop, the home of esteemed poet Edna St. Vincent Millay in Austerlitz, NY, closed indefinitely at the end of the 2018 season, as reported by the Hudson Valley 360

The Mary F. Rounsavall Pavilion at Yew Dell Botanical Gardens in Crestwood, KY, was recognized with the Kentucky Society of Architects Honor Award in October.

A proposed renovation of the Juliette Gordon Low House in Savannah, GA, threatened to destroy the garden. Earlier, the Garden Conservancy issued a letter in support of exploring alternatives that would preserve the garden. 

Videos of our panel discussion on the challenges of preserving "The Architectural Garden" are now available to watch online! If you missed the discussion at Bard College on September 22, 2018, you can listen to it online here

Charity Navigator awarded the Garden Conservancy a four-star rating—its highest possible rating—for demonstrating strong financial health and a commitment to accountability and transparency. Read Charity Navigator's July 1, 2018, letter.

The Lord & Schryver Conservancy announced the hiring of Pam Wasson as its first executive director. Based in Salem, OR, the Lord & Schryver Conservancy stewards the legacy of pioneering landscape architects Elizabeth Lord and Edith Schyver, including their home garden at Gaiety Hollow.

The Garden Conservancy received a major gift in support of the Blithewood Garden rehabilitation project.

Garden at Risk:  The Frick Collection's new renovation plans promise to recreate its Russell Page garden according to the original design. Read more.

Garden at Risk: The proposed expansion of Valley Oaks Steak Company into a factory farm threatened to damage or destroy Powell Gardens, a significant cultural asset in the Kansas City region. Read our letter of support for the garden and a Daily Star-Journal article on June 19, 2018, including a quote from James Hall.

Five Seasons—The Gardens of Piet Oudolf, a new film by Thomas Piper, premiered in New York City on June 13. Find out more about the film

Lotusland celebrated its silver anniversary in 2018. Read more

In Jacksonville on Saturday, April 14, 2018, James Brayton Hall announced that the Garden Conservancy would donate $20,000 to the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens to help the Cummer restore its gardens, which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, suffered significant damage when Hurricane Irma hit Jacksonville in September 2017.

The Foundation for Landscape Studies awarded the J. B. Jackson Book Prize to, among others, James Rose (University of Georgia Press, 2017), written by Dean Cardasis and the second volume of the Foundation’s Masters of Modern Landscape Design series. In the early 1990s, the Garden Conservancy collaborated to save James Rose’s garden and home and transform them into the James Rose Center, a nonprofit landscape research and study center in Ridgewood, NJ.

Peckerwood Garden, our preservation partner in Hempstead, TX, announced the opening of a nursery for rare and unusual plants.

We were thrilled to announce the US release of The Gardener, a full-length documentary about Garden Conservancy founder Frank Cabot, on March 28, 2018.

The Garden Conservancy was deeply saddened to hear of the death of our board member Antonia Hunter Breck on February 21, 2018. We have all lost a wonderful friend. 

East Bay Times, Walnut Creek, CA, reported on the daylong celebration of Ruth Bancroft’s life at the Ruth Bancroft Garden on February 17, 2018. 

In January, our preservation department visited Peckerwood Garden in Hempstead, TX, for the annual conservation easement monitoring. Read highlights from their visit.