CT's Historic Gardens Day
Sunday, June 28, 2020
12 - 4 pm
Celebrating Connecticut’s Historic Gardens Day will be a little different in 2020 due to Covid-19. Some of the 15 member sites will be open with reserved and timed tickets, others accessible for purely strolling and many can be viewed through virtual online tours. See below for more information. Gardens not listed will not be participating this year.
Bellamy-Ferriday House & Garden
Discover the botanical beauty of a bygone era at the Bellamy-Ferriday House & Garden during this special state-wide celebration of Connecticut’s Historic Gardens.
Stroll through the formal parterre garden designed in 1915 by Eliza Mitchell Ferriday, and lovingly maintained and expanded by her daughter Caroline Woolsey Ferriday.
Grounds admission is free. Registration for the free garden day is required. To reserve a time to visit, please call (203) 266-7596. Since our capacity is limited at this time, same-day registration will be allowed only if the site has not reached capacity. Connecticut’s Historic Gardens Day will take place RAIN OR SHINE.
Butler-McCook House & Garden
Tour our historic Jacob Weidenmann Garden, installed by Eliza Butler McCook and her sister Mary in 1865, and maintained by The West Hartford Garden Club. Access our new audio guide on any smartphone through the IZI.Travel app, which can also be used as a virtual tour from home.
Grounds admission is free. Registration for timed entry is required: visit https://ct-historic-gardens-day-at-butler-mccook.eventbrite.com. Same-day registration will be allowed only if the site has not reached capacity. Garden will be open RAIN OR SHINE.
Florence Griswold Museum
Miss Florence’s grounds and gardens were a favored location for early American Impressionist artists. Watch as contemporary artist Leif Nilsson continues the creative tradition while explaining his process. Stroll the Museum’s 12 acres along the Lieutenant River featuring historic gardens and Artists’ Trail. Gardens Coordinator Linda Turner will be on hand to answer questions.
Please note: in case of rain, this event is cancelled at Florence Griswold. No buildings will be open, and there will be no restrooms available. Upon arrival, please follow signs and check in at the Landscape Center.
Wear your mask and practice physical distancing.
Refer to the Museum’s website for further information and to download Visitor and Garden Guides.
Harriet Beecher Stowe Center
The Stowe Center is not open to the public at this time, but the grounds are open dawn to dusk year round. The gardens include Connecticut’s largest Merrill Magnolia; grafts from The Stowe Dogwood, a pink variety believed to be from Stowe’s time; a National Champion Tree, the Common Paw Paw; and The Garden Club of America award-winning heritage roses.
Enjoy the historic, park-like setting on this special day while maintaining safe distances.
Hill-Stead Museum
Take a day to celebrate the beautiful historic garden and grounds at Hill-Stead Museum. Hill-Stead invites you to enjoy our historic Sunken Garden and new Pollinator Garden, showcasing the beauty of nature and its continually restorative gifts. As we work together to reduce the spread of Coronavirus, please adhere to proper social distancing measures and wear a mask.
Hill-Stead Museum’s expansive 152-acre property includes a formal Beatrix Farrand-designed historic Sunken Garden (circa 1920) and an innovative Pollinator Garden. The native plants in this latest garden attract a variety of birds, butterflies, and other wildlife by providing diverse habitats and food sources. Each garden is significant, the first for its rich history, the newest to preserve the future.
Visitors will be delighted by a beautiful collection of heirloom roses, peonies the size of snowballs and lavender that perfumes the air, all in bloom at this time of year. While at Hill-Stead, wander the grounds to discover the charms of the 1901 estate and its farm complex surrounded by centuries-old woodland trails with hilltop views and magnificent meadows teeming with wildflowers.
Our grounds and garden remain open every day from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. for all to enjoy. Indoor tours are unavailable at this time.
Free to all.
Osborne Homestead Museum & Kellogg Environmental Center
Osborne Homestead will be offering a virtual tour of the Kellogg Estate gardens with an emphasis on the medicinal uses of the flowering plants. You can see the tour at CHGDay_OHM_VirtualGardensTour.
Phelps-Hatheway House & Garden
Take a self-guided tour of the beautiful garden and speak with members of the Suffield Garden Club, who have lovingly maintained the Phelps-Hatheway grounds for more than 55 years.
Grounds admission is free. Registration for timed entry is required: https://ct-historic-gardens-day-at-phelps-hatheway.eventbrite.com. Same-day registration will be allowed only if the site has not reached capacity. Garden will be open RAIN OR SHINE.
Promisek at Three Rivers Farm
Promisek will offer a virtual tour and presentation of our garden for this year's Historic Gardens Day. Because of social distancing requirements due to the threat of COVID-19, in-person tours of the garden will not be offered that day.
View the slide show at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kU4T1Tt8y5A&feature=youtu.be
View the brief garden tour video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbOtIeJP6WE&feature=youtu.be
With narration by master gardener, Irene Skryballo, the virtual tour will show the splendor of Promisek’s Beatrix Farrand garden, offering a brief history of the history of the land and its development. This virtual tour will be launched on our website on CT's Historic Gardens Day, as well as offered via our Instagram page (@promisekthreerivers). Also offered on our website will be a virtual power point presentation that goes into greater detail regarding the history and design of the garden.
For the rest of the summer, in-person tours of the garden are available by appointment only. If you are interested in touring the garden, please email [email protected] or call 860-350-8226.
Roseland Cottage
Roseland Cottage will be postponing CT's Historic Gardens Day until JULY 19 due to rain.
You can view a slideshow tour of Roseland at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLHdRAQgh4I
On July 19, Roseland invites you to come visit our parterre garden, one of the only gardens in New England that maintains its original intricate 1850 pattern. Our gardener will be on hand to answer your questions about the historic nature of our landscape, and specially prepared handouts will be available.
Groups will be limited to five guests, masks will be required, and preregistration is highly recommended: https://my.historicnewengland.org/6851/7133
Stanley-Whitman House
Stanley-Whitman House will be offering tours of its colonial-inspired gardens in its "Museum Without Walls." Tours will start on the hour with small groups rotated to different areas of the Museum's grounds and gardens. Reservations are limited to a maximum of eighteen persons per hour and online reservations are highly recommended prior to your visit: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ct-historic-gardens-day-2020-tickets-105893189380.
Our guides will talk about the various utilitarian, culinary, and medicinal uses of plants grown in our 17th Century inspired Hops and Early Settlers Gardens and in our 18th Century inspired Dooryard Garden pointing out plants brought over from the Old World and those discovered in the New World.
We ask that all visitors please practice physical distancing during their tours and request that face masks be worn during their visit for visitor safety and that of our staff and volunteers. Historic house tours will not be given this CT Historic Gardens Day as was done in prior years due to Corona-virus Pandemic concerns but the museum shop will be open and restrooms will be available.
Thankful Arnold House Museum
Visitors will learn how herbs, vegetables and plants were used by the Widow Thankful Arnold in the early 19th century. The Wilhelmina Ann Arnold Barnhart Memorial Garden features over 50 varieties of herbs including those used in cooking, dyeing, fragrance and medicine. Guides will be hand to answer questions.
The event is free of charge but reserved, timed tickets are required: https://thankfularnoldgardenday.eventbrite.com
The tours will last 45 minutes and the limit is 8 visitors per tour.
Please note that guests are required to wear a mask or cloth face covering during their visit and practice social distancing. The museum and gift shop will not be open.