Events

The Beatrix Farrand Garden at Bellefield: The Past and Future of a Hudson Valley Treasure - Presented by Ashley Gamell (Director of Horticulture) Take a step back in history to the Gilded Age in the Hudson Valley, when a young "landscape gardener" at the height of her powers was commissioned to create a pleasure garden for one of New York's most powerful families. Ashley Gamell, will share the story of this special "secret" garden, the fascinating woman who created it, and the decades long, volunteer-led effort to resurrect the garden and complete Farrand's vision of a native "Wild Garden" for the site. She'll highlight some of the garden's signature plants and design lessons for Hudson Valley gardeners to take home with them, and share what's next for the garden--a newly launched rejuvenation project. Ashley Gamell, the Director of Horticulture and Interpretation at Beatrix Farrand Garden at Bellefield, is an ecological landscape designer, horticulturist, educator, and author, with a passion for public gardens and connecting people with the world of plants and nature. She spent a decade at Brooklyn Botanic Garden before opening her own landscape design firm in the Hudson Valley and is also a consultant for Partners for Climate Action, working on an initiative to conserve Hudson Valley pollinators.