Dale Stewart reports from Washington, CT.Professional horticulturists and avid gardeners gathered at the Hollister House Garden Cocktail Gala at the Washington Montessori School on Friday, August 24, for a prelude to the Garden Study Weekend, now in its third year. Co-sponsored by The Garden Conservancy, the cocktail party served as an early-buying opportunity preceding a full weekend of garden-focused programming, including Saturday’s rare plant sale, an all-day symposium on a variety of botanical topics, and garden-book signing, followed by Sunday’s champagne breakfast and tour of some of Litchfield County's most beautiful private gardens. The Montessori gymnasium, transformed into a pop-up nursery oasis, was awhirl with horticultural conversation as home gardeners and professional landscapers shopped side-by-side, dispensing and picking up snippets of advice. “Always buy in threes,” said Stephen Orr, acclaimed author and editorial director of gardening at Martha Stewart Living. “All-white flower landscapes can be too harsh,” declared Edwina von Gal, Saturday’s featured speaker and a noted landscape designer (pictured above, left, with Orr and fellow speaker Page Dickey). The simple yet sensible advice was enough to make the novice gardener want to run home, and pull out her plantings, and start again with a wealth of newfound knowledge.
Carlos Canal, Barry Ginsburg, and Benedict Silverman; tropical plant expert Charlie James, actress Jayne Bentzen, and Hollister House Garden founder George Schoellkopf.
Scott Weaver with Pergola Home's David Whitman and Peter Stiglin; garden blogger Michael Gordon with Chanticleer Foundation executive director Bill Thomas.
Event planner Gaylinn Fast and designer Michael Trapp; lifestyle author Michael Leva with Anne Ziolkowski.
Deborah Woodcock and author Ali Hosseini; Joe Mustich, artist Gerald Incandela, and Steve Godwin.
Merle Ginsburg and author Tovah Martin; Anita Sheran, designer John Danzer, and John Sulpy.
Ken Selody, Michael Leva, public garden designer Lynden Miller, and Eric T. Fleisher.
Landscape designer Lolly Schroeder and Gay Vincent-Canal; Nanny Swoyer, Karen Kopta, and Hollister head gardener Krista Adams.
Erin Shellman and Pam Moffett; Hollister House Garden board members Susan Burke and Gay Vincent-Canal with Jean O’Reilly.
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Matteline deVries-Dilling, founder of Lite Brite Neon, one of the evening's honoree of this year's Upstate Benefit adresses the gala from the Caboose's caboose.
- Karen Pearson. Courtesy Art Omi.
Olana senior vice president and landscape curatorMark Prezorski, president Sean Sawyer, The evenings honoree Kristin Gamble and New York State Assemblymember Didi Barrett.
- Oxygen House Photo
