Innisfree Garden Shares Its Beauty With Those Who Need It Most
Upwards of 4,500 heirloom daffodils from Innisfree Garden found their way to Vassar Hospital and The Fountains at Millbrook.
Margaret Doyle arranges bouquets. All photos by Kate Kerin.
“All of us feel so powerless on so many levels,” says Kate Kerin, head curator at Innisfree Garden in Millbrook, New York. “We’re gardeners — what we have are flowers. What could we possibly do?”
Innisfree, begun as a private garden by Walter Beck and his wife, gardener and heiress Marion Burk Beck in the late 1920s, has been recognized as one of the “world’s ten best gardens.” Now it’s a public garden and non-profit foundation. Traditionally, the garden opens in the first week of May for daffodil viewing weekend. This year, public gardens are closed around the world, but many of the gardens have been donating flowers. Kerin decided Innisfree could do the same.
Bouquets packed for delivery
On Sunday, April 19, assisted by her daughter Nell Stevens, Kerin dropped off a dozen arrangements of daffodils at The Fountains at Millbrook, an assisted living facility. Suddenly, on Monday, a slew of people wanted to help the effort. A flurry of activity later, Kerin dropped off 70-80 arrangements of daffodils (heirloom varieties, we might add) at Vassar Hospital in Poughkeepsie. In all, about 4,500 Innisfree daffodils were shared with staff and patients who are so deeply affected by COVID-19.
“This was all accomplished by enthusiastic and generous volunteers,” Kerin says. “Some helped me connect with people at Vassar Hospital who could authorize accepting our donation. Some offered to pay for supplies. Some helped with the tags. Some helped cut flowers. Some created and packed arrangements for transport.”
All was done, Kerin says, following social distancing protocols. Each arrangement bore a little tag: “Sunshine and thanks from Innisfree Garden, Millbrook, NY.”
The Friends of Innisfree group is planning a celebration its 60th anniversary in September. Fingers crossed.
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