Hudson Valley Garden Tour
A four-day tour of breathtaking Hudson Valley gardens.
Hudson Valley Garden Tour Day 1
Your tour begins at Lyndhurst, a grand historic Gothic Revival estate, and an outstanding example of 19th-century landscape design. The Rose Garden includes 100 varieties of roses designed in a circular pattern, while the Fern Garden is bordered by a rock garden. An 1870 conservatory greenhouse remains on site with outdoor plants, one of the largest private greenhouses in the world at the time.
Kykuit, home to four generations of the Rockefeller dynasty, offers magnificent views of the Hudson River from the palatial estate. The remarkable beaux-arts landscape was created by William Welles Bosworth between 1907 and 1913. Formal gardens include the Rose Garden, Morning and Brook gardens, Italian garden, Adam and Eve Fountain area, and several terraced areas featuring sculptures by Henry Moore, Gaston Lachaise, Aristide Maillol, Alexander Calder, and others.
An idyllic afternoon can be spent at Stonecrop Garden in Cold Spring where you’ll find 63 acres of exotic and native plants grown on rock ledges. Formerly a private home, the gardens are filled with ponds and waterfalls, a wisteria pavilion and bamboo grove. Rare trees and shrubs can be found as well as English-style flower and vegetable gardens.
Hudson Valley Garden Tour Day 2
At Storm King Art Center, 500 acres of rolling fields, woodlands and fields of native grasses and wildflowers provide a dramatic setting for over 120 works of contemporary sculpture. Visitors are free to roam through this unique, outdoor gallery displaying works by artists such as David Smith, Alexander Calder, Mark di Suvero, Alexander Liberman, Alice Aycock, Louise Nevelson, and Henry Moore.
Nearby, the Orange County Arboretum rambles over 35 acres of professionally planned and planted hillsides. Indigenous trees, a Shakespeare Garden, water garden, raised gardens and meandering groomed paths are a feast for the eyes.
Gardening has been a cornerstone at Mohonk Mountain House since the land was purchased in 1869. Since then, Mohonk has expanded its award-winning gardens, which reflect French and Italian influences, but focus mainly on mid-19th century English landscaping. Founder Albert K. Smiley's original designs have been maintained as the gardens have matured and evolved. They offer glimpses of the past, allowing guests to enjoy large masses of flowering summer annuals and magnificent vistas and views.
Hudson Valley Garden Tour Day 3
Across the river, one of the Hudson Valley’s great estates is the Vanderbilt Mansion. Terraced gardens cover 3 acres with trellises, pools, a loggia, and brick walls. Maintained in its original design, the grounds boast rare species as well as perennial favorites in abundance. The rose garden features over 2,000 bushes.
Montgomery Place, an historic site with 434 acres of gardens, commercial orchards, historic forest and spellbinding vistas, reflects the privileged life of Hudson Valley aristocracy from the beginning of the nineteenth century to the present. Stroll through the rough garden, the rose garden, the herb garden and end by viewing the A.J. Downing landscape overlooking the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains.
Montgomery Place, an historic site with 434 acres of gardens, commercial orchards, historic forest and spellbinding vistas, reflects the privileged life of Hudson Valley aristocracy from the beginning of the nineteenth century to the present. Stroll through the rough garden, the rose garden, the herb garden and end by viewing the A.J. Downing landscape overlooking the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains.
Hudson Valley Garden Tour Day 4
Mountain Top Arboretum is a public garden in the Catskill Mountains dedicated to displaying and managing native plant communities of the northeastern US, in addition to curating its collection of cold-hardy native and exotic trees. Its mountain top elevation of 2,400 feet at the top of the New York City Watershed creates a unique environment for education, research and pure enjoyment of the spectacular and historic Catskills landscape. The Arboretum trails and boardwalks connect 178 acres of plant collections, meadows, wetlands, forest and Devonian bedrock—a natural sanctuary for visitors interested in horticulture, birding, geology, local craftsmanship, hiking and snowshoeing!
Academy Park is a small horticultural jewel, designed to celebrate the tri-centennial of the city of Albany. The garden includes 225 evergreen cultivars and 90 companion plants, as well as a native wildflower garden. Among 100 New York State species featured are jack-in-the-pulpit, columbine, skullcap, asters and sunflowers, providing a feast of color to delight the eye.
Capital District Flower & Garden Show
In nearby Troy in late March, the Capital District Flower and Garden Show bursts with spring color. With over 100 exhibits and a garden market place, green thumbs will find numerous ideas for building a garden.
Other Hudson Valley Gardens
Dutch Gardens, New City
An award-winning garden with a variety of flowers. Brick paths meander past a brick teahouse, gazebo, arbor and a bandstand with areas for sitting and picnicking.
Lasdon Park and Arboretum, Somers. A lush, 243-acre property consisting of a 30-acre arboretum featuring a formal azalea garden, a magnolia and lilac collection, a rare native American chestnut tree grove, and a dwarf collection of pines, spruces, firs and cypress. (914) 864-7260reas for sitting and picnicking.
Van Cortlandt Manor, Croton-on-Hudson. The Manor’s Long Walk provides a floral treat, mixed with the history of one of New York’s oldest families. The grounds include an extensive period garden with tulip display, and a culinary and medicinal herb garden.
Downing Park, Newburgh. This 35-acre park was designed as a memorial to Andrew Jackson Downing by Frederick Law Olmstead and Calvert Vaux. It beautifully exemplifies Downing’s vision of a planned rural landscape in a city setting. (845) 565-5559
Boscobel, Garrison. Enter the grounds through the apple orchard to the formal rose garden with its central fountain. There are over 140 varieties of roses and 600 separate plants on display in the garden. The one-mile Woodland Trail winds through 29 acres of wooded landscape with rustic structures, and features spectacular vistas of the river. (845) 265-3638
Innisfree Garden, Millbrook. Named for Yeat's Irish isle of peace, Innisfree is a 200-acre landscape that encourages visitors to meander around a small lake. It features the ancient Chinese art of landscaping called “cup” gardening, a way of moving into a landscape, rather than looking at it. (845) 677-8000
Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook. This site features 1,900 acres of meadow, forest, swamp, glacial outcroppings, hilly uplands and trout streams. Best is the Perennial Garden with its 4,500 plus varieties, one of the largest collections in the Northeast. (845) 677-5343
Locust Grove, Samuel Morse Historic Site, Poughkeepsie. Stately trees, rolling hills, and picturesque views from the house and gardens combine to create a natural landscape garden. The Main Perennial Garden is a one-of-a-kind garden in the Hudson Valley. An heirloom vegetable garden reflects a long history of self-sufficiency. (845) 454-4500
Wethersfield Estate and Gardens, Amenia. A country gentleman’s estate consisting of over 1,400 acres, with more than 10 acres devoted to formal gardens. Enjoy the Cutting Garden, the Arborvitae Allee with the Naiad Fountain, the Peacock Walk, the Belvedere, the Rose Garden, and several water gardens. (845) 373-8037