Garden News: Groundbreakers in Full Color

Posted in Around the Garden on June 19 2014, by Matt Newman

At the heart of our Groundbreakers exhibition stand six women—three of them designers, three of them photographers—who, through combined efforts, effected a sea change in the style and popularity of the American garden. From Beatrix Farrand’s opus of the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Garden in Seal Harbor, Maine, to Marian Coffin’s timeless creations here at NYBG, formerly staid home gardens in the U.S. shrugged off western Europe’s stylistic dominance for new and exciting influences from other cultures—not to mention those found right here at home.

Groundbreakers: Great American Gardens and The Women Who Designed Them is an homage to that renaissance of the early 20th century, when these six women established themselves not only as successful designers, but as pioneers along a fresh course for the country’s green spaces.

This week in Garden News, we catch up with Kevin Character in the Conservatory for a look at our evocation of the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Garden, as well as some of the other events and activities inspired by the Jazz Age.

Groundbreakers runs from now through September 7 with not only daily events, but a full schedule of lectures, presentations, and three special nights during our Jazz Age Evenings, beginning June 26. Get your tickets while they last!