MAY 3
Hudson Valley Garden Fair
Montgomery Place, Red Hook
Celebrate gardening in the Hudson Valley with over 40 local and specialty garden vendors, lectures, free garden demonstrations by area experts, raffles, garden and mansion tours, and more. Landscape designer and author Jan Johnsen presents a lecture based on her new book, Heaven Is a Garden. The Hudson Valley Garden Fair moves to a new location this year, Montgomery Place in Red Hook, to gain a 380-acre historic estate setting. Saturday, 10am-4pm. (845) 418-3640; Hvgardenfair.com.
MAY 4
Open Days Program Guided Tour: Dutchess County
Cedar Heights Orchard–Garden of Arvia Morris, Rhinebeck
Astounding private gardens all over the country are open to the public during the Open Days Program. Cedar Heights Orchard in Rhinebeck contains a large variety of bulbs, perennials, shrubs, ponds, large vegetable and cutting gardens that attract butterflies, and an apple orchard. The Garden of Anne Spiegel in Wappingers Falls and The Chocolate Factory–Ruth Oja in Red Hook are open the same day and hours. Saturday 10am-4pm. (888) 842-2442; Gardenconservancy.org.
MAY 10
Innisfree Guided Tour
Innisfree Garden, Millbrook
An icon of 20th-century landscape design, once named one of the world's top 10 best gardens, Innisfree is 185 acres of rock and greenery surrounding a large, shimmering lake. Walter Beck and his wife, heiress Marion Burt Beck, have worked on the garden for over 50 years. Chinese and Japanese garden designs are incorporated, blending tradition with modernism. Landscape Curator Kate Kerin guides the tour and discusses the garden's history. Tour: 1.5 to 2 hours. (845) 677-8000; Innisfreegarden.org.
MAY 16
Stonecrop Guided Garden Tour
Stonecrop Gardens, Cold Spring
Approximately 12 acres of diverse gardens, including bodies of grass, water, cliff rock, flowers, and alpine stone beds, Stonecrop is elevated 1,100 feet in the Hudson Highlands. Additional features include a Conservatory, display Alpine House, and Pit House with choice dwarf bulbs and over 50 plant families. View an extensive outdoor spring bulb display guided by the staff horticulturalist, exploring the garden's wonder in the heart of spring. 5pm-6pm. (845) 265-2000; Stonecrop.org.
MAY 17-18
Trade Secrets Garden Tour
Sharon, Cornwall, and Falls Village Connecticut
This two-day tour is a fundraiser for Women's Support Services, to benefit domestic violence victims in northwest Connecticut. A rare plant and garden antiques sale with 40 vendors takes place Saturday, May 17, at Lion Rock Farm in Sharon, CT, 10am-3pm. Sunday features tours of Bunny Williams's garden along with three others in the towns of Cornwall and Falls Village, CT. 10am-4pm. The Cornwall gardens are steeped in history, featuring renovated 18th-century designs. (860) 364-1080; Tradesecretsct.com.
MAY 24-26
Vanderbilt Garden Association Plant Sale
Vanderbilt Mansion Historical Site, Hyde Park
In celebrating the 30th anniversary of the volunteer Vanderbilt Garden Association, Inc., hundreds of plants will be sold at reasonable prices, including perennial plant divisions, canna lilies, tomatoes, and vegetables. All proceeds contribute to rehabilitate, plant, and maintain the F. W. Vanderbilt Formal Gardens. The volunteers have worked tirelessly to bring back to life the flower beds that were once thought to be lost forever. 9am-4pm all weekend.
(845) 266-5234; Vanderbiltgarden.org.
