Our March program speaker was Horatio Joyce who introduced us to the story of The Garden Conservancy and the evolution of its mission to restore, rescue, and rehabilitate public gardens as well as to open private gardens to the public.
Frank Cabot, a financier and passionate gardener and horticulturalist founded the Conservancy in 1989 after noting that two-thirds of America's great gardens had been destroyed by development. The Conservancy began with "four acres of giant cactuses, succulents and native species" in Walnut Creek, California, the life's work of gardener Ruth Bancroft. The Conservancy is now a nationwide organization, active in the preservation of 17 important private gardens for posterity, including the rehabilitation of the gardens at Alcatraz.
Its Open Days program has introduced more than 300 private gardens to the public throughout the United States ― including the garden of our own Cynthia Corhan-Aitken whose garden will be open on Saturday, June 1 from 10am-4 pm. Click here to book a ticket and find out more about this special event!
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