An Illustrated Exploration Of The Farrand Gardens

The Garden Club of Newtown will host Pamela Edwards, who found a long forgotten Beatrix Farrand garden in Bridgewater, as its featured speaker this month. Her lecture with slides will take place on Tuesday, May 24, at 1 pm.

Currently the curator of New Milford Historical Society, Pamela Edwards became interested in Beatrix Farrand at the New York Botanical Garden where she received a Certificate in Landscape Design and at the graduate seminars program at Radcliffe College in Cambridge, Mass. One of the books she was using for her research had a complete list of all Beatrix Farrand’s commissioned gardens and Ms Edwards was surprised to see a 1921 listing for Dr Peterson of Three Rivers Farm in Shepaug, Conn.

Coincidentally, an old railroad map had been left behind in her home which showed the location of the former Shepaug Station, and this gave Ms Edwards an important lead in her search to find this lost garden. She was eventually able to find the garden, which is now restored and is one of the gardens to be discussed in her lecture.

Beatrix Farrand, the niece of Edith Wharton, was one of the most accomplished landscape designers of her time. She studied with Charles Sprague Sargent, the first director of Harvard University’s Arnold Arboretum, visited with the noted author and gardener Gertrude Jekyll in England, and completed over 200 commissioned gardens in her lifetime.

Miss Farrand’s design of Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, D.C., will be explored as well as the restoration or re-creation of five other gardens with the help of volunteers, many of whom were members of the Garden Clubs of Connecticut. These gardens are The Rose Garden at the New York Botanical Gardens, Bellefield in New York, Promisek at Three Rivers Farm in Bridgewater, Eolia in New London and Hill-Stead in Farmington.

Ms Edwards will additionally discuss the 2004 purchase of Garland Farm in Maine by the newly organized Beatrix Farrand Society, which will provide a horticultural education facility that Beatrix Farrand dreamed of but never thought would be accomplished.

The public is invited to this lecture which will be in the Olga Knoepke Memorial Room in Cyrenius H. Booth Library, 25 Main Street in Newtown. There is no charge and registration is not required.

For more information call 364-1774.