Without a doubt, one of my very favorite places in New York is Central Park’s Conservatory Garden.
This was my first time visiting this garden, and I’ll admit I mistakenly thought it would be yet one more formal garden filled with the predictable evergreens, fountains and acres of lawn (pretty, but probably not the most inspiring.)
Wow, was I ever wrong.
Now, don’t get me wrong – at its heart this is a formal garden, filled with symmetry, topiaries, fountains, and the most beautiful wisteria covered pergola I’ve ever seen.
However, once I realized it was designed by Lynden B. Miller, (one of my favorite designers) I knew it would be so much more.
Ms. Miller is also the designer behind the Heather Garden, and similar to that garden, this one also has its share of breath-taking planting beds.
Everywhere I looked, there was one example after another illustrating the concepts I’ve written about in my latest book, Refresh Your Garden Design with Color, Texture and Form.
Even my teenage daughter (who tends to tune me out) commented on the amazing color echoes that she saw.
And yes, I couldn’t believe she actually said the words ‘color echoes.‘
Here are some of the highlights:
Color
One of the most impressive things about this garden is Lynden’s mastery of color.
Pay close attention and you’ll notice subtle color echoes are everywhere. She has artfully combined unusual sources of color (such as stems, berries, and grass variegation) along with the more common foliage and flowers.
However, a garden filled with nothing but subtle color echoes runs the risk of lulling the viewer to sleep.
She’s solved this concern by including eye-popping color combinations, adding a little jolt of excitement to the vignette.
And while one area of the garden might be filled with warm, glowing, sunny colors…
Another area will have soothing, cool shades of blue, purple, green and gray.
I particularly enjoyed seeing the use of unusual colors in the garden. It’s fairly easy to incorporate blue, purple, chartreuse and green. But using the colors ochre, butterscotch and salmon are significantly trickier!
Texture
While color reigns supreme in this garden, the use of texture is just as impressive.
Whether coming from the nubby, unopened buds of a rodgersia, the fuzzy smoke from a cotinus, the dangling seed-heads of a Northern Oats grass or the feathery fronds of an artemesia, there’s no doubt about the powerful allure of texture.
Shape and Form
Shape and form can often be the most difficult concept to incorporate into the garden.
Knowing where to place various shapes (cascading, mounding, upright, etc.) or where to create echoes or shape contrast is tricky at best.
It’s no wonder this is often one of the last areas of design for many gardeners.
I particularly like the creative use of grasses in this garden I use grasses in most of my designs, and really enjoyed seeing how they were used here.
The miscanthus adds such a soft, yet substantial fountain shape in the back of borders, while lower-growing Hakone grass adds a cascading effect to the front of borders.
I particularly like how the Leymus grass adds its cool, blue color and upright motion to this maroon and lavender combination.
One thing I noticed was her fondness of combining the round, fluffy hydrangea heads with the shorter, upright astilbe.
The result is a vibrant display of contrasting shapes which adds visual energy to the garden.
In fact, I noticed similar combinations in the Heather Garden and Madison Square Garden (which she also designed.)
Another knock-out combination results from the feathery, snake-like flowers of the Bugbane (actaea simplex) with the dried allium.
Even though the allium flowers are long gone, but the firework-like globes of the tan colored seed heads contrast beautifully with the Bugbane.
Like many of the public gardens that I toured, this one was also visited by every imaginable walk of life.
I so enjoyed seeing all the different walks of life ranging from nuns enjoying an afternoon walk, to Hasidic Jews with toddlers in tow, to tired teenagers (yes, that would be my daughter below.)
And, of course, plenty of insects and birds everywhere.
To see so many types of people enjoying this garden reiterates the important role gardens play in everyone’s lives.
If you love this garden as much as I do, you’ll be even more impressed by the story of its creation by Lynden Miller.
As if Ms. Miller wasn’t talented enough, in the 1980’s she was also the driving force behind the rejuvenation of New York’s many tired, threadbare and neglected public parks.
Take a peek here for a fantastic interview with amazing before and after photos.
9 Comments
Rebecca, thank you so much for featuring this garden. I live in CT, have lived in NYC twice in my life and have never been there! I’ll be going into the City next month, and if time allows, this will be on my list. If not, I will plan a trip to NYC in the spring just to visit this Conservatory Garden. I always look forward to seeing the pictures from your garden, and the pictures from the other fabulous gardens that you visit.
Oh, Suzanne, I think you will love it. I can only imagine how beautiful it must be in the fall. I love fall and winter gardens, as they quietly crumply and go to sleep. But I think spring is best. The friend I went with kept telling me it never looks as good as it does in the spring. I could’ve stayed there for hours, if weren’t for my impatient daughter wanting to go get yet another macaron somewhere..
Great post! I had no idea – like you, I’ve been shying away from conservancy gardens, but this is amazing! Now I just need a trip to NY in my future.
Thanks so much, Town Mouse, I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed reading about these surprise gardens!
Loved this Rebecca! It’s truly inspiring. Thanks so much.
I just took a look at the video and had tears at the end. What an amazing endeavor for Lynden Miller. 10,000 volunteers planting daffodil bulbs. Now that’s community spirit in action! Now I must go see it in person!
I had tears, too, Mary! What an amazing person she is, and to see the community stand behind her like that is so wonderful. No wonder the gardens she’s designed have such a ‘soul’ to them. I hope you can see it in person someday.
What an Edenic retreat within a city of concrete, glass and metal. If I lived in NY, I’d be there all the time! It’s funny how you assume that New Yorkers don’t have gardens. And this you see this one, which anyone can enjoy, and no one has to maintain (except what is probably a huge paid staff). I wonder where all the plant material comes from. It reminds me of Longwood.
I visited this garden 3 times and couldn’t get enough of it, Debra. There always seemed to be something else to see – truly spectacular. I’d love to see it in the fall. Pam Pennick is going to NYC in October and I hope she visits this garden and takes photos!