Day One

Your tour begins at Lyndhurst, a grand historic Gothic Revival estate, and an outstanding example of 19th-century landscape design. The Rose Garden includes 100 varieties of roses designed in a circular pattern, while the Fern Garden is bordered by a rock garden. An 1870 conservatory greenhouse remains on site with outdoor plants, one of the largest private greenhouses in the world at the time.

Kykuit, home to four generations of the Rockefeller dynasty, offers magnificent views of the Hudson River from the palatial estate. The remarkable beaux-arts landscape was created by William Welles Bosworth between 1907 and 1913. Formal gardens include the Rose Garden, Morning and Brook gardens, Italian garden, Adam and Eve Fountain area, and several terraced areas featuring sculptures by Henry Moore, Gaston Lachaise, Aristide Maillol, Alexander Calder, and others.

An elegant, neo-classical mansion sited high above the Hudson River, you enter Boscobel through the apple orchard to the formal rose garden with its central fountain. There are over 140 varieties of roses and 600 separate plants on display in the garden. The one-mile Woodland Trail winds through 29 acres of wooded landscape with rustic structures, and features spectacular vistas of the river.

Day Two

At Storm King Art Center, 500 acres of fields and woodlands provide a dramatic setting for over 120 works of contemporary sculpture. Visitors are free to roam through this unique, outdoor gallery overflowing with rhododendron, wildflowers and works by artists such as David Smith, Alexander Calder, Mark di Suvero, Alexander Liberman, Alice Aycock, Louise Nevelson, and Henry Moore. Nearby, the Jane Colden Native Plant Sanctuary is on the grounds of the 1754 fieldstone manor, Knox's Headquarters. The garden is named for the first woman botanist in North America, and features over 100 different types of wildflowers.

Gardening has been a cornerstone at Mohonk Mountain House since the land was purchased in 1869. Since then, Mohonk has expanded its award-winning gardens, which reflect French and Italian influences, but focus mainly on mid-19th century English landscaping. Founder Albert K. Smiley's original designs have been maintained as the gardens have matured and evolved. They offer glimpses of the past, allowing guests to enjoy large masses of flowering summer annuals and magnificent vistas and views.

Day Three

Across the river, one of the Hudson Valley's great estates is the Vanderbilt Mansion. Terraced gardens cover 3 acres with trellises, pools, a loggia, and brick walls. Maintained in its original design, the grounds boast rare species as well as perennial favorites in abundance. The rose garden has over 1,200 plants.

Montgomery Place, an historic site with 434 acres of gardens, commercial orchards, historic forest and spellbinding vistas, reflects the privileged life of Hudson Valley aristocracy from the beginning of the nineteenth century to the present. Stroll through the rough garden, the rose garden, the herb garden and end by viewing the A.J. Downing landscape overlooking the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains.

The home of Hudson Valley School artist Frederic Edwin Church, Olana stands 500 feet above the Hudson, reached by carriage trails that delight guests. The gardens around the house were started in 1880 and are scattered with old roses, peonies, cosmos, bee balm, nasturtiums, dahlias and sweet alyssum. The meadows sloping gracefully down toward the river are a carpet of wildflowers that bloom from early spring through autumn.

Day Four

At Mountain Top Arboretum, native trees, shrubs and wildflowers live side-by-side with plants from all corners of the world, including 8 varieties of flowering crab apples, 8 types of mountain ash, flowering shrubs and yellow and red-twigged dogwoods. The arboretum also boasts rock gardens; a pond full of aquatic plants and walking trails through nearby woods in the glorious Catskill Mountains.

Academy Park is a small horticultural jewel, designed to celebrate the tri-centennial of the city of Albany. The garden includes 225 evergreen cultivars and 90 companion plants, as well as a native wildflower garden. Among 100 New York State species featured are jack-in-the-pulpit, columbine, skullcap, asters and sunflowers, providing a feast of color to delight the eye.

Contact Information:

Lyndhurst, Tarrytown • 914-631-4481 • website
Kykuit, Sleepy Hollow • 914-631-9491 • website
Boscobel, Garrison • 845-265-3638 • website
Storm King Art Center, Mountainville • 845-534-3115 • website
Jane Colden Native Plant Sanctuary, New Windsor • 845-561-5498 • website
Mohonk Mountain House, New Paltz • 845-255-1000 • website
Vanderbilt Mansion Italian Gardens, Hyde Park • 845-229-9115 • website
Montgomery Place, Annandale-on-Hudson • 845-758-5461 • website
Olana, Hudson • 518-828-0135 • website
Mountain Top Arboretum, Tannersville • 518-589-3903 • website
Academy Park, Albany (no phone, opposite Albany City Hall)

Other Hudson Valley Gardens:

As time permits, we hope you return to visit the other gardens of the Hudson Valley, including:

Dutch Gardens, New City
845-638-5484 website
An award-winning garden with a variety of flowers. Brick paths meander past a brick teahouse, gazebo, arbor and a bandstand with areas for sitting and picnicking.

Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, Katonah
914-232-1253 website
The former Rosen estate, now a House Museum, is located on a rustic 100 acres, with eight distinct gardens designed for pleasurable strolling and picnicking.

Lasdon Park and Arboretum, Somers
914-864-7260 website
A lush, 243-acre property consisting of a 30-acre arboretum featuring a formal azalea garden, a magnolia and lilac collection, a rare native American chestnut tree grove, and a dwarf collection of pines, spruces, firs and cypress.

Van Cortlandt Manor, Croton-on-Hudson
914-271-8981 website
The Manor's Long Walk provides a floral treat, mixed with the history of one of New York's oldest families. The grounds include an extensive period garden with tulip display, and a culinary and medicinal herb garden.

Gasho of Japan, Central Valley
845-928-2277 website
Exquisite Japanese gardens with traditional Oriental structures including a teahouse. The plantings are centered around a flowing pond that contains a collection of koi fish. Located on the grounds of the famous Gasho Restaurant.

Orange County Arboretum, Montgomery
845-457-4900 website
A new 35-acre arboretum that features a Shakespeare Garden, specimen trees and shrubs, raised gardens and groomed paths. The September 11, 2001 Memorial Walkway and Gardens have recently opened.

Downing Park, Newburgh
845-565-5559
This 35 acre park was designed as a memorial to Andrew Jackson Downing by Frederick Law Olmstead and Calvert Vaux. It beautifully exemplifies Downing's vision of a planned rural landscape in a city setting.

Innisfree Garden, Millbrook
845-677-8000
Named for Yeat's Irish isle of peace, Innisfree is a 200-acre landscape that encourages visitors to meander around a small lake. It features the ancient Chinese art of landscaping called "cup" gardening, a way of moving into a landscape, rather than looking at it.

Institute of Ecosystems: Mary Flagler Cary Arboretum, Millbrook
845-677-5343 website
This site features 1,900 acres of meadow, forest, swamp, glacial outcroppings, hilly uplands and trout streams. Best is the Perennial Garden with its 4,500 plus varieties, one of the largest collections in the Northeast.

Locust Grove, Samuel Morse Historic Site, Poughkeepsie
845-454-4500 website
Stately trees, rolling hills, and picturesque views from the house and gardens combine to create a natural landscape garden. The Main Perennial Garden is a one-of-a-kind garden in the Hudson Valley. An heirloom vegetable garden reflects a long history of self-sufficiency.

Wethersfield Estate and Gardens, Amenia
845-373-8037
A country gentleman's estate consisting of over 1,400 acres, with more than 10 acres devoted to formal gardens. Enjoy the Cutting Garden, the Arborvitae Allee with the Naiad Fountain, the Peacock Walk, the Belvedere, the Rose Garden, and several water gardens.

Point Lookout Mountain Inn Herb & Perennial Gardens, Windham
518-734-3381
Cliffside gardens and arbor with spectacular views stretching for 270 degrees and 180 miles. Culinary herbs, perennials, bulbs, annuals and shrubbery woven into this unparalleled setting. Garden swing and sitting area.