Horticultural Lectures
Wave Hill Horticultural Lecture Series
Wave Hill’s annual Horticultural Lecture Series, started in 1979, has included such luminaries as Margaret Roach, Christopher Lloyd, Anne Raver, Dan Hinkley, Jamaica Kincaid and Sarah Raven.
This ongoing series, curated by Wave Hill’s Director of Horticulture and the Friends of Horticulture Committee, is devoted to garden design and the meaning of our interactions with plants and the natural world. Below is a list of past lectures.
Horticultural Lectures 2023
This year, the series highlights the horticultural ideals of irrepressible garden-makers who not only cultivate an ambitious variety of plants but arrange them into artful compositions that defy boundaries and exceed expectations. Each presentation challenges conventional practice to bold and memorable result.
The ticket price for each virtual lecture is $20. The ticket price for the third and final lecture, at Wave Hill, is $30, including admission to the grounds.
See below for links to each of the 2023 lectures and register soon!
Far Reaches—Exploration and Conservation Inform Garden Design
Sue Milliken and Kelly Dodson, owners of rare-plant nursery Far Reaches Farm and founders of the Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy, collect and cultivate thousands of rare, exotic, native and cultivated ornamentals, many of which are imperiled in their provenance. Using the lens of their many, inspiring global expeditions, this talk explores their personal style as plant obsessive-compulsive collectors, where pride of place in planting is as much the backstory as the beauty. They will highlight the bones of two new gardens under construction, a crevice garden and a contemporary take on a lath-house shade garden.
Timelines—Glen Villa’s Quest to Make History Visible through Design
Patterson Webster began gardening on her 750-acre landscape as many do, by borrowing from conventional approaches and traditional principles. Once embarked, however, her inquisitive mind and love of exploration inspired her to examine the history and composition of her land. With a fresh perspective, Webster brings the garden to life with a language and voice distinctly its own. Her new book, Autobiography of a Garden, identifies events and risks taken that mark her place within the garden’s complex timeline.
The Curious Plantsman—Challenging Convention: Plant Trials by Design
Matt Mattus is a creative who cannot stop growing. With an inherent curiosity that challenges conventional wisdom and seeks out the obscure, Matt experiments with classic and current horticultural methods to find which has merit and which misleads. His research has also identified “secret recipes” that could improve the results of what you’re growing in your own garden. Matt will discuss seed-sown annuals, delphiniums from cuttings, demystifying South African bulbs and cyclamen, and more.
2022
- January 19: Ching-Fang Chen—New Aesthetics for Public Spaces
- February 16: James Golden—The View From Federal Twist: A New Way of Thinking About Gardens, Nature and Ourselves
- March 30: Liman Cheng—Little Island—A Garden Rises
2021
- February 17: Matthew Reese—Malverleys, Making and Maintaining an English Flower Garden
- March 24: Eric Hsu—Uprooted: The Untold Story of Japanese American Influence on American Gardens
- April 14: Fergus Garrett—Wild at Dixter
2020
- January 22: Barbara Paul Robinson—Heroes of Horticulture
- February 19: Ngoc Minh Ngo—To Look at Things in Bloom, Photographing Gardens
- March 25: Uziel Crescenzi—Chance Encounters of a Young Gardener *
2019
- January 23: Colin Cabot—Growing Up Under the Influence
- February 20: Lisa Roper—The Design Evolution of the Gravel Garden
- March 20: Coralie Thomas—The Evolution of a Young Gardener
2018
- January 17: Deborah Needleman in conversation with Sarah Ryhanen and Jenny Elliott—The Farm to Garden Movement: Influencing American Gardens from the Ground Up
- February 21: Sarah Raven—The Cutting Garden
- March 21: Timothy Young—Paper Trails: Writers and Gardens in the Archives
2017
- January 18: Bill Noble—The Gardens of Cornish Colony, Where Classic Gardens Took Root in America
- February 15: David Fried—Fruits You Only Dreamed You Could Grow
- March 15 : Jack Staub—Hortulus Farm: An American Story
2016
- January 20: Quill Teal-Sullivan—Finding My Way: Working Helena’s Gardens at Meadowburn Farm
- February 17: Marta McDowell—The Pen and the Trowell: Authors, Their Gardens and Mine
- March 18: Katherine Tracey—Succulent Love
2015
- January 21: Marco Polo Stufano—Looking Back: Wave Hill at 50
- February 18: Ulrich Lorimer—Locally Sourced – Marrying Field Botany and Horticulture
- March 18: Ed Bowen—Where Have All the Flowers Gone?
2014
- January 22: Louis Bauer—Greenwood Gardens: Transforming a Country House into a Public Place for Horticulture
- February 19: Margery L. Daughtrey—Dreadful Diseases Dangling Over Old Faithful Ornamentals
- March 19: William Cullina—What Do You Mean I’m Not a Perennial!?! Native Shrubs and Small Trees for Perennial Companionship
2013
- January 23: Stephen F. Byrns & Timothy Tilghman—Untermyer, America’s Greatest Forgotten Garden
- February 27: Annie Novak—The Future of Farming
- March 21: Jason Eslamieh—Boswellias of the World
2012
- January 18: Larry J. Wente—Country Life: Integrating Architecture and Landscape Design
- February 22: Barbara Paul Robinson—Rosemary Verey: Queen of Horticulture
- March 21: Thomas L. Woltz—Restoration Ecology in Private Estate Gardens
2011
- January 19: John A. Gwynne & Mikel Folcarelli—The Rakes’ Progress: The Evolution of a Garden
- February 23: Frances Palmer—Throwing Pots and Raising Dahlias: My Life in a Connecticut Garden
- March 16: Margaret Roach—At Home in My 365-Day Garden
2010
- January 20: Patrick Cullina—Elevated Pulse: Examining the High Line’s Dynamic and Emerging Landscape
- February 24: Stephen Orr—Smart Gardens: Getting More with Less
- March 17: Dominique Browning—Slow Love: Making a New Garden – and a New Life
2009
- January 21: Mick Hales—Catch the Eye
- February 25: William Bryant Logan—Oak: The Frame of Civilization
- March 18: Tom Pritchard—Madderlake: Escaping Flowerland – Landscape Design beyond the Garden
2008
- January 30: Patricia Jonas—Constant Gardens: 500 Years of Plants in Art
- February 27: Alexander Reford—Jardins de Metis: Making an Historic Garden Hip
- March 19: Pepe Maynard—Portrait of a Garden
2007
- January 24: James David—Beyond Thorns and Rattlesnakes: Gardening in Texas
- February 28: Kenneth I. Helphand—Defiant Gardens: Making Gardens in Wartime
- March 22: Nancy Goslee Power—Designing Gardens in California
2006
- January 25: John Danzer—Confessions of The Exterior Decorator™
- February 22: Topher Delaney—Digging In: The Garden as a Personal Metaphor
- March 26: Bunny Williams—An Affair with A Garden
2005
- January 26: Edwina von Gal—A Plant Lover’s Adventures in Discipline
- February 23: Pearl Fryar—Topiary as Art
- March 26: Eliot Coleman—Fresh Food from the Garden
2004
- January 28: Deborah Nevins—The Grammar of Landscape
- February 25: Jenks Farmer—Country Gardens in South Carolina
- March 24: Tom Armstrong—Interpreting a Garden Through Art
2003
- January 29: Ken Druse—Trowels and Tribulations of an Island Garden
- February 26: Margaret Roach—A Homemade Garden
- March 26: C. Colston Burrell—Nature Meets Zone Denial
2002
- January 24: Robin Zitter—Stewardship of the Land
- February 21: Lillabeth Wies—Conserving a Public Trust
- March 14: Maurice Horn
2001
• January 25: Daniel Hinkley of Heronswood, Kingston, WA
• February 22: Robert Dash of Madoo, Sagaponack, NY
• March 22: Frank Cabot of Les Quatre Vents, La Malbaie, Quebec, Canada • April 19: Marco Polo Stufano of Wave Hill, Bronx, NY
• May 16: Christopher Lloyd and Fergus Garrett of Great Dixter, East Sussex, England
2000
• January 27: Charles Price and Glenn Withey—Taming the Collector Within
• February 24: Jim Adams —Gardening in the Fast Lane...with a Few Detours
• March 23: Lauren Springer —Creating a Resonant Garden - Blending Both the Natural and the Personal Landscape
1999
• January 28: Claire Sawyers—The Trials and Tribulations of a Suburban Gardener
• February 25: J-P Malocsay —Catching the Dream and Taking It Home: Learning from Gardens Greater Than Your Own
1998
• January 29: John Gwynne —Designing for Collections
• February 26: Kris and Dan Benarcik—Containers: Adding Character to a City Street
• March 26: Thomas Cooper—The Garden at 2 Brigham Street
1997
• January 30: Kathryn Pufahl—Unusual Annuals and Non-Hardy Plants for City and Country Gardens
• February 27: Hitch Lyman —French Lilacs, Wild Peonies, Snowdrops, and the Lesser Celandine - The Toys I'm Collecting
• March 27: Jeff Mendoza—The Problems and Pleasures of Gardening: Urban Rooftops to Country Gardens
1996
• January 25: Daniel Hinkley —The Making and Re-Making of Heronswood • February 29: Dr. Nicklas Nickou—Available but Unused
• March 21: Joanna McQuail Reed—55 Years in a Garden
1995
• January 26: Penelope Maynard—From the Mountains of Kenya to the Gardens of New York
• February 23: Donna Huse and Jim Sears—Portuguese Gardens at Home in New England
• March 23: Jamaica Kincaid—From the Island of Antigua to a Garden in Vermont
1994
• January 27: Kim Mulcahy—The Search for Signs of Provocative Plants in the Universe
• February 24: Robert Dash—The Making of Madoo
• March 31: Bill and Erika Shank —It Doesn't Just Happen—A Garden Twelve Years in the Making
1993
• January 28: Patti Hagan, Anne Raver, Margaret Roach—Seedbeds of Garden Writing
• February 25: Lalitte and Howell Scott and Suzanne Frutig Bales—Alpines: Magnificent Terrace Miniatures/As the Garden Grows, So Does the Gardener
• March 25: Geoffrey Charlesworth and Norman Singer—Gardening without Help
1992
• January 28: Jean Paul Carlhian—The Genesis of the Design of the Enid Haupt Garden
• February 25: Dr. Steven Spongberg—E. H. Wilson: A Life of Plant Exploration
• March 24: David Murbach—The Art of Making Drama in Small Spaces
1991
• January 16: Marco Polo Stufano—Ceramics in the American Garden
• February 6: Dr. J.C. Raulston—New Plants for Our Gardens
• March 6: Roger Kline—Vegetables: from Heirloom to Avant-Garde—for City Terrace and Country Garden
1990
• February 27: Francis H. Cabot—A Plantsman's Canadian Garden
• March 27: Helen Dillon—A Dublin City Garden
• April 17: Barron H. Bohnet—Whitemarsh Hall
1989
• January 31: Peter Del Tredici—The Art and Science of Pruning
• February 28: Marco P. Stufano—Plants and Places of Interest, Random Ramblings of a Gardener
• March 28: Dr. Arthur Tucker—In Search of Antique Plants
• October 12: Dr. Charles Nelson—A Heritage of Beauty: Irish Gardens and their Plants
1987
• January 22: Allen Paterson—Pictures in the Garden: The Art of Plant Association
• February 5: Paula Deitz—The Abby AIdrich Rockefeller Garden
• April 2: Rick Darke Ornamental Grasses Rediscovered: Superb Late-Season Perennials for Today's Gardens
1986
• February 27: Oriel Eaton Kriz—Plants Portrayed: The Art, Science, and Techniques of Botanical Illustration
• March 20: Barry R. Yinger— Korean Plants for American Gardens
• April 10: Marco Polo Stufano—Garden Design: A Plantsman's Approach
1984
• John Sales—Garden Advised, The National Trust (England)
1981
• September 16: Rosemary Verey—Great English Woman Gardeners Since 1700
1979
• Marco Polo Stufano—The Gardens of Wave Hill through the Seasons
* Canceled due to Covid-19