Garden State Gardens – New Jersey with Lesley Parness

This Week's Podcast: Open to the Public: Garden State Gardens

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Lesley Parness, the Superintendent of Horticultural Education for Morris County Parks Commission, tells us about the recently formed consortium of public gardens in her state. Morris County is a beautiful part of New Jersey with lovely estates from the 18^th, 19^th and 20^th centuries, some of which have been donated to the Commission and are now open to the public. Lesley works at The Frelinghuysen Arboretum in Morristown (parking lot planting, right), the former summer home of a New York City family, which was turned into a public garden in 1971.
New Jersey has 19 other public gardens that have come together to form Garden State Gardens, which promotes these institutions. As the an umbrella organization’s mission statement reads: “To increase public awareness of and appreciation for New Jersey’s public gardens by promoting their horticultural, educational, historic and artistic value and to facilitate the collaboration of allied professionals in order to promote public garden visitation, stewardship and support.”
If you live in New Jersey, or are planning a trip to this part of the Country (officially nicknamed The Garden State for its agriculture and gardens — as license plates attest) add a visit to one or more of these places.
Here is a list of member gardens, their cities, towns and links.
Bernardsville – The Cross Estate Gardens
Chester Township – Bamboo Brook Outdoor Education Center
Chester Township – Willowwood Arboretum
East Millstone – Colonial Park Gardens
Far Hills – Leonard J. Buck Garden
Glen Rock – Thielke Arboretum
Hillsborough – Duke Farms
Lakewood – Sister Mary Grace Burns Arboretum at Georgian Court University
Medford – Lewis W. Barton Arboretum at Medford Leas
Montclair – Van Vleck House and Garden
Morris Township – The Frelinghuysen Arboretum
New Brunswick – Rutgers Gardens
Newark – Branch Brook Park
Newark – Greater Newark Conservancy
Princeton – Morven Museum and Garden
Ringwood – New Jersey State Botanical Garden
Short Hills – Greenwood Gardens
Summit – Reeves-Reed Arboretum
Upper Montclair – Presby Iris Gardens
Wayne – Laurelwood Arboretum