One of the benefits of living in the Northeast is the absolute ease of traveling around our region. A trip I have been making several times each year is to the Hudson Valley in New York, particularly for the lush countryside, which is jam-packed with gardens of all kinds. It's an enjoyable four-hour car ride through the western part of Massachusetts directly to what is considered the mid-Valley. 

 

Last year, I joined a small group tour exploring a packed garden itinerary of the lower and mid-Hudson Valley. Here, I highlight a handful of garden experiences for your consideration—many that intersect history, art, culture, and nature.

 

If you spend any time in this part of New York, there are two things you must know: its geography and its historic appeal. Geographically, this area is just over 7,000 square, mostly rural miles, with six counties extending from Albany south to Yonkers with the mighty Hudson River flowing directly through it. Because of its sheer size, 150 miles above the tip of Manhattan to Albany, it is commonly segmented into upper, mid, and lower regions with bridges in two central locations (Newburgh and Mid-Hudson). It's wise to use this distinction to help you plan a visit. Otherwise, driving can be arduous.

 

Historically, wealthy political and industrialist families – Roosevelts, Vanderbilts, Rockefellers, Goulds, and the like – built lavish country homes to escape the bustle and grime of New York City. And that's where garden-making comes into play. If you enjoy a historic house and garden tour, this is a place for you. In addition, there are contemporary gardens perfected in the 20th century alongside parklike gardens inspired by or created by naturalists living and working in the Valley.

 

Kykuit (pronounced cake-8), a Classic Revival summer villacompleted in 1913, was home to four generations of Rockefellers. It sits on a hilltop overlooking the mighty Hudson in Sleepy Hollow, lower Valley. The formal garden here, first designed by Frederick Law Olmsted (of Central Park fame) and then finished by William Welles Bosworth, is an example of American Mixed Style design. It is a terraced landscape with a semicircular rose garden, multiple fountains, a Temple of Aphrodite, and a notable collection of modern sculpture (including works by Pablo Picasso). There is a Morning Garden, a Grand Staircase, a Japanese Garden, an Italian Garden, and an Italian loggia. Guided tours from May through November of the 40-room villa, significant art collection, and garden will bring you closer to the life and times of the Gilded Age.

 

Boscobel House & Gardens in Garrison, lower Valley, is a different historical experience. This neoclassic mansion built between 1804 and 1808 was owned by wealthy loyalists and includes the finest collection of decorative arts and New York furniture from the Federalist period. Yes, it, too, is set on a hilltop overlooking the Hudson. But this spot is different from its original location. For decades, it fell into disrepair but was rescued from Montrose in the 1950s by a group of preservationists and moved 10 miles to its current site. The grounds feature an apple orchard, a formal garden, an herb garden with orangery, and the Hudson Rivers School Artists Garden with sculptures by Greg Wyatt honoring 19th-century regional painters. There is also a mile-long woodland trail with beautiful river views.

 

If you prefer your gardens unburdened by mansions, then Stonecrop Garden is for you. Stonecrop, which sits atop the Hudson Highlands at 1100 feet in elevation, is the original property of Frank and Ann Cabot. Frank, The Garden Conservancy's founder, began his career in New York City finance. Still, in 1958, he and Ann commenced construction of their home and garden from wind and rock in Cold Spring, Mid-Valley. Avid collectors of Alpine plants, which they sold through a mail order business for a time, their garden continued to expand to woodland and water gardens, bulb lawns, a bamboo grove, enclosed English-style flower gardens, and systematic order beds representing over 50 plant families. In 1992, the Cabots created a nonprofit to share this garden with the public. Even on a rainy day, wandering around Stonecrop was decadent—the stewardship the Cabots and the staff have shown this property is admirable and enviable. Frank and Ann retired to northern Quebec to continue garden-making at Jardin les Quatre Vents—a stunning project featured in the documentary film The Gardener.

 

Three other landscapes dotted around the Hudson Valley are not typical intimate gardens but vast and verdant grounds that invite exploration and contemplation. The first is Innisfree in Millbrook, mid-Valley—described on its website as an "American stroll garden — a sublime composition of rock, water, wood, and sky achieved with remarkable economy and grace." Inspired by traditional Japanese and Chinese garden design, Innisfree reminds me more of the vast treescapes of Olmsted and William Kent than contained and manicured Asian gardens. But I'm sure we can agree that there are aspects of both represented in the 185 serene acres of this place.

 

Another must-see is Manitoga, the former weekend retreat and 75-acre woodland garden of mid-20th century industrial designer Russel Wright. With a 30-foot waterfall and quarry pond running alongside a contemporary house nestled into a rocky outcrop known as Dragon's Rock, it is reminiscent of Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater. Long views, mossy trails, and riotous shrub-layered hills under a tall canopy make conditions for a walk so peaceful that you might wish for silence. Guided tours of the house and grounds run from May through November. The Russel & Mary Wright Design Gallery inside the home offers a permanent onsite display of the Wrights' groundbreaking designs for the American home. Manitoga's woodland trails in Garrison, lower Valley, are open daily year-round during daylight hours.

 

Finally, Storm King Art Center, located in Cornwall, mid-Valley, is the most parklike of all the places mentioned. It is a 500-acre large-scale sculpture museum amongst rolling meadows, hills, ponds, allées, wooded areas, and paved and gravel paths. You can even rent a bicycle to make the most of your time there. Dominated by native plant species, Storm King's 100 acres of native grass meadows form a striking contrast with areas of mown turf surrounding the sculptures.

 

So, no matter your garden mood, the Hudson Valley offers a variety of green experiences and garden exploration that bring you closer to nature, art, culture, and history at every turn.