Spring Garden Lecture Series
New Rochelle, NY: The Hudson Park Children’s Greenhouse (HPCG) in collaboration with the Master Gardener Volunteers Program of Cornell University Cooperative Extension of Westchester County and the New Rochelle Public Library will kick off the spring gardening season with two presentations open to the public. The two events are as follows:
- Container Gardening – March 21st, 6-8pm: No space for an in-ground garden? Do you have terrible soil conditions? Want to change things up in the landscape? Master Gardener Linda Bradshaw will discuss how to do this and more with moveable containers and window boxes.
- New Country Garden: Birds, Bees & Native Plants April 6th, 6-8pm: Learn about environmentally sound landscaping and gardening by including New York native plants and excluding invasive plants. Help to support a diversity of wildlife and create a garden in harmony with its surrounding. Master Gardener Donna Lassiter will help you to discover some beautiful and hardy native plants for your yard and garden.
Location: Ossie Davis Theater, New Rochelle Library, 1 Library Plaza, New Rochelle, NY. The lecture programs are free however any donations to support our efforts would help and be greatly appreciated.
These programs are sponsored by Hudson Park Children’s Greenhouse committee, a community effort to renovate the former municipal greenhouses located in the heart of New Rochelle’s Hudson Park and to provide education programs that “promote sustainable development and the environment through gardening”. Built in the early 20th century, these two historic, classic Lord and Burnham style greenhouses provided the New Rochelle Parks Department with plants and flowers for the parks, gardens and public plantings that beautified the city for decades.
Through their 100 year history, the greenhouses have been operated by various entities including the City of New Rochelle, Wildcliff Natural Science Center and Friends of Wildcliff Greenhouse. The Friends of Wildcliff Greenhouse ran a community beautification program and other horticultural planting programs, including Therapeutic Horticulture programs for children with developmental disabilities. Due to budgetary issues and needed maintenance and repairs, the greenhouses were closed by the City in 2009.
In 2015, Millie Radonjic-Ilich formed the Hudson Park Children’s Greenhouse (HPCG) Inc., a registered 501-c-3 non-profit organization dedicated to restoring the greenhouse. HPCG is comprised of thirty-nine members, including professional tradesmen, willing to donate their labor to the project. HPCG’s mission is to use the restored greenhouse to provide age-appropriate, hands-on education and gardening experiences in a safe, energy efficient and environmentally sound setting. Our efforts recently have been supported by a matching grant from the Gwendolyn Appleyard Trust Fund.
