Longue Vue House and Garden welcomed Town Gardeners for our March 2023 meeting in the Playhouse. Head hostess Jenny Charpentier and Tina Kern arranged a delicious lunch on the tented tennis court and horticulture chairs Katie Rafferty and Kristi French offered a hands on kokedama activity for those willing to get their hands dirty! Several members went home with ferns or other plants housed in the unique moss covered balls.

Longue Vue Executive Director Baty Landis and Director of Gardens Amy Graham gave a fantastic introduction to the history of Longue Vue and impact of twentieth century landscape designer Ellen Biddle Shipman. Shipman cited the three essential characteristics of a real garden as design, greenery, and privacy. She was known for creating axial relationships between garden and home, easily recognized at Longue Vue. The Longue Vue website notes that Ship-man was “considered the dean of women landscape architects” and “designed over 600 gardens between 1914-1946, contributing significantly to a thriving gardening revival that occurred during the early twentieth century.”