28th Annual ARF Garden Tour: Celebrating the Summer Solstice in Springs

The Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons, Inc. (ARF) announced its 28th Annual Garden Tour “Celebrating the Summer Solstice in Springs” that will be held on Saturday, June 21 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., rain or shine. One of the longest running garden tours on Long Island, the ARF Garden Tour will feature six wonderful gardens in the historic hamlet of Springs, in East Hampton, New York.

The homeowners of the private gardens included on the tour are of Pamela Bicket and Zachary Cohen where free refreshments will be served, Peter Bickford and Greg McCarthy, Annachiara Danieli, Deborah Nevins, Suky and Michael Novogratz, and Edwina von Gal.

Many of this year’s gardens use local plants and environmentally sound practices without sacrificing any of their design. Two of the six properties featured this year are the personal gardens of some of the nation’s leading landscape design firms: Deborah Nevins and Associates and Edwina von Gal & Co. Their globally groundbreaking work is taking landscape design to new heights. Brilliant and unique flowers, shrubs and trees overlay the arrangement of Deborah Nevins garden. This is the first time Ms. Nevins has offered her garden for show on a public tour.

Edwina von Gal’s property is more landscape than garden, reflecting her ongoing experiment with low-maintenance, toxin-free gardening with a high-deer presence, like there is on most of Long Island. Her house, a modernist icon by Hamilton Smith (Marcel Breuer’s partner) sits on stilts in a salt marsh, with an amazing view of Accabonac Harbor. The garden of Pamela Bicket and Zachary Cohen emphasizes pattern and texture, and beautifully manages transitions from woods, to meadow to formal garden plot. The garden of Peter Bickford and Greg McCarthy compliments the rich history of the original farmhouse, and incorporates traditional garden plants, including lilac, one of the resilient varieties brought to North America by the colonists who settled in the area. Designed by top landscape architects, Oehme van Sweden, the garden of Annachiara Danielli has gone from jungle to paradise. The house and garden of Suky and Michael Novogratz are part of the original Devon Colony, a historic cooperative that included residences of business titans like William Proctor, of Proctor & Gamble. Jane Lappin of Wainscott Farms designed the Novogratz garden.

The 28th Annual Garden Tour is self-guided, and ticket holders can view the gardens in any order they wish. In honor of ARF’s 40th Anniversary, two extra outstanding experiences are being offered for those that choose to purchase upper level tickets that are priced at $175, advanced sales only. These perks include a tour of the Judith Leiber and Gerson Leiber garden and museum, offering an incomparable demonstration of her renowned handbags and his paintings throughout the last several decades. A post tour wine tasting and the opportunity to explore the impressive waterfront home and stylish garden of Interior Designer and Columnist, Marshall Watson and Paul Sparks will also be offered. The wine tasting will feature wines from award winning Joullian Vineyards, owned by Marshall’s brother, Ridge Watson. A bounty of local cheeses and produce will also be served. Barbara Slifka and Mark Fichandler will chair this year’s event.

The ARF Adoption Center in Wainscott, the ARF Thrift Shop in Sagaponack and the following garden centers are also selling tickets for the tour. Lynch’s Garden Center, Mecox Gardens in Southampton & East Hampton, East Hampton Gardens, The Bayberry in Amagansett, the Sag Harbor Florist and Marders in Bridgehampton.

All proceeds from the tour benefit the Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons, Inc. (ARF) directly, the leading no-kill animal shelter on eastern Long Island. The ARF Adoption Center is located in Wainscott, NY and open every day from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Since its founding in 1974, ARF has found loving homes for over 20,000 cats, kittens, dogs and puppies.

For More Information contact, Jamie Berger at, 631-537-0400 x215 or jamie@arfhamptons.org.

Tickets for the tour are $85 and can be purchased by calling 631-537-0400 x 219, or online at www.arfhamptons.org.