Board and Executive Committee Meetings
2026
Friday, April 17th at 10:00 AM
Friday, June 5th at 10:00 AM
Friday, August 14th at10:00 AM (No Board Meeting)
Friday, November 13th at 10:00 AM

Board Meetings
Board meetings follow Executive meetings on the same day except where noted
2026
Friday, April 17th at 11:00 AM
Friday, June 5th at 11:00 AM
Friday, November 13th at 11:00 AM
Committee chairs may be asked to give committee reports.

Monday | July 14, 2025
10AM

GENERAL MEETING AND CONSERVATION COMMITTEE

Kim Cameron - Plastic Pollution and the Road to Advocacy

Kim will speak about the ways in which plastic pollution harms people, soil, and other organisms, as well as on how we can reduce our exposure and advocate for change.

Kim Cameron has a Ph.D. in plant physiology and was a research scientist for Cornell University. Her desire to understand recycling led her to “Beyond Plastics,” where she has become an outspoken advocate and volunteer speaker for the organization. She was a LWV-US observer delegate to COP-28, the UN climate conference in Dubai.

Troutbeck
515 Leedsville Rd
Amenia, NY 12501

Monday | August 11, 2025
10AM    

Catherine Rawson and Becky Thornton - Local Land Conservancies and How They Work

Becky Thornton, President of Dutchess Land Conservancy (DLC), and Catherine Rawson, Executive Director of Northwest Connecticut Land Conservancy (NCLC), will host a colloquy about land conservation, explaining why conserving private land parcels in perpetuity is so important, how the process works, the differences between New York State and Connecticut land conservation, and the financial and environmental benefits of each.

During her dynamic, 36 year tenure at the DLC, Becky Thornton has overseen the protection of nearly 48,000 acres of land, including the 1,260-acre Bontecou Preserve, growing the number of conservation easements from 80 to 450. In 2020, Hudson Valley Magazine named her one of the region’s most influential and inspirational female executives.

Catherine Rawson leads Northwest Connecticut Land Conservancy (NCLC), which is known for managing large, complex conservation projects that protect the landscape and agricultural legacy of Litchfield and northern Fairfield Counties. She is currently overseeing the creation of four new public preserves and the protection of 4,000 acres surrounding the Colebrook Reservoir.

Sharon Town Hall
63 Main St.
Sharon, CT 06069

Monday | September 15, 2025
10:00 AM

GENERAL MEETING AND HORTICULTURE COMMITTEE

Signe Nielsen – Little Island: More than Meets the Eye

A behind-the-scenes talk about the design process, vision, ecological analyses, and results from the landscape architect who conceived of Little Island’s landscape. Hear anecdotes and inside stories behind this extraordinary lower Manhattan project, which has now welcomed four and a half million visitors in three years.

Signe Nielsen has been a practicing landscape architect in New York since 1978. The recipient of more than 100 national and local design awards for public open space projects, she is a professor of Urban Design and Landscape Architecture at Pratt Institute’s Graduate and Undergraduate Schools of Architecture.

Cary
2801 Sharon Turnpike
Millbrook, NY  12545

Monday | October 20, 2025
10:00 AM

GENERAL MEETING AND PHOTOGRAPHY COMMITTEE

Caryn B. Davis – Notable Connecticut Gardens

Landscape design photographer Caryn B. Davis will present images from her most recent book, Connecticut Gardens, including 15 historic gardens and some of Connecticut’s finest private gardens, sharing their fascinating histories, designs, and human stories.

Davis is the author of three photography books and has written articles about art, design, and travel for The New York Times, Conde Nast Traveler, and Town & Country.

Stonewood Farm  
110 Bangall Rd
Millbrook, NY 12545

Monday | November 17, 2025
10:00 AM

GENERAL MEETING AND FLORAL DESIGN COMMITTEE

Richard will wow us!

Church of the Messiah
6436 Montgomery Street
Rhinebeck, NY 12572

Monday | April 20, 2026
10 AM

GENERAL MEETING AND HORTICULTURE COMMITTEE

Horatio Joyce – The Garden Conservancy: The Story of an Organization Dedicated to Celebrating America’s Gardens

Horatio Joyce will discuss the past, present, and future of the nonprofit Garden Conservancy, and the myriad ways the organization promotes the joy of gardening through preservation and education.

Horatio Joyce holds a doctorate in architectural history from Oxford University and a bachelor’s degree in art history from the University of Chicago. Before his tenure as the Director of Public Programs and Education at the Conservancy, he was a curatorial fellow in the Department of Drawings and Prints at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City. His expertise and passion for the intersection of art, history, and landscape continue to shape the innovative public programming at the Garden Conservancy.

The White Hart Inn
15 Under Mountain Road
Salisbury, CT 06068

Monday | May 11, 2026
10:00 AM

GENERAL MEETING AND CONSERVATION COMMITTEE

Susan Harder – Light pollution and the importance of Dark Skies

Susan Harder will speak about how light affects humans and wildlife from birds and bats to algae and what we can do to reduce the deleterious impacts of light pollution.

Susan founded the Dark Sky Society and as the New York State Representative of the International Dark Sky Association, has worked tirelessly to establish regulations to protect the night sky from the effects of light pollution caused by excessive and misdirected lighting. In 2010, the Sierra Club Long Island Group honored her as “Environmentalist of the Year.” Susan is a former New York City art curator and gallery owner who exhibited key 20thcentury photographers.

The Carriage House
Wethersfield Estate and Garden
257 Pugsley Hill Road
Amenia, NY 12501

Monday | June 8, 2026
10:00 AM

GENERAL MEETING, ANNUAL MEETING, AND AWARDS PROGRAM

The General Meeting and the Annual Meeting with Awards Ceremony will take place from 10:00 AM to 12:00 Noon. The Members luncheon will follow from 12:00 Noon to 1:00 PM

Millbrook Golf & Tennis Club
103 Route 343
Millbrook, NY 12545

Monday | July 13, 2026
10:00 AM

GENERAL MEETING AND FLORAL DESIGN COMMITTEE

Trish O’Sullivan – Dutch Master Still Life Floral Design: Summer Garden

Master Florist Trish O’Sullivan will show us how to create an exuberant floral design inspired by Dutch Master still-life paintings, using a summer pallet of garden roses, ranunculus, garden vegetables, herbs, berries, and vines. Trish will demonstrate simple design tips and techniques without the use of chemicals or floral foam.

Trish O’Sullivan is the former Director of the New York Botanical Garden Floral Design Program. She currently teaches Master Classes at the NYBG, the Bruce Museum, and other institutions. Her floral signature is an artful blending of old world masters and contemporary concepts, wild meadows and refined English gardens. A Master Florist, she has created floral designs for a number of notable New York hotels, TV sets, and for the NYBG’s annual orchid show.

Venue to be announced

Monday | August 10, 2026
10:00 AM

GENERAL MEETING AND PHOTOGRAPHY COMMITTEE

Ngoc Minh Ngo – Roses in the Garden

No other floral genus has greater variety and enticement than the rose. They blossom in an endless variety of shapes and a surprising spectrum of colors; their perfume is ineffable. Photographer Ngoc Minh Ngo will speak about the inspiration and process behind her most recent book, Roses in the Garden, which took her to 11 gardens in England, France, Spain, Morocco, the United States, and Japan. Ngoc is a New York-based photographer and the author of four previous books, Bringing Nature Home, In Bloom, Eden Revisited, and New York Green. Her images have appeared in The World of Interiors, Architectural Digest, and T Magazine.

Cary Institute
2801 Sharon Turnpike
Millbrook, NY 12545

Monday |September 14, 2026
10:00 AM

GENERAL MEETING AND HORTICULTURE COMMITTEE

Sarah Bilston – The Lost Orchid: A story of Victorian Plunder and Obsession

Author Sarah Bilston will speak about her most recent book, The Lost Orchid, the forgotten story of a decades-long international quest for a rare and coveted orchid, chronicling the botanists, plant hunters, and collectors who relentlessly pursued it at great human and environmental cost. She will describe how “orchid mania” swept across Europe and North America, driving a vast plant trade that catered to wealthy private patrons as well as the fast-growing middle classes of the Victorian age.

Sarah Bilston is a British author and professor of English literature at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, where she is currently chair of the English department. She earned her doctorate from the University of Oxford and is the author of four previous books.

Venue to be announced

Monday | October 19, 2026
10:00 AM

GENERAL MEETING AND GARDEN HISTORY COMMITTEE

Gregory Long will return to speak to us about his just published book.

Gregory Long is president emeritus of the New York Botanical Garden, where he served as president and CEO from 1989 to 2018. He began his career in 1969 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and has held positions at the Brooklyn Museum, the American Museum of Natural History, and the New York Zoological Society. Through the 1980’s he served as vice president for public affairs at the New York Public Library. He is the author of Historic Houses of the Hudson River Valley and other books.

Venue to be announced

Monday | November 16, 2026
10:00 AM

GENERAL MEETING AND FLORAL DESIGN COMMITTEE

Richard McKeon

Richard will wow us, again!

Church of the Messiah
6436 Montgomery Street
Rhinebeck, NY 12572

Monday | April 22, 2024
10:00 AM
GENERAL MEETING AND HORTICULTURE

Pom Shillingford--An English Garden in the Making

Eleven years ago, David and Pom Shillingford uprooted themselves and their three young children from Manhattan to Salisbury, CT under the pretense of restoring an 1830s historic wreck. In reality, it was so Pom could get her hands on the three barren acres of ‘yard’ that surrounded the house. Never one to be tagged with the label of low-maintenance, she set about creating a modern-day version of her beloved grandmother’s previous sixty years-in-the-making Arts and Craft, English garden. Four years ago, bored by her lament of the lack of availability of seasonal flowers that had always graced her grandmother’s house, she began offering ‘proper garden’ flowers through her business English Garden Grown.

White Hart Inn
15 Under Mountain Rd
Salisbury, Ct 06068

Monday | May 13, 2024
10:00 A.M.

GENERAL MEETING AND GARDEN HISTORY AND DESIGN COMMITTEE

Gregory Long: "The New Edible Academy at the New York Botanical Garden."

After a century of bringing gardening to NYC children, the NYBG has recently created a year-round program teaching children, families, and teachers organic gardening, focusing mainly on food crops. Annually, over 100,000 Garden visitors now learn and have fun 12 months of the year in this beautiful, Leed Gold facility which features living demonstrations of alternative energy sources, bee-keeping, composting (even in the bathrooms), and a daily array of demonstrations in preparing healthy meals in elegant indoor-outdoor kitchens. Visitors not only get hands-on experiences with planting, weeding, composting, and harvesting, they leave with something fresh and healthy to eat! This beautifully gardened, nearly utopian, place hosts schools during the week, families on afternoons and weekends, and campers in the summer and at school holidays.

Gregory Long is president emeritus of the New York Botanical Garden, where he served as president and CEO for 29 years. He began his career at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and has held positions at the Brooklyn Museum, The American Museum of Natural History, the New York Zoological Society and was vice president for public affairs at the New York public Library throughout the 1980’s. He is the author of Historic Houses of the Hudson River Valley and, most recently, Rescue and Revival: New York Botanical Garden, 1989-2018.

The Carriage House
Wethersfield Estate & Garden
257 Pugsley Hill Road
Amenia, NY 12501

Monday | June 17, 2024
10:00 A.M.

GENERAL MEETING, ANNUAL MEETING AND AWARDS PROGRAM

The general Meeting and the Annual Meeting with Awards Ceremony will take place from 10:00 AM to noon. The Members luncheon will follow from 12 Noon-1:00 PM

Millbrook Golf & Tennis Club
103 Route 343
Millbrook, NY 12545

Monday | July 15, 2024
10:00 A.M.

GENERAL MEETING AND CONSERVATION COMMITTEE

Mike Nadeau: Desert to Oasis: Shrinking Your Lawn With Wildflowers

Michael Nadeau is a leading authority in sustainable organic and ethical land care strategies and a co-founder of CT NOFA’s Organic Land Care program. In 1999, he helped write the NOFA Standards for Organic Land Care to address a looming problem: while the term “organic” was clearly defined in terms of food and agriculture, land care had no such national definition. The recipient of numerous awards, including the 2018 NOFA Person of the Year Award and the 2023 Bill Duesing Living on the Earth Award,  he teaches courses and lectures throughout the northeast region, as well as offering organic land care and environmental restoration consulting services.

Sharon Town Hall
63 Main St.
Sharon, Ct. 06069

Monday | August 12, 2024
10:00 A.M.

GENERAL MEETING AND GARDEN HISTORY & DESIGN COMMITTEE

Alexandra Peters: There were always flowers: Garden History and needlework

Needles and trowels, embroidery and gardening, these were the important work of women before the Industrial Revolution. Alexandra will talk about how highly valued these skills were, using needlework samplers from her own collection to show us what was happening in gardens before 1840.

We will also hear from some of the 2023 recipients of our Civic Improvement Grants

The Cornwall library
30 Pine St.
Cornwall, Ct. 06753

Monday | September 16, 2024
10:00 A.M.

GENERAL MEETING AND PHOTOGRAPHY COMMITTEE

Ngoc Minh Ngo—Urban Pastoral

Ngoc Minh Ngo is a New York–based photographer and the author of Bringing Nature Home, In Bloom, and Eden Revisited, and New York Green. Her images have appeared in such international publications as The World of Interiors, Architectural Digest, and T Magazine and she has exhibited her work at the Musée Yves Saint Laurent in Marrakesh and Wave Hill Garden in New York. The recipient of the Larry Lederman Landscape Photography Fellowship at the New York Botanical Garden in 2023, her talk will explore the diversity of New York's public green spaces and the influence of Eric W. Sanderson's Mannahatta on the shaping of the city's future landscape.

The Cary Institute
2801 Sharon Turnpike
Millbrook, NY 12545

Monday | October 21, 2024
10:00 A.M.

GENERAL MEETING AND HORTICULTURE COMMITTEE

Liselotte Vince— The Buzz About Second Blooms: A Story of Flowers, Bees, and Finding Home

After losing herself in the daily grind of being a stay-at-home mom, a farm purchase in the Hudson Valley offered new beginnings. Liselotte Vince transformed a neglected vegetable garden, and took classes at NYBG to rekindle her passion for the soil, the pollinators, and the wildlife that called her farm home. 

Amidst the challenges of the pandemic, a love affair with dahlias blossomed. This newfound passion led to the birth of 80milesnorth, a flower farm named as a playful nod to her journey from the bustling streets of New York City, 80 miles south, to the quiet beauty of the Hudson Valley.

Liselotte's journey isn't just about flowers - it's about finding hope, purpose, and a deep connection with nature. It's a testament to the power of second chances, of nurturing the potential within us and around us.

Stonewood Farm
110 Bangall Road
Millbrook, NY 12545

Monday | November 18, 2024
10 A.M.

GENERAL MEETING AND FLORAL DESIGN COMMITTEE

Richard McKeon-- Wreathed in Smiles  - A workshop to decorate wreaths for the holidays

In this workshop, we will have the option of creating either a Harvest/Thanksgiving wreath for your front door or a Holiday wreath for the season to come. We will provide traditional trimmings for the wreaths, and will open the workshop with a demonstration and some innovative suggestions for how to make a stunning wreath with which to celebrate the holidays. 

Church of the Messiah
6436 Montgomery Street
Rhinebeck, NY 12572

Monday | April 17, 2023
10:00 AM
GENERAL MEETING AND HORTICULTURE COMMITTEE

Sean Grace - Raptors:  Conservation of Our Avian Apex Predators 

Sean Grace, President of Hawk Mountain, is passionate about raptors, education, and conservation.  Founded in 1934 as the world's first refuge for birds of prey and an international center for raptor conservation, Hawk Mountain Sanctuary protects birds of prey through integrated scientific monitoring and research, public education and engagement, and professional conservation training.   

Cary Institute
2801 Sharon Turnpike
Millbrook, NY 12545

Monday | July 10, 2023
10:00 AM
​​GENERAL MEETING AND HORTICULTURE COMMITTEE 

Adam Gopnik - Taste and The Table, And Which Comes First?

Adam Gopnik, legendary writer for the New Yorker, has written for the magazine since 1986. Also a scintillating speaker, Adam illuminates - with his keen observation - striking insights of modern life and culture, and what it takes to be a citizen of the world in this time. Author of The Table Comes First, a beguiling tour of the morals and manners of our present food mania and the The Mystery of Mastery: How We Learn To Do Hard Things, Adam will tailor his talk to both Stonewood Farm’s mission and our Club audience. 

Stonewood Farm
110 Bangall Road
Millbrook, NY 12545

Wednesday | July 12, 2023 
11:00 AM
MGC VISITING GARDENS INVITES YOU TO GREENWOOD GARDENS & REEVES - REED ARBORETUM

Susan Kavy has organized a tour of these two gardens in northern NJ with a tea to be held at Reeves-Reed Arboretum. Reeves-Reed offers 13.5 acres of natural beauty, including historic and contemporary gardens and six acres of woodland forest. Greenwood Gardens is a 28-acre public garden surrounded by 2,110 acres of Essex County Park System’s South Mountain Reservation. The Gardens were a private estate until 2003, when the Blanchard family decided to transform them into a public garden.

We will gather first at Greenwood for a 1 1/2 hour guided tour to begin at Noon.  Then we will arrive at 2:00 pm at Reeves-Reed for our high tea lunch and an hour long tour to begin at 3:00 pm.  The cost is $75 for both gardens and the luncheon.

The trip from Millbrook to Greenwood is about 2 hours and from Reeves Reed to Millbrook about 15 minutes shorter. Carpooling is the way to go!  

Call Ellen Petersen for more details, 518 398-6658.  Sign up by sending a check for $75 to Ellen Petersen, 378 Conklin Hill Road, Stanfordville, NY 12581. Registration deadline is Friday, July 7th. 

Submitted by Ellen Petersen, Chair, Visiting Gardens 

September 15 - October 15, 2023
Conservation & Photography Club Show

A joint Photography and Conservation Show at the Millbrook Library, themed around tree education.
Free and open to the public

Millbrook Library
3 Friendly Lane
Millbrook, NY 12545

Friday | October 27, 2023
7:00 PM
4TH ANNUAL CO-SPONSORED MGC / CARY EVENT

Doug Tallamy – Bringing Nature Home

Doug Tallamy is a New York Times best-selling author, an entomologist, a conservationist, and the co-founder of Homegrown National Park. In his book Nature’s Best Hope: a New Approach to Conservation that Starts in Your Yard, Tallamy makes the case that every minute of every day we are losing healthy biodiverse habitats and that we can begin to reverse that by taking simple steps right in our own yards.

Cary Institute
2801 Sharon Turnpike
Millbrook, NY 12545

The program is available live stream or in person. Please sign up here: 

In-person registration - https://www.eventbrite.com/e/natures-best-hope-conservation-that-starts-in-your-yard-in-person-tickets-728439832147?aff=MGC

Virtual registration - https://www.eventbrite.com/e/natures-best-hope-conservation-that-starts-in-your-yard-virtual-tickets-727574453777?aff=MGC