Hollister House Garden

HHG Explorers: Garden Rooms and Fairy Houses- Registration Full
2026-06-27 10:00 - 11:30 (America/New_York) | Hollister House Garden, 300 Nettleton Hollow Road, Washington, CT, 06759
Hollister House Garden Explorers is a series of Saturday morning activities that invite elementary-aged children and their families to experience the summer garden.
Gardens are magical places that feed imagination and inspire wonder. Join us for a kid-friendly guided tour of Hollister House Garden, where we’ll explore some of our garden “rooms,” noticing features that make each space unique. Every garden room has its own mood. How does it make you feel? Is it peaceful, playful, cheerful, or maybe even a little mysterious?
Then, inspired by our walk, we’ll head to the barn for a hands-on art activity with Kent Curiosity Lab. Using natural materials and plenty of imagination, children and families will create their own miniature fairy gardens—designing tiny spaces with moods of their own.
Kent Curiosity Lab is a non-profit organization offering children experiences that spark curiosity and ignite lifelong learning. Located in Kent, Connecticut, the organization provides high-quality enrichment programs that actively engage students in real world and personally meaningful activities and projects. By ensuring every child has access to these opportunities, they work to build a stronger, more vibrant community. Find out more at kentcuriositylab.org.
This program is now fully enrolled. Please consider registering for our other HHG Explorers programs on July11 and August 1.

EVENING IN THE GARDEN
2026-07-10 18:00 - 20:00 UTC, 2026-08-07 18:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | CT
As the light fades and day turns to evening, enjoy the company of friends and neighbors and see the beauty of the garden in a different light.
Come have a glass of wine in the barn. Then enjoy a walk in the garden where you will delight in the intimate outdoor spaces, bordered by dramatic hedges and overflowing with exuberant plantings.
A perfect start to a summer weekend.
This event will take place rain or shine. In the event of inclement weather we will enjoy wine in the barn.
RESERVATIONS
Reserve in advance: $20 per person
Pay at the door $25 per person (cash or check only).

HHG Explorers: Who Lives in the Garden?
2026-07-11 10:00 - 11:30 (America/New_York) | Hollister House Garden, 300 Nettleton Hollow Road, Washington, CT, 06759
Hollister House Garden Explorers is a series of Saturday morning activities that invite elementary-aged children and their families to experience the summer garden.
Gardens aren’t just pretty places for humans to enjoy- they are also home to a variety of animals and insects that signal a healthy garden. Join us for a kid-friendly, guided walk to discover different habitats at Hollister House Garden- then have fun searching for our famous frogs in the reflecting pool! We will learn all about frogs- and other herps- when we head to the barn for an exciting nature program with White Memorial Conservation Center. Through up-close encounters with several live animals, families will learn about the characteristics, habitats, life cycles, and adaptations of various species of reptiles and amphibians throughout CT.
The White Memorial Conservation Center provides year-round environmental education programs for children and adults that inspire understanding, appreciation, and respect for the natural world. Created in 1913 by Alain C. White and his sister, May W. White, the Foundation and Center today comprise 4,000 acres of forest, fields and wetlands in the towns of Litchfield and Morris in northwestern Connecticut. Learn more at https://whitememorialcc.org
This program is offered free of charge, but advanced registration is required. As space is limited, please let us know 48 hours in advance if your plans change so we may offer your spot to a family on our waitlist. Please note that caregivers must be present for the duration of the program.

Hollister House Garden Explorers - Who Lives in the Garden?

NameThis field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.First Name(Required)Last Name(Required)Email(Required)Phone(Required)Number of children planning to attendName and age of each child(Required)Hollister House Garden plans to take photographs during this event.(Required)

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Participants should meet in the barn before beginning the garden walk. Please arrive a few minutes early so the tour can start on-time.Parent or care-giver must be present for the entire event.(Required)

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HHG Explorers: Daylilies in the Garden
2026-08-01 10:00 - 11:30 (America/New_York) | Hollister House Garden, 300 Nettleton Hollow Road, Washington, CT, 06759
Hollister House Garden Explorers is a series of Saturday morning activities that invite elementary-aged children and their families to experience the summer garden.
Discover one of the garden’s favorite summer blooms as we celebrate the classic daylily! We begin with a family-friendly garden tour where we will take a special look at the life of this beautiful perennial. Children and their families will learn how daylilies grow and reproduce, examine their unique root structures, and admire how they are used in the garden. To inspire a lifelong love of gardening, each child will receive their own “double fan” daylily plant to take home and grow in their own garden.
Following the tour, the group will gather in the barn for a “Vintage Garden” art session led by Kristie Matuszewski of Find•Art Kids Studio in Litchfield. This creative project allows young artists to craft their own “hand-picked” bouquet of daylilies using paper and wood, finished with traditional wrapping and twine. To complete the vintage experience, each participant will color a canvas board “postcard” featuring intricate, garden-inspired insect themes. Learn more about the studio at kidsfindart.com.
This program is offered free of charge, but advanced registration is required. As space is limited, please let us know 48 hours in advance if your plans change so we may offer your spot to a family on our waitlist. Please note that caregivers must be present for the duration of the program.

Hollister House Garden Explorers - Daylilies

CommentsThis field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.First Name(Required)Last Name(Required)Email(Required)Phone(Required)Number of children planning to attendName and age of each child(Required)Hollister House Garden plans to take photographs during this event.(Required)

I understand the above information.

Participants should meet in the barn before beginning the garden walk. Please arrive a few minutes early so the tour can start on-time.Parent or care-giver must be present for the entire event.(Required)

I understand the above information.

Designing Fall Containers: Bold Texture and Seasonal Color
2026-08-29 10:00 - 11:30 (America/New_York) | Hollister House Garden, 300 Nettleton Hollow Road, Washington, CT, 06759
With fall approaching, it’s time to rethink your pots and planters for the season ahead. The transition from summer to autumn brings unique environmental challenges, and well-composed fall containers require more than simply replacing tired annuals. Designer Beth Crowell will reveal the technical and artistic principles behind professional fall container design, including container preparation, soil improvement, and selecting cold-tolerant plants that thrive as temperatures cool and light levels shift. Through carefully chosen examples, you’ll see how structure, plant placement, texture, form, and color work together to create displays with lasting impact. Whether you’re designing new containers or refreshing existing ones, you’ll leave with practical design strategies, a list of top-performing fall plants, and a deeper understanding of how professionals create containers that evolve beautifully throughout the season.
Beth Crowell is a designer and lifelong, self-taught gardener. Before turning her focus to flowers and horticulture, she earned a BFA in Graphic Design and Photography and spent 25 years running a successful graphic design firm with her husband, Mark Cheung. For the past 15 years, the couple has operated a design-build business specializing in small-scale landscape and garden design, garden management, and distinctive container plantings. Today, they own Meadow Rue Gardens, a boutique cut-flower farm in Litchfield, Connecticut, where Beth is known for creating exceptional bouquets and floral arrangements. She continues to consult on landscape design and custom container gardens, bringing a designer’s eye for color, texture, and composition to every project.
HHG Members $30
Non-members $40 (includes admission to the garden)
REGISTRATION

Garden Study Weekend 2026
2026-09-12 08:00 - 19:00 (America/New_York) | Hollister House Garden, 300 Nettleton Hollow Road, Washington, CT, 06759
Hollister House Garden Study Weekend brings together some of the most important voices at work today in the fields of horticulture and garden design for a weekend of learning, inspiration, and networking.

Gardens as Stories: The Met Cloisters Gardens
2026-09-19 10:00 - 11:30 (America/New_York) | Hollister House Garden, 300 Nettleton Hollow Road, Washington, CT, 06759
The gardens of The Met Cloisters serve as a place of profound refreshment, curiosity, and wonder. In this lecture, Carly Still explores the distinct inspiration behind each of the three interior cloister gardens and the unique stories they tell. The presentation will dive into the essential role of herbs in the Middle Ages, sharing the tantalizing lore and medieval uses of plants that remain treasures in our own herb gardens today. Carly will also highlight the intersection of the museum’s permanent collection and its living collection, showing how masterworks of art are brought to life through the flora surrounding them. Come be transported into the evocative world of The Cloisters.
Carly Still has managed the living collection at The Met Cloisters in New York City since 2021, overseeing the design and maintenance of the museum’s renowned gardens and seasonal displays. Her work is deeply informed by her interest in fragrance, medieval plant lore, and the medicinal history of the Bonnefont Herb Garden. Carly holds a BFA in Printmaking from SUNY New Paltz and a Certificate in Horticulture from the New York Botanical Garden. She is a recipient of the Chanticleer Scholarship in Professional Development.
HHG Members $30
Non-members $40 (includes admission to the garden)
REGISTRATION

Reawakening Beauty: Revitalizing the Landscape of a Historic House
2026-09-26 10:00 - 11:30 (America/New_York) | Hollister House Garden, 300 Nettleton Hollow Road, Washington, CT, 06759
In 2019, Columbine began a thoughtful restoration of DeRham Farm, a historic estate overlooking the Hudson River in Garrison, New York. Working closely with the homeowners, the project focused on revitalizing the landscape while honoring the property’s historic character and extraordinary setting. Highlights included the restoration of a sunken garden within the remnants of an old foundation and the creation of a vibrant one-third acre native meadow designed to support pollinators and biodiversity. Join us as we explore the transformation of this remarkable landscape, and the process of shaping new garden spaces within a historic estate.
Roberta DiBisceglie is a third-generation horticulturist and founder of Columbine, a fine landscape gardening and design firm specializing in the stewardship of residential properties in Fairfield County, Connecticut. A graduate of the New York Botanical Garden’s School of Professional Horticulture, she has managed landscapes for more than 20 years and, in 2024, founded the school’s alumni mentorship program. Roberta is also committed to community engagement through her work with emerging horticultural and agricultural professionals. Roberta is a consultant to the Norwalk Pollinator Pathway, a NOFA Accredited Organic Land Care Professional, and serves on the advisory board of the East Norwalk Neighborhood Association and on the board of Reading Retreats in Rural Italy.
HHG Members $30
Non-members $40 (includes admission to the garden)
REGISTRATION
