A Visit with Dan Hinkley, Dennis Schrader, and Bill Smith
For me, it's always enjoyable to get together with friends, take time from busy schedules, and tour my gardens.
This week, I had the pleasure of hosting three passionate gardening experts for an afternoon at my farm - plantsman, author, horticulturist, and nurseryman, Dan Hinkley, and Dennis Schrader and Bill Smith, the owners of Landcraft Environments, Ltd., a pre-eminent wholesaler of tropical, tender perennials, shrubs, bulbs, and uncommon annuals. It was a brief visit, but we had just enough time to drive around the property, see the gardens, and take a short walk through my living maze. That evening, we all attended the 2025 Wave Hill Gardeners' Party in New York City honoring its founding director of horticulture, Marco Polo Stufano.
Enjoy these photos.
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- Soon after arriving, I gave Dan, Bill, and Dennis a personal tour to see the gardens, groves, and allées. Here we are approaching my living maze in my off-road Polaris Ranger.
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- This was the first time the three had seen my maze. I explained how I thoughtfully and carefully designed it to include a large variety of plants, shrubs and trees laid out in a maze rather than a labyrinth. Do you know the difference between the two? Labyrinths have one continuous path which leads to the center. Mazes have multiple paths which branch off to various options and dead ends, with only one successful route to the finishing point. Those who dare can get lost in my maze.
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- We all remarked how wonderful the privets, Ligustrum ovalifolium, are doing. These privets, along with many of the other plantings in this maze, including the London planes, yews, boxwood, and the American sweetgums, are from Select Horticulture in nearby Pound Ridge. All of them are beautifully rooted, strong, and in excellent condition.
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- Here are Dennis and Bill looking at how large the maze is. The entire space is three acres… and it is well more than half complete.
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- We passed by the row of Hick’s yews with dense, glossy, green foliage that naturally form a narrow habit.
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- Right now they are showing off berries, or red drupes, which come out in late summer and persist through fall.
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- The holly is ‘Ruby Colonnade,’ Ilex x crenata ‘RutHol5’ PPAF. It is a versatile evergreen shrub with a naturally pyramidal form. The holly is also showing off lots of berries.
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- I shared how unsure I was at first about having these hydrangeas here, but they are doing so well.
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- Their blooms add such wonderful color to the maze.
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- Planted in between sections of the hydrangea row are camperdown elms. Camperdown elms slowly develop broad, flat heads and wide crowns with weeping branch habits that grow down toward the ground. This tree has already lost some its leaves for the season.
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- This is one of several Liquidambar styraciflua ‘Slender Silhouette’ trees, American sweetgums, planted in my maze. As these mature, they will maintain their erect, columnar form, growing up to 50 feet tall and only about four-feet wide.
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- Dan, Dennis, and Bill noticed the growing ninebark. This variety is Little Devil Ninebark, Physocarpus opulifolius ‘Donna May.’ These shrubs are also thriving here in the maze.
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- This ninebark has burgundy leaves and features small pinkish-white spirea-like flowers in late spring followed by subtle reddish fruit, and interesting peeling papery bark.
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- Here is a selection of Platanus acerifolia ‘Bloodgood’ trees, also known as London planes.
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- I planted these trees in early November 2022. They are planted in a rectangle with two long rows and two short rows and an open space in the center. These trees are large shade trees with broad open crowns.
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- During our walk, I also mentioned how much my horses enjoy going through the maze – it’s great exercise for them to turn and navigate the various pathways.
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- And here we are back in the Polaris to finish the tour before heading into New York City.
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- Wave Hill is a 28-acre estate in the Hudson Hill section of Riverdale in the Bronx. It includes public gardens as well as a cultural center overlooking the Hudson River with views of New Jersey.
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- The evening event included cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, a plant sale, a silent auction, and dinner al fresco.
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- Dan was among the speakers asked to speak about this year’s honoree, Wave Hill’s Founding Director of Horticulture, Marco Polo Stufano.
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- Dinner included autumn vegetables with toasted sunflower seeds, carrot-elderflower purée, and apple blossoms.
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- The entrée was grilled branzino with tomato braised cauliflower, fingerling potatoes, cerignola olives, basil, and a garnish of edible flowers.
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- And here I am with the honoree, Marco, who with his innovative ideas, creative vision, dedication and determination, inspires the thousands who visit Wave Hill every year. It was a beautiful event and evening on the grounds of this world-renowned public garden.
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