Chris Lawrie will present an oral exploration into the origin stories of twenty-six of Connecticut’s public and historic gardens. His talk will be accompanied by images from Caryn B. Davis’s most recent book, Connecticut Gardens. Caryn Davis led an earlier discussion of her book and images on July 12th, 2023, also a joint event with the Greenwich Botanical Center.
This lecture thread will delve into the history of CT parks and gardens, beginning with a brief overview of the world’s oldest gardens, shift to America’s oldest gardens, and then we’ll turn our focus to Connecticut’s fifteen designated historic gardens. History chronicles people, places, and events, but the tenor of this discussion will primarily be about the people behind the gardens.
Moving on to public gardens, we will begin with a history of the American park movement, which began in the mid-1800s. From there, we will explore the eleven public parks featured in Caryn B. Davis’s book. Again, we will be focused on the lives of the people who created the gardens and their motivations for bringing them into the public domain.
The lecture will be about an hour, leaving 10-15 minutes for questions at its conclusion.
Chris Lawrie is a landscape design & construction consultant residing in Lyme, Connecticut. He was the writer for Caryn B. Davis’s most recent book titled Connecticut Gardens.
This lecture is presented in proud partnership with the Greenwich Botanical Center.
LOCATION: GREENWICH BOTANICAL CENTER MAIN BUILDING
