Explore the hidden gardens behind Hoboken homes during the annual Hoboken Historical Museum Secret Garden Tour on June 3.
The tour, one of three annual fundraisers for the museum, will showcase 10 gardens throughout town as well as three bonus outdoor spaces, including the new reading garden at the Hoboken Public Library, Holy Innocence rectory garden, and the Eleventh Street Islands which are created and cared for by neighbors.
This year’s tour will be different than in years past, as the tour will be self-guided, meaning attendees will have the flexibility to go at their own pace, see only a few gardens if they choose, or take a lunch break.
Resident Valerie D’Antonio, one of the co-chairs of the committee, said typically the tour gets about 400 attendees.
“Now we can show gardens from all around town,” D’Antonio said, adding, “When we had tour guides, we had to create prescribed routes to each house and we tried to keep them close to each other so it was walkable and easy to get to each garden.”
History
The museum originated the Secret Garden Tour 21 years ago, inspired by materials in the Museum’s archives documenting Hoboken founder Col. John Stevens’ horticultural skill.
Stevens was highly regarded in colonial America for his elaborate and scientifically cultivated gardens, and he is credited with importing the first camellia, chrysanthemum, and several peony varieties to America.
The funds from the tour go to the Hoboken Historical Museum, which was founded in 1986 and has been housed at 1301 Hudson Street since 2001.
It hosts a variety of special exhibits, tours, events and lectures as well as educational programs for children and adults to educate the public about Hoboken’s history.
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“Now we can show gardens from all around town.” — Valerie D’Antonio
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Creative inspiration and education
Former host and current volunteer Caryl Heard said the tour is for everyone, from amateur green thumbs to seasoned gardeners, as well as those who don’t garden at all.
She said most people including herself gain “creative inspiration” from the tour and is in fact what caused her to redo her own garden.
“Before we redesigned our garden, we had gone on the garden tour a number of times and we saw there were so many possibilities, and I thought, ‘I betcha we could do something with our back yard’ so it inspired me to look into it and try,” she said.
She said volunteers serve as docents on the tour and the homeowners are also there.
“I always pick up some little new tidbit I didn’t know before,” she said, “so it’s educational too.”
Another educational aspect this year includes an author talk the Thursday before the tour at Little City Books on First and Bloomfield streets. On Thursday, May 31, at 7 p.m., gardening writer Marta McDowell will discuss and sign copies of her book The World of Laura Ingalls Wilder.
Heard said that the tours are also very social and an opportunity for residents to come together.
“There is a lot of happy banter and it’s happy occasion,” she said. “Everyone loves flowers, you know.”
This year’s garden tour shows off clever solutions to perennial problems of too little space and too much shade.
“There is a garden I love that is on the tour this year which is at a home on downtown Jackson Street that used to be a meat factory,” D’Antonio said. “And it has some really unique solutions to gardening. Gardening in Hoboken can be difficult as there is a lot of shade in some areas, and this is a shade garden which is really unique.”
Gardens on the tour also include a two-tiered garden with a double waterfall-style fountain and a garden created in a glass-enclosed solarium, featuring items repurposed as planters.
Ticket information
Tickets can be purchased in advance for $25 and on the day of the tour for $35, with a discount on the day of for Hoboken Museum and Hoboken Garden Club members.
D’Antonio said the Secret Garden Tour has raised over $10,000 for the museum in the past through sponsors, advertisers, and ticket sales. The funds will go towards the museums exhibits, lectures, and programing.
Advance ticket purchasers can pick up their tour booklet at the Hoboken Historical Museum, or the Hoboken Fire Department Museum, 213 Bloomfield St., between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. and visit the gardens at their own pace until 4 p.m. the day of the tour. Tickets can be purchased online at www.hobokenmuseum.org.
The tour is sponsored by Hufnagel Landscape Design and Construction Group, with support from the Hoboken Garden Club and many local businesses.
The rain date is June 10.
Marilyn Baer can be reached at marilynb@hudsonreporter.com.
