5 ways to celebrate a spring revival at Long Island public gardens

This spring, Long Island’s public gardens are back in full flower and welcoming visitors — in some cases, for the first time since pandemic lockdown. At these reawakening garden oases, early spring flowers are popping up, magnolia and cherry trees are blossoming and traditional spring events and activities are back in season.

Here are five ways to celebrate a spring like no other, including celebrations of Arbor Day and Frederick Law Olmsted, and an old-fashioned tea party in the shade.

Spring Celebration at Sands Point Preserve

This annual spring celebration is a family affair where green thumbs of all ages can pitch in to help with plantings at the Phil Dejana Learning Center outdoor classroom. Pick up seed projects to start at the festival or back home, and search for a list of seasonal blossoms on a “treasure hunt” throughout the preserve.

The 216-acre preserve overlooking Long Island Sound offers a bonanza of spring color with “magenta blossoms on redbud trees, yellow flowers on forsythia shrubs, and perennials in our pollinator gardens,” says Beth Horn, executive director of the conservancy.

For more spring color, look for newly planted begonias, impatiens, organic vegetables, herbs and plants that attract butterflies and honey bees, Horn says.

Arbor Day Festival at Planting Fields Arboretum

Planting Fields’ annual tribute to trees returns after a two-year hiatus with a host of environmental activities. About 80 magnolias along with cherry trees will be blooming on festival day in April, according to The Planting Fields Foundation. 

“It’s our signature event that celebrates spring and the importance of trees in the environment,” park director Vincent Simeone says of the festival that began with a 1987 tree planting, and drew 1,000 people the last time it was held in 2019.

This year’s event features tree planting ceremonies and demonstrations by arborists, horticultural and nursery professionals. Visitors can pick up free tree seedlings and learn about wildfire prevention from Smokey Bear.

Says Simeone, “while most holidays celebrate the past, Arbor Day celebrates the future.”

Annual Plant Sale at the Robert F. Ench Teaching Gardens at Farmingdale State College

With pandemic restrictions lifted and students returning from remote lessons, the teaching gardens are undergoing “a resurgence with many projects underway to re-envision and continually evolve this public resource,” says Jonathan Lehrer, associate professor of urban horticulture and design.

The plant sale “serves as a celebration of spring with a wide variety of colorful plants available,” Lehrer says. Hundreds of greenhouse-raised geraniums and other seasonal flowers, homegrown herbs and vegetables and succulents will be on sale, along with perennials and shrubs grown by Long Island nurseries. 

The gardens, first planted in the mid-20th century on former farmland, represent “generations of horticulture students” efforts, Lehrer says. They’re ablaze with tulips and daffodils in April, peonies and roses in May and June, Lehrer adds.

Olmsted Evening at Bayard Cutting Arboretum

Bayard Cutting isn’t just any garden variety arboretum. Like the U.S. Capitol and Manhattan’s Central Park, it was designed in the 19th century by Frederick Law Olmsted, the founder of American landscape architecture, says park director Kevin Wiecks. Along with other parks across the country, Bayard Cutting is recognizing Olmsted’s “profound legacy” leading up to the bicentennial of his birth on April 26, 1822.

“Our tree collection is recognized as one of the most diverse in the world,” says Wiecks, who with Bayard Cutting Arboretum Horticultural Society President Peter Haynes will be leading tours focusing on Olmsted’s role in the arboretum’s history and horticulture.

The event, in May, is being held as “the arboretum explodes with color,” with daffodils and other bulbs blooming across its 691-acres, several hundred new tree specimens added this year and 250,000 bulbs planted in the last four years, Wiecks says.

Tea & Garden Tour at Old Westbury Gardens

At this fabulous Gold Coast estate and its formal gardens, which reopened to the public this month, they sure know how to throw a garden party.

Guests will be sitting down to a full tea service during an event in May, nibbling sandwiches, scones, desserts and sipping samples from a selection of the eponymous beverage. A seasonal garden tour led by a volunteer docent follows the meal. 

Visitors can walk or jog the grounds, see the gardens or tour Westbury House mansion. Picnicking is also permitted, with your own basket of vittles or sandwiches, salads and beverages under the shade trees at Café in the Woods.