CHG DAY 2024

Check back in the spring for 2024 details.

June 23, 2024

Sunday / 12:00 - 4:00 pm 

Be sure to save the date for the next CT's Historic Gardens Day!

See below for all the information you need to plan your day.

CT's Historic Gardens Day 2023 Activities

Please note: the information below is from 2023 to give an idea of the activities offered. Updated information will be added in spring of 2024.

Sites are in alphabetical order below. Addresses and website links are included in the information. 

Bellamy-Ferriday House & Garden

Bellamy-Ferriday House & Garden (9 Main Street North, Bethlehem, CT 06751): Roam the beautiful, landscaped areas of Bellamy-Ferriday’s 10-acre property. Marvel at Eliza’s breathtaking parterre garden, which dates to 1915, lovingly maintained and cared for first by her daughter Caroline Woolsey Ferriday and now by staff with the aid of the Watertown Garden Club. Staff will be on hand to answer questions.

Butler-McCook House & Garden

Tour the historic Jacob Weidenmann Garden at Butler-McCook House & Garden (396 Main Street, Hartford, CT 06103), installed by Eliza Butler McCook and her sister Mary in 1865 and maintained today by the West Hartford Garden Club. Access Butler-McCook's audio guide on any smartphone through the IZI Travel app onsite or at home.

Florence Griswold Museum

At the Florence Griswold Museum (96 Lyme Street, Old Lyme, CT 06371), members of the Museum’s dedicated Garden Gang of volunteers will be on-site to answer questions and give impromptu garden tours on this special day. 

Glebe House Museum & The Gertrude Jekyll Garden

Glebe House Museum (49 Hollow Road, Woodbury, CT 06798) will have an Open House (Main Floor Open); there will be free admission to the Jekyll Garden, where Garden Committee volunteers will be on hand to give tours and focus their talks on the 5-year plan for restoration that is already in process.

Harkness Memorial State Park

Harkness (275 Great Neck Road, Waterford, CT 06385) will have docent-led tours of the mansion and gardens from 10am to 2 pm (last mansion tour starts at 1:30). Visit the gift shop!

Harriet Beecher Stowe Center

The Harriet Beecher Stowe Center (77 Forest Street, Hartford, CT 06105) is offering free access to its 11 themed gardens between 12 and 4pm. Dedicated volunteers will be on site to answer your questions. “A garden is a healing place to the soul.” Come enjoy Stowe’s Victorian cottage-style beds and a new Sensory Garden during this special state-wide celebration. Tours of the Stowe House will have their normal fee: please click here to register. 


Hill-Stead Museum

At Hill-Stead Museum (35 Mountain Road, Farmington, CT 06032), garden volunteers will be on-site 10am-4pm to answer questions about the Sunken Garden and Pollinator Garden. Talks about remarkable plants in the Sunken Garden will take place at 1 pm, 2 pm, and 3 pm.
Garden programming  is free. Guided tours of the house are available on a first-come, first-served basis for regular admission prices.

Mark Twain House & Museum

From 12-4 pm at the Mark Twain House & Museum master gardeners and garden volunteers will be on site to discuss the plants and histories of the gardens. There will be digital scavenger hunts. The Museum Center and Gardens are free to visit; guided tours of the Historic House will have their normal fee, and advanced ticketing is recommendedhttps://marktwainhouse.org/admission/. Two of the ticketed guided tours (11 am and 1 pm) will be with a Living History actor playing the Clemens's coachman Patrick McAleer. "Patrick" will be on site to talk to visitors in the gardens from 2:30-4:00 pm. Visit the Nook Cafe to purchase food and drink.

Osborne Homestead Museum & Kellogg Environmental Center

Osborne Homestead (500 Hawthorne Ave., Derby, CT 06418) will provide tours of the museum and its gardens from 12pm-4pm. After strolling through the gardens, visitors can tour the historic house museum where they will learn about Frances Osborne Kellogg's love of flowers.

Phelps-Hatheway House & Garden

Phelps-Hatheway (55 South Main Street, Suffield, CT 06078): The grounds of this 18th-century home on Suffield’s historic Main Street feature a formal parterre garden designed by landscape architect Mary Wells Edwards, a large herb bed, and scattered flowering shrubs. Members of the Suffield Garden Club, who carefully maintain the garden today, will be on hand to answer questions relating to the history of the garden and to its inventory. 

Promisek at Three Rivers Farm

At Promisek (694 Skyline Ridge Road, Bridgewater, CT 06752), the Beatrix Farrand Garden will be open for visitors from 12-4 pm at no cost. The Carlos Boltes trio will perform their unique Central and South American chamber music on the patio. Master Gardener Irene Skrybailo will give tours of the garden throughout the day. Guests are welcome to walk the many walking trails and enjoy open areas of the house.

Roseland Cottage

Celebrate the twentieth annual Connecticut's Historic Gardens Day at Roseland Cottage (556 Route 169, Woodstock, CT 06281) with a guided tour of the formal boxwood parterre garden. Learn the history, significance, and theory behind the garden layout and design. Visitors are also invited to test their skill at croquet. Specialists will be on hand to assist with the traditional game played by the Bowen family during their summer sojourns in Woodstock. Enjoy the gardens and play the game that nearly brought down the presidency of Roseland guest Rutherford B. Hayes! Free guided garden tours on the hour, free croquet from 12 to 4.

Stanley-Whitman House

At Stanley-Whitman House (37 High Street, Farmington, CT 06032), volunteers and staff will give both historic house and garden tours. "Living History" expert Dennis Picard will demonstrate medicinal concoctions of colonial times using herbs from S-WH's gardens. Picard will share anecdotes about New England colonial life while demonstrating various cooking methods and recipes from colonial times. Reserve a tour time at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/601612738897.

Thankful Arnold House Museum

At Thankful Arnold House Museum (14 Hayden Hill Road, Haddam, CT 06438), 12 -4 pm, visitors will learn how herbs, vegetables, and plants were used by the Widow Thankful Arnold in the early 19th century. The Wilhelmina Ann Arnold Barnhart Memorial Garden features over 50 varieties of herbs including those used in cooking, dyeing, fragrance, and medicine. This year’s activity for both adults and children will be making a lavender sachet. Light refreshments will also be served including our famous rhubarb tea. For further information visit haddamhistory.org or call 860-345-2400.

Webb Deane Stevens Museum

Join us at the Webb Deane Stevens Museum (211 Main Street, Wethersfield, CT 06109) 12-4pm for complimentary refreshments, guided tours of the Amy Cogswell Colonial Revival Garden, and a free garden talk with Webb Dean Stevens' Head Gardener Peter Winne at 1 pm. CT's Historic Gardens Day guests will save $1 off the price of regular museum admission for guided historic house tours and exhibitions in the Holcombe Education Center.

Weir Farm National Historic Park

Stop by Weir Farm (735 Nod Hill Road, Wilton, CT 06897) for short informal talks with expert Garden Crew volunteers at the four special gardens. Plant some seeds to take home, and learn about pollinators and poison ivy. Participate in fun activities at the Friends of Weir Farm tent! Enjoy art supplies provided by the Park and even take a hike to the pond. Lemonade and cookies will be served. Registration is not required. Admission and parking are free.

Photo Gallery

"Stanley-Whitman House," pen & watercolor by Christopher Thelin. 

2023 CT's Historic Gardens Day Poster Contest Winner Announced

Connecticut’s Historic Gardens is pleased to announce artist Christopher Thelin of Farmington, CT as the winner of the 9th annual Historic Gardens Day Poster Art Contest.

Stanley Whitman House is a pen and watercolor depiction of the garden on the west side of the house. Mr. Thelin states: “While it isn't the biggest historical garden in Connecticut (or even in Farmington!), The Stanley-Whitman House garden is meticulously cared for and provides a place for quiet contemplation and refuge. This depiction is based on an afternoon visit my wife and I made a few years back. It was during a difficult time in the pandemic, but we came away a little better for having spent time there. I hope to convey the variety of colors, flowers, herbs, and life that we saw that day, and a reminder that even when things are tough, this world still has beauty and goodness worth cultivating."

Christopher Thelin is an engineer at Pratt & Whitney by day, but loves painting and co-authoring children's books in his spare time. He grew up in Virginia, went to school in Utah, and now he and his wife Rachel love exploring Connecticut with their little dog, Louie. He also has lifelong obsessions with books, the outdoors, and dinosaurs.

Click on the image above to see the full painting and press release.

See all 2023 contest entries HERE.