new heyday at untermyer gardens, where grandeur and marigolds mingle

HOW’S YOUR GARDEN LOOKING as summer winds down? Is it full of visual impact, with the promise of weeks and weeks more excitement ahead, or is it…pooped? I traveled virtually to an unexpected place–a park in the City of Yonkers, just north of New York City–to harvest some important lessons on garden design with staying power from Timothy Tilghman. We also talked about how no plant is too common or lowly to be a garden star—something in this age of the quest for “newest” and “rarest” that we often forget.

Since 2011, Timothy has worked at Untermyer Park and Gardens in Yonkers, New York, which is becoming a horticultural destination for keen gardeners wanting inspiration–and a getaway for anyone just wanting to be surrounded by bold, contemporary plantings in a dramatic, historic setting. The Untermyer Gardens Conservancy is a non-profit organization collaborating with the City of Yonkers to facilitate the garden’s restoration (details on tours and how to visit otherwise are at the bottom of this page).

In case you’re wondering: that garden has many vivid miles to go before it sleeps for winter. I even saw the phrase “floral fireworks” (such as the crape myrtles and hydrangeas in the right-hand photo below) used to describe it at the end of August, and there are plenty of foliage fireworks, too.

Timothy and I worked together for years at “Martha Stewart Living” magazine, and he has been a gardener at the famed Wave Hill in New York City, and at the Garden Conservancy project called Rocky Hills in Westchester. We caught up in September 2014 on my public-radio show, which is transcribed below:

Q. Who was Untermyer?

A. Samuel Untermyer bought the property in 1899 from a New York State Governor, Samuel Tilden, who was was actually

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