MarthaStewartLivingOctober2015

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WHEN SAMUEL UNTERMYER HIRED ARCHITECT
William Welles Bosworth to design the landscape for his home in Yonkers, New York,
in 1915, his edict was clear: Create “the greatest gardens in the world.” A prominent
lawyer, Untermyer was active in the financial and political affairs of his day.
(His many accomplishments include work instrumental in establishing the
Federal Reserve.) But his true passion was for horticulture; he always wore an orchid
in his lapel. So the Beaux-Arts architect set to work creating a series of spectacular
gardens that reflected Untermyer’s keen interests and travels. Equipped with 60
greenhouses and 60 gardeners, the 150-acre estate, with its Indo-Persian and Greek
influences, was soon a celebrated destination.
Untermyer wanted to share his gardens and opened them to the public once a
week. Since the New York City suburb was easily accessible by public transportation,
people visited frequently: In 1939, 30,000 people from all over the world came in
one day. “Untermyer liked to follow people around and listen to their comments,
and if they misidentified a plant, he would correct them,” says Stephen Byrns, the
present-day chair of the Untermyer Garden Conservancy. The gardens were bestowed
upon the city of Yonkers after Untermyer’s death in 1940.
An architect and a former commissioner of New York City’s Landmarks Preservation
Commission, Byrns discovered the gardens more than 20 years ago, when he was living
in Yonkers. Unfortunately, they had suffered a decline in the decades following Untermyer’s
death—the city could do only so much. Hoping to restore them to their past
glory, Byrns formed the conservancy in 2010, establishing a public-private partnership
The Greek-inspired
amphitheater
stands at the far
end of the garden
entrance. The
two turquoise pots
at the edge of a
pool feature Canna
‘Grande,’ underplanted
with
Duranta erecta
‘Golden Edge,’
Alternanthera
dentata ‘True Yellow,’
and Lysimachia
nummularia ‘Aurea.’
with the city of Yonkers. One of
the first things he did was to hire
Marco Polo Stufano, the esteemed
founding director of horticulture at
Wave Hill, in the Bronx, as the pro
bono horticulture adviser.
These days, the gardens are free
and open daily, year-round. The
conservancy and city are not recreating
them exactly as they were,
however. Nor do they want to.
“We’re trying to do something much
more adventurous, more creative,
as well as less labor-intensive,”
says Byrns. Stufano and head gardener
Timothy Tilghman devise a
different planting plan each year
for areas in the Walled Garden and
are working on revitalizing additional
gardens. The beds around
the Vista, for example, a dramatic
staircase that leads to an overlook
of the Hudson River, will soon be
replanted with Cryptomeria ‘Radicans.’
They have also recently rediscovered
the site of the old Rock
Garden. “It’s like ancient Rome.
The ground sort of builds up and
buries things,” says Byrns.
Visiting the Indo-Persian Walled
Garden can also feel a bit like stumbling
onto a hidden treasure. It
reveals itself gradually. After passing
through its doorway, you are
greeted by two century-old weeping
beech trees. It isn’t until you
move beyond those massive trees
that the rest of the garden appears:
Canals and pools, equipped with
fountains, lead to a Greek-inspired
amphitheater, which is adorned
with sphinx sculptures by Paul Manship
on top of monolithic cipollinomarble
columns. It’s an extraordinary
hidden oasis. Byrns has often
described it as “America’s greatest
forgotten garden.” These days,
thanks to the conservancy and its
gardeners, we think it won’t go undiscovered
much longer.