The Horticulturist's Blog
Arbor Day News
by Richie Cabo on 04/29/13
Thank you to everyone who donated and supported us in many different ways,. We appreciate you very much.This past Arbor Day weekend Sarah Elisabeth and Richie Cabo put up the new eight foot tall heavy duty Deer Fence from Farm Tek.
Miss Vicky organized the Beacon Barks table for Sargent and Downing Gardens where The "Tioronda" band performed live near the Beacon Creamery. Noga ,Adam, Zohar and Dassi Cabo played for the crowd.Tioronda recorded a Cd "Songs of the Garden" which can be purchased at the SDGARDENS.COM website and Amazon.Proceeds go to the children's education center programs.
Sargent and Downing Gardens grew twenty trees from cuttings and seed. In the Sargent and Downing Gardens and Cleawater "Historic Tree Propagation Project" partnership 18 River Birch were planted by the brook that runs by the Clearwater office, and also at the center of the lawn at the U.S.C.Park.The Algonquin people used River Birches to make canoes to travel up and down the river.Clearwater made a two hundred dollar donation to the Historic Tree Propagation Project. In the Arbor Day Celebration We also planted a three year old Cucumber Magnolia from a seed of the original tree planted by Henry Winthrop Sargent which was propagated by Richie Cabo.The Magnolia was dedicated by Clearwater to Pete Seeger. A Malus Sargentii also propagated by Richie Cabo was dedicated to Soshi Seeger.
Sarah Elisabeth,Clearwater volunteers & Richie Cabo dug up and replanted all the trees which came from the Sargent and Downing Gardens. Special Thanks to Karla Rumundi and Jeff Rumpff of Clearwater for organizing the event. Miss Vicky the new president of Sargent Downing Gardens was working the Education Center and the SD Gardens table. Thank you to everyone.
Richie Cabo Opens RichieCaboHorticulturist.com In Dutchess County!
by Richie Cabo on 04/11/13
Hi, to all my friends and neighbors.I would like to share some good news.I just recently decided to begin my own horticulture consulting firm and Landscape Design company in Beacon NY.I am also a NYS registered licensed and fully insured ORGANIC plant grower. I will begin my growing for next years season and will only be growing upon special requests and exclusively for my customers and special projects.
For this year I have been selected to install an organic sustainable landscape design for The Morningside Heights Housing complex in Harlem NYC.It will be along the lines of the Sargent and Downing Gardens model of getting the community involved and having children and parents learn as we go. Thank you and my Blog will be active with new organic ideas keep checking in with me and feel free to ask me questions for the garden!
Historic Cucumber Tree Was Planted In Downing Park; Remembering The History of The Hudson Valley
by Richie Cabo on 08/22/12
Richie Cabo & David Schuyler
Author David Schuyler has a Cucumber Magnolia Tree planted in honor of his new book "The Sanctified Landscape" at Downing Park in Newburgh.The tree is from a seed propagated from the mother original tree planted by Henry Winthrop Sargent at the Tioronda mansion in Beacon NY.The tree was propagated at the NYC Parks Dept. Citywide Nursery by Richie Cabo. The Commissioner Adrian Benepe recieved a letter from Newburgh requesting the three year old historic tree and it was planted on Sunday Aug 19th in Downing Park which was designed in honor of Andrew Jackson Downing at no charge by Calvert Vaux who was Downing's partner and Fredrick Law Olmstead.
The Cucucmber Magnolia Tree was one of Andrew Jackson Downing's favorite trees. Downing was very good friends with Henry Winthrop Sargent.This is the reason the Cucucmber Magnolia flower is the logo for the Sargent~Downing Gardens & Nursery because it symbolizes history behind the teacher/friend relationship between the two great horticulturists of American naturalistic horticulture.
Why don't the gardener's come?Why do the organizations with the missions forget the mission?
by Richie Cabo on 06/29/12
It has been a while since my last post. We have been busy making the NYC Citywide Nursery the best it can be and growing the Sargent ~Downing Garden & Nursery the best we can!So it has been hard to sit down and write in between being a husband and dad. Also I have been struggling with some health issues.
However this is what is on my mind.One day we asked for volunteers to come and help with the weeding and watering because things were backing up at the Sargent ~Downing Gardens & Nursery. On that particular day my three children and I were the only ones who showed up after I emailed one hundred and fifty people on the list for help
My daughter looked at me straight in the eye and asked,"Why didn't anyone show up?" I told her sometimes that is the way it is,we have to do the right things and eventually people might follow.That day we continued to weed and the children placed rocks around the garden paths for others to follow the right path.
Last night a wonderful great new member called and asked me, "Why aren't there more people in the Sargent and Downing Gardens coming out to garden as a community?" .
It was the same question posed to me only once by a child and then by an adult. I think the answer still remains the same in both cases, but that is a sad reality.
As I was reading the writings of both Andrew Jackson Downing and Henry Winthrop Sargent I could detect a deep seeded sarcasm with in the lines. It was almost as if they were mad at the community. I guess it wasn't any easier to be an advocate for nature and convince the public of the importance of planting trees and plants in the mid 1800's than it is now.
So now I pose this question to all the gardeners in our community where are you? We need some help and the children could really enjoy seeing us all come out even if it is once and awhile.
The second part of this commentary is why do we hear words like mission,partnership or community which sound so good in press releases and grant proposals for non profit organizations,but yet they really find it so hard to do the right thing and really get out in front to help build community efforts by taking our hand and really showing us all how to do it.
In closing I think it is really up to all of us in the community to take care of where we live and bring up our children. Let it grow and show the youth what an important job it is. That is a truly sustainable plan. Thank you to all of you who have been here and keeping it alive and working, you are all beautiful people.
We need volunteers to water and weed through the rest of the summer. Go to sdgardens.com sign up in our guest book. Thank you, Richie Cabo
The Sargent and Downing Gardens and Nursery 2nd Annual Community Planting Day & Free Concert Day
by Richie Cabo on 05/15/12
On Friday the Junior Girl Scouts troop 10525 came to the garden to learn about invasive species.composting and gardening in a program organized by Justin Riccobono and led in the garden by Sarah Elisabeth.
It was a busy day at the Sargent and Downing Gardens,Sarah Elisabeth was leading volunteers in the garden to install her new spiral design for 2012. Children and parents were busy working in the garden to the music of the free live music concert ongoing in the background by the Pavilion Stage in front of the great lawn, which was newly cut by Pat Freeman the caretaker of The University Settlement Park.
Miss Vickie donated the sound system for the music event and opened up the entertainment with her vocals accompanied by Dassi R. Cabo,Noga Cabo & Eric Helmuthe.
Then a new Beacon band Tioronda performed a variety of gardens songs, "Let it Grow" from the Lorax movie,"Dig Down Deeper" & "An Octopus's Garden". Tioronda is led by Dassi R. Cabo is made up of 10 year old Noga Cabo on guitar,drums & vocals,Adam Cabo;seven years old on drums & vocals, five year old Zohar Cabo on vocals & eight grader guitarist/vocalist Itai Levi who came all the way from the G.B.D.S. Jewish School in Oakland N.J. The G.B.D.S. is school is also a member of Sargent and Downing Gardens.Tironda will be recording a new CD for promotion of the new SD Gardens Educational Center.Richie Cabo also joined Tioronda in Let It Grow and a duet with Noga Cabo on "What A Wonderful World" trumpet solo.
The Hudson Valley Experience band performed Led Zeppelin Songs & other Rock classics. The members of the band were Chris Hughes on drums,Sean Frawley;guitarist,Stephen Franchino;flute and band leader Dassi R. Cabo on bass.
Spanish Guitarist Zenote and Rafael Figeroa on congas performed to support the event also.
The live music was topped off by an eleven piece R&B band called "Second Chance" which drove all the way from NYC to end the musical performances.All the musical groups were amazing.
The Beacon High School students also helped with the bouquet flower fundraiser sale organized by Richie Cabo. They were at the entrance of the gardens on Rt. 9D for the entire event. On Sunday, Mothers Day Richie Cabo,Noga Cabo,Adam Cabo & Zohar Cabo sold out the rest of the flowers at Bob's Corner Store. A special Thanks to Bob's Corner Store for supporting our efforts. We managed to raise $456.00 for the Sargent and Downing Gardens from the flower sales.
Thank you to the entire Beacon community for the support!
