Formal Gardens at F. W. Vanderbilt National Historic Site

April is National Volunteer Month in the US. We Vanderbilt garden volunteers earn pins, patches, tee-shirts, sweatshirts, jackets, hats, belt buckles, insulated water containers, mugs & many other awards for the number of hours we volunteer. But most of all, it’s fun meeting new people who become friends, plus the biggest reward of all, helping to maintain an important historic garden. To volunteer email [email protected] or call 845-229-6432. We need both people who will work in the gardens, & people who will do administrative type work. Computer expertise especially appreciated!

Happy Earth Day! The Vanderbilt Garden Association has many garden & non-garden volunteer jobs available. For more info e-mail [email protected].

Volunteers needed for Grounds Crew and Garden Crew. The Grounds Crew cuts the grass in the gardens, roto-tills the annuals beds, transports mulch to the garden beds & does various other jobs as needed. The Garden Crew tends the flower beds, planting, mulching, pulling weeds and deadheading spent blossoms. Men & women are welcome to join either, or both crews. We work in the gardens Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday mornings, so you can come any of those mornings you wish. For more info or to volunteer, please call 845-229-6432 or email [email protected].

Good news! We volunteers plan to get back into the gardens in early April, weather permitting. We'll be raking & doing cleanup of the flower beds. No garden experience necessary. If you'd like to join us, we sure could use your help! Please contact us at [email protected], or call 845-229-6432 for more info. We supply all tools, follow all COVID precautions, and we're flexible as to the days you can volunteer (Tues, Thurs or Sat mornings). Get out and enjoy some outdoor activity, and meet some new people!

Besides needing garden volunteers, we also need non-gardening volunteers (although you certainly can do BOTH if you’d like). We need volunteers who can help with any of these: fundraising, public relations/marketing, being a garden greeter or giving garden tours. In addition, we could use people with good organizational skills and people who are computer literate or have knowledge of social media. We also need people to serve on our all-volunteer Board of Directors or who have previous experience with non-profit organizations or experience in grant writing and research. You don’t have to have garden knowledge to help with these non-gardening activities, just a desire to help. For more info, email [email protected] or call 845-229-6432. Thank you!

If you’re tired of this winter and being cooped up at home, why not join us in the gardens as a volunteer this Spring? We sure could use more help! We usually start working in the gardens at the end of March/beginning of April, depending on the weather. You need NOT be an experienced gardener in order to be a garden volunteer. For more info, email [email protected] or call 845-229-6432. If you can’t volunteer, please pass the contact info to someone else who might. Without volunteers, the Vanderbilt Gardens won’t continue to exist! Thank you.

The annual Adams Lawn & Garden Show will take place February 26 to March 7 in their Poukghkeepsie store. We usually have a table there, with information and photos about our organization. However, due to COVID restrictions, there will be no vendors at the show. Check their website (www.adamsfarms.com) for the dates of the shows at their other locations, and to see what other restrictions apply. Adams has been a great friend to our organization for many years, so that’s why we want to take this opportunity to recommend their Lawn & Garden Show. It’s a little different at each of their locations, but always beautiful, and so inpiring to gardeners and landscapers.

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays to all our Facebook friends. Only 3 months until Spring!!

Happy Thanksgiving to all our Facebook followers! Our 2020 gardening season has ended, and we look forwards to a longer and better season next year. If you’re shopping online at Amazon for the holidays, please go to smile.amazon.com and designate the Frederick W Vanderbilt Garden Association as your charity, and Amazon will donate a small percentage of your purchase to our non-profit organization. Every bit helps us to be able to buy plants, tools, mulch, etc for next year’s garden displays. We thank you in advance, and hope you have a happy and healthy holiday season.