Born To Be Admired

by DIG-IT

Entering Wave Hill on a boardwalk and passing through berried yews and viburnums, you break out onto a scene so magnificent that chairs are placed for the stunned visitor everywhere. The stage is set so take a seat and absorb the show, starring the Hudson River and the New Jersey Palisades. And, not to be outdone, Wave Hill's pergola.

The 500-foot diabase stacks of the Palisades rise among autumn's colorful trees. You are just in time.

Head down to the pergola decorated in wildly tidy plantings. Then go out to the edge, onto the sod roof of the ecology building where high school interns learn about the urban forest. Every wall and railing is covered in vines; the walkways are bordered in old shrubs, and the river valley wind keeps you fresh.

Down the steps to the left, an oval-shaped sunken garden supports native plants within its formal lines.

Take the lawn up along a border of mature shrubs, many with berries, such as purpley privet. Spirea pumps out tiny pink flowers above pink-tinged leaves. Big gobs of luscious Linden viburnum berries backing Aronia are the arrestors in red.

Four kinds of jewel-like purple American Beautyberry stand next to the Visitor's Center. Head up the walk and turn left into three tiers of terrace gardens. A pot of funky South African nightshade with recognizable flowers and scary yellow thorns and a potted pomegranate stand at the entrance to the herb garden.

Up to the dry garden, silvery-white puffs of Baccharis halimfolia and streaks of yellow Salvia flounce beyond their formally-arranged plots between flagstone and brick. Mounds of salvias complement spiky yuccas.

The alpine glass house, which is meant to be viewed from the outside, dominates the alpine garden, where a cacophony of cement troughs sport a burgeoning mass of plants. Two white daisy-like flowers of Leucanthemopsis alpine (huge name for a tiny plant standing on a tall cement stack) and blue delphinium blaze among a jumble of plants arranged by people who love them. This is the look.

Around front of the Marco Polo Stufano Conservatory, the shrubs and herbaceous flowers in the Flower Garden, laid out in formal beds also, billow beyond their borders. The spent blooms of dusty rose Hydrangea macrophylla 'Tokyo Delight,' soft pink panicles of H. paniculata, and the fluffy pale beachballs of H. arborescens 'Annabelle' remind one of classic paintings by the old masters.

In the garden, tall salvias bloom against fall's changing foliage. Purple Salvia accents the Sea Foam roses. Brilliant blue spikes duel with beaded green drips -- both tall. And clematis seeds of a large-leafed type play to fragrant white buddleia.

In the Conservatory, a 20-foot South African acacia spreads silvery leaves and dangling buds all set to bloom yellow in winter next to powder blue plumbago climbing the wall. Placed around are more South African plants, such as pots of non-hardy viburnum with metallic blue berries, a five-foot potted protea, and delicate gladiolus and nerine.

Two side houses keep collections of tropicals and cacti and succulents warm through winter. Again, these are plants obviously loved by people rather than collections on perfect display. Visitors can get close to study the hot pinks and reds of cacti in winter.

Out and around back of the greenhouse, find the steps beneath the white (concolor) fir. Crush a few needles for a scent you won't forget -- they smell like the freshest oranges. Head up into the Wild Garden where plants are carefully tamed. “The plants look like species even if they're not wild," says Scott Canning, director of horticulture. Gravel paths meander and the Hudson River wind plays music on tall grasses.

Beyond the Wild, a formal, clipped garden appears with a central pool with all sorts of hardy and tropical bloomers which Canning says is at its best in summer when the water temperature is warm. Along the west wall, a monocot garden rises with flaming shredded banana, other tropicals and hardy grasses. Drama is the name of this garden over the Hudson.

Want to rest your feet and have a hot cup of coffee before you change shoes and strike out into the urban woods? In Wave Hill House, the main mansion, visit the cafe with views over the Hudson.

Head to the Herbert and Hyonja Abrons Woodland for a half-hour walk. The path is gentle and easy with a few interpretive signs. New Yorkers have it made -- there are no bears in these woods! The woods are heavily managed. Gardeners weed and mulch, keep porcelain berry down, remove invasives, and plant junipers and pines, Glory of the Snow and May Apple. Civilized accoutrements, such as a sitting area with gazebo and rustic bench, a shady spot with bench next to rhododendron, boardwalk around a viewpoint, are a part of these woods.

Before you leave, catch the art in Glyndor Gallery currently featuring five artists'takes on what the gardens are all about.

Wave Hill is one of the most beautiful gardens in the United States, tout the brochures. Indeed it is. Julia Waters says, “It's because of where it's sited and because the gardens are planted not as a botanical garden, but as a living work of art. It's both intimate and wide open. That's what's special."

She's right. Don't miss the show.

Wave Hill
West 249th Street and Independence Avenue (a breeze to get to)
718-549-3200, www.wavehill.org
Open Year Round.

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