Nestled in the foothills of the Berkshire Mountains in Massachusetts, the Berkshire Botanical Garden, founded in 1934, is considered one of the oldest botanical gardens in New England. The collections emphasize plants that are native to the Northeast or that thrive in Zone 5b. This wonderful garden laid out on both sides of Route 102 just outside of Stockbridge is highly regarded for its wide-ranging programming and the garden’s outreach to its immediate and regional community.
On twenty-four acres of land that is almost hidden in plain sight, the Berkshire Botanical Garden is located at the intersection of Routes 102 and 183. On one side of the road, an elegant, contemporary entrance of pathways surrounding a circular pool with an artichoke fountain lead to a renovated historic center and the garden, which is a showcase of contemporary and traditional garden design. On the other side of the road is the teaching and learning center with garden “rooms” where they grow different kinds of vegetables and plants and are able to accommodate groups of children.
In the formal botanical garden, visitors will find many different types of gardens skillfully laid out one after the other and distinct in their designs with different plants and horticulture. Close to the main house, the historic 1937 Herb Garden is created on garden steps that you can walk down with the various herbs on either side of the steps. You can see all of the plants at one time and wander through the rows for a closer inspection – each plant has its own sign with its botanical name plus its common name. The Berkshire Botanical Garden’s Herb Associates began in 1957 and have been making and selling products for the benefit of BBG ever since. Members plant, weed and tend the gardens, as well as harvest and process the variety of herbs for sale in the form of jellies (Opal Basil Jelly for example) and vinaigrettes (Dill Lemon and Herbed Raspberry are two favorites).
As you make your way around the garden, you will come upon several mixed borders. The American Daylily Society Display Garden features more than 200 historic and modern cultivars while sun loving herbaceous and ornamental grasses are a tribute to the Lenox Garden Club and the garden’s first trustee, Helen Suzette de Gersdorff.
A delightful topiary room, “Lucy’s Garden,” displays boxwood sculptures shaped into 22 exotic animals where children can play in and around the topiaries and run through the surrounding hedges that have been formed into natural maze surrounding the topiaries. The pathway then leads through a woodland to a peaceful pond garden while on either side of the path is a collection of different native American trees, including American beech, copper beech, honey locust, little leaf linden, Ohio buckeye, downy hawthorne and yellowwood. Overall, there are 3,000 species and varieties of herbaceous and woody plants that thrive in challenging USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 5b, where winter temperatures can often be below zero degrees and our last frost date is in late May.
Enhancing the curvy pathways and the vistas are well-placed artworks by visiting artists. Current exhibitions include Stephen Procter’s graceful and monumental ceramic vessels. The exhibition, “Grand Gesture – Monumental Vessels in the Garden,” are beautifully placed throughout the garden. Procter’s works are both large and small and also presented inside in the Leonhardt Galleries in the Center House which is the main indoor exhibition space.
Year round the Berkshire Botanical Garden’s art exhibitions are presenting acclaimed regional and national artists with the idea of fostering community engagement by illuminating the interplay of art and the natural world. These ongoing exhibitions have ranged from juried exhibitions in January where artists explore the myriad ways flora and fauna take shape and inspire creativity to an exhibit that featured over 40 paintings, drawings, prints, and sculptures created through Community Access to the Arts’ year-round workshops serving children, teens and adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities.
In addition to Stephen Procter’s ceramics, the current exhibition by painter Adam Van Doren is both nostalgic and evocative as he brings together architecture, history in landscapes from New York City to Rome. In this beautiful exhibition, “Grounded in Nature,” Curator Donna Hassler highlights Van Doren’s understanding of form and design and his beautiful use of light and color in his watercolors and oils.
In addition to the exhibition spaces, the Berkshire Botanical Garden is enlivened by its steady supply of educational programs and high participation. Online and on-campus classes, workshops, lectures, exhibits, and special events are popular and offered year-round. The Garden also offers a broad variety of educational programs to school children both onsite and at local schools. Certificates in horticulture for all ages and skill levels, children’s classes, workshops, demonstrations, exhibitions, and plants for sale underline the garden’s great focus of learning and teaching and garden design. The Horticulture Certificate Program is also a well-regarded adult enrichment program designed for the professional, aspiring professional or serious home gardener staffed by seasoned and practicing horticulturists and landscape designers.
The program calendar is full to the brim practically all year long as when the winter hits, the online programs are available. From watercolor workshops to expert-led horticulture intensive programs, immersive botanical field trips, artisan crafts, wellness traditions, and design-forward garden education. Currently there is a farm to table luncheon series and “mothing in the garden.” Major annual events at the Garden include the Winter Lecture, Spring Fest, Plant Sale, the Grow Show, Fête des Fleurs garden gala, Harvest Festival, Rooted in Place Ecological Gardening Symposium, and Holiday Marketplace. The Harvest Festival was first held in 1935 as the Garden’s first fundraising event and has since become the Berkshires’ best-known end-of-season community gathering.
Visitors can sign up for guided tours or do self-guided audio tours in English and Spanish from May to September. Admission is free with no reservation. The audio guide includes 21 narrated points of interest by Sandpail Productions, voiced by Grace Angela Henry. Private guided tours are also available for groups, organizations, or special interests. These can be reserved in advance from May 1 to October 10 except Tuesdays and the cost is $18 per person plus tour guide fee.
One of the most exciting developments at the Garden is its recent announcement of its $4 million Glass House expansion designed to transform the Stockbridge campus into a year-round destination. The 5,000-square-foot facility will immerse visitors in tropical plants, orchids, desert landscapes and aquatic gardens, offering a warm, living escape during the Berkshires’ coldest months while dramatically expanding the Garden’s educational and community programming. It is the culmination of years of planning and the final major component of the first phase of a long-range master plan for the non-profit Garden.
In addition to the charming small gift shop which fully stocked with all things related to plants and pots of all sizes and spilling over with plants for sale, there are many places to see and eat in the area. Tanglewood and the Norman Rockwell Museum as well as Chesterwood are right nearby.
Side Dish: You can bring your own picnic or arrange boxed lunches from local restaurants. Indoor seating available during bad weather. The Red Lion Inn is just down the road as is Guido’s Fresh Marketplace and several other eateries in and around Stockbridge, including Once Upon a Table.
