Troy’s 20th annual Hidden Garden Tour starts at 4 this afternoon, with more than 40 homes opening their backyards to the public in the biggest iteration of the tour yet.
The self-guided walking tour benefiting Troy’s Prospect Park is also renaming itself “Nina’s Troy Hidden Garden Tour,” in honor of its founder, Nina Pattison. Pattison died at age 91 in March – but her garden, once a first stop for the event, lives on under the care of Sara Tack and Mark Shipley, who bought her home three years ago.
Pattison often rearranged her flowers, saying “If I like it, I grow it. And if it doesn’t like me, we part ways.” And Tack says while she’s continued that legacy, visitors can expect some changes.
“She did have a small patch of grass in the garden, which we have taken out and we have a blue stone patio instead," Tack says. "But the two main gardens on either side of the garden, which you'll see, are fairly intact. There’s some new additions, and some things have moved around.”
Tucked between the 19th-century homes and “carriage houses” on First, Second, and Third Streets, gardens like Tack’s are hidden from view. The tour has participating homes marked with bright pink signs just to clue visitors in. Tour organizer Phyllis Conroy says that hidden element is the reason Pattison founded the event – she wanted homeowners to show off their personal sanctuaries. Conroy adds, while many are 20 by 30 feet, they vary in size.
“It all depends on how much space is between the house and the carriage house. In many of these old houses, people have put additions on, so that also decreases the size," Conroy explains. "But it just makes them as little gems. And each one is different, each one is beautiful in its own way.”
Visitors will also find each garden has its own personality. Some, like Tack’s and Conroy’s, are filled with peonies and forget-me-nots. Others contain vegetables or water fountains. Friends of Prospect Park President Peter Grimm has been living on Second Street for years, and showcases a shade garden.
“I would describe mine as tranquil, and very peaceful – it’s a very green garden," says Grimm. "As I said, it’s a shade garden, it’s more like a path through the woods as opposed to a cultivated, flower garden.”
As Pattison’s neighbor, Grimm was influential in the tour’s start. He and Pattison saw it as a way to raise money for nearby Prospect Park, after the 90-acre space fell into disrepair. With over 1,000 tickets sold last year, he says the park was able to replace a number of picnic tables and benches, and install water fountains. Grimm, who is also a Rensselaer County legislator, adds the tour has helped show off the city, too.
“Over the years you can see the difference of how the environment has changed in the city. More people have moved in. When I moved on this block, there were three homes that were owner-occupied – now there are about three that are not owner-occupied," he says. "So the garden tour, as it benefits Prospect Park, it also benefits the city. We like to think of it as like, the summer stroll.”
This year’s lineup includes homes between First and Third Streets, and Congress and Adams Streets. Conroy says organizers have clustered the stops into four possible routes, to help visitors cover as much ground as possible.
“I don’t know that there’s enough time, even though its 4 [p.m.] to 7:30 [p.m.], that anyone is going to be able to see every garden, because that means that you’d have to race through some of them – and the gardens are just not conducive to running through them," Conroy notes.
In addition to the tour’s renaming, St. Paul’s Church at 58 Third Street will have a display honoring Nina Pattison. In an interview last year with The Sanctuary for Independent Media and WOOC 105.3 FM Troy, Pattison called the tour and its visitors the “nicest thing” to happen in downtown Troy.
“They were walking in the alleys, talking to each other, smiling, comparing notes about flowers – I don’t think anybody was talking about politics or unpleasant things. They were just having a good time outdoors," said Pattison. "And it really is a cheerful, loving – yes loving, lovable, lovely – thing to have in this city.”
Tickets and maps will be available at the Russell Sage College parking lot on First Street. Those with tour programs will also be able to enjoy a variety of Memorial Day weekend deals at local businesses.
