Taking Pleasure In Landscape

This is the season to take in the sights and scents of the natural world as it teems with new life. The Parrish Art Museum will celebrate the transition from barren to lush with Landscape Pleasures, its annual two-day horticultural event. Entering its 31st year, the event will feature a symposium with leaders in garden design and exclusive tours of private gardens in East Hampton and Wainscott, and will be held on Saturday, June 13, and Sunday, June 14.

“One of the Parrish’s guiding principles is to illuminate the connection between art and nature,” said Terrie Sultan, director of the museum, which is in Water Mill. “Many works in our permanent collection depict the landscape in its many different forms, and of course the meadow landscape surrounding the new building plays a very important role in the overall experience of the museum.”

The Saturday symposium will run from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and feature the author, lecturer and garden designer C. Colston Burrell, who will talk about “Finishing Touches: The Power of Details in Garden Design.” Multi-award winning garden designers Janice Parker and Luciano Giubbilei will speak about the vision and process of creating landscapes, and the impact of collaborations in creating atmosphere, respectively. Lastly, Edwina von Gal, founder of the Perfect Earth Project, will offer a short overview of her organization’s mission of chemical-free gardening practices. Registered landscape architects will earn 3.0 credits of continuing education for attending the lectures.

On Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., ticket holders can participate in self-guided tours of private gardens at the Wainscott homes of Toni Ross, Eleanora and Michael Kennedy, and Robin and Fred Seegal, as well as the properties of Jane and Michael DeFlorio and interior designer David Kleinberg in East Hampton.

“I strongly believe in supporting our local cultural institutions,” said Ms. Ross, whose garden includes clematis, lilacs and peonies. “My property is a constant work in progress and completely toxin free,” she said in an email. “In recent years, we have nurtured a bountiful vegetable garden that I share with friends,” she continued. “For a city girl like me, it is all quite magical. It is a spiritual place to work and live.”

Landscape Pleasures is co-chaired by Lillian Cohen, Martha B. McLanahan and Linda Hackett Munson, with Stacy Paetzel, Tony Piazza and Dennis Schrader serving as vice chairs. The event is sponsored, in part, by Kelco, LaGuardia Design Landscape Architecture, Whitmores, and Piazza Horticultural. Hamptons Cottages & Gardens is the media sponsor. Tickets for the symposium and garden tours are $225, or $175 for Parrish members. Ticket purchasers at the Sponsor level and above, starting at $350, can attend a private cocktail reception on Saturday evening at Marcia Riklis’s garden in Southampton.

“By presenting Landscape Pleasures each year we have the opportunity to bring great minds together to discuss new approaches to landscape architecture and design, and to see and experience first-hand how nature can be transformed,” said Ms. Sultan. “We hope our guests have a fun and informative weekend.”