Different sights, sounds and smells at Bailey Arboretum

The Friends of Bailey Arboretum held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on July 20 to celebrate the renovation and restoration of the arboretum’s sensory garden. Current and former members of the board, staff and Town of Oyster Bay officials were on hand to enjoy the improved site and honor the hard work that made it happen.

Bailey Arboretum is a 42-acre property that includes an extensive botanical collection, walking trails and historic buildings. Formerly the home of financier Frank Bailey, who also was an amateur botanist and creator of the arboretum, the estate was donated to Nassau County in 1968, and is operated by the Friends of Bailey Arboretum on the county’s behalf. 

Since 1990, one of the arboretum’s foremost attractions has been its sensory garden, one of the first of its kind on Long Island. Sensory gardens are designed to simulate sight, smell, touch, and sound, often including a wider range of flora with different exceptional qualities, such as bright colors and distinctive smells. 

Richard Weir, a Bailey board member, explained how the sensory garden was originally based in Wantagh before being moved to the arboretum in the late 1980s. He emphasized that the “basic bones of that garden have been here ever since,” although due to fluctuations in funding and attention from the county it had had its “ups and downs over the years.”

“About two or three years ago, the board looked at ‘What can we do to help this garden,’” Weir said. “It needed two things; it needed a complete revitalization, and it needed financial donors to be a part of that.”

Michael Maron, the superintendent of the arboretum, oversaw the redesign of the sensory garden and managed all the necessary subcontracting. Although several companies had initially stepped forward to do the project, all had backed out when they heard the job was to do both, but thanks to Maron’s hard work and the support of the Friends and their donors the project was effectively finished. Andrea Volpe, president of the board of the Friends, thanked Maron for his dedication during the ribbon-cutting ceremony.  

The new garden features several changes to its former structure and layout, such as adding a secondary pool to its water feature, which produces a soothing trickling sound. There are also new flowers such as stachys byzantina, commonly known as lamb’s ear, which has tall spike-like stems and light purple flowers which helps stimulate the sense of touch.

The garden also still has some of its long-standing flowers and plants, including rosa rugosa, a type of rose native to eastern Asia, according to Dave Golon, the board’s vice president. The only other remaining section from the older garden, which has cycled out plants before, is the garden’s rhododendrons, as well as a handicapped-accessible pathway and original stone base from its first site in Wantagh.

“Everything else is new,” Golon added. “We pretty much went clean slate in there because of the condition that it was in.”

Local elected leaders also attended the event, including Robert Fagiola, mayor of Lattingtown, a representative from Assemblyman Jake Blumencranz’s office, who presented the organization with a New York State citation, and Darcy Belyea, commissioner of Nassau County Parks, Recreation and Museums. Also in attendance were representatives from the Town of Oyster Bay, Vicki Walsh, a town councilwoman, and Rich LaMarca, the town clerk.

The two presented Volpe with a town citation to recognize the organization’s efforts to beautify and restore the sensory garden. Volpe, who said she has “been a Bailey neighbor (her) entire life,” thanked them as well as the attendees for their support on the project, and especially lauded the dedication of the board members who made it possible.

“I’m very, very lucky to have such a fantastic team, and such hard-working board members next to me as we grow with Bailey,” Volpe said. “The Sensory Garden Refurbishment Project was born some time ago and required a strong and passionate team for the development, project management and oversight.”

The only thing left to do at the garden is add nametags to the various plants in the garden, which should be completed by September, board members said.

The arboretum is a non-profit organization and is open to the public from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. from Wednesday to Sunday. For more information contact (516) 801-1458, and to visit their website go to BaileyArboretum.org.