Colleen Plimpton as Beatrix Farrand
On Saturday, March 30, at 2:00 p.m., the Bristol Garden Club, Bristol Historical Society, and the Bristol Public Library will present “Beatrix Farrand, Rediscovered: A Dramatic Presentation of the Life, Times, and Gardens of America’s First Female Landscape Architect and Gardener to the Stars of the Early 20th Century.” This free event, co-sponsored by the Bristol Historical Society, Bristol Garden Club, and the Bristol Public Library will take place in meeting room 1 on the lower level of the Main Library. No registration is necessary.
In addition to being America’s first female architect, Beatrix Farrand (1872-1959) was also a founding member of the American Society of Landscape Architects. Though overlooked for decades, her work is being rediscovered. Many of her gardens, such as Bellefield in Hyde Park, NY; Hill-Stead in Farmington, CT and Garland Farm in Bar Harbor, ME, have been restored. This talk is a dramatic, 45-minute, first person presentation, in costume, backed by a slide show of the distinguished landscape gardener’s creations.
Colleen Plimpton spent 30 years in her first career as a clinical social worker with the chronically mentally ill. Her second career is that of professional garden communicator. She trained at the New York Botanical Garden and has tended her sloping Connecticut acre for 20 years. She’s appeared on numerous TV and radio programs including CBS, ABC, Good Morning America and PBS; she pens a prize-winning newspaper column for Hearst Media Group; coaches gardening; has taught at the New York Botanical Garden; lectures widely; and writes for publications such as GreenPrints, Connecticut Gardener, and Toastmaster. Colleen’s multi-honored garden memoir, Mentors in the Garden of Life was a Finalist for the 2011 Connecticut Book of the Year in the Memoir category. Her new book, Growing a Movement: How a Small Group of Determined Women Changed Horticultural History will be available in 2013.
Due to the loss of our computer instructor, who has taken a position elsewhere, the Computer Lab at the Main Library is closed and will remain closed until a new instructor is hired. All classes are cancelled and one-on-one instruction will not be available.