Join Dr. Jonathan Lehrer as he demonstrates how to take advantage of a plant’s own survival adaptations to build better garden indoors and out.

Dr. Lehrer will introduce you to the world of begonias, bromeliads, orchids, and succulents, sharing insights into their evolutionary strategies and ecological roles. In addition to basic botany, this workshop will highlight how these dynamic plants can complement your garden and indoor design projects. Be ready to explore these green wonders of evolution and take away practical ideas that will transform your living spaces.

DR. JONATHAN LEHRER is a favorite amongst students at Farmingdale State College, where he serves as the Ornamental Horticulture Department Chair while also teaching many of the classes in the program.

AGE: Adult Audiences

WEATHER: Rain or Shine

SPECIAL NOTES: Please dress appropriately for being outdoors: comfortable shoes and socks, wide brimmed hats, sunscreen, insect repellant and water are recommended. To be a source of healthy insects for our birds and other insect-feeding wildlife, Landcraft does not spray the gardens to manage ticks. Please take appropriate precaution.

Join historian Richard Wines as he tells the tale of the land that is Landcraft before it was a garden.

Follow Richard through history as he retraces the origins of the lands connected to Landcraft as they relate to the agricultural history of the North Fork. This is an oral and visual history, and book signing.

 RICHARD WINES is a historian and preservationist best known for his development (or rather protection from development) of Winds Way Farm, a passion project that he and his wife Nancy Gilbert have been working on for 30+ years. Set on 15-acres of  familial land, Winds Way Farm (a seventeenth century variant on the Wines family) is a collection of rescued and relocated historic buildings surrounded by heritage orchards, gardens, farmland, hedgerows, woods, marshes and seashore. Richard is also the author of A Farm Family on Long Island’s North Fork: The Lost World of the Hallocks and Their Sound Avenue Community, a past president of Hallockville Museum Farm, chair of Riverhead Landmarks Preservation Commission and co-chair Riverhead Farmland Preservation Committee. History is a family affair for the Wines – Richard’s mother, a great-niece to Halsey & Emilie Hallock, collected and transcribed family documents all her life; Richard wrote his first history at age 12 and has been telling the North Fork’s story ever since.

 AGE: Adults

WEATHER: Rain or Shine

SPECIAL NOTES: Lecture and Book Signing

Meet the Basket Weavers Guild of Eastern Long Island, a group of individuals preserving the art and craft of traditional basket-making on Long Island.

Basketry, the art and craft of making interwoven objects, usually containers, from pliable vegetable or animal fibers, is not only an ancient craft, but also a cross-cultural craft practiced by humans globally. Before moldable plastics were invented, weaving, braiding, coiling and knotting made everything from dwellings to clothing to ropes, dishware and containers. Modern basketry, which is enjoying a resurgence in popularity, is a creative art form as well as a responsible alternative to disposable plastic bags and plasticware – baskets of every kind are useful, beautiful, renewal, long-lasting and if need be, biodegradable. This is an Open Weave event – members of the guild will be working on their individual basket projects together. Guests are welcome to watch and ask questions.

Basket Weavers Guild of Eastern Long Island (BWGELI)’s mission is to promote and preserve the art and skill of making baskets for future generations. Members gather monthly and are generous with their knowledge. They share with each other their individual basket successes, experiment with new (sometimes very old) weaving techniques and discuss and/or demonstrate the possible uses of an assortment of basket-making materials like local vines, grasses, oak and cedar (instead of the traditional ratan). When possible, professional teachers are brought in to teach new techniques or the use of other materials. Members of the BWGELI can be found demonstrating their craft at local museums, fairs or parks throughout the year. Basket weaving instructors Tina Pearsall and Carol Losquadro have been weaving for over 25 years and are enthusiastic about sharing their passion for basketry with others who wish to learn this practical and timeless art form.

AGES: All Ages

WEATHER: weather permitting

SPECIAL NOTES: Please dress appropriately to be outdoors: comfortable shoes and socks, wide brimmed hats, sunscreen, insect repellant and water are recommended. To be a source of healthy insects for our birds and other insect-feeding wildlife, Landcraft does not spray the garden to manage ticks. Please take appropriate precautions.

While most people are familiar with or have at least seen hive beekeeping using Langstroth boxes, a stackable modular tower of hanging frames, where non-native honeybees protect their queen and store their honey, most native bees are actually solitary. They utilize less sophisticated nesting sites, usually hollowed stems and/or natural crevasse in the landscape, to rear their young and store food for the winter. Join Chris Kelly, a Cornell trained entomologist and beekeeper, as he reveals the secret lives of these lesser known but more populous bee, all while making fun and attractive bee homes to be included in your garden or yard. This is a family workshop for all ages.

CHRIS KELLY is a committed Long Island beekeeping educator. As a hobbyist and professional, he is uniquely able to address the concerns of both. The onset of colony collapse disorder highlighted the critical need to bridge historical practices with current day needs – his business, Promised Land Apiaries is focused on providing an ethical artisanal product responsibly made from start to finish. PLA’s primary drive is the health of the honeybee hive, without the intrusion of artificial supplements. What makes PLA distinctive is Chris’ personal relationships with professionals and academics in the field of apiculture. What started as a Long Island boy scout looking for his next merit badge became a lifetime of beekeeping.

AUDIENCE: All Ages.

WEATHER: Fair weather only.

SPECIAL NOTES: Please dress appropriately to be outdoors: comfortable shoes and socks, wide brimmed hats, sunscreen, insect repellant and water are recommended. To be a source of healthy insects for our birds and other insect-feeding wildlife, Landcraft does not spray the garden to manage ticks. Please take appropriate precautions.

Join plant expert Jim Glover for a deep dive into what makes a perennial a powerhouse performer in the garden. Think purpose, plurality and pollinators! Plants will include native, near-native and non-native perennials.

Follow Jim Glover as he tours Landcraft Garden highlighting the strange and special plants that are specific to Glover Perennials. The Garden at Landcraft is proud to grow an extraordinary number of Jim’s plants for their many outstanding qualities which Jim will explain. Learn which plants will give you multiple seasons of interest, feed pollinators early or late into the season, or have aesthetic forms that will enhance any design.  This is a rare opportunity to hear the many merits of relatively unknown plants from a master plantsman.

Glover Perennials is a premier local (Cutchogue) wholesale nursery supplying Northeast and Mid- Atlantic Garden centers and discerning landscape design/build firms with hard-to-find, quality-grown native, near-native and non-native plants.  Jim Glover, founder and CEO of Glover Perennials, is an expert in unusual and native plants; he has spent a lifetime collecting local ecotypes on Long Island’s East End as well as selecting native and non-native plants with exceptional horticultural value.  Whether it is an ecotype of a well-known species or a non-invasive off-season bloomer, Glover Perennials prides itself on exceptionally long production cycles to guarantee the most robust plants for the landscape. Jim received a B.S. degree in Community Forestry & Horticulture from the University of Vermont. He later attended the University of Washington Center for Urban Horticulture and received a Master of Forest Resources degree in Urban Horticulture in 1990.

ADIENCE: Adult

WEATHER: Fair weather only. If it rains, workshop will be cancelled with no rain date to follow. To confirm possible cancellation due to weather please call (631) 298-7216.

SPECIAL NOTES: Please dress appropriately to be outdoors: comfortable shoes and socks, wide brimmed hats, sunscreen, insect repellant and water are recommended. To be a source of healthy insects for our birds and other insect-feeding wildlife, Landcraft does not spray the gardens to manage ticks. Please take appropriate precautions.

Learn basic weaving techniques while wrapping a basket over a glass flower vase with BWGELI’s Tina Pearsall and Carol Losquadro.

A perfect project for basket weaving beginners and flower arranging enthusiasts! Shaping a basket is perhaps the hardest part of building a basket for novice weavers. Using the shape of a glass vase to guide your practice will not only build confidence but also make a beautiful flower holding vessel. Bottles (typically wine) wrapped in straw or wicker are called fiaschi (or fiasco, singular). Traditional fiaschi used round-bottom hand-blown glass bottles. The basket stood the bottle upright and protected it during transport. This project will use mason jars and rattan. All tools & materials to be provided. Light refreshments and flowers also to be provided.

Basket Weavers Guild of Eastern Long Island (BWGELI)’s mission is to promote and preserve the art and skill of making baskets for future generations. Members gather monthly and are generous with their knowledge. They share with each other their individual basket successes, experiment with new (sometimes very old) weaving techniques and discuss and/or demonstrate the possible uses of an assortment of basket-making materials like local vines, grasses, oak and cedar (instead of the traditional ratan). When possible, professional teachers are brought in to teach new techniques or the use of other materials. Members of the BWGELI can be found demonstrating their craft at local museums, fairs or parks throughout the year. Basket weaving instructors Tina Pearsall and Carol Losquadro have been weaving for over 25 years and are enthusiastic about sharing their passion for basketry with others who wish to learn this practical and timeless art form.

AUDIENCE: Adults & Young Adults

WEATHER: Rain or Shine

SPECIAL NOTES: Please dress appropriately to be outdoors: comfortable shoes and socks, wide brimmed hats, sunscreen, insect repellant and water are recommended. To be a source of healthy insects for our birds and other insect-feeding wildlife, Landcraft does not spray the garden to manage ticks. Please take appropriate precautions.

Join us for this family event for people of all ages to see raptors – up close!

A raptor is any carnivorous bird, usually predatory (they actively hunt other animals), typically possessing exceptional speed, sight, or strength.  These magnificent animals, also called birds of prey, are near the top of the food chain, however, that does not protect them from harm by humans directly or indirectly, either by development or environmental degradation.

Meet four rehabilitated raptors up close and personal. The group may include one or more species of owl, hawk, vulture and/or falcon. Learn how each bird was injured & then rehabilitated by the Rescue Center to become a wildlife ambassador. Handlers from Center will describe how raptors live in the wild and how humans can/should coexist with them.

The Evelyn Alexander Wildlife Rescue Center is Eastern Long Island’s ONLY Wildlife Hospital, a 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to the rescue, medical rehabilitation, and release of native wildlife on the East End of Long Island. The Center opened its doors in 2000. The Wildlife Rescue Center receives over 10,000 calls each year for information or assistance with wild animal encounters. They are open 365 days a year and are available on call 24 hours a day.

AUDIENCE: For Adults and Children of All Ages

WEATHER: Fair weather only. No rain date.

SPECIAL NOTES: Some seating provided. Please dress appropriately to be outdoors: comfortable shoes and socks, wide brimmed hats, sunscreen, insect repellant and water are recommended. To be a source of healthy insects for our birds and other insect-feeding wildlife, Landcraft does not spray the gardens to manage ticks. Please take appropriate precautions.

Explore and reproduce the wonders of the natural world in colored pencil with master Botanical Illustrator, Christiane Fashek.

Christiane Fashek began her studies of neoclassical architecture at the University of Notre Dame. She practiced in New York City, moved to London, earned a master’s in architecture and urbanism from the Architectural Association, then returned to NYC. It was while her children napped that she set about drawing objects from the natural world pulling from her draftsperson eye for detail and applying the use of magnification, microscopy and macrophotography. She is best known for “seeing” both the bold and subtle intricacies of different mosses and lichens. Spend a day with Christiane learning how to capture and celebrate the many curiosities of the natural world harvested directly from the Landcraft Garden. A master of scale, perspective, and color, participants will learn from Christiane the science, precision and artistry behind botanical still life. Drawing materials to be provided. Boxed lunch included.

CHRISTIANE FASHEK is a botanical artist specializing in lichens and plants rendered in colored pencil. She uses scale and perspective to highlight their fascinating features. Christiane is a drawing and colored pencil instructor at various botanical gardens and leads workshops and talks virtually and in person. Her work regularly appears in exhibitions and is currently on view in the New York Botanical Garden’s Fifth Triennial, Curious Allies. Follow her at christianefashekbotanicalart.com or via Instagram: @christianefashek.

AUDIENCE: Adults & young adults.

WEATHER: Rain or Shine.

SPECIAL NOTES: Please bring your own magnification device of choice (hand lens, magnifying glass, phone), and sketch board to draw on. A portable garden chair is also recommended. Please dress appropriately to be outdoors: comfortable shoes and socks, wide brimmed hats, sunscreen, insect repellant and water are recommended. To be a source of healthy insects for our birds and other insect-feeding wildlife, Landcraft does not spray the garden to manage ticks. Please take appropriate precautions.

Join us for an immersive Create Your Own Gin Experience, hosted by Matchbook Distilling Co. in the beautiful garden at Landcraft Garden Foundation.

In this hands-on workshop, you will learn how to properly nose and taste spirits while delving into the science of distilling. As you enjoy cocktails, you’ll have the opportunity to blend your own proprietary botanical mix, featuring unique aromatics like Wild Magic Basil, grown at Landcraft Garden Foundation. Each participant will leave with a personalized bottle of their signature gin blend to take home and enjoy responsibly.

MATCHBOOK DISTILLING CO. is an R+D facility dedicated to production of spirits that champion agriculture, anthropology, tradition and science. Matchbook is in Greenport, NY with a tasting room operating Saturdays from 1pm – 6pm.

AUDIENCE: Adult

WEATHER: Fair weather only. If raining, workshop will be cancelled with no rain date to follow. To confirm possible cancellation due to weather please call (631) 298-7216.

SPECIAL NOTES: Each participant will receive a 750mL bottle of their own botanical blend to take home and enjoy responsibly. Please dress appropriately to be outdoors: comfortable shoes and socks, wide brimmed hats, sunscreen, insect repellant and water are recommended. To be a source of healthy insects for our birds and other insect-feeding wildlife, Landcraft does not spray the gardens to manage ticks. Please take appropriate precautions.

Beekeeper and trained entomologist Chris Kelly will teach participants how to keep and harvest honey from bees in their very own backyards.

Learn about the humble honeybee, one of many pollinators, that are necessary for the existence of life (plant and animal) on earth. Using Landcraft’s very own bee colonies and pollinator heavy gardens, Master Beekeeper and Cornell trained entomologist, Chris Kelly, will teach participants how to better understand the importance of the bee, as well as how gardeners and wildlife lovers alike can contribute to the honey bee’s prosperity in their own backyards. Kelly will demonstrate his hands on approach to beekeeping, capped off with a demonstration on harvesting honey straight from the source. Come join us for a special closeup of the honeybee – learn the basics of how, why and what we do to establish a hive – then taste for yourself the wonder of raw, unfiltered honey.

CHRIS KELLY is a committed Long Island beekeeping educator. As a hobbyist and professional, he is uniquely able to address the concerns of both. The onset of colony collapse disorder highlighted the critical need to bridge historical practices with current day needs – his business, Promised Land Apiaries (PLA) is focused on providing an ethical artisanal product responsibly made from start to finish. PLA’s primary drive is the health of the honeybee hive, without the intrusion of artificial supplements. What makes PLA distinctive is Chris’ personal relationships with professionals and academics in the field of apiculture. What started as a Long Island boy scout looking for his next merit badge became a lifetime of beekeeping.

AUDIENCE: All Ages.

WEATHER: Fair Weather Only.

SPECIAL NOTES: Please dress appropriately to be outdoors: comfortable shoes and socks, wide brimmed hats, sunscreen, insect repellant and water are recommended. To be a source of healthy insects for our birds and other insect-feeding wildlife, Landcraft does not spray the garden to manage ticks. Please take appropriate precautions.

Part two in this introduction to cell phone photography will dive into the behind the scenes “touch-ups” and “adjustments” of photo editing that makes “a good picture” into a work of art.

ANTHONY GRAZIANO is an award-winning fine art photographer, author and educator who has been capturing the beauty of the natural world through photography for more than 30 years. Anthony’s vision flows from what-is-perceived to what-is-felt and finally, to what-is-seen; his photographic approach often involves spending extended periods of time within a location to absorb its unique energy before attempting to preserve its experience in a photograph. Anthony’s creative approach succeeds in the rare capturing of a temporal place, drawing the viewer in to “experience” the beauty of the natural world – its vibrancy, its layers and light – all joining to emotionally calm the inner spirit while stimulating the sensory mind. Anthony was selected by the Andy Warhol Foundation as its Artist in Residence and has shown at numerous galleries. He is a past board member of the East End Arts Council and the Friends of Wertheim National Wildlife Refuge.

AGE: Adult Audiences

WEATHER: Weather permitting

SPECIAL NOTES: Please dress appropriately for being outdoors: comfortable shoes and socks, wide brimmed hats, sunscreen, insect repellant and water are recommended. To be a source of healthy insects for our birds and other insect-feeding wildlife, Landcraft does not spray the gardens to manage ticks. Please take appropriate precaution.

***REFUND POLICY:  Refunds must be requested at least 7 days before event by e-mailing info@landcraftgardenfoundation.org . Landcraft Garden Foundation Credit will be given for the full ticket price, minus $10 Eventbrite processing fee. Credit must be used within 1 year of event, and can be applied to future workshops, events, garden admission or gift shop purchases.

Arts events and workshops at Landcraft Garden Foundation are made possible by a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts with support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.