Planting Fields Arboretum State Historic Park facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Planting Fields Arboretum
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Coe Hall at Planting Fields Arboretum
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| Nearest city | Oyster Bay, New York |
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| Built | 1915 |
| Architect | Guy Lowell; Walker & Gillette |
| Architectural style | Tudor Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 79001598 |
| Added to NRHP | January 25, 1979 |
Planting Fields Arboretum State Historic Park is a special place with beautiful gardens and a historic house. It covers over 400 acres in Upper Brookville, a village in Oyster Bay, New York. It's like a giant outdoor museum for plants!
The park includes the Coe Hall Historic House Museum. This grand house was once the home of William Robertson Coe and his wife, Mary "Mai" Huttleston Coe. William Coe was a successful businessman in insurance and railroads. His wife, Mai, was the daughter of Henry H. Rogers, a very rich industrialist from Standard Oil.
The estate, called "Planting Fields," has a 67-room mansion (Coe Hall), many greenhouses, lovely gardens, and peaceful woodland paths. It also has amazing collections of plants. Famous landscape designers like Guy Lowell and the Olmsted Brothers helped create its beautiful look. The name "Planting Fields" comes from the Matinecock Native Americans. They used to grow crops in the rich soil here, high above Long Island Sound.
Contents
Discovering the History of Planting Fields
The story of Planting Fields began between 1904 and 1912. A woman named Helen MacGregor Byrne bought several farms. She called her new property "Upper Planting Fields Farm." She hired a landscape architect to add hedges and gardens.
How William Coe Created the Arboretum
In 1913, William Robertson Coe bought the estate, which was about 353 acres. He started to create the amazing gardens and landscapes you see today. He worked with experts like Guy Lowell and A. Robeson Sargent.
One incredible story is about two huge beech trees. In 1915, they were moved all the way from Fairhaven, Massachusetts. This was Mai Coe's childhood home. The trees had root balls that were 30 feet wide! They were brought across Long Island Sound in the middle of winter. Roads had to be widened, and power lines were temporarily moved just for them. Sadly, only one tree survived the journey. This "Fairhaven Beech" lived for many years but was taken down in 2006. Luckily, seedlings were collected from it, so its legacy continues!
The Coes bought many other plants too. They got huge numbers of rhododendrons from England. They also brought in Japanese crabapples, cherries, and many different kinds of trees like lindens and pines.
The Camellia House and Coe Hall
In 1916, Mr. Coe bought a rare collection of camellia flowers from Guernsey. To house them, the Camellia House was built in 1917. It was filled with these special plants. Some of them were types of camellias that had never been grown in the United States before!
The first mansion on the property burned down in 1918. Its replacement, the beautiful Coe Hall, was built between 1918 and 1921. It was designed in the Tudor Revival style. The building was inspired by grand English country houses.
William and Mai Coe loved collecting rare trees and plants. This made their estate a botanical wonder. Mai Coe passed away in 1924. In 1949, during Mr. Coe's lifetime, the 353-acre estate was given to the state of New York. It then became a state park for everyone to enjoy.
Exploring the Main Gardens
Planting Fields has many different gardens, each with its own unique charm.
The Italian Blue Pool Garden
This garden was created between 1914 and 1918. It features a Tea House built in 1915. In the past, this garden was filled with spring flowers like delphiniums, irises, peonies, and poppies. It is now being restored to look like it did originally.
Naturalistic Designs by Olmsted Brothers
After A.R. Sargent passed away in 1918, the Olmsted Brothers firm took over. They were famous for their "naturalistic" style. They added to the Main Greenhouse and Camellia Greenhouse. They also designed the Beech Copse, Main Lawn, West Lawn, and Heather Garden, making them blend beautifully with nature.
Other Beautiful Gardens
- The Green Garden has a lovely circular pool.
- Azalea Walks and Vista Path are home to hundreds of types of azalea and rhododendron.
- The Rose Arbor and Rose Garden boast over 680 different kinds of roses.
- The Synoptic Garden shows more than 500 types of trees and shrubs. They are arranged in alphabetical order by their scientific names.
- The Magnolia Collection features over 80 types of agnolia trees.
- The Rhododendron Collection has over 1,000 types of azaleas and rhododendrons.
Greenhouses: A World of Plants Indoors
The Camellia Greenhouse was built specifically for the camellia collection. It started with 114 large plants and now has over 300! The plants are placed directly in the ground inside the greenhouse, which was a new idea at the time.
The Main Greenhouse was built between 1914 and 1929. It even has a special Hibiscus House for the Coes' hibiscus collection. Today, this greenhouse has huge collections of orchids, cacti and succulents, houseplants, ferns, and begonias. It also has seasonal displays of flowers like chrysanthemums and poinsettias.
The North Border and Woodlands
The North Border area includes:
- The Holly Collection: Over 100 different types of evergreen hollies from around the world.
- Dwarf Conifer Garden: Dozens of small spruce, fir, juniper, and pine trees.
- Conifer Trail: Here you can see full-sized Conifers that can grow over 60 feet tall, like sequoia and larch.
- Heather Garden: Features low-growing heaths and heathers, along with rhododendrons and azaleas.
The Dahlia Garden displays hundreds of beautiful dahlia flowers. Beyond the gardens, Planting Fields has over 200 acres of woodland. You can walk for miles on the trails through the woods. Many of the trees here are the largest of their kind on Long Island.
Planting Fields as a College Campus
For a short time, from 1955 to 1964, Planting Fields was also used as a temporary college campus. It was home to a State University of New York (SUNY) college of science and engineering. This college was called the State University College On Long Island at Oyster Bay (SUCOLI). It used Coe Hall and even temporary dome structures for classes. In 1962, the college moved to its new permanent campus, which is now Stony Brook University.
After that, another SUNY program, the Center for International Studies and World Affairs, used the site. When that program closed in 1968, Planting Fields became the park we know today.
Planting Fields Today
Today, Planting Fields Arboretum is owned and run by New York State Parks. They work with the Planting Fields Foundation. It is a very popular place to visit, known for its amazing arboretum and the Coe Hall mansion.
The beautiful wrought-iron gates at the park entrance are very old. They were made in Sussex, England in 1712 for a place called Carshalton Park. William Coe brought them to Planting Fields in 1921. These gates have even been used in many movies!
Planting Fields Arboretum was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. This means it is recognized as an important historic site.
See also
