Old Fort Johnson National Historic Landmark presents “The Fort in Flower”
A Unique Indoor/Outdoor Flower Show

June 20 & 21 with a Special Evening Preview Reception on June 19th

This unique indoor/outdoor event celebrates the history and floral beauty of Old Fort Johnson. The public rooms of the Old Fort will be adorned with floral arrangements done in the 18th century manner. Garden lectures will be held on Saturday and Sunday at 11:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. Special guest lecturer will be garden and landscape designer Larry Sombke on Saturday, June 20 at 1:00 p.m.

Inside the Old Fort
Interior designer Dan Czech will be creating one-of-a-kind floral displays in the common areas of the Old Fort. Visitors can expect to see topiaries in the formal parlor and Delft containers filled with herbs in the dining room. In a playful twist, visitors will also find window sills decorated in small “fantasy vignettes” containing antique garden tools and ornaments along with flowering garden plants. The Old Fort will be open for self-guided viewing of these creations.

The Gardens
The Old Fort Johnson Garden Committee, led by Lori Rulison, has been working hard to create 18th century period correct gardens. Their work includes the planting of heirloom apple trees to replicate the orchard shown in a 1759 sketch of the Old Fort. Newly installed plant makers not only identify plants in the re-created 18th century parterre garden, but also give a brief history of the plant and its colonial use.

Garden Lectures
A series of lectures on a wide range of topics will be presented on Saturday and Sunday by local gardening experts. From bees to “lions” there are topics to interest all levels of gardeners. Admission is only $5.00 per day.

Saturday 11am - "Bees in your Garden" - Mark Rulison

               1pm - "How to Have a Beautiful Easy Garden Without the Use of Chemicals" - Larry Sombke

        3pm - "Colonial Gardening, Then and Now" - Cindy King

Sunday        11am - "Herbs and Their Uses for Dyes and Medicine" - Cindy King

                     1pm – Garden Tour

                     3pm – “The Teeth of the Lion: The Story of the Beloved and Despised Dandelion,” – Anita Sanchez



The Speakers

Larry Sombke
Larry Sombke is a landscape consultant and designer, and long-time host on the award-winning Gardening with Larry Sombke on Northeast Public Radio. He was the garden columnist for the New York Daily News and the Albany Times Union.

He has been a guest lecturer at the Philadephia, Boston, New York, Cincinnatti, Hartford, Albany and many other flower shows. He often speaks to local garden clubs and garden groups and is the author of numerous garden books including Beautiful Easy Flower Gardens, Beautiful Easy Herbs, Beautiful Easy Lawns and five other books on gardening, all with the environment in mind. "How to Have a Beautiful Garden that is Easy to Maintain Without the Use of Chemicals" is his number one topic for garden speeches.

Mark Rulison
Mark Rulison is a commercial beekeeper, a member of the Empire State Honey Producers Association and Southern Adirondack Beekeepers Association.  He owns and operates Rulison Honey Farms in Amsterdam, NY.  The farm has been producing honey in New York State since 1893.  Today, four generations later, they continue to manage approximately 1200 hives of bees in 50 locations throughout the fertile Mohawk and Hudson River Valleys.

Honeybees are fascinating insects that have existed for thousands of years. They are one of the most important aspects of gardening.  During his program "Bees in the Garden", Mark will discuss the importance of bees for pollination, how to maintain a hive in your garden, and growing specific plants that encourage bees to visit your garden.

Cindy King
A graduate of Skidmore and the College of Saint Rose, Cindy King has been gardening and learning about plants since her Mother taught her the names of the wildflowers in very early childhood. While raising sheep on the family farm in the 70's and 80's, she learned to spin and became a founding member of the Leatherstocking Spinners who still meet at the Herkimer Home in Little Falls every month. Her interest in plants inspired her to try dyeing woolen and silk fibers and yarns with different plants and mordants as did the early settlers in America. In 1987, Cindy received her MS from the College of Saint Rose. Her master's thesis was an exhibit of felted artwork exclusively featuring natural dyes. A near-fatal car accident in 1990 prevented Cindy from pursuing a teaching career. Her "retirement" allowed her to concentrate on gardening as she proceeded to landscape the new house she and her husband, Tom Dandrew, bought in Minaville in 1993. Cindy also owns and operates Ewecastle, a small nursery, where she raises day lilies and wildflowers. In her spare time, she is the volunteer propagator at the George Landis Arboretum in Esperance.

Anita Sanchez
Anita Sanchez is an educator and historian who combines a love of history with a strong environmental consciousness. In 1977, Anita graduated from Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Ecology/Conservation, an area of study that had just been added to the college's curriculum in the wake of the first Earth Day in 1970. A teenage summer job at a nature center was the beginning of a thirty-year career in environmental education. She has been employed by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation ever since, working at three different nature centers in upstate New York. Since 1984, she has been the Senior Environmental Educator at the Five Rivers Environmental Education Center in Albany.

Her love of the outdoors led her to write The Teeth of the Lion: The Story of the Beloved and Despised Dandelion. “I always loved dandelions, but I wasn’t moved to start writing until I discovered the horrifying fact that more than seven million songbirds a year are killed by pesticides used on lawns and gardens. But I realized no one would want to read a tirade on the evils of pesticides. I started looking for reasons why people should appreciate dandelions, and just kept finding more and more reasons why, throughout history, they have been valued as having the power and beauty of lions.”

Special Evening Preview Reception

Friday night, June 19th there will be a special evening preview champagne reception from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. featuring light hors d'oeuvres and music by Liaisons Plaisantes - 18th century period musicians.

Cost is just $15.00 per person and tickets are available by calling 518-843-0300.

We hope that you’ll join us for a weekend that promises to be a treat for all those interested in history, gardening and antiques.