Nominees have been announced for the 10Best Readers’ Choice award for “Best Public Garden” and they include some of the most stunning green spaces across North America. Readers have until March 31 at noon to vote on their favorite garden; votes are allowed once per day, per category. Vote here, or visit 10best.com/awards/travel.
The 20 gardens vying for the 10Best Readers’ Choice award are:
Bloedel Reserve – Bainbridge Island, Wash.
Brooklyn Botanic Garden – Brooklyn, N.Y.
Butchart Gardens – Victoria, B.C.
Callaway Gardens – Pine Mountain, Ga.
Cheekwood Botanical Garden – Nashville
Chicago Botanic Garden – Chicago
Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens – Boothbay, Maine
Denver Botanic Gardens – Denver
Desert Botanical Garden – Phoenix
Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden – Miami
Franklin Park Conservatory – Columbus, Ohio
Huntington Botanical Gardens – Los Angeles
Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden – Richmond, Va.
Longwood Gardens – Kennett Square, Pa.
Missouri Botanical Garden – St. Louis
National Tropical Botanical Garden – Hawaii
Portland Japanese Garden – Portland, Ore.
Ruth Bancroft Garden – Walnut Creek, Calif.
United States Botanic Garden – Washington, D.C.
Wave Hill – Bronx, N.Y.
The garden expert who selected the nominees for this category is author and acclaimed landscape designer Cindy Brockway, program director for cultural resources at The Trustees of Reservations (The Trustees), the nation’s oldest land trust, and one of the largest conservation organizations in Massachusetts. Brockway — a graduate of the University of Rhode Island with a BS in Plant Science — trained at Longwood Gardens and the Chicago Botanical Gardens before her 25-year award-winning career as a landscape designer.
“This award category — Best North American public garden — is a big category,” says Brockway, “with lots of potential candidates.” She explains that her selection process centered on gardens which included two elements: a great plant collection and the aesthetics of beautiful design. “Public gardens offer a chance for fun respite and learning” in a beautiful, diverse setting, Brockway says, and her nominee list is a mix of gardens and botanical gardens (which include a scientific element, with plants which are catalogued, researched, tested and reported upon to the larger industry), responsible for some of America’s favorite backyard plants.
Brockway’s work has been featured in Old House Journal, Victoria Magazine, Colonial Homes, Nineteenth Century and Accent, as well as numerous trade publications. He garden designs have been recognized by the American Society of Landscape Architects, the Garden Club of America, the State of New Jersey, Preservation League of New York State, the Massachusetts Historic Commission and other prestigious organizations. In her current role at The Trustees, she is responsible for eleven public gardens from the Berkshire Hills to Martha’s Vineyard, including Ashintully in Tyringham; Castle Hill on the Crane Estate in Ipswich; Naumkeag in Stockbridge; Long Hill in Beverly; the Bradley Estate in Canton; Stevens Coolidge Place in Andover; and MyToi on Martha’s Vineyard.
Brockway has authored two books: A Favorite Place of Resort for Strangers (Fort Ticonderoga, 2001), and Gardens of the New Republic (May 2004). She teaches short courses in landscape preservation at the National Preservation Institute, and is a popular lecturer.
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