2025 Convention – Trips and Closing Event

Gesneriads Gather in the Garden State

June 29 to July 5, 2025

SUNDAY JUNE 29 — The New York Botanical Garden
Three botanical gardens across the world are “must-see” – the Royal Botanical Garden at Kew, The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG), and the Missouri Botanical Garden (MBG). Last year we visited the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis. This year we will visit the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx and will spend about five hours there. Included in our group admission is an on/off tram ride around the 250-acre garden.

Admission also covers the magnificent glasshouse, the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, with its palm dome containing species from around the world. Galleries feature aquatic plants and vines, lush tropical rain forests, cactus-filled deserts, and many other natural habitats. Special exhibits are on display year-round.

Lunch is on your own. The Pine Tree Cafe is open for casual dining starting at 10am serving soup, sandwiches, pizza, coffee, tea, other drinks, and snacks.

MONDAY, JUNE 30 — Grounds for Sculpture near Trenton, NJ
Grounds for Sculpture (GFS) was envisioned as a place to exhibit sculpture and as a garden and arboretum. The design included formal and informal aspects. Paved terraces, pergolas, and courtyards juxtaposed natural woodlands, ponds, and bamboo groves. Expanses of lawn were delineated by sculptured rose-covered berms.

The garden/museum opened to the public in 1992. Across the 42 acres you will find a meadow rich with wildflowers, butterflies, and a pond teeming with natural life. Or you can wander through manicured fairways and paths, past elegant and architectural reflecting pools, to admire the living library of native and exotic trees and flowers. Over 300 sculptures are staged in various enclaves.

Lunch is on your own. The Van Gogh Cafe is open from 10am to 4pm. We will spend about four hours at Grounds for Sculpture.

TUESDAY, JULY 1 — Tour of the local area with three one-hour visits

Our first stop is Cerbo’s Parsippany Greenhouse and Garden Center. Besides outside nursery plants and decor, this complete nursery includes several greenhouses that carry a large array of houseplants as well as other items that you might typically find.

Our second stop is the 127-acre Frelinghuysen Arboretum that is familiar to many of our convention visitors as the local gesneriad chapter has held their shows and sales there since the late 1970s. On Tuesday morning we will have just over an hour to visit the gardens around the Hagarty Education Center and Mansion.

Our third stop is Wegman’s Food Market. It would be a good place to buy lunch at their extensive prepared food bar and also possibly pick up some items for lunch or to snack on later in the week. (There is a mini-refrigerator in each hotel guest room.) We will return by 12:30pm, about 1.5 hours before the afternoon judging school begins.

SATURDAY, JULY 5 — Convention Closing Social

From 5:00 to 6:30 pm on Saturday night at our hotel, we will have the opportunity to relax and visit with our fellow convention attendees one last time before packing up and getting ready to leave this year’s gathering. Sign up to attend and casually enjoy lite hors d’oeuvres, pizza, and accompaniments with drinks available at a cash bar.

 Additional information can be found in the 1Q25 issue of our journal Gesneriads.