Linwood Gardens

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Linwood Gardens

See website for reservations and look out for Open Garden Days! 2024 Tree Peony Festival dates: May 18-19, May 25-26, June 1-2 with pop-up weekday TBA!

A private, historic estate in NY's Genesee Valley, featuring gardens and a tree peony collection. 2026 Tree Peony Festival is May 16-17, 23-24, 30-31, with weekday pop-up TBA 1 week ahead. Reservations required, see website beginning in April. See you soon!

05/14/2026

✨ Pop-up festival day is Wed. May 27! ✨

🎉 Can’t come to the Tree Peony Festival on a weekend? Need a mid-week reason to play hooky? This is your chance!

🏵️ Wednesday, May 27, will be perfect for viewing glorious tree peonies as well as fountains, birds, winding paths, and the Genesee Valley view.

✅ Reservations are now open at link in bio for the pop-up as well as the original weekend dates:
🔹May 16-17
🔹May 23-24
🔹May 30-31

😊 We can’t wait to see you!

05/13/2026

Extend your Tree Peony Festival adventure! We have cool neighbors doing neat things.

🏺Swing by Pete’s Antique Recovery (2706 Main St. York), for practical vintage treasures.

🥖York Common Grounds brings people together over hot coffee, baked goods, used books, and artisan gifts in a tiny historic bank. Check out the huge safe! ⚙️

🏛️ York Town Historian Steve Gates (2703 Main St. York) is ready to show you images and items of the town’s past.

🍸 Woodlawn Distilling (just down the road) is offering the limited-edition Pink Peony cocktail plus a fun cocktail/mocktail menu.

🍻 Dublin Corners Farm Brewery serves up award-winning craft brews, plus live music and food trucks on select days.

🧘‍♂️ True North Yoga and Farm offers yoga in a unique farm setting and a produce stand as veggies grow.

🎩 The Hillcrest Estate offers accommodations and a gorgeous venue. On May 31, stop by the Sip & See open house, tickets at thehillcrestestate.com.

☕️ Blessings Cafe in Pavilion will fill your cup—and try the eggs Benedict! Open for breakfast & lunch (breakfast only Sat.).

🍦The Barn Restaurant - Piffard, NY has you for a diner breakfast and lunch experience, plus ice cream!

⛴ The Yard of Ale was built as a tavern on the Genesee Valley Canal, and it’s now right on the Genesee Valley Greenway State Park (there’s a great 2-for-1!).

🍔 If a classic bar and grill is more your style, the Wadsworth Grill is “an old friend” for lunch, supper, and libations.

🍖 BW's serves a classic American menu at Davis Countryside Meadows Golf Course. Another 2-for-1!

🌶 Anderson Produce sells annuals, veggie starts, and produce at their roadside shop. Look for Retsof pepper starts to enjoy some locally famous heritage flavor!

🌵 Palmiter's Garden Nursery is your destination for potted peonies, unique perennials, pottery, and more. Their succulent greenhouse is a wonderland for indoor gardeners.

🌱 Amanda's Native Garden Perennial Nursery sells an array of plants to help support our habitats (yes, gardens are habitats!).

👋 These are just some of our neighbors - more ideas are available to plan your trip from Explore Genesee Valley and Day Trips Around Rochester, NY!

✅ Reservations for the Tree Peony Festival at linwoodgardens.org/festival.

05/12/2026

💐Bloom update! 💐

❄️ Yes, it’s been a cold, wet spring. This means tree peonies are happily growing but are just a little delayed. Nothing can change nature’s mind!

🌹 The very earliest tree peonies will be blooming by this first Festival weekend, May 16-17. Each sunny or chilly day can influence the flowers, so it’s hard to predict even a few days in advance how many will be flowering. But we see some color in the buds, a good sign!

🌼 The gardens are beautiful in every season, with 125-year-old walls, fountains, an arboretum, and valley views. Redbud and crabapple trees are perfectly blooming right now, an experience most visitors miss because these flowers are usually too early.

🌱 When you visit this weekend, expect gorgeous weather (upper 60s/low 70s, finally!!), delicious light treats from Sweet Arts Bakery, and friendly volunteers to chat about history, plants, and the Genesee Valley.

🎨 Bring a paintbrush, camera, a friend. Come soak up the spring with us.

✅ Reservations and details at linwoodgardens.org/festival. See you in just a few days!

05/10/2026

🌱 First time visiting the gardens? Here’s what to expect!

☀️Logistics
✅ Reservationse are required. Visit our website at linwoodgardens.org/festival for all the details.

🚙 Parking: we have meadow and lawn parking. Since it’s been very rainy this year, you’ll be greeted and guided to a spot by a volunteer. Thanks in advance for your patience. Carpooling is encouraged!

🥾 Terrain: the gardens and lawns are about 8 acres and can be slightly uneven. One garden has narrow brick pathways that can also be uneven. Wheelchairs and walkers are welcome, they just take more effort to run on grass.

🚻 Restrooms: we have large, accessible portajohns near the summerhouse. We even try to put some flowers in them to brighten up the experience!

🍽️ Food: Sweet Arts Bakery will have coffee, lemonade, light lunch, and delicious treats available for sale in the summer house. Find a seat on the terrace or bring a lawn blanket. Outside food is fine, but please keep picnics simple or enjoy them at your car.

☀️What you’ll see:
💐 Flowers: it’s what we’re all here for, right?? Our many varieties of tree peonies bloom over about 3 weeks, so they’re never all out at once. Each series of flowers is lovely in different ways! We try to post some flower updates, but can’t predict bloom details more than a few days in advance.

⛲️ Landscape: Look for points where you can see through one garden to the next, which was part of the original 1900s design! The summerhouse was competed in 1903 and has some neat original and added architectural details. You’ll also see stone and metal sculptures and curiosities throughout the gardens.

🐸 Animals! Our gardens are habitats too, so look for tree swallows, orioles, frogs, toads, tadpoles, and butterflies.

☀️FAQs
📸 Photos and small photoshoots are welcome! Please be courteous when using tripods and make sure others can get around you. No drones are allowed.

🐕 No pets, please. Our parking areas are generally sunny so leave pets at home. Registered service animals are welcome.

🫧 Other questions? Please drop a line here!

05/07/2026

💐 Gratwick family member Holly Watson will present about Linwood Gardens this Friday 5/8 at York Common Grounds!

⛲️ Haven’t been to the gardens before? Have been but never took a guided tour? This is an opportunity to hear about the Gratwick family behind the estate, how the place developed over the last 125 years, and the significance of this Genesee Valley gem in the region and far beyond.

🕰️ 6:30pm, Friday, May 8.
📍 York Common Grounds, 2706 York Road East, York, NY (in the house).
💲 Free to all, donations to York Common Grounds accepted. This community hotspot has hot coffee, baked goods, and artisan gifts in a historic bank building and hosts workshops and lectures like this one, too! 🍰

🧨 The hype is real—the annual Tree Peony Festival opens on May 16 and runs weekends through May 31! Reservations are required and available on Linwoodgardens.org/festival. With the cool wet weather, we’re watching the plants closely and will post bloom updates when we can.

🏠 Linwood Gardens is a private home and open to visitors only on specific scheduled days and times. This presentation is a chance to get a taste before you come visit this spring or summer! Thanks for your courtesy.

04/11/2026

💐 Gardeners! Here are some spring care tips for tree peonies 💐

🪾 Spring is a great time to prune tree peonies. As buds swell and open, you can easily see which branches and stems are healthy and which are dead, damaged, or weak.

🪵 It’s usually normal to lose a larger branch every year or two as long as there are new shoots coming from the ground to replace them.

✂️ Cut out completely dead branches to the ground, and prune back weak, broken or dead portions to a healthy bud. Leave about 1/4” of stem above a bud. If removing a dead side branch, try not to leave too much of a stub.

🐝 Dab all woody-stem cuts with a tree sealer (we use Tanglefoot) to prevent the small carpenter bee from boring into the pithy stems. Their babies like it in there, and we like bees, but they can weaken or kill tree peony stems, so they can find another home! If you only have a plant or two, wood glue can work on cut ends.

🌳 We don’t prune for shape, but you can if you wish. Each variety of plant has its own habit so may have its own ideas.

🪏 Check your plant for exposed roots or crown. Tree peonies seem to erode upward over time and this is bad for them! Their crowns need to be under the soil by at least 2” to properly grow new replacement branches. If you can see the crown (where the stems and roots join) at the soil surface, mound generously with rich soil. For a more permanent fix, dig up and plant the peony deeper.

🪏 The best time to transplant is in the late summer/fall when the tree peony is going dormant. Don’t dig in the spring or summer unless you have to.

🍽️ Tree peonies usually don’t need much feeding. Depending on your soil (soil tests can be very informative), you may want to apply a simple slow-release fertilizer or other amendment. Also, compost never hurt anyone!

🌀 Questions about tree peony spring care? Drop a comment or email us, we’re happy to help!

04/07/2026

✨ You could stay next door...!

🏰 Our big-sister neighbor The Hillcrest Estate still has a few rooms available for the first weekend of the Tree Peony Festival, May 15-17, 2026.

💎 This is a rare opportunity to stay at the beautifully restored mansion, just a couple miles from Linwood Gardens. Typically, the venue only offers overnight accommodations for wedding guests, so this will be a treat!

👉 Visit www.thehillcrestestate.com/accommodations to pick your luxurious spot for a memorable weekend getaway.

⛲️ The Hillcrest Estate was built in 1899 by the Metcalf family from Buffalo, which was likely a major reason that the Gratwicks chose Linwood for their summer home on 1901. This is your chance to visit two Genesee Valley estates in one weekend!

📷: Meghan Beatty Photography, andrewfranciosa.com and The Hillcrest Estate

04/06/2026

🙌 RESERVATIONS OPEN for Tree Peony Festival 2026!

⏰May 16-17, May 23-24, May 30-31, plus a possible pop-up weekday date announced about 1 week in advance.

✅ Reservations required. For signups, visit our website, linwoodgardens.org/festival.

💚 Suggested contribution for garden visit $15 per person or guided tour for $20 per person, and kids are free! Cash or check accepted upon arrival.

🗺️ Available tours/experiences (grab your spot soon, these fill up fast!):
🏡 Guided Tour—a general walking tour of the house and gardens, discussing the Gratwick family, house, and landscape.
🐦‍⬛ Early Birds and Tree Peonies—guided birding experience in the Linwood Gardens wilds, with flower time afterward.
🗿Sculpture Tour—Explore stories and historic sculpture in the gardens and visit some new additions.
🐸 Frogspotting in the Gardens—geared toward kids and curious adults, go looking for frogs and learn about how you can help amphibians in your neighborhood.

📌Follow us here and on our website for updates as spring approaches.

✨ It’s our 30th year of the Tree Peony Festival, so we hope you’ll help us celebrate!

🔖Linwood Gardens is a private, historic estate with a 501(C)(3) nonprofit, so all donations are tax-deductible. The gardens are only open to the public at select times. Sorry, we cannot accommodate individual visit requests, but in addition to the Tree Peony Festival, Open Garden Days will be set for several dates throughout the summer. Thank you!

04/02/2026

🪻A few spots are left for the Spring Scilla Walk this Sat, April 4!

☀️ This exclusive Open Garden Day is a one-day opportunity to see the gardens with carpets of blue scilla and chionodoxa flowers. Who knows what other spring wonders you’ll find? 🌈

✅ Reservations are required. Very limited spaces available, reserve yours today at linwoodgardens.org/open-garden-days.

💙 $20/adult suggested donation. Note there will not be restroom facilities available, so please plan accordingly. Open Garden Day will run rain or shine, so wear weather-appropriate clothing and good shoes. Carpooling encouraged!

🌀 If you find you cannot attend, please cancel your spots via the confirmation email or let us know and we can do it for you.

🌸 This is just an opener for our usual divas, the tree peonies, who are still getting ready—the Tree Peony Festival dates in May have be posted on our website! Reservations for the festival will be available soon.

📷: Scilla, leucojum, and p***y willow

03/25/2026

🪻Spring Scilla Walk just announced for Sat, April 4, 2026!

☀️ This exclusive Open Garden Day is a one-day opportunity to see the gardens with carpets of blue scilla and chionodoxa flowers. Who knows what other spring wonders you’ll find? 🌈

✅ Reservations are required. Very limited spaces available, reserve yours today at linwoodgardens.org/open-garden-days.

💙 $20/adult suggested donation. Note there will not be restroom facilities available, so please plan accordingly. Open Garden Day will run rain or shine, so wear weather-appropriate clothing and good shoes!

🌀 If you find you cannot attend, please cancel your spots via the confirmation email or let us know and we can do it for you.

🌸 This is just an opener for our usual divas, the tree peonies, who are still getting ready—the Tree Peony Festival dates in May have be posted on our website! Reservations for the festival will be available in April.

12/06/2025

🧱 Do you recognize Frankie or Tony?

🪏 Bill Gratwick of Linwood Gardens is posing between the two men, who are only identified by their first names. Frankie and Tony were masons who built the chapel at Linwood Gardens in 1934.

🩶 If anyone recognizes them, we would love to know their full names!

Address

1912 York Road W
Linwood, NY
14486

Website

http://www.linwoodgardens.org/

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