Sargent – Downing Gardens and Nursery Fall Planting

Sargent-Downing Gardens and Nursery Fall Planting

Beacon – After having a successful “Raise the Roof” fundraiser and raising over $3000 to begin repairing the roof of their future home, the Sargent-Downing Gardens and Nursery group planted 8 trees in Beacon parks. Four trees were planted on Saturday, October 29 in Memorial Park which include a redwood, beech, crabapple and birch and were generously donated by Gary Wood from East Mountain Associates and are namesake trees for his four daughters Hannah, Abigail, Claire and Emma. Three other trees were planted in Green Street Park which include a redbud, plum and magnolia. These were generously donated by Peoples Bicycle, Clearwater and Jessica Wickham.

Planting trees during the snowstorm in Memorial Park

"An eighth tree was planted earlier this fall at Patriot Park and was dedicated on the tenth anniversary of 9/11” said Justin Riccobono, the Beacon recreation commissioner who helped start this program. Richie Cabo, President of the group and the one who had the idea for this program, nursed the only tree that survived at Ground Zero back to health. This Callery Pear tree is a cutting from that 9/11 survivor tree and has now found a home in Beacon.  Cabo is the president of the Sargent Downing gardens and nursery is also the City Wide Nursery Director for NYC Parks Department. He can be recognized by his signature hat and has always had a love for horticulture. "I noticed many rare tree specimens here in Beacon and did some research only to discover that a man named Henry Winthrop Sargent had planted many of them 150 years ago. Then I found out that he had worked closely with Andrew Jackson Downing and knew this was something special and that it needed to be shared with my community", Cabo explained.

The Sargent-Downing Gardens and Nursery focuses on the areas of gardening, horticulture and civic pride while offering an education program with historical importance for children. Serving the community at large, the program also provides the City of Beacon with trees for its parks and Main Street.

This City of Beacon Recreation program offers a different type of recreation for the City of Beacon and the surrounding communities. It will help educate children in the areas of horticulture, gardening and sustainability. Volunteers of all ages are invited to participate in educating and maintaining the  grounds which will include seed starting, planting, harvesting food, composting, and propagating amongst other activities. The Garden is open to the public at the university settlement camp located at 722 Wolcott Ave.

Tickets at Brown Paper Tickets, $25 in advance! Get yours today!

Help with our Raise The Roof Fundraiser

This past May, the Sargent-Downing Gardens and Nursery was planted at the Settlement Camp! Thank you to everyone in the community who came out and those who have been helping since the start. Together, we've managed to start a great community garden with excellent results. Trees, vegetables and herbs are growing, and trees have been donated to the city. Ten trees will be planted around Beacon over the next few weeks, thanks to 10 sponsors in the community who have purchased the trees. Children can watch them grow throughout their lifetimes. We've also applied for a $50K DEC Environmental Justice grant to create stormwater capture rain gardens, which will help Beacon deal with stormwater runoff.

The Board of The Sargent-Downing Gardens and Nursery have worked hard, and it's brought these rewards and more. We donated the 9/11 Survivor Tree clone this past 9/11 to the Beacon 9/11 Memorial Garden at Patriot's Park. We volunteered to raise money to repair the roof of the future Sargent-Downing Garden's Childrens Educational Center for more children's programming. Our event is on October 8 at the Theater Building at the University Settlement Camp, 2-7pm. The event is $25 in advance, $35 at the door. Children 12 and under get in free. We'll have a pig roast, vegetarian grill, beer, country line dancing, live music from 5 bands, children's games, and raffle prizes from local businesses. Tickets can be purchased here.

With all this hard work the bottom line falls with you the community - we need your help and participation! This is a call to action - we have to sell tickets and spread the word these next few days for our fundraiser to be successful. The City will match what we raise. We are a completely volunteer group. Please help if you feel it's important to have this type of programming for our children. Please buy and sell tickets and spread the word!


To help with this weekend's ticket sales or to buy tickets, please call Board President Richie Cabo at 845-476-1660.

Friends of Sargent- Downing Barnyard Fundraiser and Music Fest

You're invited to the Friends of Sargent and Downing Garden and Nursery 1st Annual Raise The Roof Old Fashioned Barnyard Fundraiser and Music Fest!

The event will be held on Saturday, October 8 from 2-7pm at the University Settlement Camp Theater Building, 724 Wolcott Avenue (Rt.9D) in Beacon.

Pig Roast and Vegetarian Grill Live Music, Free Beer, Raffle, Contests, Children's Games, Country Line Dance by Kactus Keith. Live Music by Lynn Costello, Rachelle Garniez, Chris Ruhe, and the Cabo Kids.

Tickets are $25 in advance, $35 at the door. Children under twelve are free. Buy tickets through a volunteer or through Brown Paper Tickets.

All proceeds from this event will be used to Raise The Roof of the Sargent-Downing Gardens & Nursery Children’s Educational Center. The City of Beacon will match funds raised in the event! Thank you Mayor Steve Gold and the City Council of Beacon.

The Sargent – Downing Garden and Nursery focuses on the areas of gardening, horticulture and civic pride. Our emphasis will be an education program with historical importance for our children. While serving the community at large, this program will also provide the City of Beacon with trees for its parks and Main Street.

For event info, call 845-476-1660, info@richiecabohorticulturist.com. Purchase tickets today! 

9/11 Survivor Tree to be dedicated on Sunday, September 11 in Beacon

9/11 Survivor Tree dedicated on Sunday, September 11 in Beacon

Beacon, NY: The Sargent-Downing Garden and Nursery planted a Callery Pear tree at Patriot Park, on the corner of Verplanck Avenue and Matteawan Avenue in Beacon on Sunday, September 11.

The tree is a cutting from the one and only 9/11 Survivor Tree, which was rescued from the rubble at the World Trade Center after the 9/11 attacks and revived by Richie Cabo, Director of The Arthur Ross Citywide Nursery of The NYC Dept. of Parks and Recreation.

The Sargent-Downing Garden and Nursery is the brainchild of Mr. Cabo, who is the President of the organization. He began the project in conjunction with City of Beacon’s Recreation Department this past winter, with the intention of planting trees throughout the city and educating children about horticulture and local history.

He was on NBC Brian Williams Special Coverage on the morning of 9/11 for the ten year anniversary opening of the 9/11 Memorial Museum and to discuss his recently published book, “The Mystery of the Magical Cucumber Tree”. The book is about Beacon’s horticultural history, as well as about the 9/11 Survivor Tree. His story was also featured on the Discovery Channel, as well as on The Story by American Public Media.

Todd Heisler/The New York Times

For more information, visit the Sargent-Downing Garden and Nursery at 724 Wolcott Avenue, and visit Richie Cabo's website at richiecabohorticulturist.com.

The Mystery of The Magical Cucumber Tree: Relationships With Trees; The 9/11 Survivor Tree

The President of the Sargent-Downing Garden and Nursery has written a book, available to purchase for $20. It's titled, "The Mystery of The Magical Cucumber Tree: Relationships With Trees; The 9/11 Survivor Tree".

The story is about a beautiful family camping trip which leads to the discovery of a Cucumber Magnolia tree on the Craig House mansion in Beacon New York.The tree takes us on a mystery magical journey to the mid 1800's.

In the middle of our research we find out about Andrew Jackson Downing and Henry Winthrop Sargent. The story is full of talking trees,a mysterious castle on an island and a talking owl.
During the story we learn all about the history of early American horticulture,Central Park and how it all began in the Hudson Valley Region.

Included in the book is an Appendix which includes a supplement about the 9/11 Survivor Tree.
The book inspires young and adult readers who are interested in organics, sustainability, trees, plants, nature and making a change for future generations.

Purchase your copy online today!

Donation from Gracie Mansion

We have just been given some beautiful annuals by Gracie Mansion! We have begonias, dark blue Bombay scarvola, zinnias & agastache. They're beautiful but must be planted right away this time of the year or they will dry, die and be a wasted donation. We would like to ask for your help in a community blitz planting this Saturday, July 9, from 9:00-11:00 am. If you can make it, please let us know by emailing Richie.