Area June 13, 2012 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • Page 23 Enjoy a gala evening of fabulous flowers, food, and music in one of Bergen County’s most beautiful private gardens at NJBG’s Summer Garden Party. Proceeds from this event will benefit the work of the NJBG/Skylands Association, the non-profit volunteer and member support group for the New Jersey State Botanical Garden. This year’s Garden Party will have a Great Gatsby theme, and will be held on Saturday, June 16, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Edgecroft, an exquisite period estate in River Edge. Attendees will enjoy a delicious summer buffet supper, summer wines, a sumptuous sweets table, music, entertainment, great conversation, and lovely prizes. Guests are invited to wear Great Gatsby period attire. Prizes will be awarded for the best outfits. Tickets are $50 per person and are available at (973) 962-9534 and online at the NJBG’s secure site: www. njbg.org. This is an off-site event and will be held rain or shine; tickets are non-refundable. Edgecroft is a unique historic terraced property laid out in 1910 by Italian artisans. The 100 Carrera marble stairs lead to a swimming pool with a Venetian bridge and a stone-columned pergola draped in roses, wisteria, and honeysuckle. A gated brick courtyard entrance with stunning hydrangeas greets guests entering Edgecroft’s gardens. Beyond are rare Cryptomeria ‘Lobbii,’ rhododendrons, azaleas, and Magnolia virginiana; a centerpiece tiered bronze angel fountain; a Victorian-style perennial garden with David Austin antique roses and other favorites; a formal garden with crape myrtles, azaleas, and a fountain with a copy of Verrocchio’s fifteenth-century bronze “Cupid with Dolphin.” Three koi ponds with nine waterfalls cascade down terraces edged with aged pines, golden larches, flowering cherry trees, dogwoods, Styrax japonicus, hydrangeas, wild strawberries, and creeping roses. Bronze water statuary, stone benches, and stone statuary are throughout the grounds. An all-white Bridal Room includes heritage white birches and dogwoods, rhododendrons, hydrangeas, azaleas, buddleia, and creeping cushion white roses. Great Gatsby Garden Party to benefit NJBG Edgecroft is an exquisite private garden in River Edge, built with all the grandeur of the Great Gatsby era. Flights of Carrera marble stairs lead down through opulent terraced gardens to the pool and its Venetian bridge. NJBG’s off-site Garden Party will be held there on June 16. (Photo courtesy of Virginia Korteweg.) The New Jersey State Botanical Garden at Skylands appears on both the State and National Registers of Historic Places. The garden is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day of the year. In 1966, the State of New Jersey purchased the 1,117 acres of Skylands, a former country estate and the state’s first acquisition under the Green Acres preservation program. Governor Thomas Kean designated the central 96 acres surrounding the manor house as the state’s official botanical garden in 1984. Since 1976, NJBG/Skylands Association, an incorporated, member-supported non-profit organization of volunteers, has worked with the state to preserve and protect Skylands and its historic structures. NJBG sponsors programs, concerts, and events throughout the year at the botanical garden. Admission to the garden is always free. Summer parking is $5 per car on weekends and holidays from Memorial Day through Labor Day. Regular summer weekday parking is free. NJBG/Skylands is located on Morris Road in Ringwood. For an event schedule, membership brochure, directions, or more information, call (973) 962-9534 or visit www.njbg.org.