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The gardens are wonderful. It will be a great shame to lose them as envisioned by Doris Duke. Not only are they a piece of history, but a unique attraction to Hillsborough, Somerville and all of Somerset county. It is hard for me to imagine that the new "attraction" will come close to the Duke greenhouses as they exist. To dismember them is like painting over a Rembrant. The Somerset County Freeholders should pressure the Trustees to reconsider their decision to close the gardens.
Posted 3 weeks ago.
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I tried to get a reservation for a tour of the indoor gardens. According to the web site, all the reservations are taken. I regret that I did not visit Duke Gardens in earlier years.
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Seen in 1-2-3 NJ (post 1 image, leave 2 comments) (?)
Posted 3 weeks ago.
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It would be a tragedy to lose these extraordinary gardens!
Posted 3 weeks ago.
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Use the phone number (see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_Gardens). The web site booking tool doesn't work.
Posted 3 weeks ago.
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I've had good success with calling the phone number when they open at around 8:30 in the morning. Over the past month we are 2 for 2 in being able to get in.
Posted 3 weeks ago.
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Thanks for letting people know about this.
Seen in NJ 1-2-3.
Posted 3 weeks ago.
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Everyone is who hears is very upset. We have nearly 100 letters from website, with only word of mouth advertising so far.
Posted 2 weeks ago.
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This is just such a perfectly conceived gem of a circuit, can't believe someone would think "oh let's rip it down and do some other stuff instead, we can do better than this." The arrogance!
Posted 2 weeks ago.
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Even here in the centre of Ireland, the home of the world-famous Birr Castle Gardens, we know of AND LOVE the unique Duke Gardens. They are an unrepeatable and irreplaceable treasure and MUST BE RETAINED.
Posted 2 weeks ago.
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I've never seen anything quite like these gardens ... why do they want to destroy them?
Posted 2 weeks ago.
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Self-guided, indeed...
Posted 2 weeks ago.
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I've read many many pages of text from tax filings to obituaries, and talked to many people with various connections. All I can figure is the Trustees live in New York, Boston, and Washington, and it's not important to them.
I hear the Trustees are touring the gardens next week, some of them for the first time.
Posted 2 weeks ago.
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I'm so glad to see this shot because they don't even show this map on the Duke Gardens website and it's a good one! Would make a great souvenir...
As I toured the incredible gardens yesterday, I couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sadness that the product of the work, dedication and passion of Doris Duke, is about to be DESTROYED. I am astounded that the Trustees have chosen to take such a step while some have not even VISITED them before!
I was also astounded by the comment from one of the doscents, who in reply to one of the visitors, said, "These plants and flowers are exotics. They are not native to this area; they don't belong here..." How boring would it be to visit a zoo, a museum or a garden with examples of ONLY what's native to the area? For that, I'll just walk around outdoors!
Posted 2 weeks ago.
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I don't understand why they can't "go in a new direction" with the property and preserve the Garden at the same time. What a crime to dismantle the beauty of this place. It is such a gem in our little corner of NJ. The hard work of creating the garden and the TLC of maintaining it for all these years will be gone just because of a decision made by people who don't even live here. Do these people know what they are doing?? I am heart sick.
Posted 2 weeks ago.
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viviansb and doodoopuppy, SO RIGHT, take a look at The Eden Project www.edenproject.com/
On their front page under the Horticulture heading they list three biomes: the Humid Tropics, the Warm Temperate, and the Outside. Two protected biomes full of stuff that "doesn't belong here" embedded within a third natural biome. The idea is that you learn to value all three.
It works. You step out of the exotic and look at the commonplace with a fresh eye. Oh, and they heat it by burning grass. Closed carbon cycle. It CAN be done. And I don't buy that it can't be done with old glasshouses, which is the trustees' line: a boiler is a boiler is a boiler (apologies to Gertrude Stein). What's the point in becoming a "beacon" for green technology if you don't USE it to save things like this?
Posted 2 weeks ago.
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I agree with doodoopuppy, they should be able to promote their trails, become an environmental center but still find a way to preserve the greenhouse gardens and make them environmentally friendly.
They obviously don't want to. As to why they don't want to, you have your answer in that they don't live nearby. If they had wonderful memories associated with this place, these powerful people would not be doing this. But as long as THEY have beautiful gardens where they live, why should they care about this one?
They apparently don't care about Doris Duke's wishes, either. (Doris, are you doing somersaults or merely spinning these days?)
Posted 2 weeks ago.
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@florabritannica: A furnace is a furnace is a furnace, here in the USA!
Closed carbon cycle heating of the Display Gardens would bring new technology to New Jersey, and showcase it.
Posted 2 weeks ago.
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I've really enjoyed seeing all the photos of the Display Gardens--what a great place! It's a real shame they want to dismantle it.
Isn't New Jersey called the Garden State?
Posted 2 weeks ago.
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Good luck with your campaign to save these stunning gardens! It is a travesty that the very people in whose trust these gardens were left are planning to dismantle them!
Posted 2 weeks ago.
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Good luck with the campaign. Have you tried digging it, excuse the unfortunate pun!
Posted 2 weeks ago.
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Good luck to the Duke Gardens...
Posted 2 weeks ago.
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I hope we can get in to see the gardens this weekend. We'll give it a try. This is really sad - I hope this grassroots (excuse the pun) effort to save the gardens succeeds!
Please add this beautiful photo to CITRIT,Best of yours!
Citrit group
Posted 2 weeks ago.
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I am visiting the gardens tomorrow - made reservations as soon as I heard about the closing. Thanks to everyone for making me aware of the situation.
Posted 2 weeks ago.
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Please take some photos of the visitor's book - it is page after page of people saying "Please don't do this".
I wrote "www.savedukegardens.org" at the top of my page, and got a very dirty look from one of the senior management! But I think it worked... 109 letters so far... Tell people in the gardens about the website - print a sheet of slips with the address and hand them out?
Look forward to seeing your pictures in the savedukegardens pool!
Posted 2 weeks ago.
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Nice shot! The eyes tell the whole story.
123 NJ
Posted 2 weeks ago.
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Don"t stop fighting? There are deeper motives working here.
Posted 2 weeks ago.
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Don"t stop fighting? There are deeper motives working here. Some how the gardens must be made to support itself by maybe an entrance fee or sponsored by local businesses, grants or what ever you can think of.
Posted 2 weeks ago.
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Get them made a National Heritage site.
Posted 2 weeks ago.
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It's not a matter of giving our money to save them, it's a matter of persuading the Trustees not to destroy them!
Doris Duke created the gardens herself and donated them to The Duke Gardens Foundation in 1960. Gardens are now owned by the Doris Duke Charitable foundation, which has nearly $2 billion, (yes that's billion!), in assets. She left plenty of money to take care of her work of art.
Posted 2 weeks ago.
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Awful thing that is happening.
I went to your site and sent letters! I hope it helps.
Posted 2 weeks ago.
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Cheers Lori – the more the better. I think your quote on your own photo of Hansford's grave is pretty appropriate to what's going on here too:
Evil is committed without effort, naturally, fatally; goodness is always the product of some art
~Charles Baudelaire
Posted 2 weeks ago.
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Please save the Duke Farms. This place is gorgeous.
Posted 2 weeks ago.
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Tell your friends!
Posted 2 weeks ago.
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On May 2, I told one of the doscents that closing the gardens made me very sad. She replied, "If you're sad, imagine how I feel! Every day I come to work, my heart breaks a little bit more, knowing that these gardens are not going to be here soon. I feel as if I'm providing hospice care to a terminal patient and at the same time I have to do my best to make everyone's visit a pleasant one..." My heart went out to her... so sad!
Posted 5 days ago.
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Someone just emailed me:
Regarding Miss Duke's Will: I don’t imagine she felt it necessary at the time to specify that she would like her visions kept alive and well for others to appreciate. What the heck do they think she started the foundation for? I read her whole Will, thank God she specified that she wanted her pets to remain alive or they probably would have put them down too!
Too true...
Posted 3 days ago.
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