I visited NYC for a few days a couple of weeks ago and made a side trip out to Montclair, NJ on Friday, May 24th, to see two well known Garden sites in Montclair. The first site I visited was the Presby Memorial Iris Gardens at Mountainside park in Upper Montclair. The blooming period for the Irises only lasts about three weeks, so there a short window in spring for seeing the Irises. This year the blooming season lasted from May 12th to June 2nd. So, it is too late to see Irises this year. Plan ahead if you want to see the Iris Gardens next year. It is easy to reach Montclair via NJ Transit Trains, which travel to Montclair from Penn Station in Manhattan and from Hoboken, NJ. Montclair has five NJ Transit train stops! The closest stop to Mountainside park is the Montclair Heights stop, which is 0.6 miles away and the Upper Montclair stop is about one mile away.
The second site I visited was the Van Vleck House and Gardens, located at 21 Van Vleck St, in Montclair, which is about 2.2 miles south of Mountainside Park. The Gardens at the Van Vleck House are open year around. The Walnut Street stop in Montclair is the closet stop to the 5.8 acre Van Vleck property. at 0.9 away.
The Van Vleck House
The fountain at the Van Vleck House
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