Mar Jennings: TV Host | Author | Lifestyle Expert

35 Mountain Road / Farmington, CT 06032 / 860.677.4787 / www.hillstead.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 30, 2009

Event: May Market
Place: Hill-Stead Museum, 35 Mountain Road, Farmington, CT 06032
Time: Friday & Saturday, May 8 & 9, 10 am – 4 pm
Contact: Cynthia Cagenello, 860.677.4787 ext 111, cagenelloc@hillstead.org

HILL-STEAD MUSEUM PRESENTS 23rd ANNUAL MAY MARKET
Lifestyle Expert Extraordinaire Mar Jennings Featured at Spring Spectacular

FARMINGTON, CT – Held on the lush, historic grounds of Hill-Stead Museum, the annual May Market spring spectacular is an event to quicken the hearts of garden, nature, home and history enthusiasts alike. On May 8 & 9, 10 am – 4 pm, this celebrated emporium returns with over 50 vendors offering a large selection of annuals, shrubs and hard-to-find perennials, quality crafts and antiques, as well as new and unusual plants selected and nurtured by local gardeners, some from Hill-Stead’s own Sunken Garden. For those seeking gardening tips, expert horticulturalists and Master Gardeners will be on hand for consultation.

This year’s featured guest is none other than Mar Jennings (marjennings.com), of Fine Living Network, Today Show, Better TV and Good Morning Connecticut fame. An award-winning author, lifestyle expert and authority on gardening, entertaining and interior design whose home has been featured in noted publications such as The New York Times, Better Homes & Gardens, Home Magazine, Quick & Simple and Creative Home, Mar will offer two distinctive presentations on Friday, May 8 (details below). Presenting a container garden demonstration on Saturday, May 9 will be garden writer and photographer Steve Silk.

The two-day event will be held rain or shine. General admission is $8 for members and pre-sold tickets (purchased by May 1), $10 for non-members at the door. Additional fees apply to Friday’s presentations. Visit www.hillstead.org/activities for information and tickets. Included in general admission are daily gardening and cooking demonstrations; live music on Saturday by strolling violinist Ben Dean and the Farmington High School Oriana Singers; open house tours of Hill-Stead Museum, and more. Zoodle Face Painting, artisan foods and homemade treats will round out the festivities. There will be a special early preview for Hill-Stead Museum members on Friday, May 8 at 9 am. For those who become new members at the event, admission is free.

Mar Jennings is host and executive producer of The Mar Jennings Home & Garden Show, a lifestyle series which presents affordable, creative and inspiring projects to dress up the home, garden and life. His award-winning book Life on Mar’s: A Four Season Garden offers insight to gardeners of all stripes. On Friday, May 8 at 10:30 am, Mr. Jennings brings “Untold Gardening Secrets” to Hill-Stead in a fun, informative presentation offering inspiring ideas for creating a fabulous, stress-free garden for all seasons. Jennings will take participants on a virtual tour of his enchanting Westport, CT gardens and vine-covered studio, with their distinctive style and beauty. He’ll share his ‘casual luxury’ approach to making all things functional, beautiful and achievable. Life on Mar’s: A Four Season Garden will be available for purchase and signing. Presentation is $30 (includes May Market admission).

On May 8 at 1:30 pm, Mr. Jennings will give a personal, hands-on workshop on “The Magic of Small, Intimate Bouquets,” limited to 30 participants (reservations required). Here, Jennings will share his professional tips and clever ideas for creating elegant, small arrangements, personally guiding each participant and leaving no question unanswered. The workshop fee is $150 and includes materials, a goody bag with items selected by Mr. Jennings, a personally autographed copy of Life on Mar’s: A Four Season Garden, and three Mar-inspired creations. Visit www.hillstead.org/activities for information and tickets.

Former Managing Editor for Fine Gardening magazine, Steve Silk collaborated with Sydney Eddison on Gardens to Go: Creating and Designing a Container Garden. He is Vice President of the Connecticut Horticultural Society. On Saturday, May 9 at 11 am, Mr. Silk will demonstrate “How to Plant a Pot: Thrillers, Fillers & Spillers,” planting pleasing pots with “thrillers” – dramatic, eye-catching centerpiece plants; “fillers” – mounding, billowing partners to nestle around the thrillers; and “spillers” – cascading plants that tumble over the edges of the pots. This demonstration is free with May Market admission.

May Market is organized and presented by the museum’s core volunteer group, the Hill-Steaders, and raises vital funds for the museum’s educational programs and operations. This year’s event Co-Chairs are Claudette Blozy and Sandra Goralnick. Farmington Savings Bank is the 2009 Lead Sponsor of May Market. 
A National Historic Landmark and an Official Project of Save America’s Treasures, Hill-Stead Museum in Farmington, CT, is a stop on the Connecticut Art Trail and a member of Connecticut’s Historic Gardens. The period rooms are open for tours Tuesday through Sunday, 10 am – 5 pm May – October, and 11 am – 4 pm, November – April. Grounds are open daily 7:30 am-5:30 pm. For tour and program information, browse www.hillstead.org or call 860.677.4787.

Hill-Stead is noted for its 1901 33,000-square-foot house filled with art and antiques. Pioneering female architect Theodate Pope Riddle designed the grand house, set on 152 hilltop acres, to showcase the Impressionist masterpieces amassed by her father, Cleveland iron industrialist Alfred A. Pope. Collections include original furnishings, paintings by Monet, Degas, Manet, Whistler and Cassatt, as well as numerous works on paper and Japanese woodblock prints. Stately trees, seasonal gardens, meadows, over three miles of stone walls and blazed hiking trails accent the grounds. A centerpiece of the property is the c. 1920 sunken garden designed by landscape architect Beatrix Farrand, today the site of the renowned Sunken Garden Poetry & Music Festival.