Sunday, May 25 was the last day the indoor gardens at Duke Estate were opened to the public. Duke Estate is a multi-acre estate left behind by Doris Duke, preserved in her will and maintained by generous grants left for their upkeep. Doris Duke designed and spent years collecting the plants for the indoor gardens that she created in honor of her father, who died when she was young. She stated her wish for their continued upkeep in her will, and left a generous grant to keep them running. Now, fifteen years after her death, the eleven trustees in charge of the Duke Estate have decided, though their job is in the "preservation of the cultural and environmental legacy of Doris Duke's properties" and the nearly two billion dollars for their upkeep remains, to close the indoor gardens forever. They decided these gardens are not up to par in energy efficiency, and that instead of renovating them and bringing them into the present (perhaps turning them into an environmentally friendly showcase), they will sell the smaller plants and plan to cut down the fifty-year-old trees and cacti planted there. Not even Doris Duke's Will and Testament is enough to save them; the trustees believe they "have very broad powers to deal with the property left by Ms. Duke," and have found a loophole in New York law that allows them to destroy the gardens Ms Duke so loved. Opening in a few years will be the trustees' replacement garden, a collection of native New Jersey plants.

The gardens' dismantling has been postponed due to Hillsborough law, which regulates "removal of any tree on an improved nonresidential lot" and "other activities that will adversely affect the lifespan of the tree" (S188-162) and covers "any flowering or ornamental tree with a caliper measurement of three inches or greater" (S188-161). The trustees (none of whom actually live in NJ) are scheduled to go before the Hillsborough Planning Board for approval in September of 2008 (just three months away!).

SaveDukeGardens.org is a website created by Petra Ross Macdonald, a biologist from Pennington, NJ, committed to saving the indoor gardens. So far, over four thousand petitioners have sent letters to Governor Corzine, the trustees, and the media. You can join them-- the website has important points to include in letters, and even letter templates to download and send. Please, join the petition! Take a few minutes to send a letter-- every one counts!

the website:
[link]