Sleepy Cat Farm: The Making of a Garden – A Four-Part Virtual Program, Part III

A Horticultural Perspective

with Alan Gorkin, First Head Horticulturist at the Sleepy Cat Farm Foundation

October 2, 2025

2 PM – 3 PM EST

Horticulturist Alan Gorkin discusses how his role in the garden expanded as the garden itself evolved. Alan came to Sleepy Cat Farm’s expanded greenhouses and vegetable gardens in 2008, after working at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Cranford Rose Garden, and as head grower and cutting garden supervisor for Old Westbury Gardens on Long Island. For a while he was the garden’s only full-time employee; a landscaping service managed the overall maintenance program. It wasn’t long before Fred Landman recognized that Alan’s talents could be utilized in a broader capacity. Fred put Alan in charge of a handpicked staff and oversight of the landscaping service and let Alan build on the bones of the garden that he and landscape architect Charles Stick created. Drawing partly on lessons from Charles and partly on his own horticultural expertise, Alan complemented the garden’s pathways, vistas and architecture with unique plantings until his retirement last year. His longtime contributions to the garden underlie much of Sleepy Cat Farm’s magical charm. 

Tickets can be purchased now through The Garden Conservancy website.

Open Garden Days 2026

Dates not yet announced.

Parking information located in email received after purchasing tickets. Tickets are to be purchased through the Garden Conservancy website. We do not sell tickets through Sleepy Cat Farm. For ticket questions or concerns, please contact the Garden Conservancy directly. Thanks!