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What Will It Take To Sustain Kingston’s Not鈦犫撯仩So鈦犫撯仩Secret Garden?
Betty and Tony Faella
URI鈥檚 first botany professor, Lorenzo Kinney Sr., planted the first trees on the Kinney Azalea Gardens property nearly 100 years ago. His family鈥攚ith strong Rhody ties in each generation鈥攈as cultivated and welcomed the public to the gardens continuously since then. Now, they hope public investment will preserve it in perpetuity.
Come mid-May, it鈥檚 hard to find a showier or busier venue than Kingston鈥檚 Kinney Azalea Gardens.
Thousands visit the gardens annually, enjoying the hospitality of a family who, for four generations, has encouraged the public to enjoy their gardens for free. At peak bloom, the gardens hum with plant, animal, and human activity: preschoolers at play, plein air painters at easels, students and scientists at work. In the gardens, admiration finds many forms of expression.
In the 1920s, Lorenzo Kinney Sr., URI鈥檚 first botany professor, began planting conifers on the 6 acres of land that comprised his son鈥檚 Kingstown Road property. Lorenzo Kinney Jr. 鈥14, Hon. 鈥92, introduced azaleas, a tribute to his wife, Elizabeth, a Virginia native. Rhode Island鈥檚 climate was thought too cold to support azaleas, but Kinney Jr. prevailed. He opened the Kinney Azalea Gardens to the public in 1956.
鈥When the gardens bloom, they are truly spectacular. We want everyone to enjoy them.鈥
颅鈥擝etty Kinney Faella, M.S. 鈥67
Kinney Jr.鈥檚 property eventually passed to his daughter, Elizabeth 鈥淏etty鈥 Kinney Faella, M.S. 鈥67, and her husband, Antonio 鈥淭ony鈥 Faella 鈥51, M.S. 鈥62. Under the Faella鈥檚 care, the gardens have grown to almost 16 acres sporting 1,000 cultivars鈥攑lants grown through selective breeding. 鈥淲hen the gardens bloom,鈥 says Betty Faella, 鈥渢hey are truly spectacular. We want everyone to enjoy them.鈥
Helen Northup 鈥84, granddaughter of Lorenzo Kinney Jr. 鈥14.
鈥There is a peace here and a special connection with nature and beauty. Our family wants these gardens to continue. We want them open to the public.鈥
颅鈥擧elen Faella Northup 鈥84
Since 2022, the couple鈥檚 daughter, Helen Faella Northup 鈥84, has run the gardens with her husband, Jim Northup 鈥83. Helen Northup established the nonprofit Friends of the Kinney Faella Gardens in 2022. She hopes to hire an executive director with the fundraising skills necessary to make the gardens financially self-sustaining.
鈥淭here is a peace here and a special connection with nature and beauty,鈥 Helen Northup says. 鈥淥ur family wants these gardens to continue. We want them open to the public.鈥
But the cost of maintaining the gardens is substantial. Recently, the family received an estimate of $80,000 for tree removal; 42 ash trees need to be removed due to ash borer disease. Small donations and plant sales aren鈥檛 enough, Northup says.
For 46 years, horticulturist Susan Gordon, M.S. 鈥86, Ph.D. 鈥95, managed the Kinney Azalea Gardens.
Gordon, who retired in 2024, recalls, 鈥淚 was 16 and it was my third or fourth day working in the garden. Lorenzo [Lorenzo Kinney Jr.] had four white azalea flowers in his hands, four different cultivars, and he said, 鈥榃ell, Sue, can you tell the difference between these?鈥欌
Another 16-year-old might have been intimidated. Not Gordon.
Lorenzo Kinney Jr. 鈥14, planted azaleas on his property for his wife. His granddaughter, Helen Northup 鈥84, says, “His garden was not a nursery. He designed it to be art.”
鈥淟orenzo and I became friends鈥攎entor and devotee鈥攁nd that was it,鈥 Gordon says. Together, the two cultivated a landscape capable of meeting nature鈥檚 challenges.
All of Kingston Hill sits on crushed glacial till鈥攐n soils that don鈥檛 drain well鈥攎aking them ideal for holding moisture. Native annuals and perennials鈥攚eeds to most Americans鈥攆eed native insects (thus supporting the food web) and shade the soil, helping to keep it moist. There鈥檚 no need to haul out the hose if you understand the environment.
鈥淚f we emulate the way our environment works,鈥 says Gordon, 鈥渨e don鈥檛 have to water anywhere near as much.鈥
The Kinney-Gordon method was to leave leaf litter, logs, and fallen limbs. Trees were removed only when they posed a hazard. Insecticides, fertilizers, and irrigation weren鈥檛 introduced to the garden either.
鈥The gardens serve as a valuable lesson in how a human-friendly landscape can also support biodiversity.鈥
颅鈥擲usan Gordon, M.S. 鈥86, Ph.D. 鈥95
鈥淭he gardens were considered a living ecosystem. Human needs and financial opportunity did not supersede the system鈥檚 health,鈥 Gordon says. 鈥淢y fondest hope for the gardens is that they and East Farm remain open space. The garden鈥檚 contiguity to URI鈥檚 East Farm and to the Audubon birdbanding station make it ecologically valuable.鈥 (The Audubon birdbanding station is the Kingston Wildlife Research Station, an Audubon Society of Rhode Island property that is managed by URI.)
The three parcels contain upland hardwood forest, seasonally wet woodland, a vernal pool, a pond, a stream, and wet and upland fields. 鈥淭his is all plunked in the middle of a high-density, mixed-use setting,鈥 Gordon says. 鈥淭he gardens serve as a valuable lesson in how a human-friendly landscape can also support biodiversity.鈥
Today, the gardens continue to utilize the methods established by Kinney and Gordon. But they鈥檙e focused on welcoming and educating visitors and helping them understand why they employ those methods.
For example, Northup says they want people to understand why they leave an understory to shade the roots, and why, when they must take down a tree, they leave the trunk. 鈥淲e鈥檙e taking off the dangerous part, but we鈥檙e leaving some of the trunk for the animals,鈥 she says.
Helen Northup envisions the gardens鈥 offerings expanding to include a native plant area and a children鈥檚 garden. In 2024, the nonprofit held its first big event, a Garden Stroll and Fancy Hat Contest, an ode to the Kinney and Faella families鈥 legendary tea parties.
鈥淢y grandfather always had an Azalea Tea in May when the garden was in peak bloom,鈥 Northup says. 鈥淲omen wore dresses; men would come in suits. My grandmother would have her lady friends pouring tea and punch, and my grandfather would invite guests outside to stroll the gardens.鈥
Such public engagement is key.
鈥淲e need community support to carry this forward,鈥 Northup says. 鈥淲ith that, the gardens will continue to flourish and provide enjoyment to visitors for generations to come.鈥
鈥擬arybeth Reilly-McGreen
PHOTOS: NORA LEWIS
A great article, and Nora’s photos are amazing! It should be noted that the connections between the Kinney Azalea Garden and URI Plant Sciences continue to run deep. The azaleas in the URI Botanical Garden came from the Kinney Azalea Garden, and the garden continues to provide internships and other learning opportunities for URI Plant Sciences students.
Thanks for the shout out, Rebecca. Much appreciated! It was a dream photo assignment. The Faella鈥檚 are wonderful folks, and the gardens, a gorgeous labor of love.
I got married here last summer- beautiful flowers, and truly something from a fairy tale
I would like to help at Kinney Azalea Garden. I am class of ’25 MGP, and have been gardening for more than 40 years.
Nature. A wonderful enrichment to the human experience.
Happy Mother Nature Days…