With deep admiration and affection, we remember Dick Button (1929-2025), international figure skating champion, sports broadcaster and, at his home in New York, a dedicated gardener who welcomed visitors year after year as part of the Garden Conservancy Open Days program.
At their Ice Pond Farm in North Salem, Dick Button and Dennis Grimaldi hosted numerous Open Days, beginning with the very first Garden Conservancy Open Day in 1995. Their garden greeted visitors with meadow and pond views, a kitchen garden, fountains, a bocce court with an allée of crabapples, and a circle garden, reflecting Dick’s love of figure skating.
Dick studied architecture, landscape design, and decorative arts at the Attingham Trust in the United Kingdom. An enthusiast of horticulture and a longtime member of the Garden Conservancy Society of Fellows, he shared insights with us on the principles of discipline and creativity in figure skating that informed his garden design.
We’re grateful for his involvement in the Garden Conservancy community, for his generosity, and his friendship.
