The East Hampton Village Board will dedicate the gardens at Home, Sweet Home to Loretta Orion, who died in July.
“The gardens didn’t develop by accident,” said Hugh King, Ms. Orion’s husband and the East Hampton Village historian. “She researched the different kinds of plants that were grown in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries,” he said. “The village was always very supportive of Loretta working there.”
On Sept. 29 at 3:30 p.m., Mayor Jerry Larsen will present a plaque to be placed in the gardens that reads, “From 2000-2014 Loretta Orion used her prodigious research skills, her artistic sense, and her love of beauty to restore the gardens at Home, Sweet Home Museum. Her gardens were said to be ‘paintings with flowers.’ She loved her gardens and sang the praises of her helpers.”
Ms. Orion moved to the East End in 1979. Apart from her gardening, she was an anthropology professor, a French teacher, and an author. She also spent time as a private duty nurse, seamstress, and etcher.
“Loretta’s name has been synonymous with these gardens for many years, so it is only right that her memory lives on in a place that she put so much love and care into,” said Mayor Larsen.
“When the village hired me in 1999, they wisely hired Loretta,” said Mr. King. “We spent 14 years working together at Home, Sweet Home. The 14 years we spent there were important to us. They’re even more important to me now that she’s gone. That was a wonderful time in our lives,” he said.
Home, Sweet Home is located at 14 James Lane. In case of rain on Sept. 29, the dedication will happen on Sept. 30.
