Ben Over The Years

1988

Long before Ben’s Garden was a brand, it was just that — a garden.

It All Started Here.

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Nestled in Long Island’s North Shore, a little boy named Ben planted his first seeds — not just into the soil, but into a lifelong love affair with beauty, ritual, and the slow rhythms of nature.

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Barefoot and bronze from the summer sun, he nurtured rows of wild herbs and unruly blooms. Marigolds and mint, lavender and lemon balm — each one a small miracle raised by hand and hope. The garden grew like a secret whispered between him and the earth.

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Every season taught him something sacred: that patience yields perfume, that joy is coaxed with care, and that a good mess of dirt under your nails is its own kind of prayer.

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That boy is still here. Only now, the garden is bigger — and we call it Ben’s Garden.

1993

The kid with too much cash in his pockets.

Ben Discovers the Art of the Sale.

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At just 14, Ben Busko stood proudly behind his handmade pressed-flower cards and botanical art at Gallery North’s juried art show in Setauket, New York — the youngest vendor by more than a decade.

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With charm beyond his years and a table full of blooms immortalized on paper, he sold out to delighted collectors who had no idea they were buying from a future brand founder. His shorts, as legend has it, were so stuffed with crumpled bills from happy customers that he couldn’t walk home properly.

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It wasn’t just a good day — it was the first spark of something far bigger. A lesson in joy, generosity, and the magic of turning beauty into business.

1998

Ben’s Magazine.

Ben’s Garden Quarterly.

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Long before content was king, Ben was telling stories by hand — in ink, image, and intention. Ben’s Garden Quarterly was a seasonal publication devoted to garden-to-table living, overflowing with lush, dreamlike photography (shot entirely by Ben himself) and essays that celebrated the poetry of plants, place, and purpose.

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He partnered with the New York Botanical Garden for editorial depth and spent sunlit afternoons at Templeton — the Old Westbury estate of famed socialite C.Z. Guest — crafting content that blended elegance with earthiness.

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Each issue was printed in Ben’s own bedroom on a refrigerator-sized press he bought outright, and sold in charming bookstores across Long Island. A new edition arrived with every season — collectible, ribbon-bound, and now found occasionally on eBay as a relic of something timeless.

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It wasn’t just a magazine. It was a love letter to beauty, made by hand.

1992

Style runs in the family.

The First Store, Hello Oyster Bay.

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Ben’s very first store opened when he was just 19 — a bold beginning tucked into the rolling hills of Long Island’s storied Gold Coast. Just steps from the harbor in the seafaring village of Oyster Bay, the shop stood among history: Sagamore Hill, Teddy Roosevelt’s beloved “Summer White House,” and America’s very first Audubon Sanctuary, named in Roosevelt’s honor for his fierce devotion to preserving wild places.

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Housed in what was once the Ford Motor Company’s first Long Island office, the boutique’s walls carry echoes of the Gilded Age — a time of grandeur, grit, and golden dreams. Stories are in the brickwork here. And in the heart of it all, a boy with a vision opened his doors.

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Inside, past shelves of glassware and ephemera, you’ll find something even rarer: a hidden, trellised garden blooming with moss, clay pots, and quiet intention. It’s where landscape ideas take root, and where dreams keep growing — one season, one story, one handcrafted treasure at a time.

2012

Where walls bloom and ideas climb.

Ben’s Garden Huntington.

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In the very heart of Huntington Village, just a whisper south of Main Street, stands one of Ben’s most ambitious gardens — only this one happens to be nearly 4,000 square feet and clad in glass, charm, and stories.

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This flagship isn’t just a store. It’s a world unto itself: a gallery of one-of-a-kind furniture, a library stacked with obsessions, a sun-drenched conservatory teeming with terraria and treasures.

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And outside? A living green wall — the first of its kind on Long Island — rises up like a vertical forest, lovingly planted by Ben himself. It transforms the building’s back facade into a fragrant, flowering landmark celebrated by the Town as a triumph of beauty and environmental imagination.

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Like everything at Ben’s Garden, it’s proof that with a little vision and a lot of roots, even walls can grow wild.

2016

From Oyster Bay to prime time.

Ben Stars on Martha Stewart’s TV Show.

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In a warm studio filled with pressed blooms, gilded frames, and a little television magic, Ben joined Martha Stewart on her iconic Martha Talk Show to share the art of decoupage — and a bit of Long Island lore.

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In the first segment, he guided Martha through creating aged, vintage-style maps of East Hampton and Oyster Bay, layering history with handwork. Then, with a brush and a bottle of glue, he led her step by step through the time-honored technique of crafting a Ben’s Garden signature: the decoupaged glass tray.

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It was a meeting of minds — and hands — as tradition, storytelling, and craft came together on national television. Watch the full episode on MarthaStewart.com or on YouTube.

2019

Where good taste is handmade.

Ben’s Garden Whitehall Studio, Brooklyn.

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Perched inside a sun-drenched, 14,000-square-foot studio in Brooklyn’s visionary Industry City, the Ben’s Garden Whitehall Studio hums with the elegance of order and the thrill of creation. It overlooks the Statue of Liberty, where old-world craftsmanship meets New York ingenuity — and the city’s largest upcoming riverfront park.

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Ben Busko discovered Industry City in its earliest renaissance, just as the historic warehouses were being reimagined into a creative haven. He set up shop among artists and innovators, transforming his passion into a hands-on atelier.

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Here, amid the scent of paper, polish, and fresh ideas, Ben’s celebrated decoupage trays, frames, and glass paperweights come to life — all made lovingly by hand. Every desk is a world of its own: precise, poetic, and beautifully lived-in.

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You might spot Ben in the sea of creatives — tie neatly fastened, an umbrella at the ready, quietly envying the skateboarders cruising by. A classic gentleman among the modern makers, charting his own path between old-school charm and new-age Brooklyn cool.

2021

The greatest city in the world.

Ben’s Garden Opens in SoHo.

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On the corner of Grand Street and West Broadway, beneath ornate cast-iron columns and within view of cobblestones made famous on film, Ben’s Garden has arrived in SoHo.

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This isn’t just a storefront — it’s a stage set by history, where the energy hums and beauty waits at every turn. From the gilded facades to the gallery-lit interiors, every inch invites you to wander, discover, and fall in love — again and again.

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Set in New York City’s Historic District, this location embodies all the magic of downtown: cinematic, electric, and unforgettable. It’s a garden unlike any other — rooted in romance, framed by iron, and blossoming in the heart of Manhattan.

2022

A childhood dream.

Ben’s Garden Stony Brook.

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In the heart of the Three Villages, where Ben Busko first dreamed beneath elm trees and art fair tents, a childhood vision takes root. What began as a humble booth at Gallery North has blossomed into a full-circle homecoming — Ben’s Garden, now open in Stony Brook Village.

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Nestled in Harbor Crescent just left of the post office — in the very place young Ben once imagined — the store brings his story to life in living color.

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Inside, you’ll find more than gifts and charm. There’s a gallery of artwork curated with heart, a library stacked with must-reads, and one-of-a-kind furnishings that invite you to linger.

Beyond the shop walls, through a hidden passage, lies a private courtyard garden — alive with moss-covered terracotta, aged European pottery, English wire topiary, and rare specimen plants. A little secret, reserved for high season wanderers and those who believe in magic tucked behind hedgerows.