Harvard University

Thursday, April 14, 2:00 pm – Garden Club of the Back Bay April Meeting – Trees from Seed: Conservation, Biology, and Ecology

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Sean Halloran, Plant Propagator at The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, will speak to us about Tree Propagation. Sean will start off with a brief overview of the plant conservation efforts at the Arnold Arboretum, and how plant conservation fits into every part of the Arnold’s mission.  He will then cover the basics of seed biology, and how seed biology and plant sexuality guide decisions about conservation and propagation. Sean will conclude by covering the many roles an urban tree may play, while highlighting a few underutilized native trees and shrubs. Questions are welcome throughout, with more opportunity for discussion at the conclusion of the talk.

Sean Halloran received a Bachelor’s in Horticulture and a Master’s degree in Plant & Environmental Science from Clemson University where he focused on nutrient media in tissue culture propagation. His professional background includes private residential horticulture, greenhouse and nursery production, plant nutrient management in soil-less media, and temperate woody plant propagation and conservation. As the Arnold Arboretum’s Plant Propagator, Sean continues a 150-year tradition of growing woody temperate species from seed, cuttings, grafts, layers, and more; as well as being given the honor to travel and wild collect plants for the Arnold Arboretum.

rsvp to Jolinda Taylor before April 8 by clicking HERE. Tea and light refreshments will be served after the lecture. Please be sure to let Jolinda know if you’ll be staying afterwards.

Note the change of location. This program was originally planned to be at the Lutheran Church but will now be at the College Club

Tuesday, April 12 – Thursday, April 14 – The Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts Flower Show School Course II: Growing, Staging, Exhibiting and Judging

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The Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts will conduct a Flower Show School Course II: Growing, Staging, Exhibiting, and Judging, on April 12 – 14, featuring one of our own members, Kaye Vosburgh, along with Cathy Felton, as instructors. The event will take place at the DoubleTree by Hilton at 11 Beaver Street in Milford, Massachusetts.

Kaye Vosburgh has a B.S. in Biology and a Masters in the Art of Teaching. She is an NGC Master Judge and a Design and Procedure Instructor. Kaye has chaired several award winning Standard Flower Shows and won numerous awards in the New England Spring Flower Show. She is a member of 3 garden clubs, including the one she started with her Master Gardener co-workers. Kaye is a Sogetsu Ikebana Instructor of the highest rank, Riji. She has demonstrated throughout the Central Atlantic Region, at CFAA in Florida and in Ecuador. Kaye’s favorite activity is sharing creative moments with other designers and students.

​Cathy Felton has a B.S. in Zoology and has studied at the former Landscape Institute of Harvard University, but a love of horticulture led her into the garden club world which now includes lecturing and teaching. She is a Garden Club of America Horticulture Judge; American Daffodil Society Judge; and Chairman of the American Daffodil Society Judging School; and a Master American Hosta Society Judge. Cathy has served on the National Garden Clubs, Inc. (NGC), national board as Horticulture Chairman and Vice Chairman of Gardening Study Schools. She is also an NGC Master Flower Show Judge and Horticulture Instructor for flower show schools, and a member of both the Hamilton-Wenham Garden Club and the the North Shore Garden Club in MA.

To register, contact Ruth Gorman at Ruth.Gorman3@gmail.com.

Tuesday, March 29, 2:00 pm – Celebrating a Sesquicentennial: The Founding of the Arnold Arboretum, Live and Online

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The Arnold Arboretum was founded on Friday, March 29, 1872. Exactly 150 years later, we invite you to join Lisa Pearson, Head of the Arboretum Library and Archives, for a special sesquicentennial lecture! Pearson will discuss the earliest benefactors of the Arboretum, the events surrounding the founding of the institution, and the busy first two decades during which the infrastructure and living collections were installed on the grounds. This event will also be livestreamed to YouTube. To sign up for the virtual livestream instead, click here. To sign up for the live presentation, click here.

All attendees age 12 or over must bring proof of vaccination in order to enter the building—please bring either a vaccination card or a digital copy. Visitors age 17 and older must also present a valid driver’s license or government-issued form of ID, such as a passport. Attendees are required to wear masks indoors. 

Registration is limited to 40 in-person attendees. We ask that you only register if you are sure you will attend, and only register one person per form submission. Parking is available on-site at the Weld Hill Research Building. Find directions here.

Saturday, March 12, 2:30 pm – 4:00 pm – Olmsted and Yosemite: Civil War, Abolition, and the National Park Idea, Online

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Out of the 1860s, as the United States engaged in a civil war, abolished slavery, and remade the government, the public park emerged as a product of these dramatic changes. New York’s Central Park and Yosemite in California both embodied the “new birth of freedom” that emphasized the duty of republican government to enhance the lives and well-being of all its new citizens. A central figure directly connected with abolition, the Civil War, and the dawn of urban and national parks is Frederick Law Olmsted, whose pre-war journalism about the South, design work on Central Park, and ground-breaking Yosemite Report created an intellectual framework for the “park idea.” Marking the bicentennial of Olmsted’s birth, a new book by Rolf Diamant, former superintendent of Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site and Ethan Carr, Professor of Landscape Architecture at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, offers a new interpretation of how the American park—urban and national—came to figure so prominently in our cultural identity, and why this more complex and inclusive story deserves to be told.

The Arnold Arboretum will present Rolf Diamant and Ethan Carr on March 12 from 2:30 – 4, and will also be presented in-person at the Arboretum’s Weld Hill Research Building at 1300 Centre Street, Boston, MA 02131. To sign up for the in-person event, click here. Presented in collaboration with Friends of Fairsted, the Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site, and the Library of American Landscape History. Register HERE.

Sunday, February 27, 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm – Botanical Gardens World Tour: Innisfree and Fairchild Tropical Garden, Online

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Smithsonian Associates invites you to indulge in a colorful midwinter escape as horticultural experts lead a series of virtual visits that highlight the beauty of notable botanical gardens in settings as far-flung as Shanghai, the Hudson River Valley, and Australia. In vibrant visuals they explore how each garden has taken a unique approach to design and interpretation as they all celebrate plant collections, conservation, education, and the distinctive environments and landscapes in which they bloom. On February 27, the third and final installment will feature Innisfree and Fairchild Tropical Garden.

Travel from the scenic Hudson River Valley to subtropical peninsular Florida to visit two diverse gardens. Developed between 1930 and 1960, Innisfree was the private garden of Walter and Marion Beck and drew its inspiration from scroll paintings of the 8th-century Chinese poet and painter Wang Wei. With the help of landscape architect Lester Collins from Harvard University, the garden journey was shaped to lead visitors through individual “cup” garden scenes inspired by the Chinese paintings, which meld seamlessly into one large cup around a glacial lake.

Fairchild Tropical Garden in Coral Gables (below) melds a sublime subtropical landscape with important plant collections and horticultural excellence, as well as research, conservation, and education. Palms are a particular specialty, with an outstanding collection of over 400 species. An internationally important collection of more than 3,700 cycads is displayed in sweeping beds under spreading oaks. The conservatory features orchids, aroids, and bromeliads. The garden is set against a backdrop of lakes in a park-like setting.

Presenter C. Colston Burrell is a lecturer, garden designer, and photographer. The author of 12 gardening books, he has twice won the American Horticulture Society Book Award.

$25 for Smithsonian Associates members, $30 for nonmembers. Register HERE.

Wednesday, February 9, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm – Harvard University Herbaria Live Tour

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Native Plant Trust has partnered with staff at university herbaria throughout New England to offer a special inside look at the region’s most impressive plant specimen collections. The February in person program will feature the Harvard University Herbaria with Michaela Schmull, on February 9 from 1 – 2. $15 for Native Plant Trust members, $18 for nonmembers. Register at http://www.nativeplanttrust.org/events/harvard-university-herbaria/

Thursday, January 13, 6:45 pm – 8:15 pm – A Brief History of Earth, Online

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How well do you know the ground beneath your feet? Odds are, where you’re standing was once cooking under a roiling sea of lava, crushed by a towering sheet of ice, rocked by a nearby meteor strike, or perhaps choked by poison gases, drowned beneath ocean, perched atop a mountain range, or roamed by fearsome monsters. Probably most—or even all—of the above.

The story of our home planet and the organisms spread across its surface is far more spectacular than any Hollywood blockbuster, filled with enough plot twists to rival a bestselling thriller. But only recently have we begun to piece together the whole mystery into a coherent narrative.

Drawing on his decades of field research and up-to-the-minute understanding of the latest science, Andrew H. Knoll, a geologist and professor at Harvard University, offers a short biography of Earth, charting our home planet’s epic 4.6 billion-year story and placing 21st-century climate change in deep context. This Smithsonian Associates online lecture will take place January 13 from 6:46 – 8:15. $20 for Smithsonian Associates members, $25 for nonmembers. Register HERE.

His book, A Brief History of Earth: Four Billion Years in Eight Chapters (Custom House), is available for purchase.

Book Sale Information

Thursday, October 28, 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm – Top 10 Native Plants for Residential Landscapes Webinar

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Native plants are an important part of establishing a sustainable environment. In this October 28 Tower Hill Botanic Garden session from 6:30 – 7:30 pm, we’ll learn about the tried and true natives that can complement your garden, attract pollinators and withstand our New England weather. Successful herbaceous and woody plants will be included.

Cheryl Salatino is the principal designer and owner of Dancing Shadows Garden Design, a residential landscape design and services firm. She has been designing gardens across Massachusetts since 2002. Cheryl is a Certified Landscape Designer and a Massachusetts Certified Horticulturist (MCH). She received her certificate in landscape design from the Radcliffe Seminars Landscape Design Program of Harvard University. She was awarded the status of Massachusetts Certified Horticulturist by the Massachusetts Nursery & Landscape Association (MNLA) as evidence of achieving the industry’s highest standards in nursery and landscape professionalism. Cheryl has also earned an Advanced Certificate in Horticulture and Design as part of the New England Wildflower Society’s Native Plant Studies Program. This program will be held virtually. Once you register you will receive a zoom link in the confirmation. This webinar will also be RECORDED and available for 2 months to all registrants. $10 for Tower Hill members, $15 for nonmembers. Register at www.towerhillbg.org.


Tuesday, September 14 & Wednesday, September 15 – A Virtual Design Symposium and Flower Show: The Life and Legacy of Frederick Law Olmsted

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The Albemarle Garden Club is thrilled to announce that Charlotte Moss,  American interior designer and national author of ten books, has agreed to serve as the honorary chair of AGC’s virtual flower show: “Genius of Place: an Ode to Frederick Law Olmsted.” This virtual flower show will attract judges and exhibitors from across the country. It will offer classes in four divisions – Floral Design, Horticulture, Photography, and Botanical Arts. The two day Olmsted Forum will debut with the “Preview” of the flower show on Tuesday, September 14 from 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm Eastern time. This will be a ticketed, virtual event and feature a presentation by Charlotte Moss. Her new book, launching this spring, is entitled Flowers.  $40. Register at https://www.albemarlegardenclub.com/olmsted-forum-tickets

On Wednesday, September 15 from 1:30 – 5:00 pm Eastern Time, with the support of the National Association of Olmsted Parks and the Center for Cultural Landscapes at University of Virginia School of Architecture, Albemarle Garden Club is planning Olmsted Forum – 2021. Building on our successful fundraising platform —Design Forum— the focus of this event will be Frederick Law Olmsted.  Olmsted is commonly known as the father of landscape design.  The Forum will survey his life and lasting legacy, providing the opportunity to learn about Olmsted from an historical perspective and how and why parks are so important today.  This event will be one of the first in a year-long line up of events organized by the NAOP leading to the bicentennial of Olmsted’s birth in May 2022. 

Olmsted scholars and practitioners will present talks focusing on the relevance of Olmsted’s legacy in the park movement today. Speakers will include:

  • Susan Rademacher, GCA Honorary Member since 2017. Susan is the founder and President of ForeGround Consulting, LLC.  She was the Parks Curator for the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy which preserved, enhanced and promoted the Pittsburgh Parks from 2007 until 2019.  During Susan’s tenure, the Conservancy raised more than $126 million and completed 22 major projects.  Susan also served as the assistant director of the Louisville Metro Parks and the president of the Louisville Olmsted Parks Conservancy from 1991-2007.  She  has lectured and taught extensively and has authored award winning  books and articles.  She has been the recipient of a prestigious Loeb fellowship at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, and received the Frederick Law Olmsted Award for Distinguished Leadership.
  • Sara Zewde,  Founding Principal of Studio Zewde.  Sara is an Assistant Professor of Practice at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design.  She was named the 2014 National Olmsted Scholar by the Landscape Architecture Foundation, a 2016 Artist-in Residence at the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, and in 2018 was named to the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s inaugural “40 under 40” list. Most recently, she was named a 2020 United States Artists Fellow.  Sara is a registered landscape architect and holds a master’s of landscape architecture from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, a master’s of city planning from MIT, and a BA in sociology and statistics from Boston University. 
  • Sara Cedar Miller, Central Park Conservancy Historian Emerita.  Sara first joined Central Park in 1984 as a photographer. She conducts extensive research on Central Park, lectures on history and is the  author of award-winning books. She was named in 2020 a Preservation Hero by the Library of American Landscape History.

The moderator for a live conservation with the speakers will be Elizabeth K. Meyer, FASLA.  

Beth Meyer, the Merrill D. Peterson Professor of Landscape Architecture at the University of Virginia.  She founded the Center for Cultural Landscapes at UVA and is broadly recognized as one of the most influential landscape architectural critics and theorists.  She is a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects and the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture. She was awarded the Vincent Scully Prize by The National Building Museum in 2019 and in 2017 the Jot D. Carpenter Teaching Medal from the American Society of Landscape Architects. 

The forum will also include a presentation by Albemarle Garden Club on its work at the Booker T. Washington Park in Charlottesville, Virginia. 

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Format:  this will be a hybrid event with some components pre-recorded and available for viewing ahead of the event for ticket holders.  Speaker introductions and the panel discussion will be live and links will be provided to ticket holders. Register at https://www.albemarlegardenclub.com/olmsted-forum-tickets

Through July 18 – A Walk in the Arboretum: Digital Photocollages by Amy Ragus

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Amy Ragus brought her impressive background in photography to the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University’s current virtual exhibition. Using a collage method, she focuses primarily on New England landscapes. For the Arboretum show, Ragus gathered material on walks in the Arboretum between October 2019 and August 2020.

Her interest in depicting the experience of being surrounded by space, as she moves through the landscape, is evident in each of her digital photocollages; however, less obvious, but more potent, is how she continued her creative journey once COVID became the prevailing concern in early 2020.

From her first visits in 2019, when she was simply interested in taking in the Arboretum’s role as a public park and learning more about it as a unique outdoor museum, her focus suddenly shifted in spring 2020. Ragus noted that some times were tense as guidelines were first learned and adopted; yet in Ragus’s words, which echoed the words of other 2020-2021 exhibiting artists and thousands of our visitors, “The pandemic closed other parks in Massachusetts, but the Arboretum chose to stay open as a much needed sanctuary. A place to simply walk became vital.”

Ragus’s photographic approach is to depict the experience of being surrounded by space as she moves through the landscape. To achieve this, she stands in one location shooting multiple frames that collectively depict an expanded viewpoint. As she merges the separate frames with Photoshop, some areas are smoothly continuous, while others show distinct rectangles. Her goal is to offer an experience of space, incorporating specific details and a general mood of the season.

Her closing image in the virtual series is titled “The earth above and the sky below” but she adds a sub-title of “The Triumph of Spring,” which is a message she wants to hold on to.

Amy Ragus has exhibited extensively throughout New England and beyond, and is the recipient of many prestigious grants, fellowships, and residencies. Her work is included in numerous public collections including Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University, Danforth Museum in Framingham, Columbia University, and the Boston Athenaeum.

Works are digital photocollages.

All rights of the images reside with the artist. For more information on making a copy, or reusing an image, please send your request to arbweb@arnarb.harvard.edu.

For information on the work itself, or to inquire about purchasing art, please also send your request to arbweb@arnarb.harvard.edu. We will put you in touch with the artist. Her website is www.amyragus.com. Her “News” section will have other materials and links related to this series.

A recent interview with The Woven Tale Press, including images of other work, can be viewed at: www.thewoventalepress.net/2021/02/15/photocollage-as-painting. To view, visit https://arboretum.harvard.edu/a-walk-in-the-arboretum-digital-photocollages-by-amy-ragus/