Experience the bold, expressive watercolor paintings of acclaimed artist John Barnard (1924–2018) in Fearless With Color, a special exhibition celebrating light, landscape, and the beauty of the natural world. The opening of the exhibit will take place September 11 from 5 – 8 at the Prescott Community Center in Groton, Massachusetts, sponsored by the Nashua River Watershed Association.
Known for his fearless use of color and expressive brushwork, Barnard’s paintings capture the energy, beauty, and emotion of the natural landscape. His work invites viewers to experience a deeper connection to a place and serves as a powerful reminder of the landscapes and waterways that enrich our communities.
We are especially grateful that a portion of proceeds from artwork sales will be donated to NRWA. These contributions help advance our work to protect water quality, restore habitat, educate future environmental stewards, and promote the long-term health of the Nashua River watershed.
We encourage community members, art enthusiasts, and conservation supporters alike to visit the exhibition and celebrate the connection between art, nature, and environmental stewardship.
Please contact John Barnard, 978-382-3032, for more information.
This November, the Newport Symposium explores the theme “What Makes It American” with a series of lectures and tours examining the origins and legacy of art, architecture, landscape and design in the United States. As we celebrate America’s 250th anniversary, presenters will discuss the history of our national—and Newport—identity through visual culture. The event takes place over two days at Marble House and Rosecliff. A star-studded list of speakers includes Robyn Asleson, Curator of Prints and Drawings at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, Raissa Bretaña, Fashion Historian at the Fashion Institute of Technology, Rachel A. Heslop, Senior Project Coordinator at the Oak Spring Garden Foundation, Thomas Jayne, Interior Designer with Jayne Design Studio, K.L.H. Wells, Author and Assistant Professor of Art History, University of Wisconsin-Milwaulkee, and Christopher YOung, Vice President and Creative Director of Tiffany & Co. Register at https://www.newportmansions.org/events/save-the-date-newport-symposium/
Thoughts of Mount Desert Island off the coast of Downeast Maine often conjure up rugged granite cliffs rising above the Atlantic, fishing boats in rocky harbors, and the sweeping landscapes of Acadia National Park. But beyond these familiar images, it is a place where dramatic scenery and human history are deeply intertwined.
Historian Ralph Nurnberger traces the island’s story from its Native inhabitants and early exploration by Samuel de Champlain through centuries of settlement and change. In the 19th century, artists of the Hudson River School were drawn to its majestic coastline and unspoiled scenery, helping establish its reputation as one of the most beautiful places in America. By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it became a summer retreat for some of the country’s most prominent Gilded Age families.
A defining chapter in the island’s preservation came through the efforts of John D. Rockefeller Jr., Harvard President Charles Wilson Eliot, conservationist George Dorr, and others whose work helped create Acadia National Park—the first established through private donations and the first national park east of the Mississippi River. The park was enhanced through the work of the Civilian Conservation Corp and then survived the devastating Great Fire of 1947.
Together, these and other stories reveal the history and beauty of Mount Desert Island. They invite a closer look at the landscape, people, and forces that continue to shape it today and why it remains one of America’s most remarkable coastal landscapes.
This Smithsonian Associates webinar takes place September 2 on Zoom, beginning at 6:45 pm Eastern. $20 for Smithsonian Associates members, $30 for nonmembers. Register at www.smithsonianassociates.org
It’s that time of year again – the Rhode Island Wild Plant Society Fall Native Plant Sale is coming up on September 12th at the Pawtuxet Village Farmer’s Market in Cranston.
Note that there is a MEMBERS ONLY presale from 8:30 am to 9:30 am. It’s not too late to become a member – head to RIWPS.org to sign up! Sale is open to the public 9:30 am to noon. Sale is on, rain or shine!
Now you can gain gardening expertise whenever and wherever you want with Classes On Demand! Featuring several of Mt. Cuba Center’s most popular courses, each class lasts about 90 minutes. Once purchased, students are able to watch the pre-recorded videos more than once, or stop at any point and re-start it again later within 30 days of the purchase date. Please call if this is a gift that will need a specific start date.
On-demand classes are intended for independent learning by one student. They do not offer teacher interaction and are available for a limited time only. Visit https://mtcubacenter.org/programs/classes-on-demand/ for details, and registration. $19.00.
Amsonia, or bluestars, are a rugged, versatile, and endlessly garden-worthy genus that deserve a place in any home garden. Without exception, bluestars are long-lived and provide multiple seasons of interest from their blue flowers in April and May, to their beautiful foliar textures in the summer, and striking golden color in the autumn. In addition to being exemplary garden plants, Amsonia support a variety of early season pollinators, including bumble bees and hummingbirds, and are even host plants for several butterflies and moths. Sam Hoadley, Mt. Cuba’s manager of horticultural research, will be your guide through the trials, sharing how Amsonia was evaluated to determine horticultural value and performance, disease resistance, and pollinator preference.
About the Instructor Sam Hoadley is the Manager of Horticultural Research at Mt. Cuba Center where he evaluates native plant species, old and new cultivars, and hybrids in the Trial Garden. Prior to working at Mt. Cuba, he was the lead horticulturist for Longwood Gardens’ Hillside Garden. He earned his degree in Sustainable Landscape Horticulture from the University of Vermont.
You’re invited to join us at the Preview Party for the 140th New England Flower Show: Growing Together!
Thursday, September 17, 2026 6-10pm The Garden at Elm Bank Attire: Cocktail Garden Party
Enjoy cocktails and hors d’oeuvre amid immersive displays and floral exhibits. Spend the night mingling & dancing among friends and flowers, then take home a curated swag bag full of premium vendor goods. Purchase tickets at https://www.masshort.org/fall-flower-show/preview-party
Join Grow Native Massachusetts this September in Wellfleet for Native Plants for Cape Cod Life. It’s a celebration of local plants that make Cape Cod sing. At 3 events over 2 days you can expand your knowledge of native plants and the pollinators and birds that depend on them, bring home native plants from local, independent growers, and see firsthand how to design, plant, and maintain them in your home garden. Come to 1 event or all 3!
Native plants function as a critical building block for our ecosystems, providing food, shelter, and host plant services for nearly all of our native insects, including the abundance of caterpillars needed to sustain local bird populations. These native species are also perfectly adapted to our landscape conditions, thriving in the dry, sandy soils we all know well on the Cape. When you embrace them in your garden, you can do more for the environment by doing less (watering, mowing, fertilizing, etc.)! Join us to explore the beauty and benefits of native plants, and why it is so critical to add them back into our Cape Cod landscapes.
At this market, we will be joined by Butterfly Effect Farm, Hilltop Natives, and Tree Talk Natives, all small businesses who specialize in sustainably-grown native plants. They start much of their stock from seed (often local ecotype), and curate their inventory with an eye toward species of particular value to pollinators, caterpillars, and other threatened wildlife. All of them are passionate advocates for native plants and creating habitat in our gardens. We will also be joined by Association to Preserve Cape Cod, who will also have plants to sell, and Pollinator Pathway Cape Cod.
Cape Cod is part of an ecoregion we call the pine barrens, a name that belies the rich, thriving natural communities that give this place its distinctive beauty. Understanding the conditions that shape the barrens and the plants that flourish here is key to creating ecologically vibrant gardens that thrive with minimal care, and enhance and protect the surrounding environment. Join Alex Kent of Kent Land Design to learn how he puts this understanding into practice on a tour of a Wellfleet home garden that he designed, installed, and maintains.
September 22, 7pm – Why Native Plants? with Erin Camire of APCC at the Wellfleet Public Library. September 23, 8 am – noon – Native Plant Pop-Up Market at the Wellfleet Farmers Market. September 23, 2 pm, Garden Tour. For more information visit https://grownativemass.org/
THE GOATS ARE BACK! Join The Boston Parks Department, the American Red Cross, and the Muddy Water Initiative for our Goats’ N Boats’ Celebration & Cleanup on Sunday August 30th from 12pm-2pm at the Muddy River. Thanks to all of our volunteers for making this GOAT season possible. All materials will be provided. Please wear close-toed shoes and clothes that can get muddy.
The Fourth of July may have passed, but the semiquincentennial celebrations continue! Join friends at The Gibson House Museum in September for a lecture by Dr. Trent Taylor to learn about how the centennial was celebrated in Victorian Boston, and about the ties between the Gibson family and the legendary Revolutionary War figure Dr. Joseph Warren. From $24 at Eventbrite HERE.
Whales make some of the longest migrations on Earth, traveling thousands of miles round-trip annually. They follow routes that connect critical feeding and breeding habitats across the globe, linking distant ecosystems into a single living ocean.
Amanda Hunter, marine biologist and polar expedition guide, considers whale migration and ocean conservation and examines the growing threats whales face—from climate-driven shifts in food availability to ship traffic and ocean pollution. Hunter also highlights conservation solutions that are making a difference. Uncover the surprising ways whales help regulate ocean health and climate, acting as powerful drivers of nutrient cycling, carbon storage, and marine productivity and reminding us why protecting these giants is essential for the future of our planet.
This August 27 Smithsonian online program begins at 6:45 pm Eastern on Zoom. $20 Smithsonian members, $30 nonmembers. Register at www.smithsonianassociates.org
