Boston Flora

  • Friday, October 23, 3:00 pm – 7:00 pm – Living Connections: The Arnold Arboretum and Korea

    On Friday, October 23, members of the Arnold Arboretum get a special sneak preview of the new exhibit in the Hunnewell Building, titled Living Connections: The Arnold Arboretum and Korea. For more than a century, the Arnold Arboretum has been connected to Korea through plants, exploration, and scientific exchange. The exhibit brings together rare archival images, living collections, plant records, and contemporary partnerships to explore Korea’s botanical heritage and the evolving relationship between the Arboretum and Korean institutions.

    Join us for this special member preview event to view the exhibit, enjoy refreshments, and mingle with staff experts. No need to register, just stop by! Not sure of your member status? Visit https://arboretum.harvard.edu/support/

    Accessibility: The Hunnewell Building is wheelchair accessible.

    This members-only program is geared towards adults. Inclement weather policy: This is a rain or shine event. This exhibition is sponsored in part by Leslie and Peter Ciampi.

  • Tuesday, November 3, 1:30 pm – 2:30 pm Eastern – Plant, Places, Growth, Decay, Online

    This November 3 Garden Museum session, available online and recorded, brings together artists and collectives who each have a profound relationship with place and environment. Alex Hartley makes ambitious land art that destabilizes our ideas of wilderness and utopia; Tania Kovats works across sculpture and installation to explore geological time and bodies of water; Troika examine how technology reshapes our understanding of the natural world; and Kultivator — an art practice and experimental farm on the Swedish island of Öland — investigate our relationship with the landscapes that feed us. Critic and curator Ben Tufnell joins as respondent. £10 Livestream. Register HERE.

  • Saturday, November 7, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon – Fairies in the Foliage

    Children and their families are invited to search for fairy houses, make fairy-themed crafts, help create a fairy village, and sip sparkly fairy lemonade on the beautiful Eustis Estate grounds. All activities will take place outdoors so please dress for the weather. The event takes place Saturday, November 7 from 10 – noon,

    Member Adult Free; Member Child $5; Nonmember Adult $15; Nonmember Child $10. Log in or Join now to have your discount applied at checkout. Visit Historic New England HERE.

    Please call (617) 994-6600 for more information.

    Tickets include admission to the house museum. All children must be accompanied by an adult.

  • Tuesday, October 27, 6:00 am – 7:00 am Eastern (but recorded) – Worshipful Company of Gardeners, Online

    This Gardens Trust talk on October 27 will explain the foundation, early history and collapse of this City Livery Company.

    Gardening is big business today with billions spent on garden makeovers, at garden centers, in municipal parks and on ornamental plants, with vegetable and fruit growing taking second place. Yet until quite recently the reverse was true, Feeding London was the task that occupied most gardeners, with ornamental and leisure gardening comparatively unimportant. The late 16th century saw a series of bad harvests which led to famine conditions in much of England and one of the responses was the foundation of the Gardeners Company, in 1606 by James I. Like other City Livery Companies It was given a monopoly over the whole of its trade so at first it flourished but by the end of the seventeenth century it had virtually no members and collapsed in oblivion. This talk will explain why.…..

    This ticket is for this individual session and costs £8 (Gardens Trust members £6 )

    Ticket holders can join the session live and/or view the recording until 10 November .

    Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days prior to the start of the talk, and again a few hours before the talk. A link to the recorded session (available until 10 November) will be sent shortly afterwards.

    …..

    Dr David Marsh was awarded his PhD in 2005 for a study of the ‘Gardens and Gardeners of Later-Stuart London’ and has been lecturing and supervising research in Garden History ever since. He is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Buckingham and was co-course director for their MA in Garden History. A trustee of the Gardens Trust from 2016-2023, he helped set up and run the Trust’s online lecture program and is the author of a weekly blog about garden history.

    Image: Cheapside market from Hugh Alley’s Caveat 1598

  • Thursday, November 12, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm – Nashua River Watershed 2026 Annual Meeting: Paddle Forward

    SAVE THE DATE: Thursday, November 12, at the Devens Common Center in Devens, Massachusetts, for the 2026 Annual Meeting of the Nashua River Watershed Association, Paddle Forward. The Nashua River Watershed Association protects the rivers and streams that are the lifeline of our communities, connecting rural and urban, aquatic and terrestrial, wildlife and human. For registration, visit https://www.nashuariverwatershed.org/

  • Saturday, October 31, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon – Fungi Field Walk

    Whether edible or not, flashy or tiny, on trees or in the soil, mushrooms come in so many fascinating varieties—more than you might realize. Take a walk through the Drumlin Farm Wildlife Sanctuary on October 31 from ten to noon with an experienced mycologist in search of local fungi, from polypores and gilled mushrooms to species that defy easy categorization.

    Learn about where different fungi grow, what ecological roles they play, and how to begin identifying them in the field using key distinguishing features. You’ll leave the walk with a permanent shift in how you view the forest floor. Mass Audubon members $25, nonmembers $30. Registration is required at https://www.massaudubon.org/programs/drumlin-farm/103392-fungi-field-walk

  • Tuesday, October 20, 5:00 am – 6:00 am Eastern (but recorded) – Let the Sky Rain Potatoes

    Dr. David Marsh and The Gardens Trust present some thoughts on the origins of the English obsession with gardening, online, on October 20.

    It is a truth universally acknowledged that the English are obsessed with gardening. Much less clear is when this obsession started. Was it with Gertrude Jekyll, Capability Brown, or William Kent? This talk argues that it much earlier than you probably think and for reasons that you probably haven’t considered. And what’s it all got to do with Katherine of Aragon, Dr Faustus and mass immigration? There’s only one way of finding out!

    This ticket is for this individual session and costs £8 (Gardens Trust members £6 ) Register through Eventbrite UK HERE.

    Ticket holders can join the session live and/or view the recording until 3 November .

    Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days prior to the start of the talk, and again a few hours before the talk. A link to the recorded session (available until 3 November) will be sent shortly afterwards.

    Dr David Marsh was awarded his PhD in 2005 for a study of the ‘Gardens and Gardeners of Later-Stuart London’ and has been lecturing and supervising research in Garden History ever since. He is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Buckingham and was co-course director for their MA in Garden History. A trustee of the Gardens Trust from 2016-2023, he helped set up and run the Trust’s online lecture programme and is the author of a weekly blog about garden history. Illustration courtesy of The Nature of Shakespeare.

  • Thursday, October 22 – Night of Illumination

    The Native Plant Trust’s annual fall event, exclusively for members, is right around the corner. On Thursday, October 22, Garden in the Woods will be lit by more than 1,000 luminaria and delightful displays. Tickets are on sale at https://nativeplanttrust.org/event/night-of-illumination/ Remember, this special evening is just for members, so join or renew now to enjoy intriguing sights on this “one night only” nocturnal stroll. See you on October 22!

  • Thursday, October 29, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm – Botanical Mixology: Wicked Cocktails

    Learn how to make unique craft cocktails with a botanical twist. Join the New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill on October 29 from 6 – 8 to practice new skills, try new recipes and spirits, and learn fun plant facts. The session features two unique botanical cocktails: a signature drink highlighting the session’s featured spirit and a vodka-based creation with a dedicated mocktail variation. Beyond the recipes, every class introduces a new mixology technique to help you build your craft, one skill at a time.

    Recipes will be provided for you to take home.
    All cocktails will feature nut-free ingredients.
    All attendees must be 21 and provide ID.
    Featured spirit: Mezcal

    $66 for NEBG members, $78 nonmembers. Register HERE.

  • Thursday, October 29, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm Eastern – Thomas Jefferson’s Gardening Legacy, Online

    Step into the often-complex history of Thomas Jefferson’s landscapes and gardens at Monticello. The heirlooms of the garden, like priceless antiques, can tell us important and fascinating stories about our past. Unlike fragile relics kept in museums, living antiques depend upon us for survival and are best preserved and enjoyed by growing them. Peggy Cornett, Monticello’s Curator of Plants, will discuss Jefferson’s lifelong passion for the natural world, landscape design, and horticulture and the many plant varieties—from historic tulips and ancient roses to heirloom fruits and vegetables—that have been collected, propagated, and preserved through the Center for Historic Plants for over forty years. This American Horticultural Society online program will take place October 29 at 2 pm Eastern, and is $15 for AHS members, $20 for nonmembers. Register at https://ahsgardening.org/ahs-live-thomas-jeffersons-gardening-legacy/

    Peggy Cornett, curator of plants, has worked at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello since 1983, beginning as the associate director of gardens and grounds. She earned degrees in English and Botany from UNC-Chapel Hill and a master’s from the University of Delaware’s Longwood Graduate Program. Prior to Monticello, Peggy worked in the restored gardens at Old Salem Museum and Gardens (Winston-Salem, North Carolina) and Oak Alley Plantation in Louisiana. She served as director of the Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants for seventeen years. Peggy often lectures on garden history topics, writes articles for gardening magazines, professional journals and books, and gives radio and television interviews including PBS programs. Peggy serves on the garden advisory panel for Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest and edits Magnolia, the publication of the Southern Garden History Society (SGHS). In 2008, she received the SGHS “Flora Ann Bynum Medal” for exemplary service in the garden history field. In 2016 she received the Garden Club of America’s Zone VII Horticultural Commendation for her horticultural expertise, generosity in sharing knowledge, and dedication to preserving Thomas Jefferson’s botanical legacy. More recently Peggy received Honorary Memberships in the Garden Club of Virginia and the Garden Club of America. Peggy’s book, Thomas Jefferson’s Flowers, Historic Gardens at Monticello, was published by the University of Virginia Press and released May 2026.