The Garden Club of the Back Bay was beautifully represented at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston’s Art in Bloom with this lovely arrangement created by member Jeanne Stanton, assisted by Jessica Seth. Thank you both, and thank you also to Bev and John Christians for providing the terrific photograph!
On Sunday, June 19, from 2 – 4:30, you will have the opportunity to see International Grand Masters Alison Bradley (Scotland), Gregor Lersch (Germany), Brigitte Auzely (France), Carles Jubany Fontanillas (Spain), and Niels van Hemert (Holland) demonstrate cutting edge floral artistry at the Citi Performing Arts Center, Wang Theater, Tremont Street, as part of the 2011 World Flower Show. For a complete article about this culminating event, see http://www.wafausa.org/articles_detail.php?id=42. Tickets are $82 and are available only on the Citi Performing Arts Center’s website, www.citicenter.org/wafa.
The Newport Flower Show is pleased to celebrate its 16th year as America’s premier summer flower show, held on the historic grounds of Rosecliff. Entertaining, Newport Style will welcome visitors with a grace and sophistication as unique as the city herself. Newport has long been a summer haven and entertaining here is an art form.
Newporters have always taken great pride in their landscapes, considered central to summer life and entertaining. It was, in fact , the estate gardeners of Newport who came together in 1890 to form a horticultural society and offered prizes in what was Newport’s first organized flower show. This year’s show pays homage to these horticultural artists by offering a class specifically for the current estate gardeners of Newport.
Designers will have the opportunity to learn the latest trends in floral design from Kevin Ylvisaker, international lecturer and cutting-edge Design Director for Oasis. And, what is a party without cake? The organizers are thrilled to have Sylvia Weinstock, the legendary cake artist world renowned for her pastiche flowers. She will share with guests how she integrates flowers into her work and her love of stylish entertaining. The Photography Division continues to draw entries from across the nation and the schedule will include classes on digital enhancements as a design element. The Children’s Division will delight the youngest hosts and hostesses.
As always, shopping at the Oceanside Boutiques and the Garden Marketplace are a much anticipated Newport tradition. The Opening Night Party will launch the summer season in Newport with a cocktail buffet, live music and other surprises.
The presenting sponsor, Bartlett Tree Experts has been a long and valued friend of The Newport Flower Show. Not only do they carefully tend the 88 acres of the Preservation Society’s landscapes and gardens, but it is because of their support that all monies raised through The Newport Flower Show are dedicated to the ongoing restoration and maintenance of the Preservation Society’s grounds. For complete information, log on to www.newportmansions.org.
On Tuesday, May 24, Whole Foods Market’s three Boston stores are holding a 5% Day for the benefit of The Food Project’s Boston Bounty Bucks program. Five percent of the day’s net sales from each store will be donated to support low-income people’s ability to buy fresh, locally grown produce at participating farmers’ markets throughout Boston. The Food Project has been a past recipient of grants from The Garden Club of the Back Bay as well. For more information, visit www.thefoodproject.org.
Tom Armstrong, Director Emeritus of the Whitney Museum of American Art, was the leader of four American Art Museums over a period of thirty years. He is now the Chairman of the Garden Conservancy, a national preservation organization. Trained as a studio artist at Cornell University, Mr. Armstrong recently combined his interest in architecture, art and landscape in a new steel and glass house designed by Thomas Phifer and Partners, New York City on a three-acre seaside site on Fishers Island, New York (See Architectural Digest, October 2010). Armstrong’s vision of abstraction in the environment of his island home is the topic of his 2011 World Flower Show presentation on Friday, June 17 at 4 pm in the Cityview Ballroom of the Seaport World Trade Center Plaza. Tickets are $10 and may be purchased online at www.wafausa.org.
John Loring will present an illustrated lecture Tiffany & Co.: Flora and Fauna: 170 Years of Tiffany Excellence as part of the 2011 World Flower Show on Friday, June 17, at 2 pm in the Cityview Ballroom of the Seaport World Trade Center (Plaza Level.)Â Mr. Loring is Design Director Emeritus of Tiffany & Co. and the author of numerous books on Tiffany, and art in general. He graduated from Yale University and has an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from Pratt Institute. He has served on the acquisitions committee of the Department of Prints and Illustrated Books at the Museum of Modern Art, New York.Tickets to the lecture are $10, and may be purchased on line at www.wafausa.org.
NEW CASTLE GARDEN TOUR HELPS PONTINE TO FLOWER Visit a variety of exquisite gardens in Pontine Theatre’s annual New Castle Village Walk and Garden Tour on Sunday, June 12 from 1 – 4 pm. “Gardens are bursting with flowers and fragrance at this time of year,†said Marguerite Mathews, co-director of Pontine Theatre. “We invite you to meander through the marigolds,consort with the columbines or pause to admire the beautiful seaside views.†The self-guided walking tour takes participants on a leisurely stroll through the quaint seaside town and into seven private gardens, some on the water’s edge. Originally developed by Nancy Seagren, a long-time New Castle resident and Pontine’s former general manager, the tour offers a complimentary trolley for participants who would rather ride than walk to each garden. Tickets purchased in advance are $15 and are available online at www.pontine.org and at Portsmouth Gardens, 1000 Woodbury Ave.; Maine-ly New Hampshire, 33 Deer St., Portsmouth and Rye Ridge Greenery, 630 Washington Rd., Rye. Tickets are $20 on the day of the event and may be purchased at the Maude Trefethen School, Rte.1B, New Castle, where participants also can pick up their map and enjoy a glass of lemonade and cookies. All proceeds benefit Pontine Theatre’s cultural and educational programs.
Join WAFA USA in the Plaza Ballroom at the Seaport Hotel on Saturday, June 18, from 10 – 12:30 for a flower arranging demonstration entitled America’s Firsts, featuring Julie Clevett, Jane Godshalk, Julie Lapham, Lee LaPointe, Tasha Tobin (her arrangement pictured below), and Tony Todesco. This event is a coveted second repeat presentation of one offered the day before which is currently sold out, so act quickly. Tickets are $50 and may be purchased at www.wafausa.org.
As part of the 2011 World Flower Show, This Glorious Earth!, international representatives from Australia, Belgium, Canada, Ireland, and Pakistan will create breathtaking floral arrangements at the Back Bay Events Center, 180 Berkeley Street (the John Hancock Hall and Dorothy Quincy Suite) on Thursday, June 16, from 2 – 4:30.  Tickets are $65, and may be ordered at www.wafausa.org. Photo below, by Express, was created at an exhibition/demonstration of flower arrangement at the Pakistan National Council of the Arts in aid of flood victims.
An important aspect of the 2011 World Flower Show, to be held June 15 – 19 for the first time in the United States, is the series of terrific lectures available for a modest (in this instance $10) fee. William Seale will present a program entitled The President’s House and Garden, in the Amphitheater of the Seaport World Trade Center on Thursday, June 16, beginning at 3 pm. William Seale is author of the recently updated two-volume set, The President’s House—which includes an epilogue on the Bill Clinton and George W. Bush years. He also serves as editor of White House History, the journal of the White House Historical Association. Drawing from his vast knowledge of this national landmark, Seale will offer an unforgettable account of the White House from its origins during the nation’s beginning to today, a continuing story of adapting and altering, yet always keeping close to the original image and purpose of the landmark. In addition to showing how the different presidents and their families used and lived in the White House, he will also reveal the roles played by scores of characters—butlers, housemaids, caterers, gardeners, coachmen, architects, interior decorators, and even fortune-tellers—in the keeping and management of the house. Tickets may be ordered on line at www.wafausa.org.
