Daily Archives: March 1, 2021

Monday, May 10, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm – Other Voices in Garden History: Collecting with Lao Chao

by

This fifth in a series of illustrated lectures sponsored by The Gardens Trust will explore the impact and legacy of empire, colonialism and enslavement on western garden and landscape history. Our aim is to bring back some of the voices usually absent from this history, to identify and fill gaps in our collective knowledge, and to explore new ways of engaging with the whole history of gardens, landscapes and horticulture.

For years, the curators of museums and living collections, and their visitors, have been programmed to respond to and expect tales of the grand, death-defying adventures of our collectors, rather than the realities and injustices of what really happened on expeditions. In this lecture, Yvette Harvey will use the archives of the Royal Horticultural Society and the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh to explore the escapades of well-known plant hunters from the perspective of others on their teams, and to discuss where credit should lie for the plant collections that have a huge impact on what is grown in our gardens today. The main focus of the lecture will be the Scottish botanist and plant hunter George Forrest (1873 – 1932) and will examine the role played by the teams of local Naxi people whom he employed to collect, process and label specimens. It will give voice to team leader Zhao Chengzhang and those who worked alongside him, acknowledging their valuable work and tenacity.

This ticket costs £5, and you may purchase via the Eventbrite link here. Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days prior to the start of the talk, and a link to the recorded session (available for 1 week) will be sent shortly afterwards.

Yvette Harvey is the curator of the herbarium of the Royal Horticultural Society based at RHS Garden Wisley. She has coached on the topic of herbarium management for Kew’s Herbarium Techniques course. She maintains a professional interest in the Flora of West and Central Africa and is on the council of the Natural Sciences Collections Association, whose mission is to promote and support natural science collections and the people that work with them. Her research on decolonizing plant hunter narratives has been part-funded by the 1951 Royal Commission and the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Thursday, March 11, 6:30 pm – Harbor Hill & Beacon Towers: Long Island “Gold Coast” Mansions and the Women Who Created Them, Online

by

Join architecture historian and lecturer Gary Lawrance and the Friends of Morven on March 11 at 6:30 online on a trip to the “Gold Coast” of 1920’s Long Island to meet Katherine Duer, wife of Silver heir Clarence Mackay and her fabulous over 60 room Harbor Hill mansion once located at Roslyn. Mrs. Mackay not only managed the home when completed, but also oversaw the planning with “Gilded Age”, architect Stanford White and during Harbor Hill’s construction. We will also meet Alva Vanderbilt Belmont. Known as a force to be reckoned with, Alva Erskin Smith first married a Vanderbilt and built one of the most dazzling mansions on New York’s Fifth Avenue, then the equally splendid summer cottage, “Marble House” at Newport, Rhode Island. With her second husband Oliver Hazard Belmont she enlarged his Newport mansion and then a home at East Meadow, Long Island. After his passing Mrs. Belmont built a Castle on the Long Island Sound at Sands Point, Long Island, that many believe was used by Author F. Scott Fitzgerald as the inspiration for the magnificent mansion of Jay Gatsby in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby”. It was at this house that Mrs. Belmont held suffragist women’s events and reigned over her version of a Scottish Castle. The evening will also provide a brief look at other estates and an aerial tour, circa 1926, to give an idea of the extensiveness of the great estates that were once world famous as the land of elegance, splendor and lavishness. This evening’s lecture sponsored by Heidi A. Hartmann of Coldwell Banker Princeton.

$18 for Friends of Morven, $25 for the public. Register HERE.

Architect, Author, and Historian Gary Lawrance is an architect from Stony Brook, New York. His firm, Lawrance Architectural Presentations, provides design presentations, architectural models, digital renderings, and design development services to architects, landscape architects and interior designers. Mr. Lawrance has an extensive background in the history of Gilded Age architecture, landscapes, and society, and co-authored the bestselling book, Houses of the Hamptons 1880-1930 with Anne Surchin (Acanthus Press 2007, Revised 3rd Printing 2013).

Mr. Lawrance’s work has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Hamptons Cottages & Gardens, Newsday, New York Social Diary, Southampton Press, and more. Mr. Lawrance has written for Architectural Digest, Dan’s Papers, Quest magazine, and his two blogs, Mansions of the Gilded Age and Houses of the Hamptons in addition to founding and contributing to the two very successful Facebook groups, Mansions of the Gilded Age & The Gilded Age Society with over 160,000 members combined. Mr. Lawrance also manages two equally popular Instagram accounts, Mansions of the Gilded Age & The Gilded Age Society.

Fridays, March 12 – March 26, 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm – Tree Care for Gardeners

by

Whether you are an amateur or professional horticulturist, you are a steward of the landscape and probably spend a great deal of time among the flowers, shrubs and trees. This Berkshire Botanical Garden three-part course is designed for those who might not necessarily be the first to climb 100 feet up a northern red oak or wrangle the chainsaw to fell a 36” dead American elm. The goal of this class is to empower horticulturists to better understand the largest plants in the landscape. Learn in person from certified arborist Tom Ingersoll the basics of tree biology and identification, the tree’s role in the ecosystem, proper selection, siting, planting considerations, pruning of young trees, fertilization, pest identification and when to call in the certified arborist. The classes will be held Fridays, March 12 – 26, from 1 – 5 at Berkshire Botanical Garden in West Stockbridge.

Tom Ingersoll is a Massachusetts Certified Arborist, and is also certified by the International Society of Arborists. He owns Ingersoll Landcare located in Sheffield, MA and has worked in the landscape industry for the past 23 years. His passion is tree care, and he serves both public and private clients in the tri-state region. Additionally, he serves on the boards of the Berkshire Botanical Garden and The Sheffield Tree Project.

$185 for BBG members, $200 for nonmembers. Register at https://www.berkshirebotanical.org/events/tree-care-gardeners-0