Boston Flora

Month: March 2021

  • Friday, April 9, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm – Native Plants and the Future of Public Spaces Symposium, Online

    The events of 2020 altered the way we gather and therefore, the ways we design and use spaces. What does this mean for the future of outdoor public spaces like parks and gardens, and what are the potential roles of native plants in these new scenarios? Join Native Plant Trust on April 9 from 1 – 4 for a virtual symposium in which prominent landscape and horticulture professionals explore these pressing questions through a keynote, interactive workshop and panel discussion. Reserve your spot and keep checking http://www.nativeplanttrust.org/events/native-plants-and-future-public-spaces-symposium/ for the most up-to-date details. $45 for NPT members, $54 for nonmembers.

  • Thursday, April 15, 2:00 pm – The Long Weekend: Life in the English Country House, 1918 – 1939, Online

    It is said that there is nothing quite as beautiful as an English country house in summer. And there has never been a summer quite like the summers between the two world wars, a period in which the sun set slowly on the British Empire and the shadows lengthened on the lawns of a thousand stately homes.

    Life in the English country house during this period was often punctuated by glamorous parties and decadent gatherings, with all of the occupants above and below stairs conspiring to protect the idea and image of the country house.

    Join historian and author Adrian Tinniswood and the Royal Oak Foundation on April 15 at 2 pm as he discusses and illustrates these houses—some designed by the leading architects of the period such as Edwin Lutyens and Philip Tilden while others were bought up by the newly rich and “historicized” with salvaged bits from elsewhere. He will show some of the modernized new Art Deco decoration, such as the onyx-walled bathroom at Middleton Park, as well as the old faded grandeur of the inherited country house.

    But above all, he will explore these homes through the lends of the house parties, or Saturday-to-Mondays, full of exhausting dress codes, extravagant parties, a full schedule of activities (including corridor creeping!), and a generation of characters. From society decorator Sibyl Colefax, burning rosemary on saucers so that her Chelsea villa might smell enticing to guests she hoped to bag as clients; to the future Edward VIII doing his needlepoint on a low modern sofa at the newly remodeled Fort Belvedere in Windsor Great Park.

    Drawing on hundreds of memoirs and unpublished letters and diaries, on the eye-witness testimonies of belted earls and unhappy heiresses, Tinniswood’s lecture is filled with entertaining stories and gossip more fantastical than Downton Abbey.

    Adrian Tinniswood is a Senior Research Fellow in History at the University of Buckingham. He is the author of 15 books on architectural and social history including the New York Times bestseller The Long Weekend: Life in the English Country House Between the Wars and Behind the Throne: A Domestic History of the Royal Household.

    His most recent book is The House Party: A Short History of Leisure, Pleasure and the Country House Weekend. Tinniswood was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2013 Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to heritage.

  • Wednesday, April 14, 12:00 noon – 1:00 pm – Maximizing Space in the Garden: Creating More of a Good Thing, Online

    No matter if you’re gardening in a close-knit neighborhood or a sprawling estate, you want to garden efficiently, prolifically, sustainably, and beautifully. You need to garden smartly and you’ve got to conserve your resources.

    This Ecological Landscape Alliance free online lecture on April 14 at noon focuses on all the points on your checklist. When you layer a garden, not only do you maximize space, but you can also create hardworking habitats. You can fulfill a balance between what you need and what nature needs.

    Using her own garden that speaker Tovah Martin calls Furthermore as an example, I describe how to create layers in varied habitats including the perennial, berry, and vegetable gardens. The result is visually fulfilling, low maintenance, and mulch-eliminating when plants go wall-to-wall. This lecture shares how that shakes down to serve our needs as well as the needs of pollinators and other creatures. You can expect to hear many innovative ideas beyond the usual solutions. Register at www.ecolandscaping.org.

    Tovah Martin is an avid (verging on obsessed) gardener indoors and outside. She is the author of many gardening books. Her latest title, The Garden in Every Sense and Season received GardenComm’s Gold Medal Media Award in 2019. That book follows The Indestructible Houseplant, The Unexpected Houseplant, and The New Terrarium, and  Tasha Tudor’s Garden.

    A freelance writer, Tovah’s articles have appeared in publications throughout the country including Country Home, Traditional Home, Martha Stewart Living, New England Home, Flower, Cottage Journal, and many more. Tovah has also had numerous television appearances. She is the recipient of their medal for outstanding literary achievement and received the Gustav Mehlquist Award—the highest honor bestowed by the Connecticut Horticultural Society. She is an accredited Organic Land Care Professional through NOFA   With lifelong experience with indoor gardening, she also serves as a houseplant coach.

    For more information, Tovah can be found at www.tovahmartin.com.

  • Friday, April 9, 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm – Behind the Scenes of the Hanging Nasturtiums, Online

    Friday, April 9, 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm – Behind the Scenes of the Hanging Nasturtiums, Online

    Enjoy a virtual behind-the-scenes look at the Hanging Nasturtiums display at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum with Erika Rumbley, The Stanley P. Kozak Director of Horticulture, and horticulturist Lindsay Grimes. During this April 9 noontime talk, Erika and Lindsay will explore the life cycle of our Nasturtiums, explain how this iconic display comes together over the course of nine months, and take us into the greenhouse (virtually!) to see where the Nasturtiums are grown. After the program, participate in a Q&A about the installation. Free for members of the Gardner Museum. To join and participate, visit https://www.gardnermuseum.org/calendar/event/behind-scenes-hanging-nasturtiums

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  • Thursday, April 1, 2:00 pm – Under Western Skies, Online

    In her new book, Under Western Skies: Visionary Gardens from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Coast (Timber Press, April 2021), author Jennifer Jewell takes us on a journey to 36 gardens that celebrate the diverse landscapes of the western United States, each of which reflects the very soul of the land on which they grow.

    In this April 1 Garden Conservancy webinar, Jennifer will be joined by Wyllie Roderick, one of the garden designers featured in her book, to discuss these gardens, which underscore the strong relationship between garden and place. Wyllie Roderick is an award-winning landscape architect and founding principal of Surfacedesign, Inc. He brings a comprehensive knowledge of plants and years of experience working on both public and private projects. Leading the office’s residential, estate and vineyard design efforts, Roderick integrates his passion for craft and vast knowledge of material construction to inform all phases of the design process. 

    Jennifer Jewell is the creator and host of public radio’s award-winning weekly program and podcast, Cultivating Place, Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden.She lives and gardens in interior Northern California; The Earth in Her Hands: 75 Extraordinary Women Working in the World of Plants (Timber Press, March 2020) was her first book. Her second, in collaboration with photographer Caitlin Atkinson, Under Western Skies, Visionary Gardens from the Rockies to the Pacific, is due out from Timber Press in late April 2021. 

    Please note that registration will end 24 hours prior to this webinar.
    $5 Garden Conservancy members – webinar only
    $15 General admission – webinar only
    $35 Webinar and one copy of Under Western Skies book (to be released and shipped in late April)

    Garden Conservancy educational programs are made possible in part by the generous support of the Coleman and Susan Burke Distinguished Lecture Fund, Lenhardt Education Fund, and the Celia Hegyi Matching Grant, with additional support from Ritchie Battle, Mrs. Camille Butrus, Melissa and John Ceriale, and Susan and William McKinley.

  • Wednesday, March 31, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – M & S Schmalberg, NYC’s Last Custom Fabric Flower Factory Webinar

    What do Rihanna, Anne Hathaway, and Reese Witherspoon all have in common? Tucked away on the 7th floor of a building in the heart of the New York City’s Garment District is a century-old business that has created fabric flowers for everyone including A-list celebrities and film & television productions. It’s time to explore the origins of a once flourishing industry, and see the very last facility of its kind in New York where these floral creations are all made — one individual flower at a time.

    Join New York Adventure Club for a virtual showcase of M&S Schmalberg, a fourth-generation family-owned business in Manhattan’s Garment District that has been hand-making custom fabric flowers for over 100 years.

    Led by owner Adam Brand, our virtual experience with the last custom flower maker in New York City will include:

    • An overview of the artificial flora industry, and how fast fashion and offshoring have affected the niche fashion craft
    • The history of M&S Schmalberg, from brothers Morris and Sam Schmalberg starting the business in 1916, to becoming the premier fabric flower makers for top fashion designers including Oscar de la Renta, Ralph Lauren, and Marc Jacobs
    • A digital walkthrough of the historic factory to see the fabric flower process from beginning to end — from cutting out the fabrics in a myriad of different designs, to hand assembling petals into tulips, carnations, or other varieties
    • Exclusive videos showcasing the century-old cutting machines and custom-made hydraulic presses in action, all manually operated by the company’s veteran artisans

    Stick around afterward for a Q&A with Adam — any and all questions about fabric flowers are welcomed and encouraged! Can’t make it live? Don’t worry, you’ll have access to the full replay for one week. $10. Register at www.nyadventureclub.com

  • Wednesday, March 31, 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm Eastern Time – Unforgettable Gardens – Heale Garden, Online

    Wednesday, March 31, 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm Eastern Time – Unforgettable Gardens – Heale Garden, Online

    The Gardens Trust out of Great Britain will host an online event on March 31 at 2 pm Eastern on Heale Garden. Heale, at Middle Woodford just north of Salisbury, is a glorious garden of nine acres, surrounding a house that remains largely unchanged since King Charles II hid here in 1651. The timeless atmosphere of the gardens at Heale is the result of the creative endeavors of Harold Peto, who originally designed the gardens in 1906 and many generations of the Rasch family, each who have left their mark. A chalk stream, well stocked with trout, runs through the gardens and under an authentic Japanese tea house. There is a varied collection of plants, shrubs, musk and other roses growing in the formal setting of clipped hedges and mellow stonework. Before her marriage, Frances Rasch worked as a restorer specializing in gilding, lacquer work and painted furniture. During her early years at Heale, Anna Pavord acted as Frances’s mentor, before she completed a course at The English Gardening School with Rosemary Alexander. Frances is currently a member of The RHS’s herbaceous committee. She is actively involved in promoting plants, judging at shows and working on the trials.

    Cost is five pounds ($7). Register on Eventbrite HERE. The Zoom link will be sent to registrants a few days before the talk.

  • Thursday, March 25, 6:00 pm – 7:15 pm – All About Dried Chilies, Online

    Heat—not the flame on your stovetop or the temperature of your oven, but heat that is built into ingredients—is a culinary tool. Milk Street approaches it like we approach sweetness, bitterness or sourness. Providing contrast, dimension and interest, spicy heat is an essential element that you need to be comfortable manipulating for successful home cooking.

    In this online March 25 class, beginning at 6 pm Eastern, we will focus on dried chilies. You’ll learn when and why we use dried chilies whole, toasted, puréed and powdered as we prepare Orange-Guajillo Chili Pulled Chicken (a take on Sinaloan chilorio). Plus, we’ll cover the simple art of homemade chili oils, how to identify good-quality dried chilies, and the characteristics of our most-used chili powders. You’ll leave this class eager to experiment with more dried chilies in all their forms.

    You can access the full recipe for the Orange-Guajillo Chili Pulled Chicken here. For the chili oil, there’s no hard-and-fast recipe. Simple have a combination of the following ingredients: oil, dried chili pepper(s) (whole, flaked or powdered are all fine); and, optionally, bonus ingredients like garlic and whole spices (such as cumin seeds, coriander seeds, black peppercorns and fennel seeds).

    A note about spiciness: we rarely maximize it at Milk Street. In this class, we’ll teach you how to coax out the complex flavors underneath the kick and show you how to make substitutions to get the right amount of spice for you. Bonus: All attendees of this class will receive a 15% off coupon to the Milk Street Store after class.

    This event has limited spots, and you must register in advance via Eventbrite. One sign-up covers one device. Closed Captioning is available for this event; please indicate in the sign-up form that you require Closed Captioning to access it.

    Immediately after registering, you will get a confirmation email that contains the Zoom meeting log-in information and the recipe we will make in class. After class, you will receive a recording of the event, as well as a packet with recipes and resources. If you have any questions about this class, please don’t hesitate to get in touch via cookingschool@177milkstreet.com.

    $25. Payments for Milk Street live stream classes are non-refundable. If you find yourself unable to attend, you may transfer the ticket to someone else, but we are unable to refund fees and all payments are final. Register HERE

    Proceeds from live stream cooking classes support Milk Street’s non-profit work with The Big Sisters Association of Greater Boston, The Boys & Girls Club of Dorchester, and other partners.

  • Tuesday, April 6, 2:00 pm – Romantic Irish Country Houses, Online

    What is it that gives the Irish house such a distinctive character? Why should their personality—and that of their owners—be so often idiosyncratic and eccentric? And how is it that there remains plenty of houses where shabby chic has been the norm for generations?

    In an amusing and informative Royal Oak Foundation online talk on April 6 at 2 pm, mixing history with anecdote, author Robert O’Byrne offers a tour of some of Ireland’s unusual houses.

    These include the family home whose present occupant has rescued everything connected with his ancestors—including their tombstones. And a house where so much plaster had already fallen off the walls that its owner simply took a hammer to clear away the rest. Then there is the stately home where the maid reputedly fell through the ceiling—landing safely on the dining room table. Robert’s introduction to these houses’ history and unique characteristics will entertain and enlighten.

    Robert O’Byrne is a writer and lecturer specialising in the fine and decorative arts. He is the author of more than a dozen books, among them Luggala Days: The Story of a Guinness House (Cico Books); Romantic Irish Homes, Romantic English Homes: A Tribute to Desmond FitzGerald, 29th Knight of Glin (Lilliput Press), and The Irish Aesthete: Ruins of Ireland (2019).

    A former Vice-President of the Irish Georgian Society and trustee of the Alfred Beit Foundation, he is currently a trustee of the Apollo Foundation. Among other work he writes a monthly column for Apollo magazine, and also contributes to each issue of the quarterly Irish Arts Review.

    $20. Register HERE

  • Thursday, April 1, 12:00 noon – 1:30 pm – Zoe Leonard

    The Harvard Graduate School of Design will stream the Rouse Visiting Artist online lecture on April 1 at noon. New York-based artist Zoe Leonard balances rigorous conceptualism with a distinctly personal vision in her work, which merges photography, sculpture, and installation. By employing strategies of repetition, shifting perspectives, and a multitude of printing processes, Leonard’s practice probes the politics of representation and display. Leonard explores themes such as gender and sexuality, loss and mourning, migration, displacement, and the urban landscape. Her photography specifically invites us to contemplate the role that the medium plays in constructing history, and to consider the roots of contemporary photographic culture. More than its focus on any particular subject, however, Leonard’s work encourages the viewer to reconsider the act of looking itself, drawing attention to observation as a complex, ongoing process.

    Leonard has exhibited extensively since the late 1980s, including solo exhibitions at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (2018), Museum of Modern Art, New York (2015), Chinati Foundation, Marfa, Texas (2013-14); Camden Arts Centre, London (2012); Museum Moderner Kunst Stifting Ludwig, Vienna (2009), Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich (2009); Reina Sofia, Madrid (2008), Dia: Beacon (2008); The Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, Ohio (2007); Fotomuseum Wintherthur (2007); Philadelphia Museum of Art (1998); Kunsthalle Basel (1997); Secession, Vienna (1997), and The Renaissance Society, Chicago (1993). Group exhibitions include Documenta IX (1992), Documenta XII (2007), and Whitney Biennials in 1993, 1997 and 2014. Publications include Analogue (2007),  Zoe Leonard: Photographs (2008), You see I am here after all (2010), Available Light (2014), and Survey (2018).

    How to Join

    Register to attend the lecture here. Once you have registered, you will be provided with a link to join the lecture via Zoom. This link will also be emailed to you.

    The event will also be live streamed to the GSD’s YouTube page. Only viewers who are attending the lecture via Zoom will be able to submit questions for the Q+A. If you would like to submit questions for the speakers in advance of the event, please click here. Live captioning will be provided during this event. A transcript will be available roughly two weeks after the event, upon request.