Boston Flora

Month: January 2022

  • Wednesdays, February 2 – February 23, 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm – Ecology Lecture Series: Invasive and Non-Invasive Plants, Online

    Join the Berkshire Botanical Garden for all four lectures in our ecology lecture series presented in partnership with Tower Hill Botanic Garden. Please note, all lectures are offered online and it is possible to register for individual lectures. The talks will take place Wednesdays, February 2 – 23 from 6:30 – 7:30 pm.

    On February 2, the topic is Iconic Birds of Massachusetts and their Habitat. With a wide range of available habitats, Massachusetts is home to a fascinating array of birds. Join an experienced naturalist from Mass Audubon for an engaging talk about the noteworthy birds of Massachusetts and their incredible life histories. From migration to surviving the cold winters, we will explore the brilliance and challenges of our northeastern birds. This talk will include a captivating slideshow and discussion from a life-long naturalist with a passion for birds. Learn more about these avian friends and where to find them.

    February 9 brings Building Healthy Soil in Harmony with Nature. Soil in many ways is the bedrock of successful environmental systems. Without good, healthy soil, these systems can collapse. Despite the importance of soil, we often don’t take the time to understand how it works, how we can cause it harm, and ways we can improve it. In this webinar we will explore the science of soil, learn what healthy soil is composed of and how it is created, and discover ways to prevent damaging soil. By the end you will begin to see how gardening in harmony with nature can build healthy soil, healthy plants, and rich ecosystems. Lecturer Duncan Himmelman, PhD, is the former Education Manager at Mt. Cuba Center, a consultant on garden design and plant selection, and a frequent lecturer on many horticultural topics. After earning his doctorate in Ornamental Horticulture from Cornell University and serving on the faculty of Olds College for 24 years, Duncan remains committed to nurturing the talents of people who share his love of plants, nature, and gardening.

    February 16 is the date of Invasive and Non-Native Plants with Mark Richardson. A common topic when discussing habitat health is invasive and non-native species. Many of us know some species that we would refer to as invasive or non-native. Many of us have also been told how to think about or manage those species. However, rarely do we discuss what makes a plant invasive or non-native, if that criteria changed, what the data is currently showing about their presence if management practices adjusted with more data, and how climate change is impacting our view of invasive and non-native plants. These are just a few of the questions we should be asking. This lecture will discuss what classifies a plant as invasive or non-native and introduce some of those questions about a subject that touches all of our lives. 

    Mark Richardson has been the Director of Horticulture for Tower Hill Botanic Garden since 2018. He previously served as Botanic Garden Director for New England Wild Flower Society, where he oversaw Garden in the Woods and Nasami Farm native plant nursery. He has a passion for ecological horticulture and native plants and is co-author of Native Plants for New England Gardens (Globe Pequot, 2018).

    The final talk on February 23 is Wildflowers of Massachusetts. This program will feature the native wildflowers of a variety of natural habitats in Massachusetts, including forests, meadows, and wetlands. The emphasis will be on the early-blooming ephemeral wildflowers that will be in bloom in late April and May …something to anticipate in the depths of winter! 

    Ted Elliman worked for many years for Native Plant Trust as a staff botanist, invasive species program manager, and instructor of botany, ecology, and conservation classes. His book, The Wildflowers of New England, an identification guide to the region’s native flora, was published in 2016 by Timber Press. In the 1980’s, Ted started and directed an environmental education and wilderness adventure center in the Berkshires. Since the mid-1990’s, he has periodically led natural history tours to southwest China, where he worked for two years as a teacher and forest ecologist.

    $40 for BBG and THBG members, $60 for nonmembers. Register on either sponsor’s website. The link to the BBG registration is HERE.

  • Thursday, February 3, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm – Predatory Plants, Online

    Insectivorous and parasitic plants have evolved nutritional modes that are unlike the rest of the plant world, where self-sufficiency is the norm. This Native Plant Trust online class on February 3 from 1 – 4 covers more familiar pitcher plants, sundews, and dodder vines as well as lesser known groups such as the bladderworts and broom rapes (pictured below). Learn about the habitats, unusual life cycles, and curious behavior of these New England plants. Led by Neela de Zoysa, the class is $45 for NPT members, $54 for nonmembers. Register at http://www.nativeplanttrust.org/events/predatory-plants/

  • Tuesday, February 8, 10 am GMT- Forgotten Women Gardeners: Miss Willmott’s Ghosts, Online

    This February 8 Gardens Trust online lecture will focus on The Gardens of Ellen Ann Willmott through her own lens with Sandra Lawrence. £5. Register through Eventbrite 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.

    Horticulturalist, musician, botanist and polymath, Miss Ellen Willmott created three world-class gardens in the late 19th/early 20th centuries. None remain in the state in which she would have known them and two – at Warley Place in Essex and Tresserve in the French Alps – were destroyed after her death in 1934. Thanks to another of Willmott’s obsessions, however, we can at least glimpse into her world. We are only just beginning to understand the full extent of Ellen Willmott’s photography – which was both wide-ranging and high quality – and her published material represents a very small part of her output. This talk will explore Willmott’s gardens through her own images, many of which are newly discovered, discussing her techniques and comparing what she captured with what is left today.

    Sandra Lawrence has written for all the broadsheets, many magazines and websites. Her fifteen books, for adults and children, include The Witch’s Garden (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew /Welbeck) and Anthology of Amazing Women (20-Watt). The Magic of Mushrooms will be published by Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew/ Welbeck in autumn 2022.

    Sandra first became interested in Ellen Willmott when she attended an open day at Warley Place as a child circa forty years ago and interest eventually turned to obsession. Her new biography, Miss Willmott’s Ghosts, will be published by Manilla in May 2022.

  • Sunday, February 13, 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm – Botanical Gardens World Tour: Betty Ford Alpine Gardens and Western Australia Botanic Garden, Online

    Indulge in a colorful midwinter escape with Smithsonian Associates as horticultural experts lead a series of virtual visits that highlight the beauty of notable botanical gardens in settings as far-flung as Shanghai, the Hudson River Valley, and Australia. In vibrant visuals they explore how each garden has taken a unique approach to design and interpretation as they all celebrate plant collections, conservation, education, and the distinctive environments and landscapes in which they bloom. On February 13, the focus will be on the Betty Ford Alpine Gardens and Western Australia Botanic Garden.

    The only garden in North America to focus solely on alpine plants, Betty Ford Alpine Gardens (below) in the Colorado Rockies is the highest-altitude public garden on the continent. Compact and exquisitely landscaped, it interprets the diversity and complexity of alpine plants of the world. Superb horticulture and educational signage are hallmarks of this remarkable garden. 

    Located in the world’s most remote provincial capital, Western Australia Botanic Garden is the jewel of Perth. Set above the Swan River in Kings Park, its landscape displays a highly regionalized collection of plants. Southwestern Australia is one of the earth’s five Endemic Kingdoms for plant diversity, making this garden one of the world’s most unique living laboratories. 

    Presenter Keith Tomlinson, superintendent of the American Horticultural Society, has worked as a naturalist for 35 years and studied wilderness areas and botanical gardens around the world. His is the author of numerous technical and popular articles on the conservation of plant diversity, botanical garden travel, and environmental education.

    $25 for Smithsonian Associates members, $30 for nonmembers. You also save if you sign up for the entire series, with additional sessions on February 20 and February 27. Register HERE.

  • Wednesday, February 9, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm – Regenerating Suburbia One Garden at a Time, Online

    Landscape design professionals can play a key role in regenerating our monocultural suburban landscapes. Understanding why this work is so vitally important and how we can create beautiful (even luxuriant) landscapes that capture carbon, create habitat in support of our native pollinators, and contribute to the cooling of the earth’s atmosphere.

    Nadia Malarkey will share the philosophy that drives her work in the regeneration of landscapes, showing images from her own commissioned residential projects. These examples illustrate the use of a spatial design aesthetic for viable bio-diverse functional landscapes.

    Ms. Malarkey’s gardens have inspired her clients with a deeper sense of environmental stewardship as well as drawn their friends and neighbors to the native plant aesthetic. This webinar, sponsored by the Ecological Landscape Alliance, takes place February 9 at 1 pm, and is free to ELA members, $10 for nonmembers. Register at www.ecolandscaping.org

  • Thursday, February 3, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm – The Gardens of the Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte, Online

    This illustrated lecture via Zoom, live from France, is part of a series that traces the evolution of the French garden from the enclosed gardens of the Middle Ages, through the magnificent Renaissance gardens created by Italian gardeners in the Loire Valley for the Valois kings upon their return from the Italian Wars in the 16th century, through the Classical gardens created by André Le Nôtre for Louis XIV and his court in and around Paris in the 17th century, through the landscape jardins à l’anglaise that swept France from the late 18th through the late 19th century, and ending with the revival of the formal jardins à la française at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. After an introductory lecture to give an overview of the development of the French garden and their designers over the past 500 years, the owners and historians of six of France’s most prestigious state- and privately-owned gardens open to the public will tell the stories of how their gardens were designed – and often redesigned more than once over the centuries – evoking the key designers and historical figures and events associated with their gardens. The series will conclude with an overview of the major parks and gardens of Paris.

    Between 1641 and 1661, Louis XIV’s Superintendent of Finances Nicolas Fouquet built the magnificent Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte 34 miles/55 km southeast of Paris. He hired the architect Louis Le Vau to design the château, the artist Charles Le Brun to decorate it, and the landscape architect André Le Nôtre to design its gardens and park. It was the trio’s first major collaboration and became the model for the French Baroque style, less dependent on Italian influences. The gardens of Vaux represent the pioneering work of the French formal garden, where for the first time Le Nôtre created a garden from scratch as an extension of Le Vau’s château. The garden is celebrated for its perfect symmetry and Le Nôtre’s trademark “long perspective”, defined by a central axis that disappears into the distance. Inspired by the grandeur of Vaux-le-Vicomte, Louis XIV soon retained the team of Le Vau, Le Brun and Le Nôtre to build the château and gardens of Versailles.

    Speaker Alexandre de Vogüé and his two brothers are the fifth generation of their family since 1875 to own the Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte. Alexandre spent his childhood at Vaux, went to university in Paris, and then spent the next 20 years in Chamonix and traveling the world as a professional mountain guide. In 2011 he returned to Vaux, where he is now Director of Development and President of the French and International Friends of Vaux-le-Vicomte Conservancy. Alexandre is also responsible for Vaux’s art collection. He and his brothers are co-authors of A Day at Vaux-le-Vicomte (Les Éditions Flammarion, 2015). A new book about the domain, Vaux-le-Vicomte – Private Invitation, by Guillaume Picon, was published by Les Éditions Flammarion in October 2021.

    All the lectures will be in English. $20 – General admission $10 – Garden Conservancy members with code MERCIAFMM Register HERE.

  • Wednesday, February 9, 11:00 am – The Indigenous Roots of Sustainable Forestry, Online

    Building upon a millennia-old tradition of environmental stewardship, Indigenous peoples have developed innovative systems to manage the forests that remain under their sovereign control in ways that support commercial enterprise, protect cultural use, and promote ecosystem health. Join Michael Dockry, Ph.D., as he discusses current forest management projects and the increase in partnerships between Indigenous communities and federal and state forest managers.

    Michael Dockry, Ph.D., is a professor of Tribal Natural Resource Management at the University of Minnesota and a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. His academic focus is on incorporating Indigenous knowledge into forestry and natural resource management, supporting tribal sovereignty, and addressing tribal environmental issues.

    This online New York Botanical Garden lecture will take place February 9 at 11 am. $15 for NYBG members, $18 for nonmembers. Register HERE.

  • Wednesday, February 9, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm – Harvard University Herbaria Live Tour

    Native Plant Trust has partnered with staff at university herbaria throughout New England to offer a special inside look at the region’s most impressive plant specimen collections. The February in person program will feature the Harvard University Herbaria with Michaela Schmull, on February 9 from 1 – 2. $15 for Native Plant Trust members, $18 for nonmembers. Register at http://www.nativeplanttrust.org/events/harvard-university-herbaria/

  • Wednesday, February 2, 2:00 pm – A Princely Estate: The Duchy of Cornwall, Online

    The Duchy of Cornwall is England’s first and oldest dukedom founded in 1337 by King Edward III for his son and proclaimed heir, Richard of Woodstock – the Black Prince. The estate was created to provide the heir apparent to throne and his family with an income during the period he was Prince of Wales.

    Today, almost 700 years later, the Duchy performs the same role it did at the outset. The present holder of the title is His Royal Highness, Charles, Prince of Wales and the estate will pass to his son, Prince William, when he accedes to the throne.

    In his Royal Oak Foundation talk on February 2 at 2 pm, Ian Cox will explore this unique English institution and look at its history, its holdings and some of its peculiarities. The work and stewardship of the Duchy by Prince Charles, the longest serving Duke of Cornwall, will be considered and projects such as the organic farm at Highgrove and Poundbury new town in Dorset will be highlighted. Ian Cox studied at the Universities of Keele, London and Glasgow. He developed his career as a decorative arts historian in the 1980s and was the Director of the Christie’s Decorative Arts Programme at the University of Glasgow and then Director of Studies for Christie’s Education in London. Ian also ran a prestigious Decorative Arts Summer School for Christie’s in New York and was Co-Director of the Victorian Society of America London Summer School. Ian has published widely in the history of the decorative arts, particularly on furniture and ceramics. In more recent times, he has directed cultural holiday programmes for the ACE foundation in Cambridge and is a regular round the world lecturer for the Seabourn and Silverseas cruise lines. He has been a lecturer for The Royal Oak Foundation in the USA since 2006.

    In addition to the live lecture, you may choose to purchase a rental version of the talk, available from February 3 – February 14. $15 for Royal Oak members, $20 for nonmembers. Register at https://www.royal-oak.org/events/winter-2022/cornwall/

  • Tuesday, February 1, 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm, GMT – Forgotten Women Gardeners: A Passion for Plants and Politics, Lady Dorothy Nevill, Online

    This February 1 Gardens Trust online talk focuses on the turbulent life of Lady Dorothy Nevill (1826-1913), who gardened at Dangstein, W. Sussex, where she amassed an enviable plant collection and interacted with Sir William Hooker of Kew and Charles Darwin. Although occasionally tainted by scandal, Lady Dorothy survived it all through a passion for both plants and politics.

    Dr Catherine Horwood is an experienced speaker and the author of many books on social history including Gardening Women. Their Stories from 1600 to the Present (Virago, 2010) and Potted History – How Houseplants Took Over Our Homes (Pimpernel Press, 2020). Her biography Beth Chatto: A Life with Plants (Pimpernel Press, 2019) was selected as the European Garden Book of the Year in 2020.

    £5. 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. Register through Eventbrite HERE.