Daily Archives: February 7, 2022


Sunday, February 27, 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm – Botanical Gardens World Tour: Innisfree and Fairchild Tropical Garden, Online

Smithsonian Associates invites you to indulge in a colorful midwinter escape 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 27, the third and final installment will feature Innisfree and Fairchild Tropical Garden.

Travel from the scenic Hudson River Valley to subtropical peninsular Florida to visit two diverse gardens. Developed between 1930 and 1960, Innisfree was the private garden of Walter and Marion Beck and drew its inspiration from scroll paintings of the 8th-century Chinese poet and painter Wang Wei. With the help of landscape architect Lester Collins from Harvard University, the garden journey was shaped to lead visitors through individual “cup” garden scenes inspired by the Chinese paintings, which meld seamlessly into one large cup around a glacial lake.

Fairchild Tropical Garden in Coral Gables (below) melds a sublime subtropical landscape with important plant collections and horticultural excellence, as well as research, conservation, and education. Palms are a particular specialty, with an outstanding collection of over 400 species. An internationally important collection of more than 3,700 cycads is displayed in sweeping beds under spreading oaks. The conservatory features orchids, aroids, and bromeliads. The garden is set against a backdrop of lakes in a park-like setting.

Presenter C. Colston Burrell is a lecturer, garden designer, and photographer. The author of 12 gardening books, he has twice won the American Horticulture Society Book Award.

$25 for Smithsonian Associates members, $30 for nonmembers. Register HERE.


Thursday, February 17, 10:00 am – Garden Club of the Back Bay February Meeting – A Growth of Trees: A Journey Through Time, Online


No single view of a tree is a fixed snapshot in time that tells the complete story. Join Michael Wojtech and discover how trees grow, reproduce, and interact with their environment across days, weeks, seasons, and years and over varying scales—from the intricate details of buds, flowers, leaves, and bark that we use for species identification to the collaborative roles of trees in ecosystems. Learn more about the function and experience the beauty of characteristics such as peeling bark, overwintering buds, lobed or toothed leaves, flowers by the thousands, and seeds that fly on the wind. This Garden Club of the Back Bay meeting will take place February 17 at 10:00 am.

Michael Wojtech earned his Masters degree in Conservation Biology at Antioch University New England, where his coursework brought a welcomed, intense immersion into the natural history and ecology of the plants, critters, and other organisms in the landscape. As a naturalist and educator, he strives to share the science and wonder of trees in an accessible and compelling fashion. He writes, photographs, illustrates, and presents programs about the structure, growth processes, and ecology of trees—including their bark, buds, leaves, roots, and wood—for audiences at all levels of experience.  

Michael previously presented to the Garden Club of the Back Bay in 2013, when he spoke to us about his book, Bark: A Field Guide to Trees of the Northeast.  We are delighted to bring Michael back to speak to us  again!  To learn more about Michael Wojtech, visit his website at http://knowyourtrees.com. Please rsvp by February 11th by clicking HERE.  A ZOOM link will be sent a few days before the program.  The program will not be recorded.