Boston Flora

Month: February 2022

  • Fridays, March 11, 18, and 25, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm – Felted Flowers in Bloom, Online

    Felted-flower bouquets have become a popular gift and are a jeweler’s and milliner’s delight when used in brooches, pins, necklaces, rings, fascinators, or hat adornments. Create a lovely bouquet of felted flowers as you explore the basics of wet-felting techniques in a workshop ideal for beginners and challenging enough for more experienced felters.

    Using your choice of art or photos for inspiration, move from two-dimensional to three-dimensional work as you create the individual elements of a flower and put them together to make botanically accurate blooms.

    This Smithsonian Associates class will be recorded. Please see our FAQ for recording terms and conditions. $135 for Smithsonian members, $155 for nonmembers. Register HERE. A kit of materials is available for $28 plus Priority Shipping. Please order no later than 7 – 10 days prior to the start of class.

    Other Information

    • The instructor is Renate Maile-Moskowitz.
    • 3 sessions, 3 hours each
    • This studio arts program is a Zoom Meeting to allow for patron and instructor interaction. All Studio Arts classes require a ticket for each participant so that the instructor can provide individual attention to every student listed on the roster.
    • If you register multiple individuals, you will be asked to supply individual names and email addresses so they can receive a Zoom link email. Please note that if there is a change in program schedule or a cancellation, we will notify you via email, and it will be your responsibility to notify other registrants in your group.
    • Unless otherwise noted, registration for streaming programs typically closes two hours prior to the start time on the date of the program.
    • Once registered, patrons should receive an automatic email confirmation from CustomerService@SmithsonianAssociates.org.
    • Separate Zoom link information will be emailed closer to the date of the program. If you do not receive your Zoom link information 24 hours prior to the start of the program, please email Customer Service for assistance.
    • View Common FAQs about our Streaming Programs on Zoom.

  • Thursday, February 24, 2:00 pm – Ethel Earley-Clark: Unearthing the History of African American Garden Clubs in America, Online

    The gardening boom and the social justice movement have reinvigorated Black garden history. One of the most fascinating figures to emerge is Ethel Earley-Clark, one of four founding members and the only woman of the Negro Garden Club of Virginia. On April 22, 1932—almost 90 years ago—Mrs. Clark was elected the organization’s first president. After 1932, African American Garden Clubs grew throughout America and represented Ethel Earley-Clark’s spirit to organize a growing number of Black women to use garden clubs as a means of civic engagement.

    Join The Garden Conservancy on February 24 at 2 pm Eastern time for this webinar, as horticulturist and landscape designer Wambui Ippolito, public horticulturist and floriculture historian Abra Lee, and Anne Spencer House & Garden Museum curator Shaun Spencer-Hester discuss how their individual interests led them to each other and to unearthing African American garden club histories, including the Negro Garden Club of Virginia.  The discussion will be on Zoom, and is $5 for Garden Conservancy members, $15 General Admission. Register HERE. Members of the Frank & Anne Cabot Society for Planned Giving have complimentary access to Garden Conservancy webinars. All Cabot Society members will automatically be sent the link to participate on the morning of the webinar. For more information about the Cabot Society, please contact Sarah Parker at sparker@gardenconservancy.org or 845.424.6500, ext. 214.

    Wambui Ippolito (left below), is the 2021 Best in Show award winner at the Philadelphia Flower Show, the largest show of its kind in North America. Born in Kenya, Ms. Ippolito was influenced by her mother’s garden in Nairobi, her grandmother’s farm in the countryside, and the natural landscapes of East Africa. A graduate of the New York Botanical Garden’s School of Horticulture, Veranda magazine named her one of “Eleven Revolutionary Female Landscape Designers and Architects You Should Know” in 2021. Ms. Ippolito lectures internationally and is the founder of the BIPOC Hort Group, a multicultural professional organization with membership from the USA, Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. She lives in New York City, where she concentrates on urban gardens, public spaces, and large estates. 

    Abra Lee (center), is an international speaker, writer, and founder of Conquer The Soil, a community which explores the history, folklore, and art of horticulture. She has spent “a whole lotta time in the dirt” as a municipal arborist and airport landscape manager. Her essays have been featured in publications including The New York Times and Wildflower Magazine. Lee is a graduate of Auburn University College of Agriculture and an alumna of the Longwood Gardens Society of Fellows, a global network of public horticulture professionals. 

    Shaun Spencer-Hester (right), is the executive director and board treasurer at the Anne Spencer House & Garden Museum, in Lynchburg, VA. The site is the former home and gardens of her grandfather, Edward Spencer, and his wife, Anne Spencer, an American poet, teacher, civil rights activist, librarian, and gardener. Anne Spencer holds an important place as a widely anthologized poet, and was the first Virginian and one of three African American women included in the highly influential Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry (1973).

  • Thursday, February 24, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm – The Parks and Gardens of Paris, Online

    According to the Ville de Paris website, the city of Paris has 490 parks, gardens and municipal squares under the responsibility of the Direction des Parcs, Jardins et Espaces Verts (DPJEV), which Haussmann established in 1855. The first gardens created next to the Tuileries Palace of Catherine de Médicis and the Luxembourg Palace of Marie de Médicis, were in the Italian style, designed to be seen from the château and to reflect the power of its occupant. The structural elements of the garden evolved into the Classical garden intended to show man’s domination of nature. These “regular” gardens reached their apogee under André Le Nôtre and his gardens at Vaux-le-Vicomte, Versailles and Chantilly, but also at the Tuileries. The parks and gardens created in Paris during the 19th century were inspired by the “irregular” English landscape gardens of “Capability” Brown and his successors – jardins à l’anglaise – which sought to return to nature. After a lull, Paris has enjoyed an explosion of new gardens in the past 40 years, most of them in the outer arrondissements. The current city government is determined to continue the “greening” of Paris.

    Join with others on February 24 for a one hour live webinar with speaker Russell Kelley. He has lived in Paris for 30 years and is the author of The Making of Paris: The Story of How Paris Evolved from a Fishing Village into the World’s Most Beautiful City (Lyons Press, 2021).

    This program is presented by Alliance Française Miami Metro in partnership with the Alliance Française Chicago with communication support from the Federation of Alliances Françaises USA, the French Heritage Society, the Garden Conservancy, the Historic Gardens Foundation, and WICE. $10 for members of a sponsoring organization, $20 for nonmembers. Register HERE. Garden Conservancy members use code MERCIAFMM. The program is presented in English.

  • Monday, February 21, 1:00 pm Eastern – The Life and Work of John Bradby Blake: John Bradby Blake and Chinese Go-Betweens’ Chinese Flora: A Joint Endeavour, Online

    When John Bradby Blake arrived in Canton, his goal was to collect information and seeds on Chinese plants to constitute as complete a Chinese Flora as possible. This talk at 1 pm Eastern by Dr. Josepha Richard of the Courtauld Institute of Art, UK, will provide an in-depth look into Bradby Blake’s collaborative methods through a couple of specific examples. £5. The lecture will be recorded and a link accessible for one week will be sent following the event, should you have a time conflict. Register through Eventbrite by clicking HERE.

  • Thursday, February 24 – Sunday, February 27 – 40th Annual Connecticut Flower & Garden Show: Rhythm & Blooms

    Spring 2022 will arrive early in Southern New England when the “40th Annual Connecticut Flower & Garden Show” blossoms from Thursday, February 24 through Sunday, February 27 to the Connecticut Convention Center, 100 Columbus Blvd. in Hartford, Conn. Hours: Thursday, Feb. 24 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Friday, Feb. 25 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturday, Feb. 26 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; and Sunday, Feb. 27 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

    The prestigious yearly event will be New England’s only 2022 major flower exhibition and show, covering almost two acres, offering ideas for house, apartment, and condo dwellers. “Rhythm & Blooms” is the theme of this year’s show that features expansive live gardens, a nonstop schedule of seminars and demonstrations, the Federated Garden Clubs of Connecticut’s annual Standard Flower Show, and hundreds of vendors displaying and selling all types of items.

    As soon as attendees step into the Exhibition Hall, they are welcomed by more than a dozen live gardens in full bloom by professional landscape designers and nonprofit organizations, including naturalistic, low maintenance, native, containers, vegetables, organic, herb, and pollinator gardens.

    Over 70 hours of seminars and demonstrations will be presented by horticulturalists, landscapers, and industry professionals, and are free with admission. Every day, Mar Jennings, America’s Top Lifestyle Expert and a 10-time Emmy-nominated and Telly Award-winning TV host and best-selling author, tells How to Best Increase Your Home’s Value. An impressive roster of expert speakers includes Bob Buettner, Karen Bussolini, Pamm Cooper, Jeffrey Eleveld, Len Giddix, Dr. Nick Goltz, Trish Manfredi, Laurie Masciandaro, Thomas Mickey, Charlie Nardozzi, Dawn Pettinelli, Jen Plasky of Sam Bridge Nursery & Greenhouses in Greenwich; Paul Split, Rob Townsend ;George Trecina, and Steve Walowski. [Full list and schedule of events at www.CTFlowerShow.com]

    The Federated Garden Clubs of Connecticut’s annual Standard Flower Show features over 12,000 square feet of beautiful design, horticulture, botanical arts, and photography competition with entries from members across the state – all themed “Rhythm & Blooms”.

    Always popular are the hundreds of booths of displays, activities, shopping: artisans, handcrafted gifts, fresh flowers, plants, garden ornaments, metalwork sculptures, herbs, bulbs, seeds, fertilizers, soils, gardening books, patio furniture, lawn and garden tools, equipment and more. Bring 1/2 cup of soil for free testing at the UConn Co-op booth.

    Discounted online tickets are $16 for Adults and Seniors are on sale now at www.CTFlowerShow.com.

    General admission at the door: $20 Adults & Seniors; $5 Children 5-12; Free for Children Under Age 5.

  • Friday, February 25, 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm – Shear Genius and Ripping Yarns

    The legendary woodland of the High Weald conceals and reveals an array of architecture, settings and horticultural feasts which is why Caroline Holmes chose it for her book Where the Wildness Pleases – the English Garden Celebrated. Published in July 2021 (view here), it has been well received worldwide. Watch and listen to Caroline via Zoom in this celebratory talk that will not only delve into many gardens to reveal their pleasing details but raise funds for the Kent and Sussex Garden Trusts as well as the National Garden Scheme.

    Amongst the settings there are castles such as Hever, Penshurst, Scotney; rambling English country houses like Batemans, Borde Hill, Gravetye Manor, Great Dixter, Hole Park, Leonardslee, Nymans, Stonewall, Wakehurst Place; Wealden homes like Balmoral Cottage, Falconhurst, Hammerwood Park, High Beeches, Smallhythe Place and Standen. The list goes on with more properties offering contrasting inspirations in their dramatic landscapes and glorious plantings.

    This ticket costs £5 Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days prior to the start of the talk, and again a few hours before the talk. A link to the recorded session (available for 1 week) will be sent shortly afterwards. Register at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/where-the-wildness-pleases-shear-genius-and-ripping-yarns-tickets-169776852135

  • Saturday, February 26, 12:30 pm – 2:00 pm – Clean Composting, Online

    Compost is the answer to most soil problems, such as compaction, poor water-holding ability and low fertility. In this Berkshire Botanical Garden online class on February 26 at 12:30 pm with instructor Daryl Beyers, students will discover why compost is the key to gardening sustainably and how to use it effectively to improve their garden ground to grow healthy plants. Learn the basics of composting and the techniques to create your own compost at home, using bins, tumblers, heaps or pits or directly on garden beds. Daryl Beyers is the author of The New Gardener’s Handbook: Everything you need to know to grow a beautiful and bountiful garden, available from Timber Press. As gardening certificate program coordinator at the New York Botanical Garden, he helps guide the program’s curriculum and teaches popular gardening classes. Daryl has more than twenty-five years of professional landscaping experience, specializing in residential garden design and development. As a staff writer, photographer and editor for Fine Gardening magazine, he authored two special issues on garden design and served as a contributing garden editor for Martha Stewart Living. His articles on gardening and garden design have also appeared in Horticulture and HGTV Magazine.    Register at www.berkshirebotanical.org

  • Thursday, March 3, 6:30 pm – Vizcaya: A Most Unusual American House, Online

    Morven Museum & Garden’s exciting Grand Homes & Gardens Distinguished Speakers Series returns with another stellar lineup. This year we travel to the Roaring 20’s starting at Innisfree in New York, then south to Swan House in Georgia, down to Ca’ D’Zan on Florida’s west coast; finally arriving in Miami’s Vizcaya. Held live in Morven’s Stockton Education Center, adjacent to the Museum, and simulcast on Zoom, in February and March, this illustrated lecture series brightens winter up and down the coast.

    In person program includes light refreshments tailored to the theme of each week’s featured lecturer. Online virtual program includes recipes for make-at-home fare. Tickets range from $15 – $90 (for the whole series) and may be purchased HERE.

    The final talk of this year’s series is on March 3 at 6:30 with Remko Jansonius, Senior Director, Art and Artifact Stewardship, on Vizcaya: A Most Unusual American House.

    Located along the shores of Biscayne Bay in Miami, Vizcaya was built to look like a centuries-old Italian estate, yet incorporated the most advanced technology of the day. It was the winter home of American industrialist James Deering from 1916 until his death in 1925. The house and gardens are filled with a wide array of European decorative art objects and furnishings, representing many styles and periods, countries and continents. The July 1917 issue of Architectural Review, entirely dedicated to Vizcaya, describes the estate as “the most ‘unusual’ of all the unusual American houses” illustrated that year. We will hear about Deering’s winter estate that holds the stories of tramps and movie stars, of rumrunners and prohibition.

  • Saturday, February 26, 10:30 am – 12:00 noon – Growing Nut Trees, Online

    Learn the basics of seedling nut tree propagation and understand techniques such as air pruning and stratification. Explore the world of tree crops and discover the amazing diversity of nuts that can be grown in the Northeast. This Berkshire Botanical Garden online lecture will take place February 26 at 10:30 am. $10 for BBG members, $15 for nonmembers. Register at https://www.berkshirebotanical.org/events/growing-nut-trees

    Elodie Eid is a forager and farmer who has a strong passion for bringing more nut crops to local food systems. She was first introduced to forest ecology at Binghamton University where she obtained a bachelor’s in Environment Science. Her deep passion for tree crops and food forests was inspired in part by her experience with Akiva Silver at Twisted Tree Farm, and she has always kept a small nursery of her own. Now at Arthur’s Point Farm in Ghent, NY, she is able to live out her passions by propagating trees and connecting growers in the Northeast.

  • Wednesday, March 9, 9:30 am – 11:30 am – Drawing Plants & Flowers, Online

    Explore the beauty and variety of plant forms with pencil and paper on March 9 from 9:30 – 11:30 am. Taught by a scientific illustrator, the emphasis in this online Harvard Museum of Natural History workshop will be on close observation and realistic representation. We will explore a range of techniques for achieving more accurate drawings and will delve into contour, gesture, foreshortening, and shading to create volume and depth. Groups will be limited to twelve, allowing ample time for individual feedback. All skill levels are welcome.

    HMNH Members $30/Nonmembers $35.

    Advance registration required.

    Class will be held over Zoom. To join the program, you will need to download the free Zoom app in advance. If you already have Zoom, you do not need to download it again. For details on how to improve your Zoom experience, visit the How to Attend an HMSC Program webpage.