Boston Flora

Month: February 2022

  • Monday, February 7, 1:00 pm Eastern Time – The Life and Work of John Bradby Blake, Online

    The Gardens Trust presents a series of six online talks on Mondays from February 7 – March 14 at 1 pm Eastern time, exploring the extraordinary life and work of John Bradby Blake (1745 – 1773). Zoom access to each lecture may be purchased for £5 each or all 6 for £24. Each lecture is recorded and a link will be sent, accessible for one week, for those who have a time conflict. These Gardens Trust lectures have been uniformly excellent, and purchase through Eventbrite may be accessed by clicking HERE.

    John Bradby Blake’s life was short but exceptional. During a span of only three years in the southern Chinese port city of Canton, Blake and his Chinese artist(s) produced several hundred exquisite, botanically accurate, colored drawings of Chinese plants, many of which were unknown in the West. Hidden from public view for more than two centuries, these singular and historically crucial collaborative artistic creations have only recently resurfaced.

    This series of six illustrated talks, focusing on the botanical drawings, will lead you into a previously unknown world in London and Canton, which Blake participated in and shaped. It will explore the many meanings of the material results of a rich and unique cross-cultural encounter which continued to reverberate for decades after his death.

    Our speakers, who have worked closely together on the Blake drawings and associated, scattered manuscripts and texts (in Chinese and western languages), are experts in the fields of botany, art history, garden history and the history of science; and they come to you from the United Kingdom, the United States and Taiwan.

    The first talk on February 7 is entitled An Englishman Abroad: An Introduction to the Life and Times of John Bradby Blake, with Sir Peter Crane FRS, Oak Spring Garden Foundation in Virginia. Sir Peter writes: I first encountered the name of John Bradby Blake about a decade ago. Later, arriving at the Oak Spring Garden Foundation, I was surprised to discover a large archive of Bradby Blake material among the rare books and manuscripts assembled by the philanthropist Rachel Lambert Mellon. This unpublished archive, which includes a collection of more than 150 magnificent plant portraits, provides a rich insight into the activities of an emerging botanical scholar who was working as a trader for the British East India Company in Canton and Macau in the early 1770s.

  • Tuesday, February 15, 10:00 am GMT – Forgotten Women Gardeners: Viscountess Frances Wolseley, Online

    The Gardens Trust presents the last in a series on Forgotten Women Gardeners with a focus on Viscountess Frances Wolseley at Glynde and Beyone with Garden Historian Twigs Way, on February 15 . £5. Register 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. The live airing is incredibly early in the US, but the recording link comes very quickly.

    Founder of one of the earliest gardening schools for women, Frances Garnet Wolseley (1872-1936) was a champion of women’s right to work, and a lover of gardens. She was also a prolific author on topics relating both to her gardening school, women’s role on the land, and the countryside of Sussex. Her books on Gardening for Women (1908) and Women on the Land (1916) went beyond the confines of the school to suggest ways in which women could lead a revival of market co-operatives and smallholdings. During the war she took on official roles promoting the employment of women in farming but never lost her interest in the theory and practice of garden design.

    Twigs Way is a garden historian, writer and researcher. Twigs’ talks and books reflect themes of symbolism and meaning, class and gender, art and literature, and her desire to follow unknown paths towards the unexpected. Twigs has a specific interest in the roles of women in and out of the garden, which was the topic of her first book. Twigs is an accredited Arts Society lecturer and her history of the Chrysanthemum in art and culture was published by Reaktion in 2020. She is currently working on the equally golden daffodil, but dreams of having a publisher for a biography of Frances Garnet Wolseley.

  • Friday, February 11, 2:00 pm – Valentine Flowers Design Class with Nancy Cyr, Online

    Friday, February 11, 2:00 pm – Valentine Flowers Design Class with Nancy Cyr, Online

    The Garden Club of the Back Bay is once again pleased to present an online Valentine Flowers design class with member Nancy Cyr on February 11 at 2 pm. Valentine’s Day will be here before we know it.  In this Zoom class, you’ll learn to make a formal arrangement in the Hogarth Curve style as shown in the picture below. This class will take the skills taught in earlier classes a bit further and will include instruction in wiring for those materials that won’t “sit-stay”.   A list of materials will be sent to registrants in advance of the class. Please rsvp by February 7 by clicking HERE.

  • Sunday, February 20, 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm – Botanical Gardens World Tour: Chenshan Botanical Gardens and Huntsville Botanical Garden, Online

    Smithsonian Associates invite you to ndulge 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. The February 20 session features Chenshan Botanical Gardens and Huntsville Botanical Garden.

    Tucked in the suburbs of Shanghai, Chenshan Botanical Gardens create a green oasis within one of the largest population centers in the world. Learn how one of the most popular places on the grounds was carved out of a forgotten quarry; virtually stroll through the serpentine conservatories where plants have been collected from all over the world; and learn about the gardens’ extravagant horticultural festivals, which spotlight plants from roses to waterlilies.

    On the other side of the world, Huntsville Botanical Garden blooms within a special ecosystem in the United States. Northern Alabama is a top biodiversity hotspot, and the gardens embrace and reflect that variety with masses of wildflowers native to the region and a bottomland forest lush with thousands of examples of trilliums.

    Presenter Chelsea Mahaffey is the manager at NOVA Parks’ Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in Virginia and a graduate of the Longwood Gardens Fellows program.

    $25 for Smithsonian Associates members, $35 for nonmembers. Register HERE. Garden pictured is in Huntsville, should you wonder.

  • Thursday, February 10, 12:00 noon – 1:00 pm – Becoming a Guide at the Boston Public Garden Information Session, Online

    Interested in telling the “Untold Stories” of the nation’s first public botanical garden? The Friends of the Public Garden currently seeks guides for the summer season of Untold Stories of the Public Garden tours.

    Our next virtual information session will take place on Thursday, February 10 from 12:00pm – 1:00pm.Please email jan@friendsofthepublicgarden.org to register or for more information.

  • Thursday, February 10, 6:30 pm – Innisfree: An American Garden, 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. SERIES TICKETS INCLUDE LIVE OR VIRTUAL TICKETS TO ALL 4 WEEKS OF PROGRAMMING. You may, however, sign up for individual sessions.

    On February 10 at 6:30, Katherine H. Kerin, Landscape Curator, will discuss Innisfree. While the making of Innisfree spanned about 70 years, its roots are in the 1920s when Walter Beck and his wife, avid gardener and heiress Marion Burt Beck, began work on their Millbrook, New York country residence. Decidedly American, Innisfree merges traditional Chinese and Japanese design with Romantic and Modernist ideals and ecological design principles. While the house is no longer standing, it was adapted from an Arts and Crafts building at the Royal Horticultural Society Garden, Wisley, and we will have a view into the Beck’s collection of Asian, primarily Chinese art, which filled it.

    Pricing is $15 – $90 for entire series. Register HERE.

  • Thursday, February 10, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm – The Gardens of the Château de Versailles, Online

    Louis XIV built the Château de Versailles, 12 miles/20 km southwest of Paris, between 1664 and 1715. He employed André Le Nôtre as landscape architect, Louis Le Vau as architect (succeeded by Jules Hardouin-Mansart), and Charles Le Brun as decorator, all of whom had worked at Vaux-le-Vicomte for Nicolas Fouquet. Le Nôtre laid out the vast gardens in the Classical style, with their wide allées flanked by geometric flower beds, 17 groves, 50 fountains, and especially la Grande Perspective that leads due west from the Galerie des Glaces to the mile/1.6-km-long Grand Canal and beyond to the setting sun. The formal gardens of Versailles soon became the model for gardens throughout Europe. The scale of Versailles was awe-inspiring: By the time Louis died in 1715, the original gardens of 250 acres/100 hectares had expanded to more than 4,000 acres/1,600 hectares, while the Grand Parc covered some 15,000 acres/6,100 hectares, enclosed by a wall 26 miles/42 km long. (By comparison, the Boulevard Périphérique around Paris is 22 miles/35 km long.) The gardens and park now cover 2,000 acres/800 hectares. 

    Speaker Gabriel Wick is a Paris-based landscape historian, writer and curator. He is an adjunct lecturer in architectural and urban history at the Paris campus of New York University. He received his doctorate in history from the University of London (QMUL) in 2017, and holds masters degrees in landscape architecture from UC Berkeley and historic landscape conservation from the National Architecture School of Versailles (ÉNSA – Versailles). He is the author of a number of books and scholarly articles on 18th French landscapes. He is currently consulting with the Foundation Chambrun on the conservation management plan of the Marquis de Lafayette’s domain of La Grange-Bléneau. 

    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.

  • Saturday, February 12, 11:00 am – 12:30 pm – The Ecological Benefits of Native Bees and Predatory Wasps, Online

    Native bees and predatory wasps share the same lineage and share many behaviors and habitat requirements. Predatory wasps feed their offspring invertebrates (insects and spiders) and bees diverged from this carnivorous diet to feed their offspring plant-based food (pollen and nectar). Flower-rich landscapes provide critical habitat for both adult bees and wasps because they each consume flower nectar; in addition, wasps need diverse, flower-rich landscapes to hunt for their prey. Heather will highlight many amazing natural history and biology facts about native wasps illustrating their nesting habitat, prey specificity, and the ecosystems services they provide—pest insect population control and pollination.

    This program is part of the Mt. Cuba Center Winter Lecture Series and takes place online Saturday, February 12 at 11 am Eastern. $25. Register at https://mtcubacenter.org/event/the-ecological-benefits-of-native-bees-and-predatory-wasps-online/

    About the Instructor:
    Heather Holm is a biologist, pollinator conservationist, and award-winning author. In addition to assisting with native bee research projects, she informs and educates audiences nationwide about the fascinating world of native pollinators and beneficial insects, and the native plant communities that support them. Her latest book, Wasps, was published in February 2021. Heather’s expertise includes the interactions between native pollinators and native plants, and the natural history and biology of native bees and predatory wasps occurring in the Upper Midwest and Northeast. Heather is a National Honorary Director of Wild Ones. She also serves on the board of the Friends of Cullen Nature Preserve and Bird Sanctuary.

  • Thursday, February 10, 2:00 pm – The Northwest Gardens of Lord & Schryver, Online

    In 1929, Elizabeth Lord & Edith Schryver, two young women from opposite sides of the United States, traveled to Salem, OR, and formed the first landscape architecture firm founded by women in the Pacific Northwest. Their complimentary talents and strong social network assured their success during the economic development of the region. They were consummate professionals who designed for a series of private clients and public institutions, as well as volunteering their time to enhance and secure the public landscapes of Oregon.

    The Northwest Gardens of Lord & Schryver, by Valencia Libby, was published in November 2021 by Oregon State University Press, in cooperation with the Lord & Schryver Conservancy. Join The Garden Conservancy on Zoom on February 10 at 2 pm Eastern time for this webinar, as the author discusses her new book. $5 for Garden Conservancy and Northwest Network members, $15 general admission. 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.

    Valencia Libby gardens & lectures in Blue Hill, ME. She was an associate professor of landscape architecture & horticulture at Temple University, in Philadelphia, PA. In 2004, she served as the Fulbright Distinguished Chair in Landscape History to Portugal. She has authored many articles on landscape preservation and women’s history.