Daily Archives: March 13, 2022

Tuesday, April 12 – Thursday, April 14 – The Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts Flower Show School Course II: Growing, Staging, Exhibiting and Judging

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The Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts will conduct a Flower Show School Course II: Growing, Staging, Exhibiting, and Judging, on April 12 – 14, featuring one of our own members, Kaye Vosburgh, along with Cathy Felton, as instructors. The event will take place at the DoubleTree by Hilton at 11 Beaver Street in Milford, Massachusetts.

Kaye Vosburgh has a B.S. in Biology and a Masters in the Art of Teaching. She is an NGC Master Judge and a Design and Procedure Instructor. Kaye has chaired several award winning Standard Flower Shows and won numerous awards in the New England Spring Flower Show. She is a member of 3 garden clubs, including the one she started with her Master Gardener co-workers. Kaye is a Sogetsu Ikebana Instructor of the highest rank, Riji. She has demonstrated throughout the Central Atlantic Region, at CFAA in Florida and in Ecuador. Kaye’s favorite activity is sharing creative moments with other designers and students.

​Cathy Felton has a B.S. in Zoology and has studied at the former Landscape Institute of Harvard University, but a love of horticulture led her into the garden club world which now includes lecturing and teaching. She is a Garden Club of America Horticulture Judge; American Daffodil Society Judge; and Chairman of the American Daffodil Society Judging School; and a Master American Hosta Society Judge. Cathy has served on the National Garden Clubs, Inc. (NGC), national board as Horticulture Chairman and Vice Chairman of Gardening Study Schools. She is also an NGC Master Flower Show Judge and Horticulture Instructor for flower show schools, and a member of both the Hamilton-Wenham Garden Club and the the North Shore Garden Club in MA.

To register, contact Ruth Gorman at Ruth.Gorman3@gmail.com.

Sunday, March 27, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm – The Gardens of Versailles with Marie Dessaillen, Online

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Ordering the construction of a 2,000 acre garden to woo his beloved Louise de La Vallière might seem a bit over the top. But that was Louis XIV, the Sun King, Louis the Great. He used art and distractions to showcase his glory and consolidate his absolutist power, and the gardens of Versailles exemplify that to perfection. He created a fairytale garden from an unsanitary swamp and former hunting lodge of his father. Versailles garden was the house of gods and goddesses, and its castle became the capital of France from 1682 to 1789.

This March 27 Context Travel online Conversation will explore the history of this masterpiece by André Le Notre. We’ll discuss everything from the technical difficulties in shaping the ground symetrically to transporting (and pressurizing) the water for the 55 fountains. We’ll learn about the architect of the castle, Louis Le Vau, and the optical illusions he created. We will also explore the iconography of the statues to understand the not-so-hidden meaning of Versailles: a French garden charged with political discourse.

Versailles was the gilded cage of an aristocracy prone to rebel: the gardens provided entertainment, parties, firework displays, as well as a way for this iron-willed king to control his possible enemies. European kings and princes tried their best to emulate this model, yet never quite succeeded. We’ll discuss examples beyond the gates of the “little” park as we tantalize over a series of palaces with their gardens, some in the French style, some in the English manner, with the gem that is the charming hamlet of Queen Marie-Antoinette.

Led by an expert on XVIIth century French history and art history, Marie Dessaillen, this interactive seminar will deepen our understanding of the wonders of a garden that never fails to impress its 8 million yearly visitors. Designed to inform curiosity as well as future travels, participants will come away with an increased knowledge of aristocratic French society in the XVIIth century. We’ll also learn how this garden was filled with a deep meaning and intention at the time of its creation. $36.50. Register at www.contextlearning.com