Boston Flora

Month: March 2022

  • Monday, March 21, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Lava and Water: Great Floods of the Pacific Northwest, Online

    The landscape of the Pacific Northwest has been significantly shaped by massive floods in the geologic past. Beginning approximately 17 million years ago, the broad lava flows of the Columbia River Flood Basalts poured forth from widespread fissures near the borders of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. An estimated 160,000 km3 of basalt was emplaced, mostly within a million-year span centered around 16 million years ago. Anyone traveling the Columbia River Gorge by ship or car can appreciate the voluminous nature of these flows, representing over 300 individual eruptions. In a March 21 Zoom presentation brought to us by Smithsonian Associates, geologist Kirt Kempter explores the likely connection of these eruptions with the Yellowstone hot spot, along with a trail of supervolcano eruptions across southern Idaho.

    Kempter fast-forwards to the end of the last Ice Age cycle, in which flooding again sculpted the landscape of the Pacific Northwest—although this time it was water, not lava, that claimed responsibility. The vast Lake Missoula, formed by an ice dam from the Cordilleran Ice Sheet, catastrophically breached the dam and poured across the central and eastern Washington region, scouring the flood basalt province and carving much of the Columbia River Gorge. The scenario would then repeat, as there is evidence for more than 100 of these breached ice-dam floods.

    Almost synchronously, another Ice Age lake in Utah, Lake Bonneville, produced a catastrophic flood that emptied into the Columbia River, creating its own scoured landscape along the Snake River in southern Idaho. Kempter uses maps, diagrams, and Google Earth images to help tell these amazing stories of flooding. $25 for Smithsonian Associates members, $30 for nonmembers. Register at www.smithsonianassociates.org

  • Sunday, March 20, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm – Monet’s Garden in Giverny with Marie Dessaillen, Online

    Join Context Learning and Marie Dessaillen online on March 20 to discover one of the most fascinating and original gardens of France, created by Claude Monet and the inspiration for his last series of paintings, the Water Lilies.

    Claude Monet is one, if not the most famous of the impressionist painters. But he was also a fantastic gardener, who could not move into a new house without spending hours with his shovel planting colorful flowers. His last house happened to be in a little village of Normandy called Giverny, an hour away from Paris. There, he spent the last 43 years of his life, surrounded by his family, trying to keep his fans at bay, working on his two gardens and his series of paintings. This is where the Haystacks and the Poplars were painted. But the series that fascinated him the longest was the Water Lily paintings.

    Monet was passionate about Japanese engravings, which he started collecting in his thirties. The Japanese gardens, as he saw them in those images, spoke of poetry that touched him. He wanted to paint his own take on them but could not find in France a similar landscape. But Monet always painted “en plein air”, to recreate perfectly the changing of light and colors. When he finally reached commercial success, he bought some land on the other side of the train tracks at the end of his flower garden, and slowly turned it into what he imagined a Japanese garden must look like. A large pond, a little bridge, some weeping willows, and water lilies. It was his private space. And he spent the rest of his life painting it.

    Led by art historian Marie Dessaillen, this interactive discussion will show how this constant immersion in his garden led Monet to his most modern paintings. We will focus on the evolution of the series, the influence of Japan in the perspective as well as the subject, and how Monet donated his last work to the French State for a new museum dedicated to his Water Lilies, to ensure that the visitors would appreciate all the optical effects of his paintings. $36.50. Register at www.contextlearning.com

  • Saturday, March 12, 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm – The Life and Legacy of Elizabeth Freeman, Online

    Join long time guide of Naumkeag, Mission House and the Ashley House, Kendra Knisley, on March 12 at 5:30 pm for an online lecture about the life and legacy of Elizabeth Freeman. This lecture will feature stories on her enslavement with Colonel Ashley in what is now known as the Ashley House in Sheffield and her fight for freedom which led to her settling down in her own home in Stockbridge where she lived her life as a free woman working closely with the Sedgewick family. In honor of her life and in celebration of Black History Month and Woman’s history month, join The Trustees for an hour long lecture hosted via Zoom.

    Pre-registration required. Please email aduquette@thetrustees.org for more information. Register at www.thetrustees.org. Trustees members $5, nonmembers $10.

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  • Wednesday, March 9, 6:00 pm – Ulmus Americana: Saving an American Icon, Online

    In 1909, while collecting Leopard Moth larva from elm trees in the college yard at Harvard University, Dr. James W. Chapman discovered small grubs and adult beetles under the bark. With the aid of Dr. A.D. Hopkins, the first identification of the smaller European elm bark beetle, Scolytus multistriatus was confirmed in Massachusetts. S. multistriatus is the primary vector of Dutch Elm Disease (DED). DED is a fungus that invades the vascular system of a tree and has killed millions of American elm trees in the United States. With the support of the Friends of the Public Garden and the Boston Parks and Recreation Department, Normand and Christine Helie have been monitoring and caring for the elm trees in the downtown Boston Parks since 2012. Their research on the smaller European elm bark beetle picks up where Dr. Chapman left off. Sharing their insights on the relationship of the beetle with the young and historic elm trees in the parks, they hope to inspire us to bring the native American elm back to our landscapes.

    For over 27 years, Normand and Christine Helie, of The Growing Tree, have worked together promoting conservation landscaping and tree preservation.

    In 2012 they began monitoring and caring for the elm trees in the Boston Parks, where Dutch elm disease continues to be a major threat to both young and mature elm trees. Combining their knowledge in the applied sciences of plants, soils and entomology, they now have a better understanding of the host, its vector and the pathogen. With their development of an alternative preservation program for elm trees in Boston, some of which have historic significance, they are hopeful for the conservation of this tree species.

    The Ecological Landscape Alliance will present a webinar with the Helies on March 9 at 6 pm. Free for ELA members, $10 for nonmembers. Register at www.ecolandscaping.org.

  • Tuesday, March 8, 6:30 pm – Early American Kitchen Gardens & Gardeners, Online

    Learn about early America’s kitchen gardens, and those who created and tended them, in a Morven Museum & Garden event presented by Holly Gruntner on March 8 at 6:30 pm.

    As any gardener knows, nothing grows in a garden without skill and effort. According to Holly Gruntner, the same was true in early America as she explores the lives of those who created and tended kitchen gardens of that era.

    This enlightening virtual presentation will be an overview of some of the themes of Ms. Gruntner’s PhD dissertation, Fertile Ground: Kitchen Gardens and Knowledge Production in Early America.

    Holly’s work seeks to understand the intellectual lives and influence of lower-class, enslaved, and bound people living in eastern British North America – and the early United States – by focusing on their kitchen gardens and gardening activities.

    Holly Gruntner received her BA from the University of Minnesota, Morris. After working for three years in Congressional Relations at the Library of Congress, she completed her History MA at William & Mary in 2017. Her MA portfolio explored how botanists in early America relied upon their spouses, children, enslaved people, and servants for crucial scientific labors.

    She is currently a PhD candidate in the History Department at William & Mary, working on a dissertation about kitchen gardens and scientific knowledge in early America, 1650-1830. Her work parses the intellectual and manual garden labors of non-elite people. Her dissertation views even the smallest garden plots as scientific laboratories; units of intense and extensive intellectual work, experiment, and exchange. Discoveries and practices originating with these common gardens and gardeners also transcended households and communities and served as the basis for published and otherwise formalized scientific discourse of the day. $5 for Morven members, $10 for nonmembers. Register through Eventbrite HERE.

  • Tuesday, March 22, 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm – Conversations with Olmsted: Civil War, Abolition, and the American Park Idea, Online

    Hosted by the National Association for Olmsted Parks, and moderated by professor and landscape architect Sara Zewde, Civil War, Abolition, and the American Park Idea will highlight a new book by the same name. Book co-authors Ethan Carr and Rolf Diamant will discuss Olmsted and the 1865 Yosemite Report, where Olmsted called for the creation of a national park system in order to help unify a deeply divided country after the Civil War. This new scholarship is designed to show the important role that the Olmsteds played in the formation of the National Park Service. The event takes place on Zoom March 22 from 3 0 4 pm. To register, visit www.olmsted200.org

  • Wednesday, March 23, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm – Painting the Romantic Landscape: Claude Lorrain to the Hudson River School, Online

    Innisfree Garden’s 2022 winter lecture series on Romanticism in the Garden continues March 23 at 1 pm Eastern with a talk by John McGiff.

    Join painter and art historian John McGiff to explore the evolution of Romantic ideas in art. In 17th century Europe, when formal baroque gardens like André Le Nôtre’s Vaux-le-Vicomte were being built that express the rational order and mathematical clarity of the Age of Reason, the fine arts began to look at nature differently. This led to the ideological revolution that is Romanticism. From Claude Lorrain’s carefully framed and idealized pastoral views, to J.M.W. Turner and Frederic Edwin Church’s emotionally charged landscape visions, and more contemporary site-specific works by James Turrell and Andy Goldsworthy, the arts have taught us to see, appreciate, and even feel nature in all new ways.

    Innisfree member John McGiff taught art history and studio art for twenty-five years at St. Andrews School in Delaware. Now a Dutchess County resident, John found Innisfree when he began to paint in the garden several times each week. jcmcgiff.com

    Free for Innisfree members, $15 for nonmembers. Register HERE.

    Morning, Looking East Over the Hudson Valley from the Catskill Mountains, Frederic Edwin Church, 1848

  • Wednesday, March 9, 7:00 pm – Wild Year: Explore North America Through the Season, Online

    Join renowned nature photographer John Slonina and the Athol Bird & Nature Club as John discusses different travel locations for the seasonal year. The locations include Alaska, Great Smoky Mountains, Florida, Greater Yellowstone, Delmarva Peninsula, Oregon and WA, and New England. Register in advance for this webinar:
    https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_-_Y3nnzcSiiT3KEV7uf8kA 
    After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. It takes place March 9 at 7 pm.

  • Thursday, March 10, 2:00 pm – The Sill and the Houseplant, Online

    What’s all the buzz about houseplants—are they changing the definition of gardens? Join Eliza Blank, founder and CEO of The Sill, a digitally native direct-to-consumer houseplant brand, in conversation Garden Conservancy President and CEO James Hall and Director of Public Programs and Education Horatio Joyce, to get the answers and learn the story behind Eliza’s company. The webinar will take place March 10 at 2 pm Eastern time on Zoom. $5 for Garden Conservancy members, $15 general admission. Register HERE.

    Eliza Blank founded The Sill in 2012 when she 26 years old, working from a borrowed desk in New York City’s Chinatown. Today, The Sill employs nearly 70 people in teams dispersed in New York, New Jersey, and California. With over 800,000 Instagram followers and eight brick-and-mortar stores across the country, The Sill is an undisputed leader in the houseplant revolution, combining the old-fashioned plant center experience with savvy online marketing and community building through online forums and in person workshops.

    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.

  • Friday, March 4, 5:00 am (but recording link will be sent) – The Linwood Lecture, Online

    The Gardens Trust is delighted to be working with Linwood Fabrics to offer a treat of a lecture from garden historian Caroline Holmes, looking at the English gardens and their stories that inspire a 21st century textiles designer. What do the words ‘the English garden’ evoke for you? Flowers, arbors, horticultural abundance and voluptuous style? Five key examples of such Englishness inspired Ella Richards to create five glorious designs for Linwood Fabrics. Who and what are they? Gertrude Jekyll, Hestercombe, Albertine, Vita Sackville-West and Kitty Lloyd Jones. Five defining names in, out and about the long borders of English garden history. Caroline Holmes will prime the backdrop and weave their narrative before Ella introduces the patterns they inspired.

    For 27 years Linwood has put excellence at the heart of everything they do, from the quality of their designs to their level of service. In that rather English way, they straddle the worlds of creativity and innovation to produce distinctive collections of fabrics and wallpapers.

    The in-house design team draws its inspiration from textile archives, museums, and the natural world to create contemporary and classic prints, weaves, and wallpapers. Each collection is carefully crafted, and designs are still drawn and painted by hand.

    They’ve chosen to create a lecture in conjunction with the Gardens Trust because of the shared appreciation of the British landscape. The Trust by its tireless work on conservation and preservation, and Linwood through its celebration of classic plants on its fabrics and wallpapers. Tickets are £5. Register through Eventbrite HERE.