Mayor Michelle Wu turns on the 50,000 glowing blue and white energy-saving lights along the 260 foot trellis and 14 nearby trees on Monday, November 21, 5 pm in Christopher Columbus Park (110 Atlantic Ave), transforming the waterfront park into a magical light garden through the holiday season. The free event includes music, entertainment, and hot cocoa, cookies, and candy. Free admission.
Hal Moggridge, OBE, gives an illustrated talk on November 17 for the Oxfordshire Gardens Trust about his work in landscape architecture including his role with Ralph Cobham in restoration planting for the Capability Brown masterpiece at Blenheim, his later work for the historic Royal Parks in London, the creation, helped by Tony Jellard, of the National Botanic Garden of Wales in 1995–2000 and, in 1979, the garden for Stevens Close for Jesus College in Oxford.
Hal Moggridge is a Consultant at Colvin & Moggridge, the landscape architecture practice established when Brenda Colvin invited him to join her as her partner in 1969. She was in her 70s and he only 33. The success of the public enquiries that often preceded consent for the large industrial landscape projects for which the practice was renowned can, in part, be attributed to Hal’s encyclopaedic knowledge of each and every site. In the 1980s Hal played a key role in restoring the Capability Brown masterpiece at Blenheim, thus reviving the national interest in Brown and the Georgian natural landscape garden. Hal has never lost his feeling for the importance of views that his rediscovery of Brown inspired, and more recently, his pioneering work defining the spatial character of important urban views in Edinburgh and London has won him international acclaim. Like Brenda before him, Hal was honoured for his unique thinking and work in landscape architecture. £5.00. Register HERE.
“Tuȟmaǧatipi” is a sculptural habitat and source of sustenance for pollinators created using the Dakota morning star form, and built with sustainable materials – clay, natural composites, driftwood. It relies on Indigenous science to honor the key role of pollinators and plants, who are increasingly threatened by climate change. The work explores how a sculptural form can play a role in habitat restoration. The Wildflower Meadow is an undeveloped tract of the Rose Kennedy Greenway that supports many bee species, butterflies and moths. Tuȟmaǧatipi – the Dakota word for beehive – seeks to give back to the meadow ecosystem by providing respite to native pollinators right in the middle of the city.
This project by artist Erin Genia (below) will be on view through December, 2022 was made possible through a collaboration with the City of Boston Green Ribbon Commission’s initiative, Action Pact 2022: Ready, Resilient, Reinvented, co-curated by The Experience Alchemists. Erin Genia (she/her), Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate, is a multidisciplinary artist, cultural organizer and educator. She is an advocate for Native American cultural issues and served as an artist in residence for the City of Boston. Erin has a degree from the MIT Program in Art, Culture and Technology, and her public art commissions include the Minnesota Historical Society, the City of Saint Paul, and the City of Seattle.
Take a break from the stress of the holiday season to enjoy an entertaining and informative afternoon with an orchid expert and come away with an elegant holiday present to give to that special someone on your list or to keep all to yourself.
In a relaxed and convivial session, participants will learn about many aspects of the beloved flower and our endless fascination with it. Orchid history, origins, trivia, fun facts, and basic care instructions are among the topics covered.
In a hands-on activity, all participants create their own “holiday orchid centerpiece”. A supply list is provided which gives ideas for orchid genera, containers and decorations. Detailed instructions on creating the centerpiece will be given at the end of the class. Also provided is a fun holiday orchid trivia quiz for you to look at ahead of time. Answers will be provided at the beginning of the class.
This class will be recorded. This Smithsonian Associates class is taught by Barbara Schmidt. Barb Schmidt has a Bachelor of Science degree in biology and chemistry and a teaching certificate in secondary science. She has been raising orchids for over 17 years, and her orchids have won a variety of awards, including first place ribbons at the Philadelphia Flower Show. She is an active member of the American Orchid Society (AOS) and in 2021 was elected to the AOS Board of Trustees. She is also Vice-Chair of the AOS Education Committee and has spear-headed several projects involving children’s education and orchids. In 2021, Barb received the AOS Certificate of Meritorious Achievement in Orchid Education. Besides maintaining a website at www.basorchidcare.com, Barb is also a regular instructor for the New York Botanical Gardens, the U.S. Botanic Gardens and the Smithsonian Associates Studio Arts Program. In 2019, Barb re-published her first book in color, Orchid Care: For the Beginner Full Color Edition.
$35 for Smithsonian Associates members, $45 for nonmembers. Register at https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/orchids-for-holidays
Now known mainly as a garden designer and plantswoman, Gertrude Jekyll combined creativity and mastery of many crafts. She was described as a ‘pioneer spirit’. Jekyll trained at the School of Art in South Kensington, where she showed talent in painting, metalwork and embroidery. As a true Arts and Crafts practitioner, she studied and mastered every craft thoroughly.
In 1884 she acquired 15 acres of land in Munstead, Surrey where she would build her home and used the garden as a trial ground, experimenting, extending her knowledge of plants and breeding her own improved varieties. The plant nursery followed, from which she was able to supply plants for her clients.
Jekyll was a keen photographer and wrote many books and articles for Country Life and other gardening magazines. She was involved with some 400 garden commissions for clients in America, Europe and the UK. Her legacy continues to this day.
Cherrill Sands is a garden historian with an MA in the Conservation of Gardens, Landscapes & Parks from the Architectural Association, London. She is the Historical Consultant for Painshill in Surrey and is currently acting curator of the archives. Cherrill is a former Chair of Surrey Gardens Trust and is on the Research and Recording team. As a freelance speaker Cherrill presents talks throughout the UK and abroad on garden history and theatre.
This ticket is for this individual session and costs £5 – register on Eventbrite HERE. 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.
The Suffolk Gardens Trust is pleased to be offering a series of four talks to highlight some aspects of the county’s rich gardening heritage. It is offered as a companion to the newly-launched co-operative project on ‘Suffolk’s Unforgettable Garden Story’ by The Gardens Trust and the Suffolk Gardens Trust, with funding by Historic England. This seeks to encourage research into the historic parks and gardens, public parks, cemeteries and other good examples of designed landscapes of Suffolk, with the overarching aim of adding layers of protection to these green spaces and to promote their future survival.
All that is left of Tendring Hall is a lonely doorway, flanked by Ionic columns, that stands starkly overlooking its park in the Stour valley of south Suffolk. Demolished in 1955, the Hall was built in 1784 for Admiral Sir Joshua Rowley by Sir John Soane, replacing a sequence of houses that stretches back into the Middle Ages, when this was a deer park. Sir Joshua’s son, Sir William Rowley, added to his father’s works by commissioning a Red Book in 1791 from the Suffolk-born landscape designer, Humphry Repton. Despite Repton’s efforts, the park still contains significant features from earlier designed landscapes, most notably a garden canal, a much-favoured embellishment of early-17th-century Suffolk gardens.
Lecturer Edward Martin is the chairman of the Suffolk Gardens Trust and a vice-president of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History. Now retired, he worked as an archaeologist with Suffolk County Council for many years, specialising in prehistory and historic landscape studies, and has lectured widely on the archaeology, history, landscape, buildings and gardens of Suffolk. His published works cover a diversity of subjects, from Bronze Age burial mounds, through medieval field systems to 18th-century gardens.
The link HERE is for a ticket costing £16 for the entire course of 4 sessions or you may purchase a ticket for this individual session, costing £5 via the link HERE. 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.
Want to learn some very basic ways for drawing the nature you know and love here in Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge? Join illustrator Clare Walker Leslie in a Sunday afternoon session on November 13. Appropriate for ages 10 and up, teens and adults. No previous drawing experience needed. Bring a drawing pad, several pencils and an eraser. There will be materials provided, as well. Workshop takes place indoors. Meet in Story Chapel, masks required. Registration required HERE. $7 for Friends of Mount Auburn, $12 for nonmembers.
For this Peabody Essex Museum project we will create our own five layer terrarium using recycled clear containers, fresh mint and more. When a terrarium is closed, it creates a greenhouse effect, keeping plants warm and hydrated. Create your own self-replenishing herb garden and save yourself a trip to the grocery store! Free with admission.
Drop-in Art Making is held in-person every weekend in our Create Space studios. All activities are created and led by PEM’s education team and are suitable for all ages. For more information visit https://www.pem.org/whats-on/events/2022-11-16/7
The Stamps & Stamps philosophy has always been to take on a project in its totality, to perfectly calibrate and coordinate all facets of the house to create a beautiful home. Harmony in the architecture, the interiors, and the gardens is essential to our belief that all aspects of a property must be conceived and executed with a clear vision of an integrated whole. In designing gardens, it is important to us that once you pass through the gate or the arch or the doorway that defines the beginning of a property, that you enter a world that is authentic. A Spanish colonial house feels comfortable in a setting of decomposed granite, citrus and olive trees, and beds of iris and agave. A craftsman house loves a Japanese inspired garden or a nest of succulents, and a cottage may need a riot of color and a mass planting of roses and viburnum, camellias, hydrangeas, and ferns. Stamps & Stamps was founded in 1991 by Odom and Kate Stamps. An Architectural, Interior Decoration, and Garden Design company, their work has been featured in publications such as Architectural Digest, House Beautiful, Vogue Entertaining and Veranda, among others. They are based in Southern California and have offices in New Orleans and England. The Stamps joined the Open Days program as Garden Hosts this year.
On November 17, the Garden Conservancy will host a live webinar with the designers. Members $5 per person; General admission $15 A recording of this webinar will be sent to all registrants a few days after the event. We encourage you to register, even if you cannot attend the live webinar.
How can an imaginative fusion of art and science help us reach a meaningful understanding of the relationship between our actions, climate change, and diminishing biodiversity? This Harvard Museum of Natural History panel on November 17 at 6 pm features the artists and scientists who collaborated in developing In Search of Thoreau’s Flowers, an exhibition now on view at the Harvard Museum of Natural History. The inspiration for this project was a set of 648 plant specimens in the Harvard University Herbaria that were collected by Henry David Thoreau at Walden Pond. Utilizing photography, botanical data, and digital art, the exhibition explores and visualizes the richness of plant diversity in eastern Massachusetts and reflects on how climate change continues to impact this diversity.
A wine and cheese reception will follow in the museum galleries. The lecture will take place in person at the Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street in Cambridge. $10 for Museum members, $15 for nonmembers. Register at https://hmnh.harvard.edu/event/panel-discussion-search-thoreaus-flowers
Free parking at the 52 Oxford Street Garage.
Charles Davis, Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology & Curator of Vascular Plants, Harvard University Herbaria
Marsha Gordon, Professor, North Carolina State University
Emily Meineke, Assistant Professor, University of California, Davis
Leah Sobsey, Artist, Curator, Associate Professor of Photography, and Director of the Gatewood Gallery, University of North Carolina
Robin Vuchnich, Artist, UX Designer, Assistant Professor of the Practice, North Carolina State University
Moderated by Elena Kramer, Bussey Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology; Interim Director, Harvard University Herbaria, Harvard University
