Daily Archives: April 25, 2023


Wednesday, May 3, 2:00 pm Eastern – A Celebration of Play in the Landscape: Follies

This Gardens Trust online series of four lectures considers aspects of play and playfulness within the landscape and garden. For children, play is the life’s work. We all want to discover what’s new and explore what’s out of sight. We should never lose this sense of revelry. Families that play together come away walking tall and feeling better about themselves and each other. In the spirit, let us celebrate the importance and life-affirming joy of play. Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days prior to the start of the talk, and again a few hours before the talk (If you do not receive this link please contact us). A link to the recorded session will be sent shortly after each session and will be available for 1 week. This ticket link is for this May 3 individual session on Follies and costs £5: www.thegardenstrust.org

Follies are structures, buildings, towers, underground chambers or astonishing creations that are ‘utterly useless’, in the sense of having no practical use. If they have a practical function, strictly speaking they are not follies. Some are classically elegant, others completely bizarre. They uphold uncompromising beauty and, on their own terms, perfection.

These wondrous constructions invite our imaginations to soar. They are sophisticated acts of defiance against a world of harsh reality and mindless speed. Follies provide a timeless oasis, a leisurely paradise, and the substance of a dream.

Adrian Fisher MBE is the world’s leading creator of mazes of all kinds, full of challenges, discovery and fun. For 44 years he has been transforming the traditional art of getting lost into state-of-the-art adventures, each with a compelling narrative and storyline. He and his wife Marie live in the village of the Durweston in Dorset. Their garden contains his GEOMITICA art, and a hedge maze with a folly tower, mirrored chamber, spiral staircase and battlements.

He is the author of a whole shelf of books about mazes while his website www.mazemaker explains much more about his work.


Friday, May 5, 12:00 noon Eastern – Ask the Expert: Spring Birding, Online

Spring is here and the birds are back! Enjoy a brisk spring walk in the woods and listen to the calls of our feathered friends as they return to build their nests and lay their eggs. David Allen Sibley, author and illustrator of the Sibley Guides birding book, will join GBH online on May 5 at noon Eastern to discuss everything birding, just in time for the spring migration.

Sibley has contributed to a series of nature guides, including Smithsonian, Science, The Wilson Journal of Ornithology, Birding, Bird Watching, North American Birds, and The New York Times. He is the recipient of the Roger Tory Peterson Award for Lifetime Achievement from the American Birding Association and the Linnaean Society of New York’s Eisenmann Medal. He currently resides in Massachusetts. The talk is free. Register at www.wgbh.org.


Thursday, April 27, 6:00 pm – A Part of Us: Trees and Our World

Join Speak for the Trees and Professor Mwalim on Thursday, April 27 at 6 pm in the East Room at The Non-Profit Center, 89 South Street in Boston, for a free talk – A Part of Us: Trees and Our World. Learn more about the traditional Indigenous perspectives on trees, which were dismissed as mystical nonsense by colonizers. These perspectives later proved to be scientific fact. For more information call (617) 820-0749 or email jerel@treeboston.org.