Boston Flora

Month: May 2023

  • Through Sunday, June 25 – Still Lives: Plants of the Arnold Arboretum, Close Up and Far Away

    Photographer Vaughn Sills brings her exquisite still lives of Arnold Arboretum plants—whether in flower or fruit, burnished fall foliage or shimmery bud—to this exhibition. Each stem is a wonder of composition and color—prominent, yet sublimely connected to a background of a distant and ethereal landscape. The images are Still Lives, from inside Sills’ studio, and include the outside—her images of nature and wide expanses of land and water. Combined, these seemingly disparate elements convey the importance of two ways of looking, close up and far away.

    Sills was able to obtain live plant material for this project with staff permission and accompaniment: each stem was carefully collected with Arnold Arboretum Visitor Engagement staff. With a few specimens at a time, Sills returned to her studio and posed branches for portraits against her previously photographed vistas—landscapes from Prince Edward Island, her place of origin. As an immigrant herself, the international collections of the Arnold spoke eloquently to her. It’s a place where plants from different countries can live in an environment that brings spiritual enjoyment to visitors, as part of the Boston Park System. At the same time, the Arboretum is also a place of conservation, education, and research as part of Harvard University. Again, the dual objective of pleasure and science, like Close up and Far Away, or inside and outside. This exhibition brings together the artist and her art—the aesthetic of the medium of photography—with the Arnold Arboretum’s collections as subject, and the broader and distant landscape and nature as complements.

    Vaughn Sills website: http://www.vaughnsills.com/

    All rights of the images reside with the artist. To view the images, visit https://arboretum.harvard.edu/art_shows/still-lives-plants-of-the-arnold-arboretum-close-up-and-far-away/ Below: Rudoulf Flowering Crabapple, 2022, photograph copyright Vaughn Sills

  • Saturday, June 3, 10:00 am – 11:45 am – Floral Design: Sweet Summer

    Join Lorraine Walsh and Mary Lou Ashur from Artistry Floral on June 3 in this Massachusetts Horticultural Society workshop and create your own floral display to take home or give away. In this session we’ll take it to another level with Statement arrangements. Suitable for a sideboard or entry way, a dramatic way to welcome your guests – or just make your home more fun. You’ll design a large arrangement to dazzle your family and guests.

    Please bring floral scissors and a bucket or box to carry home your arrangement. $85 – $105. Register HERE.

    In 2016, Lorraine Walsh and Mary Lou Ashur met as floral associates at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. There, studying fundamentals of floristry and working in teams, they designed and executed a variety of art inspired floral arrangements for certain museum locations as well as the restaurants, special events, and holiday installations. Now in the marketplace, they are committed to producing artistic floral creations, using only the highest quality flowers and plants, from local growers and flower producers around the world.

    They are also focused on sustainable floral design and eco-friendly floral purchases from wearables to table arrangements, bouquets, and large installations They are inspired to produce arrangements that are unique and designed to honor their clients’ significant events respecting their individual styles, while sourcing seasonal flowers, and respecting the environment. 

  • Saturday, June 24, 11:00 am – 4:00 pm – 2023 Roslindale Garden Tour, Garden Oasis

    Roslindale Green & Clean is proud to host the 2023 Roslindale Garden Tour, Garden Oasis, on Saturday, June 24, 2023 from 11am to 4pm. This year’s tour is dedicated to the memory of Robert O’Hara, a friend of Roslindale Green & Clean and an avid Roslindale gardener. Mr. O’Hara is also cousin to Garden Club of the Back Bay co-President Maureen O’Hara, who encourages all to support this wonderful tribute. Featured will be seven private ornamental gardens reflecting a range of design styles. Come join other garden lovers to appreciate the creative efforts of the gardeners, some with challenging sites, which will give you inspiration for your own green pursuits. 

    Tickets can be purchased online through Paypal at roslindalegreenandclean.org, and in person at Joanne Rossman–Purveyor of the Unnecessary & the Irresistible, 6 Birch St. in Roslindale, or at the RG&C Roslindale Farmers Market booth on June 17 and 24 (9am-1:30pm). Tickets are $15 before June 15th and $20 from June 15th to the 24th. Children 16 and under enter free with a paying adult. An informational program with map will be available for pickup at the Farmers Market on June 24. 

  • Darryl Moore: Gardening in a Changing World, On Demand

    Faced with the challenges of the climate crisis and increasing biodiversity loss, we are at a crucial crossroads in our engagement with the rest of the natural world.

    In an event to mark the launch of his new book Gardening in a Changing World, Darryl Moore had a conversation with Nigel Dunnett and Arit Anderson, discussing our past and present relationships with plants, and how we need to rethink our attitudes to them.

    Gardening in a Changing World explores recent developments in horticulture, ecology and plant science, alongside traditional ecological knowledge and advances in the environmental humanities. The book pushes beyond the notion that gardening is always good for the planet, highlighting alternative approaches to how we can design, inhabit and enjoy our gardens and public green spaces, for the benefit of not only our species, but also all the others we share these places with. This one hour film is a recording of a talk which took place at the Garden Museum in October 2022. Purchase at https://gardenmuseum.org.uk/film-library/darryl-moore-gardening-in-a-changing-world/

  • Saturday, June 3, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm – Floodplain Forests

    Floodplains have special plants that are adapted to inundation and fluctuating water levels. Join The Native Plant Trust and Neela de Zoysa an easy walk in the Greenways Conservation Area in Wayland, Massachusetts, on June 3 at 1 pm, to observe the vegetation of a typical small-river floodplain with nearly half a mile of shoreline accessible to the Sudbury River. This stretch of the river is federally designated as a wild and scenic river and has beautiful stands of silver maple (Acer saccharinum), basswood (Tilia americana), swamp white oak (Quercus bicolor), red maple (Acer rubrum), and shrub swamps of buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis). $30 for NPT members, $36 for nonmembers. Register at http://www.nativeplanttrust.org/events/floodplain-forests/

  • Saturday, June 10, 5:00 pm Eastern – Hallelujah Hydrangeas! Sneak Peek at the Cape Cod Hydrangea Festival, Online

    Join C.L. Fornari on Zoom on June 10 at 5 pm for a celebration of Hydrangeas and a sneak preview of the Cape Cod Hydrangea Festival. Hear about some new varieties of Hydrangeas and tips for growing the best plants. Learn about some of the gardens that will be on tour in July. This webinar will give you an insider look at the Cape Cod Hydrangea Festival. Registration required. Click HERE.

  • Saturday, July 15, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm – Garden Conservancy Open Day: Ilona’s Garden in Williamstown

    This romantic garden, surrounding an old carriage barn, is divided into rooms to resemble the English gardens loved by the owner/gardener/garden writer/English professor. The tour begins with a sunken, walled garden that leads to a formal pool with an island waterfall, water lilies, and goldfish. A rustic pergola connects the water garden to a trellised, ornamental kitchen garden. A white garden, surrounding clumps of native birch, pays homage to Sissinghurst. A folly, with broken stones and a dripping column, evokes ancient ruins, while an aged cedar window on an old marble base frames the folly, the long hot border, and the landscape beyond. Lushly planted pots, secluded seats, and carefully positioned ornamental trees and shrubs provide focal points that draw the eye from one garden room to the next. The large number of climbing structures covered with flowering vines and the wide variety of perennials and annuals, arranged in surprising combinations of color and texture, will make this densely planted garden equally interesting to plant lovers and aesthetes. Pictures and additional information can be found online by searching Ilona’s Garden at Smithsonian Archives.

    The Garden Conservancy Open Days 2023 in Massachusetts kicks off with gardens in Williamstown, in the Berkshires, on July 15 from 10 – 4. Tickets for this event became available starting May 1, and we suggest planning now due to limited availability. NEW THIS YEAR: all tickets must be purchased in advance and online. No day of tour tickets will be sold. Complete details on the website, https://www.gardenconservancy.org/open-days/ $5 Garden Conservancy members, $10 nonmembers.

  • Thursday, June 1, 2:00 pm Eastern (Live), & Friday, June 2 – Friday, June 16 (Recorded) – Saving Fountains Abbey: Project Update, Online

    In 2020, Royal Oak donated $250,000 to preserve one of England’s most magnificent sites which was one of the first places in the UK to become a World Heritage Site in 1986.

    Fountains Abbey & Studley Royal Water Garden is an awe-inspiring landscape, owned by the National Trust since 1983. Cistercian monks established the Abbey in 1132, manipulating the River Skell to harness its power for grinding grain into flour. Over time, the Abbey became one of the largest, richest, and most influential Cistercian sites in Britain until the Dissolution in the 1530s by Henry VIII.

    In the early 18th century, John Aislabie began transforming his nearby landscape garden of Studley Royal into a picturesque design that incorporated the entire wooded valley, and featured a huge water garden with lakes, grottos, canals, and cascades. Paths were created with viewpoints that centered on classical statues and follies.

    In 1767, his son William bought the neighboring Abbey ruins to incorporate them into the landscape and to create the ultimate vista or ‘Surprise View.’ Centuries later, the garden design is much the same, but this important landscape is often flooded from the River Skell. To save the site, the National Trust has partnered with conservation organizations, local farmers, and landowners to implement a natural flood management program.

    Justin Scully, the General Manager, will update Royal Oak members on the on-going progress of these efforts, including the planting of woodland and hedgerows, the creation of ponds and meadows to slow the water flow. He will illustrate the changes and explain the challenges faced by the preservation team. Additionally, he will talk about the surviving relics of the Chinese Garden and the wider 18th century and monastic landscape, as well as exciting discoveries in the historic archives. Finally, Justin will update us on how Fountains has responded to the post Covid world. The webinar is free to Royal Oak Society members, $20 for nonmembers. Register at https://www.royal-oak.org/events/spring-2023-lectures-and-tours/fountains-abbey/

  • Sunday, June 4, 12:00 noon – 2:00 pm – Digging Deeper: Eco-Friendly Yard to Vase Floral Design

    In an era in which flowers are shipped globally from industrial production facilities in Holland and South America, conservation-minded florists have begun to appreciate the importance of greensourcing local flowers. This floral design practicum features a lecture on sustainable floristry and a hands-on demonstration on the art of eco-friendly floral design. Garden-to-vase designer Georgia Lee will create a series of arrangements using peonies, irises, azaleas, rhododendrons and greens from Spalding Garden in Milton, Massachusetts, on June 4 from 12 – 2. This Garden Conservancy program is sure to sell out quickly. $30 for Conservancy members, $40 for nonmembers. Guests will learn design principles that focus on mindfully bringing the bounty of the garden into the home. Register at www.gardenconservancy.org.

  • Monday, May 29, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm Eastern – Roses from the Arctic to Australia: Pruning and Training – Getting the Best Out of Roses and Wisteria, Online

    This year, following on from the Gardens Trust’s successful 2022 series on the rose, in partnership with the Historic Roses Group, the Gardens Trust is happy to announce a new rose-related lecture series, again with the HRG, this time including an international slant.

    With speakers hailing from Iceland to Australia, via England, Italy and the USA, these talks are wide-ranging. We begin with a portrait of a popular 19th century rosarian who loved riding as much as roses, knew everyone on the literary scene, was a celebrity preacher and organized the first ever National Rose Show in London. An account of a hillside rose garden in Italy which started as a collection of pots on a terrace in Rome; how to grow roses in the Arctic Circle and ‘down under’ on a working Australia farm; the intriguing stories behind the names of some romantic heritage roses; and where to find a unique UN Food and Agriculture Organization collection of the other – edible – members of the rosaceae family continue the series. We finish with practical advice about training and pruning your climbers, whether roses or wisterias, from a professional horticultural gardener, the latest in three generations of market gardeners and a shows organizer and designer whose sumptuous stands have won medals for the Historic Roses Group at the Hampton Court Flower Show.

    This ticket costs £28 for the entire course of 7 sessions or you may purchase a ticket for individual sessions, costing £5. 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. Register through Eventbrite HERE or visit https://thegardenstrust.org/events-archive/page/3/

    In week Seven, Bev Bond will cover Pruning and Training: Getting the Best Out of Roses and Wisteria. In this talk Bev will be aiming to show the possibilities of these marvelous and sometimes majestic plants and will introduce you to some beautiful plants that she has cared for over the years. She will explore training, supports, growing plants on buildings, (including historic buildings) and the importance of soil, aspect and establishment. She will discuss some of her techniques, rose varieties, pruning cuts, wound healing, pruning for direction and planning ahead. Bev will also look at the supposed dichotomy between historical accuracy and ornamental value, and the possibilities when restoring plants. Some information on tools, tool maintenance, health and safety, ladders, attachment, wires and tying, will follow.

    Bev Bond was born into two families of market gardeners; her father and both grandfathers grew vegetables and flowers for Covent Garden. She was educated at grammar school, then Braintree College, Shuttleworth Horticultural College and The Open University. After working some years in the family business, Bev moved to inspecting production of oats, fruits and nuts, throughout Europe, for a major food manufacturer, for 10 years. Then, during a decade employed as gardener, guide, and garden guardian in a historic garden, she further developed her pruning skills on large wisteria, climbing roses and so forth and began to branch out on her own.

    For the past 23 years Bev has been self-employed as a horticultural gardener, and over the last 17, specializing in wisteria and rose contract pruning and training. She has been lecturing on garden history and presenting talks on gardens, and plants for over twenty years.