Leith Hill Place in Surrey was Vaughan Williams’s mother’s family home, and they moved here after his father passed away. It was here that he began his study of music before going on to the Royal College of Music in London where he studied under Sir Hubert Parry, composer of Jerusalem.
Believing music to be “the soul of a nation,” Vaughan Williams took inspiration from the rolling hills and winding woodland paths that surrounded him throughout his life but especially in his early years at Leith Hill.
The National Trust invites you to view a three minute video available now on YouTube to experience the countryside that influenced the composer. Access the free video HERE.
The Gardens Trust has created a seven part series on Tuesdays, beginning September 12, to mark 50 years of UNESCO World Heritage, £5 each or all 7 for £28. Starting with an overview of World Heritage values and the changing nature of the UK list, the series will aim to enthuse people about individual sites around Great Britain, highlighting what makes each one exceptional, the advantages and challenges of being inscribed on the list, and the issues around sustainable future management of these global assets. 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 for the complete series HERE, or follow the links on that page to sign up for individual sessions.
Week four is an exploration of Blenheim Palace. Blenheim Palace was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. Situated in Oxfordshire, this magnificent palace is a masterpiece of English Baroque architecture.
Designed by the esteemed architect Sir John Vanbrugh, Blenheim Palace showcases a harmonious blend of grandeur, elegance, and intricate detailing. Its commanding facade, adorned with majestic columns and intricate sculptures, captivates visitors from the moment they set eyes upon it.
Beyond its architectural splendour, Blenheim Palace holds immense historical value. It is the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill, one of the most influential figures in British history. The palace has witnessed significant events and played a pivotal role in shaping the course of the nation. Surrounded by vast parklands, including Capability Brown designed lakes and meticulously landscaped gardens, Blenheim Palace offers a glimpse back in time.
As a World Heritage Site, Blenheim Palace stands as a testament to human ingenuity, cultural significance, and the enduring beauty of architectural achievements. Today it welcomes over a million visitors through its gates.
Roy Cox is Managing Director of the Estates at Blenheim Palace. He has overall responsibility for the Estates sector covering rural, farming, forestry, shooting, gardens, World Heritage Parkland, let agricultural portfolio, renewables and their outdoor events. Roy has been at Blenheim for nearly ten years having joined from a career at Smiths Gore, a Chartered Surveying practice where he specialised in private client management.
How well do you really see, how closely do you really observe the natural world? In order to become more aware of the natural world around us, to slow down and begin to really observe and expand our visual intelligence, we will start to capture those observations with art making. Inspired by the season, through this four-part Native Plant Trust course, students will learn different techniques in painting native plants in watercolor during the beautiful autumn foliage. Please note that students will need to purchase or bring their own watercolor supplies. $180 (NPT members) $216 (nonmembers). Sepi Golestani (below) is the instructor. Register at http://www.nativeplanttrust.org/events/autumn-watercolor-garden-woods/
St James’s Park is one of Europe’s busiest parks attracting some 17 million visitors per year. The Park is bordered by the Mall and Horse Guards Parade, both scenes of annual ceremonial events such as State Visits, State Opening of Parliament, and the monarch’s Birthday Parade. It regularly hosts a wide range of participation events such as the finish of the London Marathon and became the venue for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games for several sporting events. Half a million people are estimated to have visited St James’s Park on the day of the wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton in 2011, with similar numbers for The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Celebrations in 2012 and the Platinum Jubilee weekend in 2022. More recently St James’s Park has been the focus of world attention during the Funeral Procession of Her Late Majesty The Queen, and for the Coronation of King Charles III. The Park is known for its displays of spring bulbs, the floriferous borders and landscape styled by John Nash, and intricate summer bedding schemes. The lake is home to many species of waterfowl and has been a home to pelicans since 1664. On October 9, enjoy an online lecture by Mark Wasilewski, Manager of St. James’ Park and The Green Park, who will present an insight into the history, landscape, and iconic events within the ceremonial setting of the Park.
Mark Wasilewski is a Trustee of London in Bloom and judges for several organizations including the London Gardens Society and Guild of Horticultural Judges and is an RHS Accredited Floral Judge. He served on the RHS Britain in Bloom national judging panel between 2004 and 2016 and on the RHS Herbaceous Plant Committee 2015-20.
Appointed as a Member of The Royal Victorian Order in 2013 for his services to The Royal Parks during the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, Mark was recently promoted to Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order for his services to The Platinum Jubilee of Her Late Majesty The Queen. £5.00. Register with London Parks & Gardens HERE.
To mark New York Botanical Garden’s 25th year of showcasing innovative and much-honored landscape design professionals and their contributions to this ever-changing field, they have invited three outstanding landscape architects from around the world – Richard Roark, Michelle Delk, and Sierra Bainbridge– to highlight their signature projects, working methods, and design philosophies.
On October 3, join Richard Roark for Nature Remixed: Reimagining Community and Biodiversity in Cities. With accreditations in LEED and Sustainable SITES, landscape architect Richard Roark is committed to creating ecologically-sound public landscapes. Among the several projects he will present are the American Embassy in London, the expansive 51-mile Los Angeles River Master Plan, Hunts Point in the Bronx, and the Infrastructure Plan for the communities of Caño Martín Peña in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Each of these sites, formerly contaminated or, as Roark says, “cast off” and “left behind,” were renewed, becoming not only visually delighting, but also healthy.
A partner of the Philadelphia-based firm OLIN, Richard Roark holds a Masters in both Landscape Architecture and Community Planning from Auburn University. He is dedicated to invigorating the public realm, promoting social justice, and creating opportunities for all, and his efforts have been recognized in his field with, among many other honors, the American Society of Landscape Architects’ 2020 Urban Design Award of Excellence for Dilworth Park in Chicago.
On October 17, Michelle Delk speaks on the Playful Dualities of Public Spaces. For over 20 years, landscape architect Michelle Delk, partner at New York-based firm, Sn∅hetta, has led projects ranging from master plans and brownfield redevelopments to urban parks, streetscapes, and riverfronts. Her work follows her firm’s foundational premise: to create places that enhance the positive relationships between people and their environments.
From urban canopies to canyons; intimate sculpture gardens to wild west landscapes; rocking seesaws to post-modern histories, Delk will share the intriguing dualities she has explored in recent projects, including the Willamette Falls Riverwalk in Oregon, a transformation of a 22-acre post-industrial site; the innovation collaborative design of the Calgary Public Library Plaza in Alberta, Canada; and the re-imagining of a significant public plaza in midtown Manhattan.
Michelle Delk is a passionate advocate and designer of the public realm. She encourages innovative approaches to collaboration that are non-hierarchical and trans-disciplinary. Throughout her career, Delk has engaged with a variety of landscape advocacy organizations, curatorial projects, and academic institutions. For her exceptional contributions to the landscape architecture profession and society at large, she has been named a 2023 member of the ASLA Council of Fellows.
Finally, on November 14, Sierra Bainbridge will present Learning from Rwanda: Designing for One Health. In 2008, the innovative MASS Design Group co-founded by Sierra Bainbridge, began its work in Rwanda, focusing on the Butaro District Hospital. Lessons learned in collaboration with community partners, clinicians, and government officials continuously informed MASS’s one health design approach-which focuses on the interconnection of human, animal, and ecological health and the development of “no harm” design solutions. Bainbridge will share insights into why this design approach is essential to creating a balanced, biodiverse, and mutually supportive future as she presents the Butaro project as well as the Rwanda Institute for Conservation Agriculture and The Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund.
As cross-disciplinary Senior Principal and Managing Director, architect, licensed landscape architect, and educator, Sierra Bainbridge oversees MASS’s landscape architecture department and the design and implementation of MASS’s projects in the United States and Africa. Bainbridge has served as Head of the Architecture Department at the Kigali Institute of Science and Technology in Rwanda. She lectures widely, including at the Harvard GSD, and served as a Sasaki Distinguished Visiting Critic at the Boston Architectural College. She holds a Masters in both Landscape Architecture and Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania.
The series is $85 for NYBG members, $95 for nonmembers. Register at http://nybg.org
Celebrate the vivid and vibrant palette of fall fruits and wildflowers through exercises and projects, and work on your drawing and watercolor techniques in this class with Sarah Roche designed for the more accomplished botanical artist. Focus on the many aspects of achieving the accurate representations of botanical subjects through demonstrations, individual instruction, and close scrutiny of plant structure. Artists enrolling in Techniques should have successfully completed at least two Foundations courses and have the permission of the instructor. Classes meet on 6 Tuesdays, September 26 – October 31, from 10 – 1. Member price $315, nonmembers $365. Register at www.masshort.org
Mayor Michelle Wu today announced that the Boston Parks and Recreation Department will distribute over 15,000 daffodil bulbs for planting on public ways citywide through the “Boston Blooms with Daffodils” beautification initiative started in 2011.
Individuals, civic associations, church groups, sports leagues, scout troops, open space advocates, and parks friends are encouraged to sign up to participate. Last year, nearly a hundred community groups planted bulbs in neighborhoods across the City.
Those interested in participating may fill out a form online at boston.gov/boston-blooms. The online application form will remain open until late September on a rolling basis. Due to limited supply, groups are not guaranteed bulbs, but the Parks Department will strive to accommodate all requests. The application deadline is September 29 (or sooner if demand exceeds supply).
The plantings are anticipated to take place in approved locations on the weekends of October 21 and October 28. The Parks Department will contact interested groups and provide bulb pick-up instructions and dates. Groups and individuals are asked to use their own tools.
The Boston Parks and Recreation Department encourages volunteers to take photos of their groups on planting days and share them via social media using the hashtag #BostonBlooms.
For more information on “Boston Blooms with Daffodils,” call (617) 961-3004 or email parks@boston.gov. To stay up to date with news, events, and improvements in Boston parks, sign up for our email list at bit.ly/Get-Parks-Emails, and follow our social channels @bostonparksdept on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Thank you to the Boston Sunfor the timely notification of this event.
Join Tom Carruth, Rose Collection Curator at The Huntington and American Horticultural Society’s 2011 Luther Burbank Award winner, for a history of the famed California rose industry. The virtual take will be held on Wednesday, September 27 at 7 pm Eastern. Starting with innovative rose breeding of the 1950s, this talk will illuminate how rose species are improved through several generations of hybridizing. Carruth will share about his discovery of a lost seedling that, when brought into his rose breeding, led to some of the best rose introductions of his career. Together we will trace succeeding generations of offspring, noting their improvements along the way.
Tom Carruth is the Rose Collection Curator at The Huntington, where he showcases over 1,300 rose cultivars. Previous to his work at The Huntington, Carruth served as Director of Research, Licensing & Marketing at Weeks Roses, where introduced over 150 roses and invented over 100 plant patents. His award-winning roses include DICK CLARK, CINCO DE MAYO, STRIKE IT RICH, JULIA CHILD, and many more. Carruth is AHS’s 2011 Luther Burbank Award winner for extraordinary achievement in the field of plant breeding. Register HERE. $10 AHS members, $15 nonmembers.
Join Continuum Dance Project at Auntie Kay & Uncle Frank Chin Park on The Greenway for their new piece Becoming Water as they express the story and their connection to this location through movement and dance. Register here.
In addition, Experience Chinatown, organized by our partner Pao Arts Center, will also be taking place in the same park between Continuum’s shows at 11am and 3pm. Be sure to stick around and enjoy these amazing live performances!
Continuum Dance Project (CDP), led by choreographers/co-directors Adriane Brayton and Fernadina Chan, has created its newest work Becoming Water in the Auntie Kay & Uncle Frank Chin Park on The Greenway. Focusing on the Boston Chinatown community, the company has utilized imagery from Cynthia Yee’s ‘Hudson Street Chronicles’ to create a work that honors the experiences of the people of Chinatown, while celebrating their resilient spirit. Exploring the element water as thematic inspiration, the work strives to illuminate the authentic voice of the residents displaced by urban renewal and share their adaptability and toughness. ‘Becoming Water’ reflects on the universal themes of Love, Family, Food, Work, Struggle and Community while engaging with the history and geography of Boston’s Chinatown.
This series is made possible by presenting sponsor Amazon, with additional support from the Greenway Business Improvement District (BID), Meet Boston, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Nola Anderson’s book Immersion: Living and Learning in an Olmsted Garden is a magnificent celebration of a great American garden, restored to its Italianate glory and lovingly documented in new photographs.
When Nola Anderson and her husband purchased The Chimneys in 1991, the estate’s Olmsted gardens had been neglected for more than 40 years―and she had never gardened a day in her life. The restoration and renewal of these historic seaside gardens became Anderson’s three-decade, hands-on personal passion. In Immersion she recounts her inspirational journey from a naive amateur and garden owner to a Botanical Latin–slinging garden creator. Her personal story is filled with loving anecdotes, instructional experiences and serendipitous tips, all sumptuously illustrated with images by celebrated photographer Clint Clemens.
Between 1902 and 1914 Boston financier Gardiner Martin Lane and his wife, Emma, collaborated with Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. to create an Italianate garden. From the ocean bluff a series of garden terraces flow sequentially in an architectural response to the sloping topography. The topmost Water Terrace includes a rose-covered pergola, a beach-view shelter and a stunning water feature inspired by Italy’s famed 16th-century Villa Lante. From this elevation, a succession of granite steps descends through the shady Overlook Terrace, the Lavender Terrace, the all-white Tea Terrace, the Vegetable Garden, the Crabapple Allee and, finally, the luxuriant Rose Garden.
In the early 20th century, The Chimneys gardens were acclaimed in numerous books and magazines. Today, they are once again the centerpiece of the estate and a vibrant example of horticultural elegance.
Ms. Anderson will speak at the Boston Athenaeum on September 20 at 6 pm. Free for Athenaeum members, $5 for nonmembers. Register for the live program HERE. Register for the virtual program HERE.
