Daily Archives: October 13, 2023

Friday, October 20, 12:00 noon – 1:00 pm Eastern – Ask the Expert: Pruning, Planting and Preparing Your Garden for Winter, Online

by

We’re tidying up our gardens as we await a cool fall breeze. Then, the brilliant colors of changing leaves start to appear. Autumn is a stunning season, but it’s also a messy one with wilted plants, overgrown weeds and fallen leaves. So, what is a gardener to do? Fall clean-up seems like a lot of work, but it’s actually quite manageable. Public gardening expert Karen Daubmann will guide you through a list of to-do’s to keep your garden in peak condition all year-round. The online presentation takes place October 20 from noon – one pm Eastern.

Karen Daubmann is committed to creating effective and longstanding change to public gardens throughout her 25-year career. She joined Massachusetts Horticultural Society (MHS) in March 2022, where she brings her experience in advancing the operational and planning scale of public gardens. In the development and execution of exhibitions that have welcomed hundreds of thousands of visitors, Daubmann focuses her work on encouraging guests to connect and interact with gardens through art, nature and culture. Prior to joining MHS, she worked for 14 years at the New York Botanical Garden, culminating in her position as vice president for exhibitions and audience engagement. She has been featured in Jennifer Jewell’s The Earth in Her Hands: 75 Extraordinary Women Working in the World of Plants and has contributed essays for Kusama: Cosmic Nature, 2021 and Frida Kahlo’s Garden, 2015. Daubmann lives and gardens with her husband Matt and dog Klaus in coastal Rhode Island.

This event is presented by GBH in partnership with Massachusetts Horticultural Society. Register HERE.

Saturday, October 21, 10:00 am – 11:30 am, and 12:00 noon – 1:30 pm – Designing the Cottage Garden

by

Creating a romantic and ethereal English cottage garden is all about embracing a natural, slightly wild aesthetic while maintaining a sense of structure and charm. Join Kelly Orzel as she leads a morning Massachusetts Horticultural Society lecture on the essentials of cottage—aka English—garden design. From how to choose plants, colors, and textures to create romantic, ethereal spaces. The importance of structure and how to achieve that intangible, whimsical sentimentality the cottage garden is known for. Whether looking for a formal space to entertain or an intimate, informal place for your own enjoyment, you’ll learn how to achieve both while keeping that charming, nostalgic quality of a cottage garden.

In addition to the morning lecture, Kelly will be leading an afternoon design workshop for those looking to layout their space. From 12 pm to 1:30/2 pm, students will look at layouts, structural elements, how to balance formal with informal spaces, and more. Working with Kelly participants will map out their current garden/project, those taking the afternoon workshop are asked to bring basic measurements of their current gardens, and any current photos they have. Graph Paper and sketching materials will be provided. The afternoon session has a limited class size. 

Kelly Orzel is a small-scale, organic herb farmer, author, and speaker growing in coastal Maine. As a lover of green things from an early age, she worked at a local farm—before she even had her license— and with serious growers throughout college. As an undergrad at Rutgers she won a USDA research grant in Plant Biotechnology. Several years after a stint as an actuarial analyst and high school math teacher, Kelly graduated with her Master of Science in Horticulture from Texas Tech University. Since then, Kelly’s been living the dream of growing organic herbs on her small-scale farm in Cape Elizabeth, Maine for 8 years. She’s done it all: from farmer’s markets and mail-order, to florists, brides, and wholesale. Kelly’s first book, The Backyard Gardener, was published by Lyons Press in 2017 and her freelance work has appeared in national garden magazines, including Hobby Farms as well as local newspapers. $75 – $95. Register at www.masshort.org