Boston Flora

Month: February 2025

  • Wednesday, March 5, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm Eastern – Places to Play: Richmond Golf Club, of Dukes, Trees, and Golf

    Designed landscapes are typically defined as places laid out for artistic effect or aesthetic purposes, somewhere to contemplate and admire. Yet many people have a much more active relationship with outdoor spaces, engaging with them for jogging, cycling, ball games, playgrounds and carnival rides. They are places to play.

    This Gardens Trust series will examine the relationship between historic designed landscapes and organized recreation. We’ll be exploring children’s outdoor play, a world-famous theme park set among a Grade 1 Regency landscape, a Premier League football stadium that was once a Victorian pleasure ground, an early 18th-century estate that is now a golf course, and a Victorian public park which was opposed by local workers despite its claimed recreational and health-giving benefits.

    This ticket (register HERE) is for this individual session and costs £8, and you may purchase tickets for other individual sessions, or you may purchase a ticket for the entire course of 5 sessions at a cost of £35 via the link here. (Gardens Trust members £6 or £26.25). 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 2 weeks) will be sent shortly afterwards.

    Week Four: Sudbrook Park, currently the home of the Richmond upon Thames Golf Club, has an interesting, if not chequered, history. Created in the early 18th century by John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll; at its peak it totaled a hundred and thirty acres of freehold and copyhold land, with a fine mansion designed by James Gibbs at its center. The estate appears on John Rocque’s 1746 map of London, which records the owner as Argyll’s widow. In the early 19th century, the estate was owned by Member of Parliament and public servant Robert Wilmot Horton, who made extensive improvements, enlarging and remodeling the pleasure grounds in the fashionable gardenesque style. The estate almost succumbed to the Richmond building boom of the mid-19th century but was saved at the last minute to become a hydropathic establishment and eventually, in 1898, a golf club. This talk will give an overview of its changing fortunes and its colorful owners and tenants.

    Sandra Pullen is a member of the Gardens Trust Education and Training Committee and has been active in their online and in-person events since 2020. She completed an MA in the history of landscape and garden history from the Institute of Historical Research in 2021. As well as lecturing regularly on various aspects of garden history, she has been a guide for several historic houses in the Twickenham area.

    Image: G. Eyre Brooks, Sudbrook Park, Petersham, Surrey (c.1840), courtesy of Richmond upon Thames Art Collection

  • Wednesday, May 14, 12:00 noon – Party in the Park

    Since 2003, thanks to friends and supporters like you, Party in the Park has facilitated care for more than 9,000 inventoried trees, significant restoration and improvements in the historic, 1,100-acre Emerald Necklace park system designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. This year’s event will take place May 14 in Pinebank in Jamaica Pond Park, Sponsors to date include Bartlett Tree Experts, Sarah Freeman, Georgia Lee, Joan Goldberg, Elizabeth Clark Libert, The Newbury Boston, Elizabeth Brookhiser, and Skanska USA Commercial Development. To join the growing list, visit https://www.emeraldnecklace.org/party-in-the-park/

  • Tuesday, February 25, 5:00 am – 6:30 am Eastern (but recorded) – Plantmania: Orchidmania

    The desire to possess new, rare and thus expensive plants has been a feature of garden-making since it began and continues to be so; as recently as February 2022 bulbs of Galanthus plicatus ‘Golden Tears’ were changing hands for £1,850 each. But at least this obsession didn’t bankrupt a nation! This Gardens Trust mini-series tells the story of the mania that developed around three of the most sought-after plants: tulips, rhododendrons and orchids. Each lecture will delve into how, and when these the plants arrived and what happened when they did, explaining along the way just what it was about them that caused such a furor – and a hole in the pocket.

    This ticket (register HERE) is for this February 25 individual session and costs £8, and you may purchase tickets for other individual sessions, or you may purchase a ticket for the entire course of 3 sessions at a cost of £21 via the link here. (Gardens Trust members £6 or £15.75). Ticket sales close 4 hours before the talk.

    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 2 weeks) will be sent shortly afterwards.

    This craze began in London in 1731 with a single plant of Bletia purpurea sent to plant collecting nut Peter Collinson from Providence Island, the Bahamas. But it was not until the nineteenth century that silly money was being spent and then only because glasshouse technology had evolved. Requiring collecting in regions challenging to travel, difficult to transport long distances by sea, tricky to cultivate and even more so to breed, orchids were the most expensive plant of that time. An extensive collection was the ultimate gardening statement of conspicuous consumption, but they were also very addictive and a number of aficionados bankrupted themselves through collecting. Still today there is a black market while, legally, specimens can cost tens of thousands.

    Dr Toby Musgrave FSA FLS is a garden and plants historian, horticulturist and author. His books have covered a wide range of subjects from head gardeners to heritage fruit and vegetables, plant hunters to paradise gardens, and a biography of Sir Joseph Banks. He lives in Denmark where he gardens one of the historic de Runde Haver and when not gardening, teaching or writing he works as a submersible pilot. Image: S. Drake, Cycnoches egertonianum, detail, from James Bateman, The Orchidaceae of Mexico and Guatemala (1842), Wikimedia Commons, public domain

  • Wednesday – Sunday, February 19 – 23 – Northwest Flower & Garden Festival

    Looking to get away from the snow (or rain, ice or fires?). Celebrate Spring Dreamin’ in Seattle with over 20 display gardens, more than 115 sessions and other learning activities, and thousands of treasures in the garden marketplace. The Northwest Flower & Garden Festival is the best annual event to gather ideas and inspiration for beautiful living spaces. Whether you’re a seasoned gardener or just starting to dig in the dirt, there’s something for everyone! Each year, different Garden Creators from around the Pacific Northwest put their blood, sweat and tears into our stunning display gardens. These incredible works of art, constructed in under 72 hours on the show floor, are central to what makes the Northwest Flower & Garden Festival a world-renowned experience of garden design and innovation. Blooms & Bubbles is an exciting floral design workshop at the Northwest Flower & Garden Festival. Every day at 2:30 PM, sip on a glass of champagne while creating a fabulous make-and-take project led by a local floral design expert. Special ticket ncludes show admission, all necessary workshop materials, a glass of champagne to sip on, and more. When you dig into the FREE seminars and demonstrations, you’ll be inspired to turn your garden dreams into reality. Whether you’re a novice gardener, or a well-seasoned veteran, expert Speakers show you how to create gracious outdoor living spaces and luscious, sustainable gardens perfect for your family.  There is much more. Explore at https://www.gardenshow.com/show-features

  • Thursday, March 6, 6:445 pm – 8:15 pm Eastern – Wild Wings: Fascinating Pollinators and Their Stories, Online

    What do an annoying house fly, the nearly endangered Mexican long-tongued bat, and a poop-eating butterfly have in common? Each creature, respectively, is the reason we can enjoy a bite of chocolate, a nip of a tequila, or the calming scent of lavender.

    Liana Vitali, a naturalist and educator at Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary in Maryland, tells fascinating stories about pollinators around the world during an immersive audio-visual Smithsonian Zoom presentation on March 6. Surveying bees and bats and everything in between, Vitali’s vignettes offer an entertaining, informative glimpse into the lives of these pollinating winged marvels—and how our lives depend largely on their unique and wild ways. $25 Smithsonian members, $30 nonmembers. Register at https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/programs/wild-wings

  • Old Ladies Against Underwater Garbage

    In 2017, Old Ladies Against Underwater Garbage, OLAUG, was formed. They have been cleaning up ponds on Cape Cod from Falmouth to Chatham ever since. Gathering small teams of swimmers, ages 64 to 85, they sweep along the shallows, diving down to pick up beer cans, golf balls, fishing lures, waterlogged dog toys, hats, jackets, shoes, and occasionally a tire, cell phone or box of spent fireworks.

    Whatever they heave up from the bottom, they hand to the Garbage Collector who paddles a canoe or kayak. One swimmer goes ahead looking for snapping turtles and guides the swimmers around them. Their affection and respect for the fish, turtles, and plants that live in the ponds are what motivates them. Well, that and cookies. To learn more, to join, or to donate, visit https://olaug.ma.com

  • Saturday, February 22, 11:00 am – 12:30 pm Eastern – The Future is Nuts! Online

    Is the future nuts? According to edible landscape and permaculture designer Michael Judd, it is, but in a good way! In this fun and informative presentation, the question of what nuts grow well in the mid-Atlantic region and beyond is cracked, while exploring how nuts help stabilize ecosystems and provide much-needed wildlife habitat. With personality and humor, permaculture designer and master grower and author of Edible Landscaping with a Permaculture Twist, Michael Judd translates the complexities of permaculture design into simple self-build projects, providing details on the evolving design process, materials identification, and costs.

    This program takes place online on Saturday, February 22, 2025. $25. Register at https://mtcubacenter.org/event/the-future-is-nuts-online/

  • Wednesday, February 26, 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm Eastern – Detoxing Your Home, Online

    The New York Botanic Garden is offering an online talk with Cheryl Paswater on Wednesday, February 26 at 6:30 pm. Environmental toxicity stresses our immune systems and makes us more prone to allergies. Consider what changes you can make to your home to make it a safer place for you and your loved ones-from simple but essential product swaps to certain chemicals to avoid altogether. We’ll cover dryer sheets, body products, water systems, and more.

    Cheryl Paswater is a fermentationist, educator, health coach, artist, beekeeper, and writer. After a near-death experience, she turned to holistic medicine for help. Radical diet and lifestyle changes led her deepinto the study of fermentation, old world food preservation, the humanmicrobiome, food ethics, and holistic health. Cheryl runs a popular fermentation project called Contraband Ferments, contributes as a writer for Edible Brooklyn, has guest co-hosted on Heritage Food RadioNetwork’s Fuhmentaboudit!, co-organizes the NYC Fermentation Festival, and is a co-organizer of the NYC Ferments Meetup. She is currently working on her first book while teaching workshops at festivals both regionally and internationally, and lives in Brooklyn, NY, with all of her cultures as pets (a.k.a. bacteria, yeast, and mold).

    $45 for NYBG members, $49 for nonmembers. Register at www.nybg.org

  • Sunday, February 23, 2:00 pm – Instant Ecosystems: The Miyawaki Method for Rapid Forest Growth

    Trees are one of our greatest allies in combating the effects of climate change, but is reforestation achievable in time scales that will make a difference? Register to join the Arnold Arboretum at Harvard University on Sunday, February 23 at 2 pm in the Hunnewell Building Lecture Hall to explore the Miyawaki Method for ecological restoration. This innovative approach accelerates the growth of new ecosystems, transforming disturbed land into mature, stable forests in a fraction of the time. Using high density planting, the Miyawaki Method rapidly restores biodiversity and fosters the development of tall, mature forests. Biodiversity for a Livable Climate (BLC), a local organization dedicated to mitigating climate change through ecological restoration, established the first Miyawaki forest in the Northeast in Cambridge in 2021. Join Alexandra Ionescu, Associate Director of Regenerative Projects at BLC, to gain insights into this pioneering technique and her organization’s ongoing efforts to establish Miyawaki forests in the Boston area. Register at www.arboretum.harvard.edu

  • Now through July 20 – Capturing Her Environment: Women Artists, 1870 – 1930

    This Farnsworth Museum exhibition explores the artistic lives of nine women artists who lived and worked in Maine in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Drawing primarily from the Farnsworth’s permanent collection, it brings together miniatures, still life and landscape painting, and botanical illustrations to celebrate artists who have typically been dismissed as hobby painters or overshadowed by their male artist relatives. The exhibit will be on view through July 20. Free with admission. The Museum is located at 16 Museum Street in Rockland, Maine.