Boston Flora

Month: September 2025

  • Friday, October 3, 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm Eastern – Waterwise Garden: Sustain Your Garden Through Drought & Flood, Online

    Join award-winning garden designer Tom Massey and the Royal Horticultural Society online on October 3 for the launch of his new book, RHS Waterwise Garden: Sustain Your Garden Through Drought & Flood.

    Water is vital to a flourishing garden. In Waterwise Garden, multi award-winning garden designer Tom Massey explains how to design a garden that will use water efficiently, withstand drought and mitigate flooding.

    With a changing climate, it can be difficult to know how to create a beautiful garden that is fit to thrive in an uncertain future. In this talk, Tom shares practical design and planting tips that will help transform any outside space into a water-absorbing, water-saving haven.

    Published in association with the RHS and written in close collaboration with its science team, RHS Waterwise Garden explores why we must value water, how thoughtful garden design can build resilience, and what gardeners can do to be more waterwise at home. From enhancing the permeability of hard surfaces and managing water flow, to selecting plants and features that absorb excess rain, Tom Massey offers innovative solutions for gardens of every size.

    Register (£10 Livestream) at gardenmuseum.org

  • Wednesday, October 1, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm Eastern – Yorkshire’s Designed Landscapes: The Role of Early Yorkshire Nurseries, Online

    Garden history often assumes that landowners looked to London for their horticultural needs until the early 19th century. This Yorkshire Gardens Trust online presentation on October 1 shows that this was not necessarily the case and that Yorkshire nurseries transformed landscapes from the late 17th to early 19th centuries by fulfilling orders for and planting thousands of trees that, in places, are still evident on the ground.

    Archival evidence about large Yorkshire nurseries, garden histories researched by Yorkshire Gardens Trust members, and contemporary maps demonstrate how nurseries contributed to the radical reworking of northern estates. Modern maps and satellite images show the plantation footprints that still exist, evidencing the lasting impact of the nurseries and the landowners who bought from them and the economic interdependence of early nurseries, enclosure and plantations.

    Since retiring from a career in social policy research, Gillian Parker has been studying garden and landscape history. She completed a PGDip in Garden and Landscape History in 2020 (Institute of Historical Research, University of London). Between 2021 and 2024 she was a part-time PGR student in the Department of Landscape Architecture, University of Sheffield, supervised by Dr Jan Woudstra, and is continuing in the Department of Archaeology at the University of York, supervised by Professor Jonathan Finch. Her research explores the social, economic and horticultural history of the Backhouse Nursery of York. She is a Trustee of the Yorkshire Gardens Trust, a member of its Research and Recording group and a volunteer at the George Dillistone Garden – Goddards – in York. This ticket costs £8. Sign up through Eventbrite HERE. 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 will be sent shortly after each session and will be available for 2 weeks

  • Saturday, October 4 & Sunday, October 5 – New England Carniverous Plant Society Show & Sale

    The award-winning New England Carnivorous Plant Society (NECPS) returns to New England Botanical Garden at Tower Hill to showcase a fascinating group of plants sure to captivate and amaze. Featured plants include pitcher plants from Malaysia with traps the size of softballs that are capable of eating lizards and mice. There will also be sundews from Australia ranging from the size of a dime to 12+ inches high and the ever-popular Venus Fly trap. For all native plant lovers, NECPS will also display carnivorous plants that grow locally in Massachusetts and throughout New England.

    Over 300 plants are scheduled to be on display and seminars will be offered on growing and feeding carnivorous plants. Visit the Venus Fly Trap feeding station where you can observe up close how these plants devour insects. Plants and growing accessories will be available for purchase for both novice and experienced growers from carnivorous plant vendors and the NECPS. Society members will be present both days to explain how the plants feed, what they eat, where they live, and how they can be grown and enjoyed at home. For more information visit https://nebg.org/shows/

  • Thursday, October 9, 5:30 pm – 8:00 pm – Paint & Sip with the Emerald Necklace

    Channel your inner artist at this Emerald Necklace Conservancy cozy fall event on October 9. $50. Register at https://www.emeraldnecklace.org/event/paint-sip-10-09/

    Learn how to paint a beautiful Emerald Necklace landscape over a glass of wine at the historic James Michael Curley House, 350 Jamaicaway. All materials will be provided by Paint the Town. Registration is required, must be 21 or older to attend. Ticket includes two alcoholic beverages per registrant. See below for a sneak peek of this event’s painting subject:

  • Tuesday, October 14, 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm Eastern – Todd Forrest: Creating an Urban Oasis, Online

    The New York Botanical Garden has been a connective hub among people, plants, and the planet since 1891. Since inception, millions of visitors have made the Garden a part of their lives, exploring the joy, beauty, and respite of nature here in the heart of the Bronx. One of the Garden’s remarkable leaders, Todd Forrest, Arthur Ross Vice President for Horticulture and Living Collections, has dedicated himself to the development and reimagination of many well-loved areas within these 250-acres for over 20 years, including the Benenson Ornamental Conifers, the Native Plant Garden, the Azalea Garden, and the Thain Family Forest, as well as the annual Orchid Show and many interdisciplinary exhibitions.

    On October 14, at 6:30 pm, hear from Forrest as he reveals the role landscape architecture plays in enticing visitors to return every season. He will share how his collaborations with distinguished landscape architects and designers—such as Laurie Olin, Signe Nielsen, Lynden Miller, Madison Cox, Susan Cohen, Piet Oudolf, Sarah Price, Shavaun Towers, just to name a few—have brought varied artistic visions to NYBG. This is the first lecture of the 27th Annual Landscape Design Portfolios Lecture Series. Register for the complete series HERE.

  • Tuesday, September 30, 5:00 am – 6:30 am Eastern (but recorded) – Accessing the Archives: William Andrews Nesfield and Witley Court

    This September 30 talk sponsored by the Gardens Trust and the Garden Museum will chart the creation of Nesfield’s grand parterres at Witley Court in the 1850s for William Ward, later Earl of Dudley, and their subsequent long period of decline following the sale of the property, a devastating fire and the systematic dismantling of the estate. In 1984 Witley Court came under the guardianship of English Heritage, who buried the remaining parterre to deter further removals. Following local campaigns, the grand Perseus and Andromeda fountain was restored in 2002 with an HLF grant, which also purchased land reuniting the formal and informal parts of the landscape. The lecture will detail further research and reconstructions that have revealed Nesfield’s intentions.

    John Watkins led the Gardens and Landscape Team in English Heritage for 27 years, retiring in July 2025. He is a professional horticulturist with some 47 years’ experience, awarded the RHS Associate of Honour in 2016. As well as Witley Court, John has led high-profile restoration projects at Chiswick House and Gardens, Down House, Eltham Palace, Wrest Park, Kenilworth Castle, Boscobel House, Audley End Kitchen Garden and Mount Grace Priory. In April 2025 he was appointed as Chair of the Gardens Trust.

    This ticket is for this individual session and costs £8. Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days (and again a few hours) prior to the start of the first talk, and a link to the recorded session will be sent shortly after each session and will be available for 2 weeks. Register through Eventbrite HERE.

  • Mondays, September 29 – November 3, 10:00 am – 1:00 pm – Foundations of Botanical Drawing and Painting, Online & In-Person

    Through demonstrations and tutorials, celebrate the colors of seasonal leaves while learning how to realistically depict your subject matter in pencil, and then in watercolor, with Sarah Roche, on six Mondays, September 29 – November 3, from 10 – 1, online except for two classes which will be held at the Putnam classroom at The Gardens at Elm Bank. All abilities are welcome! The winter topic: Fall topic: Orchids in Watercolor. In fall, we will be studying the Phalaenopsis orchid. With a limited palette and simple techniques, we will work together, step by step, to capture their exotic and vibrant beauty. Using live plant specimens, Sarah will lead you through the processes of accurate drawing and painting in watercolor. Members $385, nonmembers $460. Register at www.masshort.org


  • Saturday & Sunday, September 27 & 28 – New England Dahlia Society Show

    The New England Dahlia Society’s Annual Dahlia Show will again be hosted at New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill on September 27 & 28. Free with admission to the Garden. For more information visit www.nebg.org.

    The charismatic dahlia, a dazzling plant with flowers that bloom in a vast array of colors, forms, and sizes, takes center stage at one of the most highly anticipated plant shows of the year. From dime-sized minion blooms to honeycomb-shaped balls and even giant dinnerplate dahlias, the spectacular variety in this flower family is sure to amaze visitors of all ages.

    This annual two-day event is coordinated by the New England Dahlia Society, a group of over 100 dahlia enthusiasts devoted to the study, growth, exhibition, and enjoyment of dahlias. For your viewing pleasure, Society growers from across New England will showcase artistic displays of their most unique and beautiful blooms. So, join us for a weekend of oohing and ahhing!

  • Thursday, October 2, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm Eastern – Sleepy Cat Farm, Part III – A Horticultural Perspective, Online

    Sleepy Cat Farm embodies the vision of Fred Landman who, since acquiring a Georgian Revival house and six acres of neglected grounds in Greenwich, CT, has transformed his property into a magical thirteen-acre landscape that serves as a testament to his belief in the harmony between house and garden. This four-part Virtual Program, which began with two episodes in the spring and summer, continues to explore the evolution of Fred’s vision from 1994 to today. It tells the story of how the talented architects, horticulturists and artisans he collaborates with have married landscape and architecture to create a series of highly personal sanctuaries. Fred delights in sharing these spaces with hundreds of visitors every year.

    The Garden Conservancy’s series on Sleepy Cat Farm resumes October 2 at 2 pm Eastern. Horticulturist Alan Gorkin discusses how his role in the garden expanded as the garden itself evolved. Alan came to Sleepy Cat Farm’s expanded greenhouses and vegetable gardens in 2008, after working at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Cranford Rose Garden, and as head grower and cutting garden supervisor for Old Westbury Gardens on Long Island. For a while he was the garden’s only full-time employee; a landscaping service managed the overall maintenance program. It wasn’t long before Fred Landman recognized that Alan’s talents could be utilized in a broader capacity. Fred put Alan in charge of a handpicked staff and oversight of the landscaping service and let Alan build on the bones of the garden that he and landscape architect Charles Stick created. Drawing partly on lessons from Charles and partly on his own horticultural expertise, Alan complemented the garden’s pathways, vistas and architecture with unique plantings until his retirement last year. His longtime contributions to the garden underlie much of Sleepy Cat Farm’s magical charm. 

    $5 for Garden Conservancy members. $15 for nonmembers. Register at https://www.gardenconservancy.org/events/web25-sleepy-cat-farm-part-iii-10-2-2025. Note: You will receive the webinar link directly from Zoom. A recording of this webinar will be sent to all registrants a few days after the event. We encourage you to register, even if you cannot attend the live webinar. 

  • Tuesday, September 23, 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm Eastern – Lauren Stimson and Stephen Stimson: Restraint + Wildness, Live and Online

    The Harvard Graduate School of Design hosts the Sylvester Baxter Lecture on September 23 at 6:30 pm in the Piper Auditorium, and livestreamed, with Lauren Stimson and Stephen Stimson. Free and open to the public. Register HERE. STIMSON is a collective of 40 designers led by partners Lauren and Stephen Stimson. With a shared love of design, crafts, plants, and landscape, the studio’s work is varied, including public parks, museums, college and school campuses, farms, and gardens. Stephen Stimson founded STIMSON in 1992 and has been practicing landscape architecture for 35 years, after growing up on a dairy farm and studying landscape architecture at UMass Amherst and Harvard. Lauren Stimson’s interest in art, landscape, geology, and history was nurtured at Bates College in Maine, and she earned a dual degree in landscape and planning from UMass Amherst. She joined the studio in 2006, and the pair have been working alongside each other ever since. Raised just two towns apart in New England, they returned to central Massachusetts fifteen years ago to homestead and begin a more remote branch of their practice. Charbrook, a lifelong project that connects designers to the land, serves as their home, studio, working farm, plant nursery, and site of experimentation and open-minded inquiry. STIMSON earned the ASLA’s Firm Award in 2021. Both Stephen and Lauren are ASLA Fellows. Lauren was awarded the 2023-24 Rome Prize, and they spent a year at the American Academy in Rome with their children.