Boston Flora

Tuesday, April 1, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm Eastern – The Land is Full: Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects

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Thomas Woltz, Senior Principal and Owner of Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects, will use the firm’s just-released monograph to reflect on the complex histories that are held in the land and how the firm reveals and engages them. NBW is one of the leading firms working in landscape architecture today, with major commissions across the United States and abroad. Hear about how, through the firm’s research-based process, ecological and cultural histories are revealed and integrated into meaningful public experiences.

The Land Is Full: Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects is a collection of twelve major parks that illustrate the power of design to create vital public realms at the heart of communities. The Land Is Full features projects that engage exceptionally sensitive sites, including those that hold the vital histories of enslaved peoples, the rich cultures of indigenous peoples, and natural habitats that have been threatened by infrastructure and construction.

THOMAS WOLTZ is the Principal and Owner of Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects. He received his Master of Architecture and Landscape Architecture from the University of Virginia and holds an honorary doctorate from SUNY ESF. He was recognized with the Land for People Award by the Trust for Public Land in 2019 and serves on the Board of Directors of the Cultural Landscape Foundation. Over the past two decades of practice, NBW has developed a unique approach to design using ecological and cultural research as the foundation for creating meaningful landscapes that inspire connection to place.

Note: You will receive the webinar link directly from Zoom. This Garden Conservancy webinar will take place Tuesday, April 1, and is $5 for Conservancy members, $15 for nonmembers. Register at https://www.gardenconservancy.org/events/the-land-is-full-nelson-byrd-woltz-landscape-architects-with-thomas-woltz

Saturday, April 26, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon – Muddy River Cleanup

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The Emerald Necklace Conservancy invites you to join them for this year’s Muddy River Cleanup on Saturday, April 26. The cleanup will take place at multiple locations: Charlesgate Park, Back Bay Fens, Riverway, Olmsted Park, Jamaica Pond, and two sites at Franklin Park. All volunteers will be required to wear a face covering and practice social distancing during the event. We advise that volunteers who feel ill within 72 hours of the event do not participate. All volunteers will be required to sign a COVID-19 volunteer waiver, along with our standard volunteer waiver, in order to participate.

The Muddy River Cleanup is a part of the Annual Earth Day Charles River Cleanup; this event takes place throughout the Charles River Watershed and builds on a national effort as part of American Rivers’ National River Cleanup® which, to date, has removed over 25 million pounds of trash from America’s waterways. From 2016 to 2019, the Annual Earth Day Charles River Cleanup was recognized by American Rivers for the Most Pounds of Trash Collected and Most Volunteers Mobilized.​

The Charles River Cleanup brings together over 3,000 volunteers each year to pick up litter, remove invasive species and assist with park maintenance along all 80 miles of the Charles River. Residents are drawn to the popular Charles River Cleanup from a desire to give back to their community while enjoying the beauty and wildlife along the river. Volunteers hold onto the connections they establish during this day of stewardship by returning to the Charles to exercise, play and enjoy nature throughout the year. Register for this year’s cleanup at emeraldnecklace.org

Now through Sunday, March 30 – Newport Mansions Spring Online Auction

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Bid high and bid often! The Preservation Society of Newport County’s Spring 2025 online auction offers amazing opportunities for an experience you’ll treasure forever. One example is a Floral Fair dinner experience following the 2025 Newport Flower Show Opening Night Party, in the Ballroom at Rosecliff. All bids support the Preservation Society’s mission to protect, preserve, and present an exceptional collection of house museums and landscapes in one of the most historically intact cities in America.

Please see the Auction Rules before submitting your bids. Visit https://www.newportmansions.org/events/exclusive-experiences-online-auction/

Sunday, April 13, 12:00 pm – 1:30 pm – Brunch with Margaret Renkl

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Grow Native Massachusetts is delighted to host a conversation with New York Times Opinion writer and bestselling author Margaret Renkl on April 13. We will be delving into her book The Comfort of Crows, which tells the story of the creatures and plants observed in her backyard over the course of a year. 

Moving through the seasons—beginning with a crow spied on New Year’s Day, its resourcefulness and sense of community setting a theme for the year—what develops is a portrait of joy and grief. Joy at the ongoing pleasures of the natural world: “Until the very last cricket falls silent, the beauty-besotted will always find a reason to love the world.” And grief at a shifting climate, at winters that end too soon, at songbirds growing fewer and fewer.

Along the way, we also glimpse the changing rhythms of a human life. Grown children, unexpectedly home during the pandemic, prepare to depart once more. Birdsong and night-blooming flowers evoke generations past. The city and the country where Renkl raised her family transform a little more with every passing day. How can one person make a difference amid such destabilizing changes?

Exploring Renkl’s observations and themes of change, personal action, and hope, this intimate brunch chat will span topics from taking time to notice and appreciate nature right outside your door, to preserving and restoring wildlife habitat, addressing climate change, and making other difficult systemic changes in the way human beings live. 

Our venue, Bull Run, is a farm-to-table restaurant and function hall situated in a historic tavern at 215 Great Road in Shirley, MA. You can enjoy their delicious brunch buffet before or during the discussion with Margaret, included as part of your ticket.

The Comfort of Crows and its companion journal Leaf, Cloud, Crow, will be available for purchase and signing at the event, courtesy of Little Bee Bookshop in Ayer.

Doors open at 10 am – book signing prior to discussion. Discussion begins at noon. Grow Native members $50, public $60, including brunch. Register at www.grownativemass.org

Tuesday, April 1, 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm – An-My Lê, Maps and Legends: Photography Between Histories and Beyond Borders

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Internationally renowned photographer An-My Lê seeks “to photograph the landscape in such a way that it suggests a universal history, a personal history, a history of culture.” In this lecture, Lê presents two new series of recent photographs, Dark Star and Grey Wolf, continuing her exploration of the contradictory nature of the manifest and the sublime within the contemporary American landscape, and the latter as a present-day locus of technology, power and ambition. In Lê’s work, scale is both temporal and historical, encompassing themes of displacement, war, memory, and resilience. These are present in her earliest black and white pictures of Vietnam (1994-1998) in which she returned to a scarred homeland as a political refugee, to her pictures of war re-enactors in the southern U.S. (Small Wars, 1999-2002),  to staged military training exercises in the American desert (29 Palms, 2003-04), to her more recent lens on polarization in the United States through a series of historical fragments (Silent General, 2015 to today). With extraordinary consideration of history and culture, Lê’s view of her subjects often incorporates an elevated perspective to achieve its signature precision and ethical neutrality. In zooming out to look closer, her stepped-back “proscenium framing” brings into crystal clear vision her observations and stories, not unlike layers of a history painting.

The Harvard Graduate School of Design presents a lecture on April 1, both live and online, on April 1 at 6:30 Eastern. Registration is not required, but additional information on the speaker, and instructions on logging in, can be found at https://www.gsd.harvard.edu/event/an-my-le-maps-legends-photography-between-histories-and-beyond-borders/?mc_cid=9e6283110d&mc_eid=314db6bd32

Thursday, March 27, 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm – Tapas from Around the World

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Wright-Locke Farm & A Borrowed Chef invite you to a global dining experience: 

Tapas From Around the World, Thursday, March 27th, 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Address (parking): 82 Ridge Street, Winchester MA 01890

Cost: $100 per person (includes wine pairings & signature cocktail

  • Artisan Cheeses with Accoutrements, Tilily Sourdough Bread
  • Mediterranean Tapas (Roasted Garlic Hummus, Edamame Hummus, Baba Ghanoush, Marinated Olives & Feta, Grilled Herbed Garlic Pita & Petite Crudites)
  • Tuna Tartare with Everything Bagel Seasoned Wontons Crackers / Sauvignon Blanc
  • Tom Kha Gai (Lemongrass Chicken Soup with Coconut) / Chardonnay
  • Middle Eastern Spiced Toasted Quinoa & Black Bean Slider, Tzatziki Sauce / Pinot Noir
  • Spanish Style Meatballs with Shaved Manchego Cheese / Rioja
  • Korean BBQ Braised Beef Short Rib Taco with House Made Kimchi / Cabernet
  • Tiramisu Panna Cotta

Register HERE

Monday, April 7, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm Eastern – A Geologic Tour of Iceland, Online

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Explore spectacular scenery and a geologic overview of Iceland in a virtual field trip on April 7 led by volcanologist Kirt Kempter, who has led more than 30 tours to the country for the Smithsonian since his first visit in 1995. Geologic highlights include the boundary between North American and Eurasian plates; unusual volcanoes that form beneath vast glaciers; famous volcanic eruptions including those of the small island of Heimaey in 1973 and ice-capped Eyjafjallajökul in 2010; and older historic eruptions that affected global climate and human populations. Kempter employs maps, photographs, diagrams, and Google Earth images to spotlight the key features that make Iceland a bucket-list destination for all geologists. This Smithsonian Associates program is $25 for Smithsonian members, $30 for nonmembers. Register at www.smithsonianassociates.org. Below: Kvernufoss waterfall in Iceland (Photo: Kirt Kempter)

Thursday, March 27, 3:00 pm – 4:15 pm Eastern – Into the Weeds: How to Garden Like a Forager, Online

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Many a gardener, flower lover, or backyard farmer hates that most dreaded of garden chores: getting rid of weeds. Tama Matsuoka Wong offers a new approach to many plants deemed undesirable: manage them, turn them into delicious food, teas, structures….in other words reap their abundance. A self-described “failed” gardener turned garden contrarian, she looks to cues as to what plants grow wild naturally in situ and, besides that, sells many pounds of invasive weeds to markets and chefs. On a more personal level, she will share with you the “why” of her latest book Into the Weeds: How to Garden Like a Forager (Hardie Grant North America 2024): why weeds sit at the juncture of our food, environment and health, and how to use the most common weeds that grow around you. This New Directions in the American Landscape webinar will take place March 27 at 3 pm. $42. Register at www.ndal.org

Wednesday, April 2, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm Eastern – Artists’ Gardens: Painters in their Places, Online

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Plants and gardens have long served as a creative inspiration for artists. They are places of color, structure and changing light, representations of memories and emotions, expressions of the cycle of life and the passing of time. When the garden is one created by the artist themself, the scope for exploration and engagement intensifies and, whether garden-lover or art-lover, we are drawn in to their stories and meanings. In this four-part series, The Gardens Trust will explore a range of gardens created and celebrated by their artist owners. 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. Register through Eventbrite HERE.

Gardens, fashions, sculpture and antique culture meet and mix as we move between France, Spain, Italy and England with artists who both recorded and, in the case of Sorolla and le Sidaner, created gardens. The third artist is John Singer Sargent. On April 2 we will examine the concepts of the role of gardens in art and culture more generally as exampled and contrasted by these three artists.

Twigs Way is a garden historian, writer and researcher fascinated by the past and intrigued by the role of flowers, gardens and landscape in art and culture of all kinds. Her talks reflect themes of, class and gender, politics, art and literature along with the quirky and unusual. Twigs is Course Director of the MA/PhD in Garden History at Buckingham University and an accredited Arts Society lecturer. Her history of the Chrysanthemum in art and culture was published by Reaktion (2020) and the new edition of A History of Women in the Garden was published by Bloomsbury (2023). Image: Les Jardins Henri Le Sidaner, Gerberoy, photo ©Twigs Way

Thursday, April 24, 9:30 am – 1:30 pm – The Boston Committee of The Garden Club of America Spring Lecture – TulipMania

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The Boston Committee of The Garden Club of America will hold its Spring Meeting, Lecture and Luncheon on April 24 at The Gardens at Elm Bank in Wellesley. The meeting will include a lecture, lunch, and tour of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society’s 55,000 tulips in bloom. Mass Hort Executive Director James Hearsum will speak on Gardens as a Community Asset. James Hearsum is an accomplished horticulturist and leader with a proven track record of advancing botanical and community-focused organizations. From 2014 to 2019, he served as the Executive Director of St. Andrews Botanic Garden in Scotland, where he spearheaded transformative initiatives in guest experience, outreach, and education. Under his leadership, the garden established a sustainable Urban Farm, a Butterfly House, and a Community Hub, while also expanding its reach to previously underserved communities.

Since 2020, Hearsum has brought his extensive horticultural experience and dynamic leadership to the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, continuing to advance excellence in horticulture and community engagement.

Members of member clubs of The Boston Committee will receive an invitation. $35 lecture only, $60 lecture and luncheon. If you are not a member, you may consider joining The Garden Club of the Back Bay, which is one of the affiliate clubs.