Make a difference for our climate by taking action at our National Climate Action Call. You don’t have to be an expert to advocate for a just transition away from fossil fuels.
At a Mothers Out Front Climate Action Call, seasoned volunteers will provide background information and clear instructions for actions we will take together. Join this virtual event from anywhere! No experience necessary.
This National Climate Action Call will be offered at two times:
Tuesday, August 23 (12pm Pacific / 3pm Eastern) – Register Here
Thursday, August 25 (9am Pacific / 12pm Eastern) – Register Here
Join Moderator Dr. William (Ned) Friedman, Director, Arnold Arboretum, and Panelists Dr. Yota Batsaki, Executive Director of Dumbarton Oaks, Dr. Michael Dosmann, Keeper of the Living Collections, Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, and Andrew Gapinski, Director of Horticulture, Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University, for the annual Director’s Series. To celebrate the Arboretum’s sesquicentennial, this year’s series will explore the Magic and Meaning of a Garden of Trees. Over the course of four sessions, we will trace the Arnold’s significance in the landscape architecture movement, value for the people of Boston, and leadership in creating global connections between plants and people. This session will include brief presentations and a moderated panel. The program is free and is offered both in person and livestreamed. This event will also be presented in-person at the Arboretum’s Weld Hill Research Building at 1300 Centre Street, Boston, MA 02131. To sign up for the in-person event, click here.To register for the online stream, click here.
Celebrated art collector and curator Beth Rudin DeWoody continues her four-part exhibition, “Symbiosis,” at Berkshire Botanical Garden in both the Outdoor Sculpture Garden and Leonhardt Galleries. The second exhibition of “Symbiosis” runs through September 11, and features works by Christopher Adams, Charles Arnoldi, L.C. Armstrong, Madeleine Bialke, David Brooks, Leidy Churchman, Peter Dayton, Margot Glass, Mimi Gross, Paula Hayes, Robert Hawkins, Marc Horowitz, Kathy Klein, Seffa Klein, Nancy Monk, Charles Ray, Tomás Saraceno, Max Hooper Schneider, Katherine Sherwood, Simone Shubuck, Coleen Sterritt, and Tabboo!
In all, “Symbiosis” features more than 100 well-known and emerging contemporary artists that celebrate our natural world. The exhibition not only focuses on the interaction between organisms that mutually benefit each other but speaks in a greater sense about the overall interconnectivity of all living things.
Featured in the Outdoor Sculpture Garden throughout the summer and fall are works by Kiki Smith, Ned Smyth, and Thaddeus Mosley, among others. For more information, visit BerkshireBotanical.org
Charles Ray’s “Untitled” (2021). Silkscreen on paper, three sheets
For the past few years The Friends of the Public Garden has been able to declare the Commonwealth Avenue Mall “fully planted”. We like to think that the good health and survival rate of our Mall trees is due to the expert scientifically based care and attention being paid to them by the Mall arborist, Norm Helie. Since Norm has come on and introduced better and better arboreal practices we have lost fewer and fewer trees each year. In the last two years we have not lost one old elm to Dutch elm disease! This year we will be removing two trees that are not quite yet dead but in serious decline. Both of these spaces are in the Clarendon to Dartmouth block of the Mall. The replacements will be planted this spring. The cost of sponsorship which includes a plaque is $5,000. If you are interested in one of these locations please contact Margaret Pokorny, Chairman, Commonwealth Avenue Mall Committee for complete details. Mpok384@gmail.com.
Join Pacific Horticulture on July 8 – 14, 2021 in Santa Fe, the oldest Capital in the United States, located in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo mountains. Discover over 1000 years of culture, history and tradition.Visit a collection of private and public gardens including Santa Fe Botanic Garden and Georgia O’Keeffe’s home at Abiquiu. Peruse the fascinating folk art market and learn the secrets of southwestern cuisine at the Santa Fe School of Cooking. We’ll be based at the atmospheric Hacienda Hotel & Spa. This wonderful trip will be escorted by Cheryl & Robert Nichols.
We invite you to join Pacific Horticulture on June 27 – July 7, to explore the wonderful wildflowers, wildlife, and spectacular landscapes of Alaska in 2021.
PHS Board member and celebrated garden photographer Saxon Holt will be leading us on a photo expedition to Alaska. Book now as this very popular tour was sold out in 2019.
Alaska possesses a profusion of native plants from streamside to mountainside. There are more then 1,500 plant species in the 49th state, from sea level to just below the snow line. Summer is the bountiful time for flowering plants, their pollinators, and large mammals who feed on the nutritious flowers or bulbs. On this expedition, we will traverse Alaska from Anchorage to Seward, traveling along the scenic Cook Inlet and spectacular Chugach Mountains, and then up the Denali Highway to Denali National Park.
Also guiding this expedition will be David Wimpfheimer, an excellent naturalist and leader of many Betchart Alaska Expeditions, and John Burns, a botanist with years of Alaska expertise, and other local experts. We hope you will join our exploration of this vast and beautiful land!
As we are all too painfully aware, social distancing has been recommended by the medical community in order to dampen the spread of Covid-19, in Boston and elsewhere. For those of you planning to attend events publicized on our website, hosted by The Garden Club of the Back Bay or by others, please check before arriving. In some cases events may have been cancelled or postponed. In other cases, venues may be shut down and lectures and classes relocated. Please take advantage of the many interesting webinars offered by the Ecological Landscape Alliance and others. We are in the process of evaluating whether or not to postpone our own Annual Meeting, currently scheduled for May 4, and will announce a decision shortly. Meanwhile, stay healthy, wash your hands, minimize outside contact, and keep abreast of latest developments through trusted resources, such as NPR.
