What will be the future of natural and built landscapes as we face climate change, political turmoil, and technological advancements? What constitutes heritage and how can it be preserved? What can be adapted to emerging and unpredictable futures?
Renowned practitioners and researchers will gather at Longwood Gardens on October 15 & 16 to share projects, propose ideas, and discuss. This international symposium will also celebrate the relocation and reconstruction of its Cascade Garden, designed by Roberto Burle Marx.
Speakers include Anita Berrizbeitia, Harvard Graduate School of Design, Paul B. Redman of Longwood Gardens, Marion Weiss and Michael Manfredi of Weiss/Manfredi, Kristin Frederickson of Reed Hilderbrand, and Kongjian Yu of Turenscape. Learn more and register at https://designingchange.longwoodgardens.org/
The 2025 International Garden Tourism Symposium, hosted by the Atlanta Botanical Garden, will take place November 5 and 6, 2025. The International Garden Tourism Symposium supports gardens around the world in sharing experiences and best practices in Destination Development and Promotion. It brings together speakers and delegates from the world’s public gardens, tourism boards, travel industry, and media.
This event is relevant to the management (director, marketing, horticulture, exhibitions) of any garden, festival, or horticultural expo, that wishes to expand and broaden visitation and create impactful guest experiences. In fact, we encourage gardens to team up with their regional or national destination promotion agency and travel operators to attend the event together. Speakers include media strategist Jenny Williams, Ian Simpkins, Senior Director of Horticulture & Sustainability at Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, and members of the Atlanta Botanical Garden administration, plus tours and exhibitions. In a period of disappearing tourism to the United States from abroad, and cutting back of vacations from our domestic population, there will be much to learn and consider,
The Starling Hotel has set aside rooms. For registration and more information visit HERE.
As American Express says, membership has its privileges. Join the The Garden Club of the Back Bay and the Charles River Conservancy on September 9 at 2 pm for a lecture and optional kayak tour of their innovative climate resilience Floating Wetland project. Situated in the Charles River downriver of the Longfellow Bridge, the Floating Wetland is an ecological intervention designed to reduce harmful algal blooms in the river while simultaneously increasing biodiversity, supporting local ecological change, and providing needed green space in the water. Learn more about this exciting initiative from the CRC’s Executive Director Laura Jasinski followed by an optional kayak tour down the Broad Canal in Kendall Square to visit the Wetland up-close.
Limited to 12 members only. If you are interested, please RSVP and indicate if you prefer just a lecture and small walk or a lecture and an optional kayak ride. If you are not yet a member of the Club, visit https://bostonflora.com/ to sign up.
Meet at Paddle Boston, 15 Broad Canal Way in Kendall Square, Cambridge
The lecture will last approximately 45 minutes, followed by a kayak ride of about the same duration. Kayaks are available for one or two people, depending on your preference. If enough participants choose to kayak, there may be an option to continue using the kayaks after the up-close viewing session concludes.
Join New England Botanical Society and Monadnock Bird and Nature Club on August 17 from 9 – noon as we explore a diverse array of upland and floodplain natural communities, then take a dip at Surry Mountain Lake. The walk will be led by Nate Marchessault, ecologist, and Karro Frost, Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program Conservation Planning Biologist. We’ll begin along a riparian area rich with musclewood, and the rest of the trip will be through upland areas of varying levels of enrichment, from hemlock forest to rich forests with abundant basswood and hickory. The trip will be an out-and-back with a slight amount of elevation increase and a maximum of three miles of walking, with optional off-trail excursions. Terrain is easy to moderate.
This is a free event and is open to members and non-members. Register at this LINK
Join New England Botanical Garden at Tower Hill on August 17 for a delightful day of wine tasting and scenic charm as we visit two beloved local vineyards nestled in the heart of Central Massachusetts. Whether you’re a seasoned connoisseur or just looking to sip and relax, this tour offers the perfect blend of flavor, hospitality, and countryside beauty.
Agronomy Farm Vineyard – Start your day at this small-batch vineyard where innovation meets tradition. Relax with a glass in hand and take in the serene farm views while enjoying locally made snacks.
Broken Creek Vineyard and Winery – Next we’ll tour this picturesque vineyard known for its elegant varietals and cozy, welcoming atmosphere. Enjoy a guided tasting and learn about their sustainable winemaking practices.
Whether you’re planning a fun day out with friends, a unique date idea, or a relaxing solo adventure, our Local Winery Tour is a toast-worthy experience you won’t want to miss! Travel is included in the ticket price. Please arrive at NEBG by 10:45AM for a 11:00AM departure. For pricing and registration visit www.nebg.org
Join The Trustees and City Natives on August 9 at 11 am for a free Tree ID Walk. Meet at 30 Edgewater Drive in Mattapan. Learn the basics of tree identification with City Natives’ urban grower Lacey along the Neponset River. More information at https://thetrustees.org/SeedSow
Join Friends of the Public Garden on August 7 from noon – 2 for a Backyard Bash, Carnival Style. Enjoy a live DJ, a performance by Nick Shea, games and prizes, slushies from BPD, treats and more as the Boston Common is turned into a festive carnival experience. This is a free event – no registration required!
Park at the summit and join Ted Elliman for a walk along the high-elevation trails of Mount Greylock on Sunday, Aug. 10, from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., where we’ll explore the red spruce–balsam fir zone — an ecosystem rarely found in Massachusetts and most prominently represented here at the mountain’s peak. Along the way, we’ll examine a range of montane flora uniquely adapted to this environment, including mountain ash, Bartram’s shadbush, hobblebush, heart-leaf birch, large-leaf goldenrod, twisted-stalk, Labrador tea, mountain wood-fern, and many other species that thrive in the cool, spruce-fir forests of Greylock’s upper slopes. We will arrive at 10:30 a.m. and have an approximately two-hour field study, and then you are on your own for lunch (picnic or lunch at Bascom Lodge). We will depart at 1:30 p.m.
Ted Elliman spent many years with the Native Plant Trust as a staff botanist, invasive species program manager and instructor in botany, ecology and conservation. Ted is also the author of “The Wildflowers of New England,” a widely used field guide to the region’s native plants, published by Timber Press in 2016. In addition to his work in New England, Ted founded and directed an environmental education and wilderness adventure center in the Berkshires and continues to lead natural history tours in southwest China, where he previously lived and worked as a teacher and forest ecologist.
Register HERE for the trip without transportation. Register HERE for the trip with transportation
Join The Emerald Necklace Conservancy for a tour in partnership with the Jamaica Plain Historical Society, on July 27 at 11 am. Discover the wooded paths, babbling brooks and rolling hills of Olmsted Park and Pinebank, the forested midway point of Olmsted’s Emerald Necklace and source of the Muddy River.
This tour will guide attendees through many of the natural and historic landmarks found in the heart of the Necklace: from glacial ponds to structures that once belonged to the Founding Fathers, and everything in-between. Meet at the Downes Field Parking Lot on Pond Avenue in Brookline.
Join Dr. Rocky Ruggiero for this extraordinary in-person event on October 17 where he will lead you through the extraordinary collection of Italian Renaissance art at the ISGM from 10:00 am – noon – WHILE IT IS CLOSED TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC! We shall have the entire museum to ourselves for most of our visit, and, in addition to works by Giotto, Raphael, Botticelli, Simone Martini and Titian, we shall enjoy works of art usually not accessible to groups by Piero della Francesca, Paolo Veronese and Fra Angelico. Experience the ISGM and one of the most important collections of Italian Renaissance art in the US like you never have before.
Lunch: Register for the bundle and join Dr. Rocky for a user-pay lunch at the New American Café at the MFA.
Dr. Rocky will then continue this in-person lecture tour from 2:30 – 4 with the great Italian Renaissance art treasures in the Museum of Fine Arts collection in Boston, MA, where he will examine works dating from the 14th through the 17th centuries by masters such as Duccio, Fra Angelico, Botticelli, Titian, Rosso Fiorentino, Tintoretto, Canaletto and Tiepolo.
Rocky Ruggiero has been a professor of Art and Architectural History since 1999. He received his BA from the College of the Holy Cross and a Master of Arts degree from Syracuse University, where he was awarded a prestigious Florence Fellowship in 1996. He furthered his art historical studies at the University of Exeter, UK, where he received a Ph.D. in Art History and Visual Culture. In addition to lecturing for various American universities in Florence, Italy, including Syracuse, Kent State, Vanderbilt, and Boston College, Rocky has starred in various TV documentaries concerning the Italian Renaissance. He recently appeared as an expert witness for NBC News, as well as in the History Channel’s “Engineering an Empire: Da Vinci’s World” and “Museum Secrets: the Uffizi Gallery”, and the recent NatGeo/NOVA PBS program on Brunelleschi’s dome entitled “Great Cathedral Mystery.”
The bundle cost is $595, including admission. Register at www.rockyruggiero.com The group size is limited to 15 so early registration is highly recommended. Ask to be put on a wait list if necessary.
