Join Pacific Horticulture on May 18 – 31 in 2026 on an inspiring journey through the United Kingdom beginning in London with the always spectacular Chelsea Garden Show and David Austin’s Rose Garden before flying to Scotland for a series of delights including castle gardens, the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh and several rewilding sites restoring ecological connectivity and habitat corridors. Scotland has become a a real leader in rewilding, with hundreds of projects putting these principles into action. Expect some hands-on learning during our tour of the United Kingdom. For complete information visit https://pacifichorticulture.org/travel_new/chelsea_new/
For the first time in sixty years, Charlesgate Park is being reconnected to Boston’s Greenspace Network. Join Emerald Necklace Conservancy President Karen Mauney-Brodek and Parker James of the Charlesgate Alliance for a guided tour through Charlesgate Park, the pivotal 13-acre link uniting the Emerald Necklace, the Esplanade, and the Commonwealth Avenue Mall. Meet at the corner of Charlesgate East and Beacon Street. RSVP at https://emeraldnecklace.org.
Every year since 1979, Candlelight Stroll at Strawbery Banke has captured 350 years of seasonal and holiday traditions against the backdrop of the museum’s historic houses. Wander the Museum grounds under the glow of candle boxes and string lights, visiting furnished historic homes from 1795 through the 1950s, each adorned with greens and dried flowers from the Museum’s heirloom gardens. Inside, costumed roleplayers portray neighborhood families, sharing stories, customs, and seasonal traditions.
Tour exhibit houses highlight Portsmouth’s maritime heritage, traditional trades, and more, offering context to life in the Puddle Dock neighborhood. Outside, carolers, fife-and-drummers, and other musicians fill the air with seasonal melodies, while wandering historical reenactors bring figures from the past to life across the grounds.
Twice each evening, Ice Dance International’s Currier & Ives Vintage Christmas Skaters take the ice for special performances that capture the spirit of the season (weather dependent). Visitors can warm up at the Cider Shed with a cup of cider, then explore the Grove of Sponsored Holiday Trees, where you can vote for your favorite.
Parking is NOT available on-site; the small onsite parking lot is reserved for handicapped accessible needs first-come, first-served.
This year there will also be a Daytime Stroll on December 14 from 2 – 4.
Visit Newton’s oldest burying ground, East Parish Burying Ground, on November 2 from 1 – 2 with Historic Newton to explore a significant collection of colonial-era headstones and learn about funerary customs in New England. We will discuss the evolution of gravestone art, along with changing attitudes toward death and remembrance, from the pre-Revolutionary era through the Early Republic.
This is the first of a two-part walking tour series set in Newton’s burying grounds and cemeteries, with the second tour taking place Sunday, November 9, at Newton Cemetery. Click here to register and for info on both tours.
On this unique Royal Oak Foundation tour May 21 – 26, 2026, we will explore beautiful gardens around the handsome historic city of Avignon. These range from a formal Italianate park, to the gardens of a privately owned abbey, an 18th-century hunting pavilion and a winery. Gracious chateau owners will host us for lunch on two occasions. During our stay we will also appreciate how contemporary designers have transformed the garden scene, often combining traditional terracing with plantings of scented, drought-resistant native shrubs and herbs. View the brochure at https://www.royal-oak.org//srv/htdocs/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Royal-Oak-Gardens-of-Provence-2026-Brochure-sm.pdf
Long before anyone dreamed of this landscape becoming the Arnold Arboretum, a white oak grew quietly on the slope of today’s Peters Hill. Years passed and Arboretum staff eventually incorporated this very old tree into the collections, making it possibly the oldest accessioned tree in the landscape. Join Assistant Curator Miles Sax for a Tree Mob on November 15 at 10 am to learn about this oak, what the landscape looked like before it was an Arboretum, the science of tree age, and how the Arboretum manages those trees that we never chose to plant but which are a treasured part of our collections nonetheless. This is a members-only event, so sign up now at https://arboretum.harvard.edu/support/
Join Dan Wilder for a tour of one of his favorite sites with fantastic shrub diversity in Brimfield, Massachusetts, on October 11. Free for Ecological Landscape members, $10 for nonmembers. Register at https://www.ecolandscaping.org/
Emerald Necklace Conservancy President Karen Mauney-Brodek will lead participants through Charlesgate Park to the Riverway. The June walking tour was cut short due to rain, so Karen is back to finish the walk. Meet at The Grove at Charlesgate Park on Saturday, September 13 at 9 am. Register at https://www.emeraldnecklace.org/
The Preservation Society of Newport County will host a tree walk at Chateau-sur-Mer, 474 Bellevue Avenue in Newport, Rhode Island, on September 20 at 10 am. The walk will be led by Jeff Curtis, Director of Gardens & Landscapes. We will examine Chateau-sur-Mer’s mature arboretum with specimen quality trees including Japanese maples, weeping hemlocks, Turkish oaks and European beeches, among others.
Embark on a breathtaking springtime voyage through Ireland and Northern Ireland with the American Horticultural Society and tour leader Keith Tomlinson on May 20 – 30, 2026. Cruise around the Emerald Isle aboard the intimate, 72-cabin Exploris One, and discover a rich tapestry of historic gardens, sweeping coastal landscapes, and native flora at their seasonal peak. Explore UNESCO World Heritage sites and charming seaside towns, while enjoying guided excursions that spotlight the region’s horticultural traditions and natural beauty. Throughout the journey, experience the warmth of Irish hospitality and the vibrant renewal that defines spring in this lush, storied land.
Customize your journey with excursion options at select ports, including walking excursions exploring Ireland’s natural wonders. Delight in the natural beauty of Ireland’s celebrated gardens, from the wooded grounds of Glenveagh Castle and the grand Mount Stewart estate near Belfast to the charming Salthill Gardens in County Donegal. Conclude with a visit to Kylemore Abbey, where a stunning Victorian walled garden awaits amid the wild landscape of Connemara National Park. Experience the jewels of Ireland’s famed Atlantic Coast including the dramatic Cliffs of Moher and the bogs and grasslands of Connemara National Park. Dock overnight in Belfast and Galway for opportunities to dine ashore and to enjoy the cities’ lively atmospheres and famed music scenes. Discover Belfast’s intriguing history including a visit to Titanic Belfast, a state-of-the-art museum on the site of the yard where the ill-fated ship was built. Travel along the Northern Ireland’s Antrim coast to the world heritage-listed Giant’s Causeway, the site of some 40,000 hexagonal basalt columns.
Visit www.ahsgardening.org for a complete program brochure and registration opportunity.
