Boston Flora

Monday, January 8, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm Eastern – A Gardening Year at Grim’s Dyke

Take a tour through the seasons and through history at Grim’s Dyke, former home of the famous Victorian librettist and wit WS Gilbert and Victorian painter Frederick Goodhall. Named after the ancient earthwork that wends its way through the grounds, this lovely Arts & Crafts mansion situated high on Harrow Weald is now a hotel with grade II listed gardens. In this talk discover a taste of the estate history, an insight into the lives of the former residents and the current trials and tribulations of the gardeners in their bid to upkeep and restore this wonderful place.

Helenka Jurgielewicz has been Head Gardener at Grim’s Dyke Hotel for 15 years. She grew up in Yorkshire and undertook her horticultural training at Capel Manor NCH, RHS Wisley and Royal Botanic Gardens Kew where she secured her Diploma of Horticulture ( Hons). Former jobs include Conservation work in Mauritius – island restoration planting. TV Horticultural researcher for BBC ‘Year at Kew’ series. Archaeologist – rescue archaeology excavator for York Archaelogy Trust, latterly Museum of London amongst many others.

The online talk, sponsored by London Parks & Gardens, takes place January 8 at 1 pm Eastern. £5.00. Register HERE

Tuesdays, January 9 and 23, and February 6, 9:00 am – Forest Bathing at Polly Hill Arboretum

Enjoy an easy, mindful walk through beautiful Polly Hill Arboretum trees in a peaceful winter setting. These walks are led by Shanta Gabriel, who has worked in the field of alternative health for 40 years and has been leading groups in nature for over a decade. Sign up for one class or all. Rain dates will be held on the following Thursday. Please meet at our Visitor Center. Remember to dress accordingly, this program will be held outdoors.

Cost: $15; $10 for PHA members. Register HERE.

Proceeds benefit Polly Hill Arboretum and help make it possible for us to hold future affordable and free educational programs for our community. Thank you for your support!

Thursday, April 11, 6:00 pm – 8:30 pm – 27th Annual Gibson House Museum Benefit: Save the Date

The Gibson House Museum will hold its 27th Annual Benefit at the historic St. Botolph Club on April 11, 2024. The Museum’s primary fundraising event, the Benefit raises funds critical to maintaining the house and its collections and providing public educational programming.

Our 2024 Benefit theme will be “The Sporting Life,” with a nod to the Gibsons and other nineteenth-/early-twentieth-century families who spent much of their leisure time enjoying outdoor activities.

Our honoree will be Boston’s Community Boating, the oldest public sailing organization in the country, for its mission of breaking down the physical, social, and financial hurdles that sailing frequently presents and providing opportunities for people of all backgrounds and abilities to experience the joys of being on the water.

Sponsorship opportunities are now available; tickets will be available soon.

Friday, January 12, 10:30 am – 1:00 pm – Create an Art Journal

Learn to create your own art journal for creative inspiration using book binding techniques. In this New England Botanic Garden class on January 12 from 10:30 – 1, you will learn simple book binding methods of creating multiple signatures with a simple stitch binding, how to bind the signature together to make a thicker book, and a unique, simple way to make a hardcover. Your journal can be made with blank papers or bring along your own artworks and favorite decorative papers to incorporate into an original book.

Instructor Linda Snay was born in Connecticut and has always been drawn to the world of art. She discovered watercolors at a young age and was encouraged by art teachers. She studied art in college and went on to graduate from Eastern Connecticut State University with a BA, double major in Studio Art and Art History. After moving to Massachusetts, her career led to positions in education in museums and art centers, and she is currently a teaching artist leading engaging art classes for both children and adults. She works in various media, including watercolor, acrylic, oil, and pastel. She is a member of Arts Worcester and participates regularly in exhibitions in Central Massachusetts

$60 for NEBG members, $75 for nonmembers (includes admission to the Garden). Register at www.nebg.org

Monday – Wednesday, January 8, 9, & 10 (Snow Date January 11), 9:30 am – 3:30 pm – Drawing the Wonders of Natural Forms in Graphite

This Massachusetts Horticultural Society series with Carol Ann Morley is for artists with graphite experience. Arches, pillars, caverns & domes are intriguing forms that await you. Cut open a fruit or dissect a pod and see a world of wonder. Discover the cavern with a sweeping arch tucked inside a pepper or seeds bursting from a buttress. Investigate the deep hollows of a pod and the curling forms of peeled fruit. Explore the architectural structures of plant forms – the curves and columns enfolding. See the familiar in new ways and bring to life these intriguing shapes with graphite pencils. Document features using rules of perspective under the guidance of Carol Ann Morley. Learn pencil techniques to create spatial depth and dramatize the play of light and dark on form, utilizing the tonal scale to reveal intricate surface details, patterns, and textures. Be ready to investigate a hidden world within. $295 for MHS members $345 for nonmembers. Register at https://www.masshort.org/

Date: January 8, 9, 10, 2024 (Snow Date: Thursday, Jan. 11th)
Time Frame: 9:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. EST

Now through December 24 – Berkshire Botanical Garden Pop-Up Shop

Visit the Berkshire Botanical Garden Pop-Up Shop for wreaths and amaryllis, weekdays 9 – 4, and Saturday December 16 from 8:30 – noon. Limited availability but a perfect last minute addition to your holiday decorating and gift giving. For more information visit https://www.berkshirebotanical.org/ Check in at the Visitor’s Center.

Thursday, December 21, 4:00 pm – 4:30 pm – Boston Parks Department Urban Hike

The Boston Parks Department is sponsoring a guided local hike on December 21 at 4 pm, titled “A Christmas Gift from the City of Trees,” exploring the significance of why Boston receives a tree from Halifax each year. The walk begins on the Boston Common, 139 Tremont Street. For more information visit https://www.boston.gov/calendar/hike-boston-park-ranger-holiday-program-bc-0

Saturdays, December 16, and January 13, 10:00 am – Winter Walks at Polly Hill Arboretum

In every season the Polly Hill Arboretum on Martha’s Vineyard offers something of beauty and interest to visitors. At this time of year, plants display unique textures, structure, cones, and berries. The Arboretum is offering staff-led winter walks on three Saturdays, December 16 and January 13, beginning at 10 am.

In order to help prevent the spread of the COVID-19 and RSV viruses, each tour is limited to 12 or fewer adults (no children under 12, sorry). Please do not attend a tour if you don’t feel well, or if you have recently been exposed to someone with a known case of COVID-19. Guides will wear masks, and we ask that all visitors wear masks for the duration of your time on the Arboretum grounds, for the safety of yourselves, other visitors, and our volunteer docents. Please practice social distancing between other visitors and your tour guide.

To register, visit www.pollyhillarboretum.org. Sorry, we cannot allow groups larger than the allotted number of slots. No children under 12. No dogs. Free for members, $5 for nonmembers.

Please check your email (the address you signed up with) on the evening prior to your tour to make sure you have not received a cancellation notice. Cancellation may result from inclement weather, or at the discretion of the Arboretum for any reason deemed appropriate by staff.

If you need to cancel or reschedule, please email info@pollyhillarboretum.org 24 hours prior to your scheduled tour (excluding weekends). This will allow us to fill unused slots or cancel tours that have insufficient registration. We appreciate your consideration in notifying us.

Tuesday, January 9, 5:00 am – 6:30 am Eastern (but recorded) – Queer Gardens: Come Outside

Gardens are many things. An oasis for nature, a retreat from the outside world, a haven for blooms. But how has the LGBTQI+ community been involved with their design, upkeep and prominence throughout the years? How is queerness seen in the natural world?

As well as being a historian and tour guide, Sheldon K Goodman is also passionate about gardening. He will give three talks looking at queerness in gardens from the work of gardeners, LGBTQI+ led community gardening initiatives in London, historical people such as Virginia Woolf, Reginald Farrer and Sir Francis Bacon and queer ecology’s roots in Michel Foucault’s The History of Sexuality (tr. Robert Hurley, 1978-2021, Pantheon Books) as well as queer gardening in the here and now.

The first session on January 9 is Come Outside. Who are the trailblazers in representing queer gardening today and how has their work shown queerness? From institutions embracing the valuable expression outside of Pride month for all manner of talks and events throughout the year, in this talk Sheldon looks at the work of luminaries such as hortpreneur Michael Perry, Daisy Desire the Drag Queen gardener, horticulturalist and journalist Alys Fowler and garden designer Lee Burkill. The talk will also focus on the increasing popularity of queer gardeners online and how those outside the heteronormative world have channeled their identities into designing and planting gardens. This Gardens Trust talk is £8 through Eventbrite, or £15.75 for the series. Register HERE 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 1 week.

Mondays, January 8 – February 12, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm – Introduction to Gardening, Online

Welcome to the Massachusetts Horticultural Society’s winter Introduction to Gardening series. This series consists of 6 individual lectures over the course of 6 weeks. Lectures take place on Zoom on Monday evenings at 6:30 pm. Save by purchasing the whole series. Lectures will be recorded and posted to the class webpage within 48 hours of the class. Recordings will be made available until November 2024. Register at https://www.masshort.org/

This series will cover the following topics: Siting, Water, Soil & Light, Setup: Tools, Fencing, Beds, Seed Starting and Planting, Diseases, Maintenance & Dealing with Pests, and Overview of Perennial Crops

Urban gardening is about growing food and ornamentals in small spaces. Whether you have a huge yard without the time or desire to tend it all, or an apartment with no outdoor space at all, this talk will give you tips and techniques to start and maintain a garden you can call your own.

Instructor: Gretel Anspach is a Lifetime Master Gardener with the Massachusetts Master Gardener Association, a Trustee of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, and a recently-retired systems engineer for Raytheon. Gretel helped to establish and maintain two food production gardens that have provided fresh produce to the Marlboro Food Pantry for the last eight years.

$156 Mass Hort Members
$195 General Admission