Boston Flora

Tuesday, February 25, 2:00 pm – What’s Wrong With My Houseplant?

The Garden Club of the Back Bay will hold its February meeting on February 25 at 2 pm at The Chilton Club, 152 Commonwealth Avenue, featuring Bonnie Power on the topic of houseplants. As with our outdoor gardens, many things can go wrong when you grow plants indoors. Learn the factors that make for happy houseplants, including light, water, and soil…and how to provide them. Common houseplant pests and diseases are also on the agenda, as well as how to treat them.

Bonnie Power has been a Massachusetts Master Gardener since 2016 (now a Lifetime MG) and member of the MMGA Speakers Bureau since 2018…and a serious outdoor/indoor gardener most of her life. Curious and research-oriented by nature, she has many horticultural interests and areas of expertise. Bonnie holds both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in Zoology, which informs her perspective on the management of garden insects. She is a member of the MGA Soil pH Testing team and also volunteer guide at Garden in the Woods, a Native Plant Trust botanical garden in Framingham. She learned to grow vegetables as a child from her father, and flowers and houseplants from her mother. Early in her marriage her father-in-law provided her first lessons in organic gardening. At home in Marlborough, Bonnie grows a variety of vegetables and ornamentals (with a bias for natives).

This is a members only event but you can sign up for membership at https://gardenclubbackbay.org/

Wednesday, February 19, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm Eastern – Places to Play: Alton Towers, an Early Regency Theme Park

Designed landscapes are typically defined as places laid out for artistic effect or aesthetic purposes, somewhere to contemplate and admire. Yet many people have a much more active relationship with outdoor spaces, engaging with them for jogging, cycling, ball games, playgrounds and carnival rides. They are places to play.

This Gardens Trust series will examine the relationship between historic designed landscapes and organized recreation. We’ll be exploring children’s outdoor play, a world-famous theme park set among a Grade 1 Regency landscape, a Premier League football stadium that was once a Victorian pleasure ground, an early 18th-century estate that is now a golf course, and a Victorian public park which was opposed by local workers despite its claimed recreational and health-giving benefits.

This ticket (register HERE) is for this individual session and costs £8, and you may purchase tickets for other individual sessions, or you may purchase a ticket for the entire course of 5 sessions at a cost of £35 via the link here. (Gardens Trust members £6 or £26.25). 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.

Week Two: Many people will have experienced the thrills and spills of a day out to Alton Towers with its famous attractions. But long before the gravity defying rides arrived, Alton Towers and its range of ‘pick and mix’ garden features and eclectic planting had already developed a reputation as a ‘Theme Park’ in its own right. Created by the 15th Earl of Shrewsbury between 1814 and 1827, Alton Towers became one of the most renowned gardens to visit in the Regency and Victorian age.

In this talk, Advolly will examine the history and development of a unique garden that survived quietly, and has now been fully restored, while all eyes were focused on the donkey rides and rollercoasters.

Advolly Richmond is a plants, gardens and social historian based in Shropshire. A Fellow of the Linnean Society, she is also a Champion for the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. She lectures and writes on a range of subjects and is currently teaching A Social and Cultural History of Italian Renaissance Gardens at the Department for Continuing Education at the University of Oxford. Advolly’s new book A Short History of Flowers: The stories that make our gardens (Frances Lincoln) was published in March 2024. She also contributes garden history features on BBC`s Gardeners World and produces ‘The Garden History Podcast.’

©Advolly Richmond

Monday, February 10, 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm – Herbal Class: Elderberry

Join Wright-Locke Farm in Winchester in our next series of herbal classes, Elderberry! The class on February 10 at 6:30 pm will be led by Sarah O’Neill.

Known for its immune boosting properties the Elderberry has many health benefits. We will explore the Elder plant folklore, historical uses, medicinal properties and cultivation methods.

Each participant will take home a .5 lb bag of frozen elderberries to craft their own unique Elderberry syrup to incorporate in your wellness routine.

Registration Cost

Pricing includes the class and the cost for the elderberries.
Tier A $55 (pay-it-forward/Cummings Foundation match!)
Tier B $45 (cost to run the class)
Tier C $35 (reduced price)

Tuesday, February 11, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Designing Biodiversity from Gardens to Regions

Grow Native Massachusetts hosts Evan Abramson on February 11 at 7 pm at the Cambridge Public Library, 449 Broadway in Cambridge. Cities, towns and watersheds have a vital role to play in strengthening, expanding and enhancing regional biodiversity, ecological health, and climate resilience. On sidewalks, parks, campuses, working lands, conservation properties, front lawns and backyard gardens, functionally diverse native pollinator habitat can serve as a building block for linking intact natural areas across a fragmented landscape. But what to plant, where to focus on first and how to measure the results? Evan Abramson of Landscape Interactions will present a series of case studies from project sites across the Northeast. An interactive discussion with audience members will follow. The program is free and open to all.

Evan Abramson is a results-driven designer and planner on a mission to rebuild biologically diverse ecosystems through pollinator-plant interactions. As Principal of Landscape Interactions, he works closely with project partners on every step of the process, from conception to design, implementation, and maintenance. Since 2019, his firm has been responsible for over 380 acres of habitat installed in the Northeast, specifically targeting at-risk bees and Lepidoptera at each project location.

Wednesday, February 5, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm Eastern – Marjory Allen: From ILA to DIY, Online

Join Friends of the Landscape Archive at Reading for the beginning of an online series of talks in partnership with the Gardens Trust, on six women – Susan Jellicoe, Sheila Haywood, Brenda Colvin, Mary Mitchell, Marjory Allen and Marian Thompson – who all contributed to the expertise, development and awareness of the landscape profession and in so many different ways. A ticket is for the series of 6 talks at £42 or you may purchase a ticket for individual talks, costing £8. (Gardens Trust and FOLAR members £6 each or all 6 for £31.50). There will be an opportunity for Q & A after each session. Please note that the 6th and final talk in this series is on 30th April. Ticket holders can join each session live and/or view a recording for up to 2 weeks afterwards. For tickets visit www.eventbriteco.uk

Join us in this online series to hear from these special speakers – Sally Ingram, Paula Laycock, Hal Moggridge, Joy Burgess, Wendy Titman and Bruce Thompson – who have each known, worked with, or researched one of these six remarkable women. On February 5, the focus turns to Marjory Allen.

Marjory Allen wrought change through everything she did. Known, by some, for the Selfridges Roof Garden in London – a relatively new concept in garden design in the 1920’s – it was the impetus for the garden which matters most. This beautiful place wasn’t created for wealthy customers but for shop girls who Marjory believed needed, nay deserved, to breath fresh(er) air and rise above the world.

Marjory created gardens and landscapes for famous and wealthy people, but she was also a pioneer of spaces for children, not for making beautiful environments for them but for their right to have and make their own places. These Adventure Playgrounds were once described as ‘children’s heaven and adults hell’. It was not how they looked but what they signified and enabled that mattered, essentially risk. Exploring the dichotomy that was Lady Marjory Allen of Hurtwood provides a fascinating insight into the life of a truly remarkable woman.

Through her design and development consultancy Wendy Titman has been involved in the creation of environments for children and young people in schools, nurseries and children’s centres in the UK. Her research into the semiotics of children’s environments, published as Special Places, Special People – the hidden curriculum of school grounds (Southgate Publishers, 1994) led to a period of international work. Prior to this Wendy was involved with provision for children outside school including the development of adventure playgrounds during which time she had the pleasure of knowing Marjory Allen.

September, 2025 – Opening of Calder Gardens

Dedicated to personal contemplation and reflection, Calder Gardens will spotlight the art and ideas of one of the twentieth century’s most influential artists, who happened to be a native Philadelphian. It will feature a building conceived by Pritzker Prize-winning design practice Herzog & de Meuron and gardens by internationally acclaimed Dutch landscape designer Piet Oudolf. Read more.

In January 2025, Calder Gardens announced the appointment of Juana Berrío as the Marsha Perelman Senior Director of Programs. Berrío is a curator, educator, and arts programmer, with extensive experience in the creative cultural field. In this new role, she will be responsible for curating public programs that foster engagement, enrichment, and community, including a robust and inclusive slate of performances, events, and wellness activities that resonate with Calder’s art in the galleries. Learn more.

Calder Gardens is scheduled to open in Philadelphia in September 2025. Stay up-to-date and be among the first to know when tickets go on sale.

Monday, June 9, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm – Twilight Garden Party: Save the Date

The Garden Club of the Back Bay invites you to a cocktail reception on June 9 at 6 pm in The Garden Room of The Newbury Hotel, an historic Boston landmark overlooking the Boston Public Garden. The event, the Club’s major annual fundraising event, is presented in sponsorship with The Newbury, Boston. For more information on tickets and sponsorship opportunities, visit https://gardenclubbackbay.org/ or contact co-chairs Lisa Cleary and Debbie Johnston at info@gardenclubbackbay.org.

Saturday, February 8, Sunday, February 9, & Sunday, February 23, 10:30 am – 12:30 pm – Maple Sugaring with Roland “Boot” Boutwell

Late winter in New England often features cold nights and warmer days, providing ideal conditions for the “running of the sap” in our sugar maples. This sap is vital to the health of the tree and has also created economic opportunities for local farmers who harvest the sap and boil it down to produce maple syrup.

Join Roland “Boot” Boutwell and Wright-Locke Farm in Winchester on either Saturday, February 8, Sunday, February 9, or Sunday, February 23 from 10:30 – 12:30 for a morning where we’ll take a close look at some majestic maple trees, identify the various species, and taste sap right from the bucket. We’ll talk about the history of maple sugaring and discuss just how sap is turned into syrup. We’ll conclude by boiling down a small amount of sap so we can watch it turn into syrup. In a blind taste test, we’ll see who can tell the difference between real 100% maple syrup and a typical “pancake and waffle syrup” made mostly of corn syrup.

This event is co-sponsored with Arlington Community Education (ACE) Register at https://www.wlfarm.org/adult-education-programs/ Tiered pricing available:
Tier A $25 (pay-it-forward/Cummings Foundation match!)
Tier B $20 (cost to run the class)
Tier C $15 (reduced price)

Saturday, February 8 – Sunday, March 16 – Pixels and Petals

Get ready for a blast from the past with New England Botanic Garden’s annual orchid exhibition on February 8 – March 16. Pixels + Petals combines the vibrant world of retro video games with the delicate beauty of orchids in a one-of-a-kind experience. Thousands of living orchids in bloom will be artfully showcased throughout the Garden’s two subtropical conservatories. Rewind, flash back, and immerse yourself in pixelated charm as nostalgia and nature unite. Join us during daytime hours or experience the exhibition in a different light during our special Orchids After Dark events.

On opening weekend, February 8 -9, Be among the first to experience the stunning orchid displays and nostalgic works of art of Pixels + Petals, An Orchid Exhibition. Enjoy live music in our subtropical conservatories and a curated artisan vendor market. Included with general admission.

On Fridays and Saturdays, February 14 – March 15 from 6 – 8, enjoy Orchids After Dark (21+). Experience the retro charm of Pixels + Petals, An Orchid Exhibition after-hours. Enjoy live music, drinks, and light bites while exploring our stunning orchid displays and curated ambience. Ticket price includes one free beverage and a unique night out. Members: $20, Non-Members: $30

For complete information visit https://nebg.org/pixels-and-petals/

Thursday, February 6, 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm Eastern – The Meaning of Gardens, Online

For garden makers and visitors alike, the beauty or symbolism of a garden may kindle a sense of connection to a larger world, physical or imaginary. Garden creation begins in the imagination as a quest for meaning. On February 6 at 5 pm Eastern, Jane Roy Brown and the Native Plant Trust will explore the process of imagining a garden that holds personal meaning and look at examples of types of gardens that fulfill meaning-making for their creators or for visitors. The class is online and is $17 for members and $20 for nonmembers. Register at https://www.nativeplanttrust.org/events/the-meaning-of-gardens/