Boston Flora

Sunday, October 2, 5:00 pm – The Parks That Made the Man Who Made Central Park: A Frederick Law Olmsted Lecture, Online

John Phibbs will speak on Sunday, October 2 at 5 pm Eastern time on Zoom on the topic of Frederick Law Olmsted and the influence of his travels in England on his work. In its travels across the Atlantic the English idea of gardens was stripped down and reformed to make a new approach to landscape architecture, which was, in turn, shipped back to Britain in the 20th Century. The talk is sponsored by the National Association of Olmsted Parks and is free to all. Register at

https://olmsted200.org/events/the-parks-that-made-the-man-who-made-central-park/?mc_cid=4c61303777&mc_eid=24631ab4cc

Birkenhead Park, Liverpool, the first public park and Olmsted’s inspiration for public parks

Famously, Olmsted took from his travels not only the delight in nature that is so much a part of 18th Century English landscape, but also its didactic and philanthropic role in ameliorating the lives of ordinary people in the new industrical cities.

Tuesday, October 11, 6:45 pm – 8:15 pm – Wild Wood: True Tales of Trees, Online

Soundless but sentient, trees were absent for all but the last 10% of Earth’s history yet are essential to all air-breathing life on the planet today. They are the longest-living organisms on Earth, can communicate to one another through intricate underground soil networks, and even thermoregulate, all while rarely ever dying from old age.

Join Liana Vitali, naturalist and educator at Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary in Maryland (and self-proclaimed tree-hugger), for an immersive audio-visual journey into the fascinatingly complicated and connected life of trees—from their first tiny emergence through the topsoil as seedlings, to their lasting value to forest life as fallen logs.

Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary, just 12 miles outside Washington, D.C., is the jewel of the Patuxent River. Its 1,700 acres of open water, tidal freshwater marshes, forested wetlands, upland and riparian forest, creeks, meadows, pine and sand barrens, and fields along the eastern shore of the Patuxent contain multitudes of welcoming habitats for a true diversity of wildlife.

The October 11 webinar, beginning at 6:45, is $20 for Smithsonian members, $25 for nonmembers. Register at https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/wild-wood

Tuesday, October 11, 1:00 pm – Garden Club of the Back Bay October Meeting – The Bonsai Collection at the Arnold Arboretum

The Garden Club of the Back Bay’s year continues on Tuesday, October 11 at 1:00 pm with a field trip to the Arnold Arboretum in Jamaica Plain and a presentation on the Arboretum’s bonsai collection by Tiffany Enzenbacker, head of plant production. The field trip is limited to just 20 members. Members have received notification of all details, but if you need the information resent, email HERE.

Tiffany works alongside the Arboretum’s plant propagator and greenhouse horticulturist to produce the next generation of accessions destined for the permanent collections, as well as to ensure the long-term survival of existing lineages through repropagation techniques, including cuttings and grafting. The department also shares propagules with partner institutions and distributes plant material for research purposes. Additionally, they work to produce plants for Arboretum events, such as the Arbor Day Seedling Mailing and Lilac Sunday. She also oversees the Bonsai Collection and is involved in projects throughout the organization, including plant collection expeditions for the Campaign for the Living Collections.

Tiffany obtained a BS in plant sciences from the University of Missouri-Columbia and a MS in plant pathology from Michigan State University. Prior to joining the Arnold Arboretum in 2014, she worked at the Chicago Botanic Garden, The Morton Arboretum in Lisle, IL, and in the Department of Biology at Boston College.

The Arnold Arboretum Bonsai & Penjing collection began with the donation of the Larz Anderson Collection of Japanese Dwarfed Trees in 1937, and has grown over time with additional specimens donated by a number of private collectors. Today, the collection comprises 36 masterfully curated trees representing a range of evergreen and deciduous species, including compact Hinoki cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa ‘Chabo-hiba’), Japanese white pine (Pinus parviflora), trident maple (Acer buergerianum var. trinerve), Japanese maple (Acer palmatum), and cedar elm (Ulmus crassifolia).

The Larz Anderson Collection of Japanese Dwarfed Trees at the Arnold Arboretum was originally imported into the United States by the Honorable Larz Anderson in 1913, upon his return from serving as ambassador to Japan. In April 1937, Isabel Anderson donated the majority of her late husband’s bonsai collection (30 plants) to the Arnold Arboretum, along with the funds necessary to build a shade house for their display. The rest of the Anderson bonsai came to the Arboretum following Isabel’s death in 1949.

The core of the collection consists of 5 large specimens of compact hinoki cypress—each between 150 and 275 years old—that Anderson purchased from the Yokohama Nursery Company. Additional bonsai have been acquired or added to the collection over time.

Thursday, October 6, 1:00 pm – 3:30 pm – Watercolor Mixed Media Floral Collage

Using watercolor paints, oil pastels, colored pencils, and decorative papers we will paint, tear, and collage an abstract floral painting. Design, composition, and color theory will be explored. The class will take place October 6 from 1 – 3:30 at NEBG at Tower Hill.

Suzanne Hauerstein is a professional teaching artist and the Coordinator of Volunteer & Intern Services at New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill. She has over 25 years of experience designing and facilitating art-based programs for informal learning environments. Suzanne is committed to creating programs that are accessible, positive, and enjoyable learning experiences for students of all ages and abilities.

$40 Member Adult; $55 Adult (Registration includes admission to the Garden) All materials will be provided for this workshop. Register at www.nebg.org

Monday, October 10, 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm – The Fabric of Flowers: Flax Flower to Fine Linen, Online

This Gardens Trust online talk on Flax Flower to Fine Linen with Fiona McKelvie takes place October 10 at 2 pm. The talk is part of a 6-part Gardens Trust online lecture series, exploring how flowers and gardens have inspired textile artists, begins Mondays at 18:00 BST, equivalent to 2 pm Eastern time. Here in their latest series of talks they are taking a sideways view by exploring how gardens and flowers have influenced and inspired other arts and crafts. This first series of 6 will focus on textiles and explore some of the historical and technical aspects of embroidering, weaving and printing using floral designs on fabric. You will look at textiles from Elizabethan crowns to Edwardian table linen to see how flowers provided inspiration, taking in the prolific art embroiderers of the Arts and Crafts Movement. Then you will be brought bang up to date with two contemporary embroiderers with very different approaches to floral imagery who will share their design processes with us.

We will explore the journey from flax flower to table linen and consider the wonderful design and manufacturing heritage of the industry that once contributed to Belfast being called Linenopolis. The design heritage of damask linen in particular draws widely from nature, the representation of flowers and botanicals woven in intricate patterns into the finest of linen fabrics continues today but was at its height in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

And not forgetting the skillful embroidered embellishment on fine linen cloth which has graced dining and tea tables from the stately home to the parlor of the 1930s terrace.

The quality of linen cloth produced in Northern Ireland was world renowned – the crisp and luxurious feel of the linen and the way in which the woven patterns of damask cloth almost hover on the surface result in the perfect combination for a fine tablecloth and napkins. A table laid with linen damask was described in advertisements of the 1920s as ‘impressively correct’. And Emily Post the author of “Etiquette” declared that “The dinner of dignity is dependent on linen damask.”

This ticket (click HERE to purchase) is for this individual session and costs £5, and you may purchase tickets for other individual sessions, or you may purchase a ticket for the entire course of 6 sessions at a cost of £24 via the link here.

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 1 week) will be sent shortly afterwards.

Linen occupies a special place in the world of textiles – a strong and long lasting fabric with some exceptional properties, and all the while delighting the eye with its designs, whether woven or embroidered. Fiona McKelvie has had a career in textiles for more than 30 years, much of that time with Liberty of London. Originally from Belfast, she has a passion for Irish Linen, collecting since the 1970s. Fiona is particularly interested in the history and heritage of the linen industry and has spent many years researching the connections and legacy of Irish linen, flax and textiles. In 2013, she launched her website McBurneyandBlack.com, specializing in the sale of antique and vintage Irish linens as well as vintage haberdashery. In 2021 she contributed to the British Textile Biennial via the Cloth Cultures podcast with Amber Butchart. The design element of linen damask is of particular interest and Fiona has collected a varied archive of material, from hand painted point charts to sales sample books, and the search continues……

Saturday, October 8, 10:00 am – 11:30 am – Cutting Gardens Revisited

Join flower farmer Elisabeth Cary at Hollister House Garden in Washington, Connecticut on October 8 at 10 am and learn about her successes and failures on her 5 year journey to develop her home cutting garden into a micro flower farm for fun and profit. She will share practical information including selecting the best plants, scheduling a growing sequence, and balancing annuals, perennials and biennials for a long seasonal bloom. Elizabeth will touch on layout, pest and weed control, industry sources for seeds, plugs and bulbs, harvesting, storage and garden wrap up. This program is for anyone crazy enough to start a flower business or a “mad” home gardener in love with flowers. Now is the time to plan your 2023 cutting garden!

Elisabeth Cary was formerly the Director of Education at the Berkshire Botanical Garden and has been gardening for over 30 years. She is the owner and founder of Cooper Hill Flower Farm, a micro flower farm in Sheffield, Massachusetts.

Advance reservation is suggested. Hollister House follows all state and local guidelines for Covid-19 at our events.

HHG members $25 Non-members $35 Register HERE

Saturday, October 1, 9:30 am – 11:30 am – Sketching Plants and Flowers. Online

Explore a variety of plant forms using pencil and paper in this Harvard Museum of Natural History session on October 1 from 9:30 – 11:30. Taught by a scientific illustrator, this online workshop will emphasize close observation and realistic representation. We will explore a range of techniques for achieving more accurate drawings and will delve into contour, gesture, foreshortening, and shading to create volume and depth. The group will be limited to twelve participants, allowing ample time for individual feedback. All skill levels are welcome

Members $30/Nonmembers $35.

Advance Registration Required.

Class will be held over Zoom. To join the program, you will need to download the free Zoom app in advance. If you already have Zoom, you do not need to download it again.

Sunday, October 9, 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm – Celebrating Olmsted

April marks the 200 anniversary of the birth of Frederick Law Olmsted, the master designer of public parks and a founder of the field landscape architecture. On October 9 at 5:30 at New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill, join historian and filmmaker Laurence Cotton (originator of and consulting producer to the PBS special Frederick Law Olmsted: Designing America) as he does a deep dive into the remarkable life and career of the Renaissance-man Olmsted–writer, philosopher, social reformer, advocate for the preservation of natural scenery, and creator of some of the most beautiful public and private parks and gardens in all of N. America. In his presentation, Laurence will talk about the influences of design traditions, aesthetics and philosophies that influenced Olmsted’s thought—including English garden design, the Hudson River School and Transcendentalism. Laurence will also give a visual tour of representative masterful landscapes designed by Olmsted, Senior, as well as his two sons and the Olmsted Bros. landscape architecture firm, as the footprint of their works literally stretch across the entire continent of N. America, with something of a focus on New England, and in particular, Massachusetts and nearby sites in Connecticut and Rhode Island.
For more about the celebrations of Olmsted in 2022 check out the website olmsted200.org. You can also check out local programs by visiting Olmstednow.org

Laurence Cotton, currently based in Portland, Oregon, a city that benefits from an Olmsted-master planned park system, originally hails from Boston, renowned for its Olmsted landscapes and the home base for generations of landscape design practitioners working for the Olmsted Bros. firm. A practicing public historian, and writer/producer of historical films for PBS, Mr. Cotton was trained as a cultural anthropologist and brings that lens to bear on much of his work. He has worked with the tribal populations on throughout the Columbia River watershed and has also worked on open space acquisition and the designs of parks and trails in Pacific Northwest. He also brings training as an interpretive naturalist, is a birder and a photographer. His visit to Worcester is one of many such stops on his 2022 tour of the U.S. to present programs about the Olmsted legacy during the Olmsted 200 year.

$15 Member Adult; $25 Adult (Registration includes admission to the Garden) Register HERE.

Saturday, October 1, 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm – Wharton’s Woods, Wetlands, & Meadows: Human History and Ecology

Take a walk on the wild side with Zach Adams from the Massachusetts Audubon Society. Explore the intersection of human history and ecology while enjoying the beautiful woods, meadows, wetlands, and lake views and the expanse of Edith Wharton’s original estate, including recently conserved land with trails leading to Edith Wharton Park on Laurel Lake.

The Mount’s general COVID-19 Health and Safety Guidelines may be found here. The free tour begins at 3 pm on October 1, and you may sign up HERE.

Tuesdays, October 4 – October 25, 5:30 pm – 8:30 pm – Understanding Woody Plants

Taught by Jenna O’Brien, this four-session Berkshire Botanical Garden course will focus on the bones of the garden with a survey of ornamental woody plants for residential landscape design. It will cover ornamental shrubs, small flowering trees, shade trees, and broadleaf and needle evergreens. Students will become familiar with the many garden-worthy woody plants that thrive in Zone 5. The course covers plant identification, selection, siting, cultivation, and possible design uses. Students should dress for outdoor field study. All students participating in this class as part of the Horticulture Certificate Program are required to complete a final project. $185 for BBG members, $215 for nonmembers. Register at www.berkshirebotanical.org

Jenna O’Brien, owner and founder of Viridissima Horticulture & Design since 2003, has been working in Berkshire gardens for over 20 years. She specializes in container gardening, perennial garden design and care and estate garden and conservatory management.