Boston Flora

Thursday, March 3, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm – The Park and Gardens of the Domaine de Courances – “A Moveable Feast”, Online

During the reign of François Ier, Fontainebleau and its surrounding area became very fashionable. In 1552, Henri II’s secretary of state purchased land 12miles/20 km west of Fontainebleau where he built the first Château de Courances and laid out a Renaissance water garden with 14 natural springs that now flow into 17 water features. It also included the second Grand Canal ever excavated in France, which no doubt inspired Le Nôtre’s use of the Grand Canal in the design of his formal Classical gardens 100 years later. In 1872, a new owner acquired the abandoned estate and hired the father and son team of Henri and Achille Duchêne to restore Courances’ park in the style à la française. Subsequent generations have continued to reinvent the magnificent park and gardens of Courances.

Speaker Valentine de Ganay belongs to the fourth generation of her family to own the Domaine de Courances, and is the founder and manager of “Les Jardins de Courances”, an agricultural venture including a 7-acre/2.8-hectare potager (kitchen garden) adjacent to the domain. She has also converted 1,500 acres/600 hectares of fields to organic and regenerative agriculture. Valentine is the co-editor, co-author and author of the following three books in French: the hardcover Courances (2003, a collection of 30 essays with more than 450 images), the paperback Courances (2011, a book of photographs accompanied by French and English text), and Aristo ? (2013, a book about French society).

This lecture is pre-recorded and was originally given on June 9, 2021 as part of a series on “Unforgettable Gardens” organized by the Gardens Trust and the Historic Gardens Foundation. While the lecture is pre-recorded, the Introduction and Question & Answer session at the end of the lecture will be live with Valentine de Ganay.

Register HERE. $20 for the general public, $10 for members of sponsoring organizations Alliance Française Chicago with communication support from the Federation of Alliances Françaises USA. the French Heritage Society, the Historic Gardens Foundation, The Garden Conservancy and WICE

Saturday, April 30 & Saturday, July 23, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm – The Garden of Bunny Williams

The Garden Conservancy announces a special in-person event in April and July at the Falls Village, Connecticut home of Bunny Williams.

Interior designer and garden book author Bunny Williams’s intensively planted fifteen-acre estate has a sunken garden with twin perennial borders surrounding a fishpond, a seasonally changing parterre garden, a year-round conservatory filled with tender plants, a large vegetable garden with flowers and herbs, a woodland garden with meandering paths, and a pond with a waterfall. There are also a working greenhouse and an aviary with unusual chickens, an apple orchard with mature trees, a rustic Greek Revival-style poolhouse folly, and a swimming pool with eighteenth-century French coping. Garden is partially accessible.

Open Days 2022: Saturday, April 30 and Saturday, July 23
Hours: Two sessions, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. (But April 30 early session already sold out) https://www.gardenconservancy.org/open-days/garden-directory/bunny-williams

REGISTRATION
Members $5 per person; General admission $10. Children 12 and under free.

Tuesdays, February 22 – March 15, 5:00 am Eastern Time (but recording link will be sent to watch when you’re awake) – Gardens of Delight, Online

The Gardens Trust is offering a series of four online talks exploring the history and evolution of Persian Gardens on Tuesdays beginning February 22. This ticket costs £16 for the entire course of 4 sessions or you may purchase a ticket for individual sessions, costing £5, through Eventbrite. The Persian Garden sits at the heart of the western horticultural tradition. Though its origins lie in the arid steppes of modern-day Iran, the Islamic conquerors of the sixth century added the spiritual dimension to the Persian prototype. Today its combination of exquisite beauty, sensory delight and spiritual consolation shape the Christian concept of Eden and the Islamic idea of Paradise. Through the centuries, as Islam spread from India, across North Africa, to Southern Europe, the Persian garden absorbed local horticultural traditions, evolving and adapting to accommodate different cultures and environments. Its inventive techniques enabled the greening of the desert, the creation of splendid gardens and the establishing of lush, productive orchards in the most inhospitable settings. From desert oases to dense urban settlements, from mosques, madrassas and royal palaces to intimate private courtyards, the Persian garden has provided an image of heaven on earth – reflecting the Islamic idea that our secular realm is a pale reflection of the celestial delights to come. Whether providing a simple refuge from harsh surroundings, a magnificent pleasure ground or a spiritual retreat, the modest materials and formal geometries of the Persian garden have informed our grandest gardens and inspired our most avant-garde designers. Gardens of Delight will explore the evolution, and legacy, of the Persian garden. While featuring the Taj Mahal, the Alhambra, the garden city of Isfahan and Morocco’s famous Agdal, it will also look at lesser-known gardens, and examine the legacy of the Persian tradition in the work of modern designers.

Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days prior to the start of the talk. A link to the recorded session (available for 1 week) will be sent shortly afterwards. Register HERE.

Week One is entitled Gardens Beneath Which Rivers Flow: the Persian Garden Then and Now. The Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, written more than four thousand years ago, describes the dwelling place of the gods as an ‘immortal garden’, in which ‘a tree stands (beside) a sacred fountain’. Here, in one of the oldest surviving human texts, we have the essence of the Persian garden: water and shade. Early on the Persians developed a system of underground channels to transport water from mountain aquifers into the arid plain. Walls, to protect from desert winds, created a sanctuary, while the characteristic four-part division was established by bisecting irrigation channels. As subsequent rulers recognized that the ability to make things grow conferred on them a god-like status, they embellished their gardens with sensuous fruit, beautiful flowers, exotic trees and elegant palace-pavilions. From Cyrus the Great’s legendary Pasargadae through Shah Abbas’ modest mountain refuge Bagh e Fin to the miraculous oasis of Shiraz, we will explore the legacy of Persian gardens in modern-day Iran, and beyond in the works of such international designers as Gabriel Guvrekian, Norah Lindsay, Marilyn Abbott and Vladimir Djurovic.

Wednesday, February 23, 12:00 noon – State of the Coast: Salt Marsh and Habitats, Online

Salt marshes are one of the most productive ecosystems on the planet, and these beautiful landscapes also protect our shorelines, provide habitat, and help preserve water quality. But salt marshes depend on their ability to migrate with rising sea levels. Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket and the Elizabeth Islands have nearly 1,800 acres of marsh that sea level rise threatens to outpace, the second annual State of the Coast report finds. Some marshes may have a chance to migrate landward and survive where the absence of built barriers and natural topography allow. In this webinar sponsored by The Trustees of Reservations on February 23 at noon, we discuss options for restoring salt marsh, and models for managed retreat to protect these natural systems, which, if healthy, can serve as natural buffers to storm surge and sea level rise. Free, but registration required at www.thetrustees.org

Speakers include Liz Durkee, Martha’s Vineyard Commission Climate Change Planner, Cynthia Dittbrenner, Director of Coast and Natural Resources at The Trustees, and Russell Hopping, Lead Coastal Ecologist.

Wednesday, February 23, 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm – Lessons from Plants, Online

Plants are essential to humans and the environment: they provide food, absorb carbon dioxide, produce oxygen,serve multiple ecosystem functions, and beautify landscapes. In Lessons from Plants (Harvard University Press, 2021) Beronda Montgomery, MSU Foundation Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Microbiology & Molecular Genetics at Michigan State University invites us to appreciate our interdependence with plants and the many lessons that can be gained from a better understanding of the ways in which plants grow, adapt, and thrive. In this February 23rd conversation with Brenda Tindal, Executive Director, Harvard Museum of Science & Culture at 6 pm, she will address what plants can teach us about relating to one another, building diverse communities and being resilient.

Presented by the Harvard Museum of Natural History and the Harvard Museums of Science & Culture. The event is free. Advance registration required.

Wednesday, March 2, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm – A New Way of Thinking about Gardens, Nature, and Ourselves, Online

Nearing retirement, James Golden began making a garden on a ridge above the Delaware River in Western New Jersey. He had fallen in love with the house, a simple 1960’s modernist structure with floor-to-ceiling windows all around. It was an unusual site for a garden—little more than a derelict wood on heavy, wet clay—but he was taken with the emotional power and intangible qualities of the landscape.

Like Lester Collins at Innisfree, James thought and felt his way through this process, resulting in new awakenings and a place of rare beauty. After visiting James’ garden, Federal Twist, for the BBC Gardener’s World series, American Gardens, Monty Don, the British TV gardening guru, said “after over 50 years of gardening and visiting gardens, it made me rethink what a garden can be and do.” James will share the story of his garden journey, both practical and abstract, which is the subject of his new book, The View from Federal Twist: A New Way of Thinking about Gardens, Nature and Ourselves (Filbert Press, March 2022).

James Golden, born in Mississippi though resident in New York City for most of his life, was a writer in the corporate world. When he began this garden, he also began a now well-known blog, The View from Federal Twist. Fifteen years on, James is a celebrated garden maker and thinker whose garden has featured in numerous publications including The New York Times, Gardens Illustrated, the Financial Times, Horticulture, and other magazines and books. federaltwistdesign.org

This online event on March 2 is part of Innisfree Garden’s 2022 winter lecture series Romanticism at Innisfree: Nature as Muse. Free for Innisfree members, $15 for nonmembers. Register HERE.

Saturday, February 26, 10:30 am – 12:00 noon – Basics of Orchid Growing and Repotting

Orchids are a beautiful plant that have so many flower varieties. Many of us love these plants but often have difficulty take care of them. In this Tower Hill Botanic Garden orchid workshop on February 26 from 10:30 – noon, Daryl Yerdon will start with the basics of orchid care with an emphasis on repotting. Together you will focus on the importance of proper pot selection and using the correct growing media for your type of orchid or your particular growing conditions. Daryl will also talk about how to water, fertilize and care for your orchids. At the end of the talk Daryl will demonstrate how to repot an orchid and leave time to answer any questions you may have.

In 1996 Daryl Yerdon joined the New Hampshire Orchid Society and purchased his first orchid at the annual show in Nashua, NH. Daryl’s orchid collection has grown from that first orchid to over 500 plants grown in a large greenhouse. In 2009 the New Hampshire Orchid Society awarded Daryl with the Sawyer Family Advanced Grower Trophy recognizing him as an expert grower for the NHOS. Daryl frequently displays his orchids at many local orchid society shows, where several of his plants have received a variety of awards from the American Orchid Society. From 2010 until 2021 Daryl was the owner of Kelley’s Korner Orchid Supplies which was recently sold to a new owner and relocated to Pennsylvania. Daryl grows a wide range of orchids in an 18′ x 28′ Arcadia greenhouse. Based on trial and error his collection has changed throughout the years. At this time the majority of plants are primarily species orchids but with a nice selection of favorite hybrids mixed in. The largest genus in his collection would be dendrobiums, but he grows a wide variety of orchids in pots as well as mounted on various materials. Daryl plans continue growing orchids, displaying them at orchid shows and becoming more active at the Massachusetts and New Hampshire Orchid Society meetings where he can provide his knowledge and expertise to other growers.

$30 Member Adult; $40 Adult (Registration includes admission to the Garden). Register at www.towerhillbg.org

Fridays, March 11, 18, and 25, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm – Felted Flowers in Bloom, Online

Felted-flower bouquets have become a popular gift and are a jeweler’s and milliner’s delight when used in brooches, pins, necklaces, rings, fascinators, or hat adornments. Create a lovely bouquet of felted flowers as you explore the basics of wet-felting techniques in a workshop ideal for beginners and challenging enough for more experienced felters.

Using your choice of art or photos for inspiration, move from two-dimensional to three-dimensional work as you create the individual elements of a flower and put them together to make botanically accurate blooms.

This Smithsonian Associates class will be recorded. Please see our FAQ for recording terms and conditions. $135 for Smithsonian members, $155 for nonmembers. Register HERE. A kit of materials is available for $28 plus Priority Shipping. Please order no later than 7 – 10 days prior to the start of class.

Other Information

The instructor is Renate Maile-Moskowitz.
3 sessions, 3 hours each
This studio arts program is a Zoom Meeting to allow for patron and instructor interaction. All Studio Arts classes require a ticket for each participant so that the instructor can provide individual attention to every student listed on the roster.
If you register multiple individuals, you will be asked to supply individual names and email addresses so they can receive a Zoom link email. Please note that if there is a change in program schedule or a cancellation, we will notify you via email, and it will be your responsibility to notify other registrants in your group.
Unless otherwise noted, registration for streaming programs typically closes two hours prior to the start time on the date of the program.
Once registered, patrons should receive an automatic email confirmation from CustomerService@SmithsonianAssociates.org.
Separate Zoom link information will be emailed closer to the date of the program. If you do not receive your Zoom link information 24 hours prior to the start of the program, please email Customer Service for assistance.
View Common FAQs about our Streaming Programs on Zoom.

Thursday, February 24, 2:00 pm – Ethel Earley-Clark: Unearthing the History of African American Garden Clubs in America, Online

The gardening boom and the social justice movement have reinvigorated Black garden history. One of the most fascinating figures to emerge is Ethel Earley-Clark, one of four founding members and the only woman of the Negro Garden Club of Virginia. On April 22, 1932—almost 90 years ago—Mrs. Clark was elected the organization’s first president. After 1932, African American Garden Clubs grew throughout America and represented Ethel Earley-Clark’s spirit to organize a growing number of Black women to use garden clubs as a means of civic engagement.

Join The Garden Conservancy on February 24 at 2 pm Eastern time for this webinar, as horticulturist and landscape designer Wambui Ippolito, public horticulturist and floriculture historian Abra Lee, and Anne Spencer House & Garden Museum curator Shaun Spencer-Hester discuss how their individual interests led them to each other and to unearthing African American garden club histories, including the Negro Garden Club of Virginia. The discussion will be on Zoom, and is $5 for Garden Conservancy members, $15 General Admission. Register HERE. Members of the Frank & Anne Cabot Society for Planned Giving have complimentary access to Garden Conservancy webinars. All Cabot Society members will automatically be sent the link to participate on the morning of the webinar. For more information about the Cabot Society, please contact Sarah Parker at sparker@gardenconservancy.org or 845.424.6500, ext. 214.

Wambui Ippolito (left below), is the 2021 Best in Show award winner at the Philadelphia Flower Show, the largest show of its kind in North America. Born in Kenya, Ms. Ippolito was influenced by her mother’s garden in Nairobi, her grandmother’s farm in the countryside, and the natural landscapes of East Africa. A graduate of the New York Botanical Garden’s School of Horticulture, Veranda magazine named her one of “Eleven Revolutionary Female Landscape Designers and Architects You Should Know” in 2021. Ms. Ippolito lectures internationally and is the founder of the BIPOC Hort Group, a multicultural professional organization with membership from the USA, Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. She lives in New York City, where she concentrates on urban gardens, public spaces, and large estates.

Abra Lee (center), is an international speaker, writer, and founder of Conquer The Soil, a community which explores the history, folklore, and art of horticulture. She has spent “a whole lotta time in the dirt” as a municipal arborist and airport landscape manager. Her essays have been featured in publications including The New York Times and Wildflower Magazine. Lee is a graduate of Auburn University College of Agriculture and an alumna of the Longwood Gardens Society of Fellows, a global network of public horticulture professionals.

Shaun Spencer-Hester (right), is the executive director and board treasurer at the Anne Spencer House & Garden Museum, in Lynchburg, VA. The site is the former home and gardens of her grandfather, Edward Spencer, and his wife, Anne Spencer, an American poet, teacher, civil rights activist, librarian, and gardener. Anne Spencer holds an important place as a widely anthologized poet, and was the first Virginian and one of three African American women included in the highly influential Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry (1973).

Thursday, February 24, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm – The Parks and Gardens of Paris, Online

According to the Ville de Paris website, the city of Paris has 490 parks, gardens and municipal squares under the responsibility of the Direction des Parcs, Jardins et Espaces Verts (DPJEV), which Haussmann established in 1855. The first gardens created next to the Tuileries Palace of Catherine de Médicis and the Luxembourg Palace of Marie de Médicis, were in the Italian style, designed to be seen from the château and to reflect the power of its occupant. The structural elements of the garden evolved into the Classical garden intended to show man’s domination of nature. These “regular” gardens reached their apogee under André Le Nôtre and his gardens at Vaux-le-Vicomte, Versailles and Chantilly, but also at the Tuileries. The parks and gardens created in Paris during the 19^th century were inspired by the “irregular” English landscape gardens of “Capability” Brown and his successors – jardins à l’anglaise – which sought to return to nature. After a lull, Paris has enjoyed an explosion of new gardens in the past 40 years, most of them in the outer arrondissements. The current city government is determined to continue the “greening” of Paris.

Join with others on February 24 for a one hour live webinar with speaker Russell Kelley. He has lived in Paris for 30 years and is the author of The Making of Paris: The Story of How Paris Evolved from a Fishing Village into the World’s Most Beautiful City (Lyons Press, 2021).

This program is presented by Alliance Française Miami Metro in partnership with the Alliance Française Chicago with communication support from the Federation of Alliances Françaises USA, the French Heritage Society, the Garden Conservancy, the Historic Gardens Foundation, and WICE. $10 for members of a sponsoring organization, $20 for nonmembers. Register HERE. Garden Conservancy members use code MERCIAFMM. The program is presented in English.