Now through Sunday, March 30 – Newport Mansions Spring Online Auction

Bid high and bid often! The Preservation Society of Newport County’s Spring 2025 online auction offers amazing opportunities for an experience you’ll treasure forever. One example is a Floral Fair dinner experience following the 2025 Newport Flower Show Opening Night Party, in the Ballroom at Rosecliff. All bids support the Preservation Society’s mission to protect, preserve, and present an exceptional collection of house museums and landscapes in one of the most historically intact cities in America.

Please see the Auction Rules before submitting your bids. Visit https://www.newportmansions.org/events/exclusive-experiences-online-auction/

RSS
Follow by Email
Instagram

Sunday, April 13, 12:00 pm – 1:30 pm – Brunch with Margaret Renkl

Grow Native Massachusetts is delighted to host a conversation with New York Times Opinion writer and bestselling author Margaret Renkl on April 13. We will be delving into her book The Comfort of Crows, which tells the story of the creatures and plants observed in her backyard over the course of a year. 

Moving through the seasons—beginning with a crow spied on New Year’s Day, its resourcefulness and sense of community setting a theme for the year—what develops is a portrait of joy and grief. Joy at the ongoing pleasures of the natural world: “Until the very last cricket falls silent, the beauty-besotted will always find a reason to love the world.” And grief at a shifting climate, at winters that end too soon, at songbirds growing fewer and fewer.

Along the way, we also glimpse the changing rhythms of a human life. Grown children, unexpectedly home during the pandemic, prepare to depart once more. Birdsong and night-blooming flowers evoke generations past. The city and the country where Renkl raised her family transform a little more with every passing day. How can one person make a difference amid such destabilizing changes?

Exploring Renkl’s observations and themes of change, personal action, and hope, this intimate brunch chat will span topics from taking time to notice and appreciate nature right outside your door, to preserving and restoring wildlife habitat, addressing climate change, and making other difficult systemic changes in the way human beings live. 

Our venue, Bull Run, is a farm-to-table restaurant and function hall situated in a historic tavern at 215 Great Road in Shirley, MA. You can enjoy their delicious brunch buffet before or during the discussion with Margaret, included as part of your ticket.

The Comfort of Crows and its companion journal Leaf, Cloud, Crow, will be available for purchase and signing at the event, courtesy of Little Bee Bookshop in Ayer.

Doors open at 10 am – book signing prior to discussion. Discussion begins at noon. Grow Native members $50, public $60, including brunch. Register at www.grownativemass.org

RSS
Follow by Email
Instagram

Tuesday, April 1, 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm – An-My Lê, Maps and Legends: Photography Between Histories and Beyond Borders

Internationally renowned photographer An-My Lê seeks “to photograph the landscape in such a way that it suggests a universal history, a personal history, a history of culture.” In this lecture, Lê presents two new series of recent photographs, Dark Star and Grey Wolf, continuing her exploration of the contradictory nature of the manifest and the sublime within the contemporary American landscape, and the latter as a present-day locus of technology, power and ambition. In Lê’s work, scale is both temporal and historical, encompassing themes of displacement, war, memory, and resilience. These are present in her earliest black and white pictures of Vietnam (1994-1998) in which she returned to a scarred homeland as a political refugee, to her pictures of war re-enactors in the southern U.S. (Small Wars, 1999-2002),  to staged military training exercises in the American desert (29 Palms, 2003-04), to her more recent lens on polarization in the United States through a series of historical fragments (Silent General, 2015 to today). With extraordinary consideration of history and culture, Lê’s view of her subjects often incorporates an elevated perspective to achieve its signature precision and ethical neutrality. In zooming out to look closer, her stepped-back “proscenium framing” brings into crystal clear vision her observations and stories, not unlike layers of a history painting.

The Harvard Graduate School of Design presents a lecture on April 1, both live and online, on April 1 at 6:30 Eastern. Registration is not required, but additional information on the speaker, and instructions on logging in, can be found at https://www.gsd.harvard.edu/event/an-my-le-maps-legends-photography-between-histories-and-beyond-borders/?mc_cid=9e6283110d&mc_eid=314db6bd32

RSS
Follow by Email
Instagram

Thursday, March 27, 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm – Tapas from Around the World

Wright-Locke Farm & A Borrowed Chef invite you to a global dining experience: 

Tapas From Around the World, Thursday, March 27th, 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Address (parking): 82 Ridge Street, Winchester MA 01890

Cost: $100 per person (includes wine pairings & signature cocktail

  • Artisan Cheeses with Accoutrements, Tilily Sourdough Bread
  • Mediterranean Tapas (Roasted Garlic Hummus, Edamame Hummus, Baba Ghanoush, Marinated Olives & Feta, Grilled Herbed Garlic Pita & Petite Crudites)
  • Tuna Tartare with Everything Bagel Seasoned Wontons Crackers / Sauvignon Blanc
  • Tom Kha Gai (Lemongrass Chicken Soup with Coconut) / Chardonnay
  • Middle Eastern Spiced Toasted Quinoa & Black Bean Slider, Tzatziki Sauce / Pinot Noir
  • Spanish Style Meatballs with Shaved Manchego Cheese / Rioja
  • Korean BBQ Braised Beef Short Rib Taco with House Made Kimchi / Cabernet
  • Tiramisu Panna Cotta

Register HERE

RSS
Follow by Email
Instagram

Monday, April 7, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm Eastern – A Geologic Tour of Iceland, Online

Explore spectacular scenery and a geologic overview of Iceland in a virtual field trip on April 7 led by volcanologist Kirt Kempter, who has led more than 30 tours to the country for the Smithsonian since his first visit in 1995. Geologic highlights include the boundary between North American and Eurasian plates; unusual volcanoes that form beneath vast glaciers; famous volcanic eruptions including those of the small island of Heimaey in 1973 and ice-capped Eyjafjallajökul in 2010; and older historic eruptions that affected global climate and human populations. Kempter employs maps, photographs, diagrams, and Google Earth images to spotlight the key features that make Iceland a bucket-list destination for all geologists. This Smithsonian Associates program is $25 for Smithsonian members, $30 for nonmembers. Register at www.smithsonianassociates.org. Below: Kvernufoss waterfall in Iceland (Photo: Kirt Kempter)

RSS
Follow by Email
Instagram

Thursday, March 27, 3:00 pm – 4:15 pm Eastern – Into the Weeds: How to Garden Like a Forager, Online

Many a gardener, flower lover, or backyard farmer hates that most dreaded of garden chores: getting rid of weeds. Tama Matsuoka Wong offers a new approach to many plants deemed undesirable: manage them, turn them into delicious food, teas, structures….in other words reap their abundance. A self-described “failed” gardener turned garden contrarian, she looks to cues as to what plants grow wild naturally in situ and, besides that, sells many pounds of invasive weeds to markets and chefs. On a more personal level, she will share with you the “why” of her latest book Into the Weeds: How to Garden Like a Forager (Hardie Grant North America 2024): why weeds sit at the juncture of our food, environment and health, and how to use the most common weeds that grow around you. This New Directions in the American Landscape webinar will take place March 27 at 3 pm. $42. Register at www.ndal.org

RSS
Follow by Email
Instagram

Wednesday, April 2, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm Eastern – Artists’ Gardens: Painters in their Places, Online

Plants and gardens have long served as a creative inspiration for artists. They are places of color, structure and changing light, representations of memories and emotions, expressions of the cycle of life and the passing of time. When the garden is one created by the artist themself, the scope for exploration and engagement intensifies and, whether garden-lover or art-lover, we are drawn in to their stories and meanings. In this four-part series, The Gardens Trust will explore a range of gardens created and celebrated by their artist owners. 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. Register through Eventbrite HERE.

Gardens, fashions, sculpture and antique culture meet and mix as we move between France, Spain, Italy and England with artists who both recorded and, in the case of Sorolla and le Sidaner, created gardens. The third artist is John Singer Sargent. On April 2 we will examine the concepts of the role of gardens in art and culture more generally as exampled and contrasted by these three artists.

Twigs Way is a garden historian, writer and researcher fascinated by the past and intrigued by the role of flowers, gardens and landscape in art and culture of all kinds. Her talks reflect themes of, class and gender, politics, art and literature along with the quirky and unusual. Twigs is Course Director of the MA/PhD in Garden History at Buckingham University and an accredited Arts Society lecturer. Her history of the Chrysanthemum in art and culture was published by Reaktion (2020) and the new edition of A History of Women in the Garden was published by Bloomsbury (2023). Image: Les Jardins Henri Le Sidaner, Gerberoy, photo ©Twigs Way

RSS
Follow by Email
Instagram

Thursday, April 24, 9:30 am – 1:30 pm – The Boston Committee of The Garden Club of America Spring Lecture – TulipMania

The Boston Committee of The Garden Club of America will hold its Spring Meeting, Lecture and Luncheon on April 24 at The Gardens at Elm Bank in Wellesley. The meeting will include a lecture, lunch, and tour of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society’s 55,000 tulips in bloom. Mass Hort Executive Director James Hearsum will speak on Gardens as a Community Asset. James Hearsum is an accomplished horticulturist and leader with a proven track record of advancing botanical and community-focused organizations. From 2014 to 2019, he served as the Executive Director of St. Andrews Botanic Garden in Scotland, where he spearheaded transformative initiatives in guest experience, outreach, and education. Under his leadership, the garden established a sustainable Urban Farm, a Butterfly House, and a Community Hub, while also expanding its reach to previously underserved communities.

Since 2020, Hearsum has brought his extensive horticultural experience and dynamic leadership to the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, continuing to advance excellence in horticulture and community engagement.

Members of member clubs of The Boston Committee will receive an invitation. $35 lecture only, $60 lecture and luncheon. If you are not a member, you may consider joining The Garden Club of the Back Bay, which is one of the affiliate clubs.

RSS
Follow by Email
Instagram

Thursday, May 15, 9:00 am – 5:00 pm – Hidden Gardens of Beacon Hill Annual Tour 2025

The Hidden Gardens of Beacon Hill Annual Tour celebrates our long tradition of urban gardening and education, beginning at our founding in 1928. Join us for our 96th celebration as we open the gates to ten private gardens and showcase our signature ribbon gardens. Enhance your self-guided experience with complimentary refreshments at King’s Chapel, where you can pause to reflect and refresh between garden visits.. Tickets will not be sold on Tour Day.

Tickets for Hidden Garden Tour – $65 (includes one ticket to Hidden Garden Tour) Purchase through Evenbrite HERE

Interested in sponsoring the Soiree, which will take place May 14 in the King’s Chapel garden from 5 – 7:30 pm? Contact Sandra Massey at sandra@massey.com. Tickets start at $225 and are available at the link above.

RSS
Follow by Email
Instagram

Tuesday, April 1, 9:00 am – 10:30 am Eastern – Beatrix Farrand: Garden Artist, Online

The Arts and Crafts Movement sought a return to vernacular traditions in the face of increasing industrialization. It thrived for two decades or so around the turn of the twentieth century, although its effect is still obvious today in many decorative arts. In the garden, the movement was most clearly articulated through the work of William Robinson (1838-1935) and Gertrude Jekyll (1843-1932). Their example was followed by a plethora of British architects and designers into the middle of the 20th century and beyond, and their influence spread to Europe, the US and further afield. What we today identify as Arts and Crafts gardens are perhaps typified by a geometric layout of compartments in close relationship with the house, alongside the use of architectural features in local materials and abundant, color-themed planting.

In this series, we will examine the origins of the Arts and Crafts garden, consider the work of Robinson and Jekyll in detail, and survey some of the many other British garden-makers who were influenced by the movement. The series will end with an international flavor, exploring the work of an American designer who was a life-long admirer of Robinson and Jekyll.

This ticket is for this individual talk (Click HERE) costs £8, and you may purchase tickets for other individual sessions, or you may purchase a ticket for the entire fifth series of 5 talks in our History of Gardens Course at £35 via the link here. (Gardens Trust members £6 each or all 5 for £26.25). Ticket holders can join each session live and/or view a recording for up to 2 weeks afterwards. Ticket sales close 4 hours before the talk.

Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days prior to the start of the talk, and again a few hours before the talk (If you do not receive this link, please contact us). A link to the recorded session will be sent shortly after each session and will be available for 2 weeks.

The final talk in this series will be given by The Garden Club of the Back Bay’s own Judith Tankard. Beatrix Farrand (1872-1959) was one of the first landscape architects in the United States. She began her practice in the 1890s and retired in 1950. During these years she had a thriving practice with a broad range of important clients, including Mildred Bliss at Dumbarton Oaks, her most famous commission. She was a life-long admirer of Gertrude Jekyll and William Robinson. In the 1950s, she acquired Jekyll’s archives of plans and photographs which she subsequently donated to the University of California, Berkeley, where they can be studied today.

Judith B Tankard is a landscape historian and preservation consultant. She received a M.A. In Art History from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University and taught at the Landscape Institute of Harvard University for over 20 years. She received a Gold Medal from the Massachusetts Horticultural Society and was recently named an Honorary Member of the Garden Club of America. She is the author of twelve prize-winning books on landscape history, including Beatrix Farrand: Garden Artist, Landscape Architect (The Monacelli Press, 2022) and Gardens of the Arts and Crafts Movement (Harry N Abrams, 2004, revised 2nd ed Timber Press, 2018). She also writes articles and book reviews for Hortus. She lives in the Boston, Massachusetts, area and has a small garden on Martha’s Vineyard. Her new book Gertrude Jekyll at Munstead Wood, with co-author Martin Wood, is scheduled for publication in Spring 2025.

Image: Beatrix Farrand’s cool borders at Garland Farm, photo ©Judith Tankard

RSS
Follow by Email
Instagram