Boston Flora

Tag: All the Presidents’ Gardens

  • Sunday, March 7, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm – Landscaping Your Historic Home, Online

    Whether your house was built in the 17th century or the 21st, you can create a garden to suit its style. This online Berkshire Botanical Garden lecture on March 7 at 1 pm Eastern by author, horticulturist and landscape historian Marta McDowell covers American residential gardening fashions from the Colonial period to the present. In this online class you will learn design basics and the steps to take to create an authentic, appealing landscape for your home. $15 for BBG members, $25 for nonmembers. Register at https://www.berkshirebotanical.org/events/landscaping-your-historic-home

    Marta McDowell teaches landscape history and horticulture at the New York Botanical Garden and consults for private clients and public gardens. Her latest book is Emily Dickinson’s Gardening Life. She is also the author of The World of Laura Ingalls Wilder, New York Times bestselling All the Presidents’ Gardens, and Beatrix Potter’s Gardening Life, now in its seventh printing, all published by Timber Press. Marta is working on a new book about The Secret Garden and its author, Frances Hodgson Burnett, due out from Timber Press in 2021. She is the 2019 recipient of the Garden Club of America’s Sarah Chapman Francis Medal for outstanding literary achievement.

  • Thursday, July 23, 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm – Emily Dickenson’s Gardening Life Webinar

    On July 23 at 6:30 pm, enjoy a Berkshire Botanical Garden lecture and Q&A session with author Marta McDowell about her new book, Emily Dickinson’s Gardening Life. In addition to writing poetry, The Belle of Amherst was a gardener. She cultivated flowers on her father’s property and in the glass conservatory that he added to the Homestead. This lecture explores Dickinson’s gardens through excerpts from her letters and poems and historic and modern images of her garden. The book is available for purchase through the BBG online shop. Our Summer Author Series is presented in collaboration with Tower Hill Botanic Garden and Timber Press. $10 for sponsor members, $15 for nonmembers. Register at https://www.berkshirebotanical.org/events/summer-author-series-marta-mcdowell-emily-dickinsons-gardening-life-online

    Marta McDowell teaches landscape history and horticulture at the New York Botanical Garden and consults for private clients and public gardens. Her latest book is Emily Dickinson’s Gardening Life, published by Timber Press, who also published The World of Laura Ingalls Wilder, New York Times bestselling All the Presidents’ Gardens and Beatrix Potter’s Gardening Life, now in its seventh printing. Marta is working on a new book about The Secret Garden and its author, Frances Hodgson Burnett, due out from Timber Press in 2021. She is the 2019 recipient of the Garden Club of America’s Sarah Chapman Francis Medal for outstanding literary achievement.

  • Monday, April 9, 10:00 am – 2:00 pm – Boston Committee of the GCA Spring Meeting

    The Boston Committee of the Garden Club of America Spring Meeting will take place Monday, April 9, 2018. Please note change of venue: Brae Burn Country Club, 326 Fuller Street,
    West Newton, MA 02465. The morning will begin at 10:00 am with coffee and socialization, followed at 10:30 am by a welcome and business meeting, and, at 11:00 am, the lecture and luncheon. This spring’s guest speaker is Marta McDowell, author of All the President’s Gardens: Madison’s Cabbages to Kennedy’s Roses – How the White House Grounds Have Grown with America. The book is the winner of a 2017 American Horticultural Society Book Award, and is the fascinating story of America’s first garden. A limited number of Marta’s book will be available for purchase at the luncheon for $25, with advance registration. Members of Boston Committee Clubs will receive a written invitation by mail, but if have not received an invite, visit http://www.bostoncommitteegca.org/contact.html and request additional information. Guests accompanied by Members are welcome.

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  • Sunday, October 29, 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm – The World of Laura Ingalls Wilder: The Frontier Landscapes that Inspired the Little House Books

    This year is the 150th anniversary of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s birthday. Her classic coming-of-age story, told through the beloved Little House books, still resonates today as an iconic story of American identity. The inspiration for Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books was born from a life lived in partnership with the land, on homesteads she and her family settled across the Midwest. Marta McDowell’s new book, The World of Laura Ingalls Wilder, is a revealing exploration of the pioneer writer’s deep connection with the natural world. Following the trail of the Little House series (from Wisconsin to the Dakotas to Missouri) the best-selling author shares intimate details about Wilder and the plants, creatures, and landscapes that are so integral to her stories, they are practically their own characters.

    Featuring the beloved illustrations from the original books and hundreds of historical and contemporary photographs, The World of Ingalls Wilder is a must-have treasure for anyone enchanted by Laura’s wild and beautiful life.

    Marta McDowell lives, gardens, and writes in Chatham, New Jersey. She teaches landscape history and horticulture at the New York Botanical Garden, where she studied landscape design. Her particular interest is in authors and their gardens, the connection between the pen and the trowel. Her previous books include Beatrix Potter’s Gardening Life, Emily Dickinson’s Gardens, and All the Presidents’ Gardens. This event will take place at Tower Hill Botanic Garden, 11 French Drive in Boylston, on Sunday, October 29 at 12:30, and is free with admission to the garden. For more information visit www.towerhillbg.org.

  • Sunday, December 11, 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm – All the Presidents’ Gardens

    Visit Berkshire Botanical Garden, 5 West Stockbridge Road in Stockbridge on Sunday, December 11 from 2 – 3:30 to hear a timely lecture by Marta McDowell on Presidential Gardens. Learn the untold history of the White House grounds, starting with the seed-collecting, plant-obsessed George Washington and ending with Michelle Obama’s kitchen garden.

    The talk is filled with fascinating details about Lincoln’s goats, Ike’s putting green, Jackie’s iconic roses, Amy Carter’s tree house, and information on the plants whose favor has come and gone over the years and the gardeners who have been responsible for it all. BBG members $10, nonmembers $15. Register by calling 413-298-3926, or email info@berkshirebotanical.org.