Boston Flora

Tag: American Public Gardens Association

  • Monday, June 8 – Friday, June 12 = American Public Garden Association Annual Conference

    The American Public Gardens Association’s Annual Conference offers a variety of programs specifically designed for the needs of public garden professionals. Topics reflect current trends, celebrations, and issues facing our industry. The Annual Conference features sessions and workshops led by members who are experts in their fields, a large variety of local tours, a sizeable exhibit hall, well-respected Keynote and Plenary speakers, Association Awards, in-conference events, receptions, and so much more. Join us in San Francisco June 8 – 12 for a week of learning, networking, and local fun! The 2026 host gardens are Filoli and Gardens of Golden Gate Park. Visit https://www.publicgardens.org/events/annual-conference/ for complete details.

  • Tuesdays, September 16 – October 28 – Bringing Accessibility Awareness to Public Gardens Workshop Series, Online

    In collaboration with Chax, the American Public Gardens Association presents a series of awareness-building content. Training will be targeted for APGA members and other professionals seeking to learn about best practices in accessibility. Chax will use a lecture-based education style, with demonstrations and examples specifically from public gardens and art spaces.

    One Session Only: $60 Members | $175 Non-Members
    Two Sessions: $110 Members | $325 Non-Members (Save $10)
    Full Workshop Series: $175 Members | $595 Non-Members (Save $65)

    Register, and find more information, HERE.

  • Friday, September 26 – Submission Deadline for American Horticultural Society Great American Gardener Award

    Recognize horticultural excellence by nominating someone for a Great American Gardener Award. Each year the American Horticultural Society honors exceptional contributions to gardening and horticulture through this awards program. All nominations must be submitted by September 26, 2025. Questions? Email programs@ahsgardening.org

  • Monday, June 24 – Thursday, June 27 – American Public Gardens Association: Rooted in Resilience

    The Arnold Arboretum is among five New England gardens hosting the 2024 annual conference of the American Public Gardens Association in Boston this summer. Public garden professionals from around the country and around the world will come together between June 24–27 to participate in the annual gathering, which is also hosted by Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Mount Auburn Cemetery, New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill, and The Trustees. Rooted in Resilience: A Sustainable Future for Gardens will be held at the Hilton Boston Park Plaza, a block away from Boston’s famous Public Garden. Hundreds of public horticulture professionals are expected to attend for a week of professional development sessions, networking events, garden tours, and more. The 2024 Presenting Partner is the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service.

    The 2024 Conference theme highlights Boston’s historic resilience and the city’s story of overcoming adversity and adapting to change. From playing a crucial role in the American Revolution to surviving disasters, Boston has always persevered and emerged stronger. Today, Boston demonstrates its adaptability through various sustainable initiatives, including ambitious urban forestry goals and a plan to become carbon-neutral by 2050. In Boston, resilience and social justice are intertwined, driving the city’s commitment to building a sustainable and equitable society.

    The conference theme showcases the parallel between Boston’s remarkable resilience and the concept of sustainability within the realm of gardens. Public gardens play a vital role in promoting sustainable practices and empowering the next generation of environmental stewards. Through a range of green initiatives, including sustainable horticultural practices, educational programs, and community engagement, public gardens are building stronger communities, promoting access to green spaces, and connecting people with nature.

    Participants will enjoy over 80 professional development sessions and workshops in five Specialty Tracks—Education and Science, Garden Management, Horticulture, Plant Collections and Conservation, and Public Engagement—in addition to tours of local public gardens, professional workshops, and special events at the host gardens.

    Registration is now. Non-member registration is available for $100 more than the member rate. Two- and One-Day registration options are available.Visit the APGA website for more information.

  • Thursday, November 9, 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm Eastern – Horticultural Approaches in the Southwest US, Online

    The American Horticultural Society will present an online event on November 9 at 2 Eastern. Native plants offer beauty and critical habitat for wildlife while solving landscape problems and promoting regional charm. We’ll explore their benefits and how to use them effectively by understanding garden ecology. Considerations for plant selection, as well as design and stewardship tips using examples from Texas, will fortify you with knowledge to successfully cultivate these plants in traditional or unexpected ways. $30 AHS members, $36 nonmembers. Register at www.ahsgardening.org

    Andrea DeLong-Amaya is the Director of Horticulture for the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center’s gardens and nursery programs. With nearly 30 years of experience with native plants in horticulture, ecology, and garden design, she also teaches classes and writes for numerous gardening publications including Taunton’s Fine Gardening, American Public Gardens Association’s Public Garden, and Texas Gardener and Wildflower (the Center’s member magazine). DeLong-Amaya was featured in Jennifer Jewell’s podcast, Cultivating Place, and in her book, The Earth in Her Hands: 75 Extraordinary Women Working in the World of Plants.

  • Friday, May 7 – Sunday, May 16 – GO Public Garden Days 2021 – Virtual Garden Profiles

    Friday, May 7 – Sunday, May 16 – GO Public Garden Days 2021 – Virtual Garden Profiles

    Got the travel itch? Looking for some inspiration and motivation to visit some amazing gardens across the nation? Look no further! Join The American Public Gardens Association from the comfort of your home for FREE virtual profiles from the gardens listed below, where they showcase ongoing research, amazing history and collections, and other incredible features, via easy and convenient Zoom webinars. Participants can register for as many programs as they choose, and tune in and out as they like – though many presenters are doing Q&As after their live program! Since all presentations will be recorded, a Youtube video will be posted afterwards for those who are unable to attend the live program, and videos will be available the duration of GO Public Gardens Days, as well as some time after.

    On May 7 at 6 Eastern time, look across almost 85 years of history and horticulture at the Norfolk Botanical Garden with Alexandra Cantwell, followed at 7 by a 30 minute presentation by Erin Smaldone on the Wild and Wonderful West Virginia Botanic Garden at Tibbs Run Preserve. At 7:30 Mark Miller will speak on From Black to Green: The Story of Pittsburgh Botanic Garden, and Becky Mallison will present Becky Mallison on Bok Tower Gardens.

    Monday, May 10’s lectures will begin at 6 with Molly Davis and Dawn Bailey on The Arboretum, State Botanical Garden of Kentucky, followed by Tim Gould on The Arboretum at Penn State, and Seth Hamby, Head Gardener of the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center, on Know Your Natives. Stick around for ecologist Michelle Bertelsen speaking on 20 Years of Land Restoration Research at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

    Tuesday, May 11 brings Jamie Burghardt from the Waterfront Botanical Gardens in Louisville on Louisville Landfill to Louisville Landmark, Jessica Farmer of the University of Washington Botanic Gardens, Executive Director Scott Lafleur from Sherman Library and Gardens with A Walk Through the Sherman Library. and Bradley Evans from the US National Arboretum Water Garden.

    Wednesday, May 12 begins with Cindy Brown from Smithsonian Gardens on its Collections and Greenhouse, a talk on the Rebirth of Ventura Botanical Gardens, and Brian Kemble of Ruth Bancroft Gardens & Nursery on Iconic Plants of the Ruth Bancroft Garden.

    Thursday, May 13 will spotlight Tim Boland of the Polly Hill Arboretum on Plants are Powerful! at 6 pm. Jennie Ciborowski from Haverford College Arboretum follows with The History of Haverford College Arboretum, and Steve Huddleston from the Fort Worth Botanic Garden with Erin Starr White of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas on Together and Growing.

    Friday, May 14 starts with Allyson Whalley and Katie McCarthy on Tudor Place Garden: Over 200 Years of Growth in Washington, DC, then continues with Jim Salyards and Erika Frank on Inspiration from a Garden: Culture and Community at Filoli, 30 miles south of San Francisco, and Sandi Polyakov, head gardener, on Elements of Japanese Gardens of Shofuso, a 17th century style Japanese house and garden in Philadelphia’s West Fairmount Park.

    Saturday, May 15 the programs continue with Kathryn Masuda of the Atlanta Botanical Garden, Sue Watts of the South Carolina Botanical Garden, and Ashley Krueger on The Gardens on Spring Creek.

    All programs are free. Register at https://norfolkbotanicalgarden.org/go-public-gardens-days-2021-virtual-garden-profiles/

  • Saturday, May 1 – Saturday, May 8 – Trillium Week, In Person and Online

    n 2013, the Garden in the Woods trillium collection was recognized as a Nationally Accredited Plant Collection by the American Public Gardens Association’s Plant Collections Network. Please join the Native Plant Trust on May 1 – 8 for the sixth annual Trillium Week to celebrate the beauty and variety of trilliums at Garden in the Woods. See our lineup of virtual festivities for each day of this special week.

    On Saturday, May 1, kick off Trillium Week with a May Day virtual celebration from 6 – 8. Join Native Plant Trust for an evening of festive, plant-inspired poetry and music set to lush images and videos of Garden in the Woods in spring bloom. With interactive opportunities, this online gathering will reconnect us with nature and each other. $15 for NPT members, $25 for nonmembers. Register at www.nativeplanttrust.org.

    Take a free guided tour for an in-depth look at Native Plant Trust’s award-winning trillium collection at Garden in the Woods from the 1st through the 8th. Check http://www.nativeplanttrust.org/events/trillium-tours/ for an in-person tour schedule. If the tours cannot take place in person for public health reasons, a video tour of the trillium collection will be made available. There will be free online Trillium Workshops where you will learn how to expertly care for your trilliums! Native Plant Trust staff will provide a prerecorded video demonstration with expert advice on how to select trillium species, prepare a site for planting, and care for a plant once it’s in the ground.

  • Support American Horticultural Society

    The American Horticultural Society is pleased to announce FabulousFlorals.com has agreed to donate 5% of their sales, up to $5,000, back to AHS now through August 30, 2021. Fabulous Florals is committed to providing the finest fresh-cut wholesale flowers by the bunch, in assortments, in wedding flower packages, and by individual varieties. It even offers a variety of DIY packages to customize special occasions. Your order can be shipped in single bunches and bulk flowers to anywhere in the United States and Canada. Use code AHSFF so that 5% of your purchase will automatically be given to AHS. Enter this code in the coupon code field, or in the order notes field during checkout. Please note this will not discount your order, but ensures 5% of your product purchase goes back to AHS to support its educational programs. The American Horticultural Society was reportedly considering a merger with The American Public Gardens Association and sadly must sell its River Farm property in these unusual times. All support is welcome.

  • Michael Dosmann Named Keeper of the Living Collections of the Arnold Arboretum

    The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University is pleased to announce that it has named Dr. Michael S. Dosmann as Keeper of the Living Collections, a rare and (nearly) singular honor bestowed by the institution. Curator of the Living Collections at the Arboretum since 2007, Dr. Dosmann’s new title reflects his outstanding stewardship of the Arboretum’s renowned collection of woody plants over the past decade.
    Dr. Dosmann is only the second “Keeper” in the 145-year history of the Arnold Arboretum. The first was Ernest Henry Wilson, the Arboretum’s famed plant explorer best known for his pioneering expeditions in early-twentieth-century China. Wilson held the title of “Keeper” from 1927 to 1930. Dr. Dosmann assumes the title as the Arboretum reinvigorates Wilson’s legacy and the institution’s role as a leader in global plant exploration.
    Recognized as a leading authority on collections management of botanical collections and a tireless advocate for public gardens, Dr. Dosmann curates more than 15,000 living accessioned plants on the grounds of the Arboretum. Under his leadership, the Arboretum has vastly improved systems and protocols for mapping, documenting, and inventorying Arboretum plants, which has influenced standards at botanical institutions nationwide. Since 2015, and in collaboration with Professor William (Ned) Friedman, the eighth Director of the Arnold Arboretum, Dr. Dosmann has led the Arboretum’s efforts to accelerate efforts to explore, inventory, and collect vanishing biodiversity worldwide—the Campaign for the Living Collections—mounting or participating in multiple collecting expeditions in Asia and North America.
    Dr. Dosmann received his undergraduate degree in Public Horticulture from Purdue University (1996), and his Master’s degree (1998) and his Ph.D. (2006) from Iowa State University, and Cornell University, respectively, in Horticulture. He is the author of over 60 published articles, including 20 found within the covers of Arnoldia, the journal of the Arnold Arboretum. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the American Public Gardens Association, is an elected member of the Horticultural Club of Boston, and in 2014 was the on-air host of the three-part documentary Chinese Wilson produced by Central China Television. Photo courtesy of Harvard Magazine.

  • Tower Hill Botanic Garden Announces Appointment of Grace Elton as CEO

    Tower Hill Botanic Garden is pleased to announce that Grace Elton will become CEO of the Boylston-based nonprofit this spring.

    Elton has been the director of horticulture at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Richmond, Va., since 2011, where she has established herself as a forward-thinking leader of one of the nation’s premier gardens.  Among Elton’s achievements at Lewis Ginter are a new apiary with demonstration beehives, partnerships to grow hops for a local brewery and expansion of a vegetable garden which contributes produce for an area food bank, and the planting of Lewis Ginter’s first native plant garden.

    A Florida native, Elton was first turned on to the importance of plants as a child living in Everglades National Park, where her parents worked. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Interdisciplinary Studies with a specialization in public garden management from the University of Florida and a Masters in Public Horticulture from the Longwood Graduate Program of the University of Delaware. After experiences interning at London’s Royal Botanic Gardens Kew and Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania, Elton returned to the UK to work with five separate gardens as a recipient of the Garden Club of America’s prestigious Martin McLaren Horticulture Scholarship.

    Prior to joining Lewis Ginter, Elton served as adjunct professor and arboretum supervisor at the Ambler Arboretum of Temple University.  Currently, she serves on the Board of the American Public Gardens Association, the leading association for professionals in public horticulture.

    Elton will succeed interim CEO Suzanne Maas. Maas has led Tower Hill since the departure of Kathy Abbott, who in May 2016 returned to her roots in Boston to work on waterfront and harbor issues.

    Elton will join Tower Hill during a period of tremendous growth for the organization, which welcomed 137,000 visitors and celebrated its 30th year at its Boylston location in 2016. This year is the 175th anniversary of Tower Hill’s parent organization, the Worcester County Horticultural Society. Tower Hill is also offering more programs and welcoming more members than ever before. Elton will take the reins as the organization moves closer to implementing the first phases of its new Master Plan, which calls for more gardens and programs for visitors to enjoy.

    Tower Hill Botanic Garden is a nonprofit organization dedicated to connecting plants and people. Its mission is to inspire the use and appreciation of horticulture to improve lives, enrich communities and strengthen commitment to the natural world. The Tower Hill property includes 15 gardens, an historic apple orchard, a restaurant, gift shop, conservatories, library, and art galleries, as well as year-round programs for all ages.