Berkshire Botanical Garden will hold its annual meeting on May 26, from 3 to 5 p.m. The public is invited. The meeting will feature a talk by Don Rakow, who teaches in Cornell’s School of Integrative Plant Science.
Formerly the director of Cornell Botanic Garden, Rakow is a highly engaging speaker who runs Cornell’s NatureRX program. Members attending the brief business portion of the meeting will have the opportunity to vote in the election of BBG’s officers. Light refreshments will be served. Registration is recommended.
Spend Mother’s Day together at Berkshire Botanical Garden learning a new skill. Sip mimosas and paint flowers with Mom. What could be better? This beginners class is designed for mothers/mother figures and their adult children. Participants will be introduced to sketching and painting botanicals with watercolors. Spend the morning exploring art exercises to loosen up, have fun and build new skills. After lunch, begin creating a work of art to bring home! No previous experience is necessary. All materials will be provided. $95 for BBG members, $110 for nonmembers. Register at https://www.berkshirebotanical.org/events/beginner-botanical-watercolors-and-mimosas-mother%E2%80%99s-day-0
Cheryl Moore is an artist and educator who specializes in watercolor and oil pastel. She has more than 40 years of teaching experience working with children and adults, holds a B.A. from Rhode Island School of Design and has trained in botanical art with Janet Walsh, Charles Reid and Jack Flynn.
The Berkshire Botanical Garden presents Alchemy and Innocents, featuring work by Anastasia Traina, May 5 through June 25, in the Leonhardt Art Galleries at the Garden at 5 West Stockbridge Road in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. The opening reception is Friday, May 5, from 5 – 7.
In Alchemy and Innocents, Traina, a writer, director and artist, illuminates the botanical world and its hidden creatures by building a Nouveau-Victorian landscape inhabited by magical insects and fauna placed into realistic botanic backdrops. Her inspiration is the nature found in her backyard, fairy tales from around the globe, natural history, and Victorian culture.
By embracing watercolor, graphite, colored pencil, hand- pressed paper, kiln cast glass, and pate de verre, the work seeks to excite and inspire audiences to rediscover the efflorescing beauty already around them — giving us an even more profound sense of wonder and appreciation for the extraordinary reality within our own little corner.
Traina, originally from the cinnamon-scented concrete of New York City, now lives in the verdant village of East Chatham, N.Y., with her husband; her faithful dog, Fanny Brawne; her 40,000 bees; and grass beneath her feet. Having traveled the world at a young age and become a successful actress, writer and director in theater and film, she eventually found herself at a crossroads, like so many of us do. She soon discovered other media through which to tell her story. She forged her way into glass sculpture and botanical art.
Her work includes the fairy, flora and fauna of the botanical art world, sculpture, glass kiln casting, and the lost art of pate verre.
She studied botanical art at the prestigious New York Botanical Garden, graduating with high honors and has gone on to show this work in multiple galleries and fine art magazines. Traina was awarded funding to study at the famed Corning Glass Studios and Urban Glass Studios in Brooklyn, N.Y., and is a 2022 recipient of the Martha Boschen Porter Fund.
Gallery hours for “Alchemy and Innocents” are seven days a week, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Come to Berkshire Botanical Garden on May 7 at 3 pm and explore the most popular of natural dyes, INDIGO. From India to Japan to Greece, indigo has been the foundation of century-old textile traditions. Maggie Pate will begin this class with a brief introduction to indigo and then give a demonstration of how the magic of indigo works. Bring your own fiber and dye with our indigo vats. The purpose of this class is for students to repurpose old items, cover up stained pieces or create something original with new purchases. Each student will be asked to bring their own natural fiber items from home – up to 4 pieces. No large items like towels or bedding as it will use up all the indigo.
Maggie Pate is the designer and purveyor of Nåde. She began her career in fashion modeling internationally then retired to work for a label in New York City. Her work in textiles is a cross-section that explores the synthesis of textures, repetition and geometry. It forms a poetic visual language that ignites the potential of figurative rhythm – a visual synesthesia; where shapes, colors and mood transform into a kaleidoscopic canvas. The last few years, her focus has shifted to cultivating a 100% sustainable and eco-friendly studio by capturing color with predominantly food waste collected from local restaurants and farms.
Container plantings offer the opportunity to introduce focal points of foliage and flowers where there is no ground space, and are particularly useful around a pool, on a terrace or flanking an entrance way. Interest in potted plantings still remains strong even after many years of popularity, but choosing an appropriate container, assembling beautiful and compatible combinations, and avoiding design clichés can be challenging. Led by designer Robert Clyde Anderson, the Berkshire Botanical Garden class will take place on April 29 from 11 – 12:30, and is $20 for BBG members, $25 for nonmembers. Register HERE
Instructor Robert Clyde Anderson provides a lively, enjoyably opinionated and informative illustrated talk based on his years of experience as a designer and in the retail gardening business.
Wondering what plants to grow in the shady parts of your yard? Fear not. An enterprising gardener can create an attractive, ecologically robust and relaxing garden, even in the shade. This Berkshire Botanical Garden class starts by identifying the various degrees of shade you may have and moves on to presenting the best native plants for those conditions. Don’t let a lack of sunlight hold you back! Led by Duncan Himmelman, it takes place April 22 from 1 – 3, and is $15 for BBG members, $20 for nonmembers. Register HERE.
Duncan Himmelman earned his doctorate at Cornell University and taught horticultural science at the college level for 24 years. He recently retired as the Education Manager at Mt. Cuba Center, a public garden in Delaware devoted to native plant advocacy. He continues to enjoy teaching, designing landscapes and promoting ecologically focused gardening practices.
Berkshire Botanical Garden presents “Nest/Emerge,” an art exhibition, through Sunday, April 30. Featuring works by Elizabeth Cohen, “Nest/Emerge” will exhibit in the Garden’s Center House Leonhardt Galleries. The gallery hours are Tuesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
In Nest/Emerge, Cohen explores relationships between natural and imagined forms through layers and patterns, re-contextualizing them. The works invite viewers to experience quiet moments and unexpected delights. Incorporating hand-thrown porcelain, mulberry paper, wasp nests, and other materials found in nature, Cohen’s art beckons the viewer to connect with the botanical world.
“I find inspiration everywhere: the natural world, microscopic images, landscapes, shells, bugs, bark, leaves, pods and seeds,” she said.
A studio potter living Wellesley, Massachusetts, Cohen explores cycles of birth, life and death, growth and decay, rhythm and change. She explores varied metaphorical nuances, such as family, security and comfort, through nesting sets.
She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English with a minor in Japanese Studies from Tufts University and a master’s degree in teaching from Simmons College. Her work has been exhibited in recent years at the Boston Sculptors Gallery, Boston; The Mill Contemporary, in Framingham; Worcester Center for Craft; River Oaks Arts Center, in Alexandria, La.; and Fuller Craft Museum, in Brockton. For more information, visit BerkshireBotanical.org.
Soil is alive with microorganisms that help provide garden plants with the all-important nutrients they need. Learn the basics of soil science (texture, structure, pH), how to foster and maintain soil health, and why a soil test is a great starting point. Discover how to create a living soil and reap its benefits for years to come. Led by Duncan Himmelman. This April 22 Berkshire Botanical class will take place at the garden in Stockbridge from 10 – noon, and is $15 for BBG members, $20 for nonmembers. Register HERE.
Duncan Himmelman earned his doctorate at Cornell University and taught horticultural science at the college level for 24 years. He recently retired as the Education Manager at Mt. Cuba Center, a public garden in Delaware devoted to native plant advocacy. He continues to enjoy teaching, designing landscapes and promoting ecologically focused gardening practices.
“Why isn’t my hydrangea flowering?” is the number one question asked of Northeast Master Gardeners. Answers are complicated, but Chris Ferrero and Berkshire Botanical Garden will simplify things by showing you the six beautiful hydrangea species that thrive in the Northeast. Your challenge will be to limit your choices to your available space! The class will take place Saturday, April 15 from 11 – 12:30 at Berkshire Botanical Garden in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. $20 for BBG members, $25 for nonmembers. Register HERE.
Chris Ferrero is a Cornell Master Gardener from Dutchess County, N.Y., where in addition to speaking and teaching classes, she has led demonstration garden renovations, organized regional events and served on teams as a perennials specialist known for particular expertise in shade gardening, flowering shrubs, pollinator-approved planting designs, and native plants as alternatives to invasives.
Spring is a great time to assess woody shrubs for shape, structure and winter damage. This Berkshire Botanical Garden workshop will focus on learning by doing. Ron and Kieran Yaple, owners of Race Mountain Tree Services in Sheffield, Mass., will demonstrate how to renovate, rejuvenate and shape shrubs and small ornamental trees for structure, health and optimal growth. Plants covered will include viburnums, lilacs, witch hazels, deciduous azaleas, sweetshrubs, crabapples, and ornamental cherries. Participants should dress for the weather, bring pruners, work gloves, and a lunch.
Ron Yaple has developed a regional reputation as a premier arborist and dedicated and knowledgeable teacher of arboriculture. Kieran Yaple is a Massachusetts certified arborist and an International Society of Arboriculture certified arborist. He is also a Certified Tree Safety Professional and is pesticide-licensed in Massachusetts. He recently joined the board of directors of the Massachusetts Arborists Association. Register at www.berkshirebotanical.org $35 BBG members, $45 nonmembers.
