Boston Flora

Tag: Better Homes and Gardens

  • Sunday, September 19, 10:15 am – 12:15 pm – Glorious Autumn Container

    Capture colors and textures of autumn with this container garden floral design class with Betsy Williams at Tower Hill Botanic Garden on Septembver 19 at 10:15 am. Fill a 14″ pot with brilliant mums and asters, richly colored kales, variegated ivy, heucheras and other hardy plant material. With proper care your autumn container garden will brighten your doorway or patio until Thanksgiving. Plants in containers often make it through the winter if kept in a sheltered location and can be planted outdoors in the spring.

    All materials are included in this program. If you register as a pair you will receive ONE SET of supplies.

    Instructor Betsy Williams teaches, lectures and writes about living with herbs and flowers. A lifelong gardener, herb grower and cook, Betsy trained as a florist in Boston and England. She combines her floral, gardening and cooking skills with an extensive knowledge of history, plant lore and seasonal celebrations. An entertaining lecturer, she weaves stories and legends throughout her informative talks and demonstrations. Her gardens, floral work and retail shop have been featured in many books, national magazines and newspapers, including The New York Times, The American Gardener, Victoria, Better Homes and Gardens, Country Living Gardener, Colonial Homes, the Herb Companion, and Traditional Homes.

    $85 Member Adult; $100 Adult; $115 Adult Pair (Registration includes admission to the Garden) Register at www.towerhillbg.org.

  • Saturday, February 27, 10:30 am – 12:00 noon – Poupourri For a Joyful Spring

    Potpourri, French for rotten pot, is a fragrant, often beautiful, mix of scented plant material with a long and fascinating history. In this Tower Hill Botanic Garden in-person program on February 27 from 10:30 – noon, we’ll discuss the history of potpourri and the importance of fragrance through the centuries, then learn the basics of creating a modern potpourri: how to dry herbs and flowers, use essential oils, and select fixatives. Each attendee will make a quart of sweetly scented Potpourri that welcomes the coming of Spring and the joyful return of the growing season! All materials will be provided. This program will be held indoors in one of our well-ventilated classrooms. Group size (10 people) will not exceed current state restrictions. $50 for THBG members, $65 for nonmembers. Register at www.towerhillbg.org.

    Instructor Betsy Williams teaches, lectures and writes about living with herbs and flowers. A lifelong gardener, herb grower and cook, Betsy trained as a florist in Boston and England. She combines her floral, gardening and cooking skills with an extensive knowledge of history, plant lore and seasonal celebrations. An entertaining lecturer, she weaves stories and legends throughout her informative talks and demonstrations. Her gardens, floral work and retail shop have been featured in many books, national magazines and newspapers, including The New York Times, The American Gardener, Victoria, Better Homes and Gardens, Country Living Gardener, Colonial Homes, the Herb Companion, and Traditional Homes.

  • Wednesday, August 15, 7:00 pm – Grow What You Love: Twelve Food Plant Families to Change Your Life

    Grow What You Love is designed to be a simple guide to growing vegetables, herbs and more that will add to the flavor and variety of fresh produce choices throughout the year. Aimed at novice and experienced gardeners alike it will be an image-driven, how-to adventure from an expert gardener and communicator with an enthusiasm for an authentic life.

    The colorful book begins with an exploration of author Emily Murphy’s approach to gardening and how it can fit into modern life with little time and effort. She goes on to give advice on how best to choose food plants that readers love, or can discover, and follows with simple methods for garden-to-table growing, including a selection of her favorite seasonal recipes. The result for readers is a garden-fresh bounty for any time of the year.

    Emily Murphy is the author of the foodie-centric garden blog Pass The Pistil, and one of Garden Design Magazine’s “most loved” blogs of 2015. Emily is a web series host, a contributor to Better Homes and Gardens, a garden design and organic gardening consultant, and a teacher of organic gardening. Emily holds a degree in Ethnobotanical Resources from Humboldt State University where she also studied botany and environmental science. She will appear at Porter Square Books, 25 White Street in Cambridge, on Wednesday, August 15 at 7 pm. More information may be found at www.portersquarebooks.com.

  • Friday, July 27, 5:00 pm – Cocktails in Great Gardens: The Climbery, Germantown, New York

    Featured in The New York Times, Perennial Magazine, and Better Homes and Gardens, The Climbery is both a private garden and a not-for-profit foundation. Upon purchasing the property 30 years ago, Barbara Packer admired the one clematis in residence which became the inspiration for what is now the largest private clematis collection in the world. The seven-acre property overlooking the Roeliff Jansen Kill is a whimsical wonderland of garden sculptures, statuary and furnishings, intriguing planters and containers, nine pond gardens, and garden rooms accentuated by fanciful surprises.

    Of special note are the gazebo and hosta gardens and the round, corner, hill, allée and greenhouse gardens, all developed one at a time to shape the landscape and provide a backdrop for garden art including a life-size horse and bull created from repurposed cans, and an eye-catching sculpture defined by circles welded to form an enormous ball. A July 27 visit to this garden is sure to be a summer highlight as we are joined by friends old and new for Berkshire Botanic Garden’s “Cocktails in Great Gardens.” $40. Register online at https://www.berkshirebotanical.org/events/cocktails-great-gardens-june-29-and-july-27

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  • Saturday, October 1, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon – Combining Perennials

    The whole can be more than the sum of the parts when you garden skillfully. A flowering perennial that is pretty by itself may be spectacular when contrasted with the right neighbor. And one plant can make up for the deficiencies of another when properly paired; a compact partner can hide the stems of a leggy beauty, another pairing can share their glory simultaneously or hold their own in two different seasons when artfully chosen. Garden writer and horticulturist Thomas Christopher, who recently authored Essential Perennials with Ruth Rogers Clausen, will share some of his favorite combinations and pass along tips that will set you on the road to creating many more of your own. The lecture will take place Saturday, October 1 beginning at 10 am at Berkshire Botanical Gardens in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. BBG members $20, nonmembers $25. Register online at https://berkshirebotanical.org/education/lectures-and-workshops/

    A graduate of the New York Botanical Garden School of Professional Horticulture, Thomas Christopher has written for numerous publications, including the New York Times and Better Homes and Gardens, and has served as a contributing editor to Martha Stewart Living. He is the co-author with Ruth Rogers Clausen of Essential Perennials, a complete reference to 2,700 perennials for the home garden.

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  • Friday, April 4, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm, and Saturday, April 5, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm – Great Gardens and Landscaping Symposium

    The 11th Annual Great Gardens and Landscaping Symposium, April 4 & 5, 2014 at The Equinox Resort in Manchester, Vermont , will be sponsored by: The American Horticultural Society, Corona Tools, Equinox Valley Nursery, Espoma, Gardener’s Supply Company, Liquid Fence, Neptune’s Harvest and Proven Winners.

    This premier symposium takes place April 4 & 5, 2014 and will be held at the world-class Equinox Resort (www.equinoxresort.com) in Manchester, VT. The symposium features six dynamic lectures, a Gardener’s Marketplace, great food, door prizes, and gifts. Over 200 gardeners from around the Northeast annually attend this popular event. NEW for 2014 is a special Garden Design Workshop on Friday from 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. This workshop is in addition to the symposium. Featured speakers, horticultural experts and notable authors are: David L. Culp: owner of award-winning gardens that have been featured on HGTV and in Martha Stewart Living, VP of Sunny Border Nurseries, instructor at Longwood Gardens (PA), former contributing editor to Horticulture magazine, and author of the top selling book The Layered Garden; Thomas Christopher: a highly respected expert on sustainable gardening practices with articles in The New York Times and Martha Stewart Living; owner of a sustainable lawn consulting business, Greener Grasses/Sustainable Lawns, graduate of the New York Botanical Garden’s school of professional horticulture and editor of a best seller – The New American Landscape: Leading Voices on the Future of Sustainable Gardening, which contains his own chapter on water-wise gardening; Deborah Trickett: a highly applauded container designer who works with clients throughout New England, owner of The Captured Garden, instructor at the Arnold Arboretum in Boston, and her work has been featured in The Boston Globe, Garden Gate and New England Home magazines as well as on the TV show New England Dream Home; Adam R. Wheeler: a plant fanatic who is the propagation and new plant development manager for Broken Arrow Nursery – a destination garden center in CT, and adjunct instructor on plant propagation and woody plant identification at Naugatuck Valley Community College; and Kerry Ann Mendez: owner of Perennially Yours, garden designer and consultant, guest on HGTV, former TV garden series host, her gardens have been featured in Garden Gate, Fine Gardening, Horticulture, and Better Homes and Gardens SIP, and author of The Ultimate Flower Gardener’s Top Ten Lists and Top Ten Lists for Beautiful Shade Gardens.

    How-to, informative lectures include: 50 Perennials I Could Not Live Without; The Layered Garden: Design Lessons for Year Round Beauty; A Back Yard Revolution – alternative grasses and compatible perennials that provide all the benefits of a conventional lawn; Celebrity Pots, an entertaining presentation on creating flashy containers that portray celebrities like Brad Pitt, Lady Gaga and Grace Kelly; Fun with Color: Variegated Foliage in the Garden; and Flashy New or Underused Perennials for 2014. Overnight packages and day only rates are available. Symposium Day Only rates: $98 per person by March 1, $108 after March 1; special rates for groups and Master Gardeners. Overnight packages including symposium programming, accommodations, meals and all taxes & gratuities start at $300.29 for a single or $430.09 for a double ($215.05 per person). For more information and registration details, visit www.pyours.com/symposium.

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  • Thursday, February 21, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Simplifying Gardens to Fit Our Lifestyles

    Change happens. Many still dream of ‘Better Homes and Gardens’ landscapes but reality has muddied the picture. Job demands, kids, money, hectic schedules, aging bodies,and changing interests have led to nightmare gardens. Time for some ‘editing’. This inspiring lecture provides easy-to-follow downsizing strategies, recommended no-fuss plant material, and design tips for stunning year-round gardens that will be as close to ‘autopilot’ as you can get. Kerry Mendez, owner of Perennially Yours in Ballston Spa, New York will lead the discussion on Thursday, February 21, from 7 – 8:30 at Elm Bank in Wellesley. Book sales and signing follow the program.  $20 for Mass Hort members, $25 for non members.

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  • Saturday, June 26, 9:00 am – 5:00 pm – Santa’s Friends Have a Green Thumb Garden Tour

    On Saturday, June 26, from 9 – 5, the Sea Spray Garden Club will sponsor a tour of eleven gardens in Salisbury, Massachusetts, for the benefit of Santa’s Helpers and the Amesbury Holiday Program.  Both charities serves over 750 families last year.  One of the featured gardens appeared in the May 2009 issue of Better Homes and Gardens magazine.  At the conclusion of the self guided tour at 5 pm, there will be an art auction, also to benefit the two charities.  Admission is $25, there will be plants available for purchase, and for further information, contact Doug Morris at breadman25@verizon.net, or call 978-948-8181.  You can follow the Sea Spray Garden Club on Facebook, key word Sea Spray Garden Club.

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