Boston Flora

Tag: Bill Cullina

  • Wednesday, February 5, 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm Eastern – The Botany of Design, Online

    Using his book Understanding Perennials as a starting point, Bill Cullina tackles the thorny subject of garden design in an innovative way. In this fun and informative Mt. Cuba Center talk, he explores such things as the reasons for big leaves, variegation, red foliage and flowers and ways to create more satisfying designs without breaking the budget. He looks at life beyond the color wheel, and the importance of healthy soil and reveals some of his best horticultural secrets while weaving together aesthetics, psychology, botany, and ecology. Both beginning gardeners and seasoned pros will be able to learn from and enjoy this talk. Bill Cullina is the F. Otto Haas Executive Director of the Morris Arboretum. He is a well-known author, lecturer, and authority on North American native plants. His books include Wildflowers; Native Trees, Shrubs, and Vines; Native Ferns, Mosses, and Grasses; and Understanding Perennials.

    This program takes place online on Wednesday, February 5, 2025. $25. Register at https://mtcubacenter.org/event/botany-of-design-online/

    Looking into the rear garden at 3 Bush Road, Kew. Plants included Fatsia japonica, Dicksonia antarctica, Phyllostachys nigra, Musa bajoo and Eriobotrya japonica.

  • Saturday, February 18, 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm Eastern – Berkshire Botanical Garden’s 26th Annual Winter Lecture with Midori Shintani, Online

    Berkshire Botanical Garden presents Midori Shintani, head gardener of Japan’s famous Tokachi Millennium Forest, in its online Winter Lecture, “Discovering Tokachi,” on February 18, 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.

    Midori will share how she and her team have nurtured the native forests and cultivated garden areas through the seasons. She will also explain how her gardening methods are rooted in the accumulated wisdom of the ancient Japanese belief of mother culture, and how she has built a solid partnership with garden designer Dan Pearson and her garden team.

    The Tokachi Millennium Forest is located at the foot of the Hidaka Mountains in Hokkaido, the northernmost island of Japan. The project was originally started in 1990 by a local newspaper company that acquired about 990 acres there to create a carbon-offsetting forest. Eventually this became a project to restore the natural forest ecosystems, to share with the public and be sustainable for the next 1,000 years. The garden project of the Tokachi Millennium Forest began in 1996. In 2008, the forest officially was opened to the public, and has continued to evolve. 

    Midori Shintani was born and raised in the Fukui Prefecture in central Japan, in the countryside surrounded by sea and mountains. Spending time with plants in this area rich with nature was an early influence. Midori trained in horticulture and landscape architecture at Minami Kyushu University, Japan. In 2002 she moved to Sweden and trained to become a gardener at Millesgården and Rosendals Trädgård. In 2004 she moved back to Japan and worked at a garden design and landscaping company and perennial nursery, gaining experience in both traditional and modern techniques to create her own gardening style. Since 2008 she has been the head gardener of Tokachi Millennium Forest, merging “new Japanese horticulture” into wild nature. She writes and lectures widely.

    Tickets for the Winter Lecture are $30 for members of Berkshire Botanical Garden and $35 for non-members and are available online at berkshirebotanical.org/events or by calling 413-320-4794. 

    Established in 1997, the Winter Lecture Series was initiated by the Berkshire Botanical Garden to bring inspiring and noted speakers to the region to talk about horticulture, landscape design and history, plants and plant exploration, and home gardening. Past speakers have included such luminaries as Tom Coward, Marco Polo Stufano, Dan Hinkley, Edwina von Gal, Penelope Hobhouse, Bill Cullina, Fergus Garrett, Debs Goodenough, Dr. Michael Dirr, Ken Druse, Anna Pavord, Thomas Woltz and Margaret Roach. Proceeds from ticket sales support the Garden’s education programs.

  • Saturday, May 7, 7:00 pm – Public Gardens in Today’s World, Online

    Saturday, May 7, 7:00 pm – Public Gardens in Today’s World, Online

    The New England Botanical Club will hold its next meeting on Saturday, May 7 at 7:00 pm Eastern Time via Zoom. Non-members may register for the meeting access link here. William Cullina will speak on Public Gardens in Today’s World.

    William Cullina is the F. Otto Haas Executive Director of the Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania. For eleven years prior, Bill was at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, as Director of Horticulture and Plant Curator and then as President and CEO. Cullina holds degrees in plant science and psychology; he has been working in public horticulture for 25 years. He has extensive experience in horticultural and forestry research and commercial nursery production, including, I’m sure you will remember, at The New England Wild Flower Society, now the Native Plants Trust.

    A well-known author and recognized authority on North American native plants, Cullina lectures on a variety of subjects to garden and professional groups and writes for popular and technical journals. His books include Wildflowers, Native Trees, Shrubs, and Vines, Understanding Orchids, Native Ferns, Mosses, and Grasses, and Understanding Perennials. Bill Cullina will discuss the increasingly critical role that public gardens play in American society. He will consider biophilia: the affinity of human beings for other life forms and what this means for public gardens. He will also reflect on ways that gardens provide accessibility, improve physical and mental health, engage in critical research, and provide space for quiet joy and transcendence.

  • Wednesday, March 6, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Sugar, Sex, and Poison: Understanding the Vital Powers of Plants

    Wednesday, March 6, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Sugar, Sex, and Poison: Understanding the Vital Powers of Plants

    Are we humans masters of our world, or are plants really the ones in charge? What they lack in locomotion, they compensate for in structure and chemistry. Celebrated author and botanist Bill Cullina, Executive Director, Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, will explain why plant life is at the center of a carefully balanced natural economy that is critical to the functioning of our ecosystems. Through photosynthesis, plants produce the energy that powers the food chain. And although eaten by others, they are far from helpless prey, having evolved a dizzying arsenal of relationships to create ecologically sound landscapes. The free Grow Native Massachusetts lecture will take place March 6 at 7 pm at the Cambridge Public Library,449 Broadway in Cambridge.

    William Cullina is the author of many celebrated books about native plants, including the well-known trio: Growing and Propagating Wildflowers; Native Trees, Shrubs, and Vines; and Native Ferns, Moss & Grasses.

    Image result for Sugar, Sex, and Poison

  • Saturday, January 13, 2:00 pm – The New Shade Garden: Creating a Lush Oasis in the Age of Climate Change

    Berkshire Botanical Garden’s 2018 Annual Winter Lecture will take place Saturday, January 13 at 2 pm at Lenox Memorial High School in Lenox.

    Ken Druse plumbs the depths of shade once again – 20 years after the publication of his best seller, The Natural Shade Garden. This time, it’s to tackle the challenges that have arisen due to our changing climate. The low-stress environment of shade (lower temperatures, fewer water demands, carbon sequestration) is extremely beneficial for our plants, our planet, and us. Ken details new ways of looking at all aspects of the gardening process, in topics such as designing your garden, choosing and planting trees, preparing soil, solving the deer problem, and the vast array of flowers and foliage – all within the challenges of a changing climate, shrinking resources, and new weather patterns. Ken knows that the best defense is to create a cool, verdant retreat – he says, “The garden of the future will be in the shade.”

    Ken Druse is a celebrated lecturer, an award-winning photographer, and an author, who has been called “the guru of natural gardening” by the New York Times. He is best known for his twenty gar­den books published over the last twenty-five years. The American Horticultural Society listed his first large-format work, The Natural Garden (Clarkson Potter, 1988), among the best books of all time. His book, Making More Plants (Stewart Tabori & Chang, 2012) won the award of the year from the prestigious Garden Writers Association. That group gave Ken the 2013 gold medal for photography and the silver for writing. Also in 2013, the Smithsonian Institute announced the acquisition of the Ken Druse Collection of Garden Photography comprising 100,000 images of American gardens and plants.

    The Garden Club of America presented Ken with the Sarah Chapman Francis medal for lifetime achievement in garden communication.

    KenDruse.com is a blog with ten years of archived podcast interviews. He also appears monthly on Margaret Roach’s radio show, A Way to Garden.

    The Winter Lecture Series was begun by the Berkshire Botanical Garden in 1997 and was established to bring inspiring speakers to the region to talk about horticulture, landscape design and history, plants and plant exploration, and home gardening.

    Over the years, the Garden has invited such luminaries as Marco Polo Stufano, Anna Pavord, Joe Eck, Tovah Martin, Dan Hinkley, W. Gary Smith, Penelope Hobhouse, Ken Druse, Gordon Hayward, Lauren Springer and Scott Ogden, Bill Cullina, Fergus Garrett, Debs Goodenough, Margaret Roach, Michael Dirr, Glyn Jones, Louis Benech, Alan Power and Thomas Woltz to share their knowledge of plants, gardening, design and history with an interested audience of gardeners and horticulturists from the region. The series has proven to be a popular event in the region and is held annually in mid-winter. Proceeds from ticket sales are used to further the Garden’s education and horticulture efforts.

    Advance registration is highly recommended, but walk-ins are always welcome, space permitting.  Many thanks to the Winter Lecture sponsor: The Red Lion Inn. Register online at https://berkshirebotanical.org/see-and-do/winter-lecture-series/

  • Sunday, June 21 – Thursday, June 25 – AHS President’s Council Trip to Maine

    This year’s American Horticultural Society trip to the picturesque eastern coast of Maine is an exclusive opportunity for members of the AHS President’s Council to enjoy four days and three nights at the scenic Spruce Point Inn Resort & Spa in Boothbay Harbor, Maine.  The resort, built in the late 1880’s, boasts 57 acres of woodland overlooking a stretch of Maine oceanfront.  A highlight of the trip will be a visit to the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens for a private lunch and tour with Bill Cullina, executive director of the garden, as well as the with the gardens’ horticultural team.  Opened in 2007, the garden is situated on 270 acres of tidal shoreline in Boothbay, a coastal town established in 1764.  Visits to some of the area’s exemplary private gardens will make up a significant portion of the schedule as well.  For information on how to become a member of the President’s Council, and to obtain a trip itinerary, send an email to development@ahs.org.

  • Wednesday, April 16, 1:00 pm – Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens: An Armchair Visit

    Experience a photo tour of this fabulous plant paradise in Boothbay, Maine, with garden designer and Wellesley College Botanic Garden Friends docent Maureen Bovet on Wednesday, April 16, at 1 pm.  Maureen returns to this garden by the sea as often as possible.  Opened in 2007 after 16 years of planning, the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens offers visitors stunning beauty and intimate experiences as it enhances the botanical heritage and natural landscapes of its 250 acres in coastal Maine.  CMGB Director Bill Cullina describes it best with the subtitle of his book about the garden: “A People’s Garden.”  Friends of Wellesley College Botanic Gardens – free; nonmembers $10. Register by calling 781-283-3094, or email wcbgfriends@wellesley.edu. Image below from the Garden Club of the Back Bay’s favorite photographer Rich Pomerantz.

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  • Wednesday, October 16, 11:00 am – Boston Committee Annual Meeting Featuring Bill Cullina

    The Annual Meeting of The Boston Committee of the Garden Club of America will take place Wednesday, October 16 beginning with coffee and registration at 10:30 am, and the meeting at 11 am at The Country Club in Brookline. We are fortunate to have as our keynote speaker Bill Cullina, Bill is the Executive Director at one of North America’s newest and most exciting public gardens, The Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay, Maine. Bill’s topic is Sugar, Sex and Poison: Shocking Plant Secrets Caught on Camera: The world of pollen, poisons, pigments, pheromones, sugars and sex, and how they translate into sound into sound organic gardening practices.

    A well known author and recognized authority on North American native plants, Cullina lectures on a variety of subjects to garden and professional groups and writes for popular and technical journals. His books include Wildflowers, Native Trees, Shrubs, and Vines, Understanding
    Orchids, Native Ferns, Mosses, and Grasses, and most recently, Understanding Perennials, published in 2009.  Members of The Boston Committee clubs will receive invitations by email.  Garden Club of the Back Bay members will receive car pool notices in the mail. If you are not a member but wish to attend, please email info@bostoncommittee.org.

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  • Wednesday, March 13, 9:30 am – Sugar, Sex and Poison: Shocking Plant Secrets Caught on Camera

    Engaging speaker, horticulturist, author, and photographer Bill Cullina will entertain The Lexington Garden Club, and the public, again on Wednesday, March 13, beginning at 9:30 am at the National Heritage Museum, 33 Marrett Road in Lexington. This time the Executive Director of Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens will give us a close-up view of the many clever and beautiful ways plants defend themselves and attract animals, insects and other partners in the work of pollination, seed dispersal, and nutrient acquisition. We’ll also have an opportunity to purchase Bill’s books before and after his talk.  Free.

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  • Wednesday, August 17, 9:00 am – 3:00 pm – Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens and More

    Enjoy the glories of two coastal Maine gardens – one a renowned Botanical Garden and the other a stunning private garden on the coast nearby. On Wednesday, August 17, from 9 – 3, Plant and Garden Curator Bill Cullina welcomes New England Wild Flower Society members and friends to the magnificent Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, officially opened in 2007, but already making a name for itself nationally with the newly installed two-acre Children’s Garden, the Garden of the Five Senses, multiple ornamental displays, an area of native Maine plantings, fairy villages, waterfalls — all surrounded by exceptional natural beauty and incomparable stonework and sculpture. After an orientation from Bill, you tour the Gardens with a docent and then enjoy lunch at the Kitchen Garden Café.

    After lunch and time to explore on your own, you drive a short distance along the coast to Frogs Leap, where owner Ellie Freeman shares her exuberant plantings inspired by art and literature, creating a wonderful expression of horticultural form and color. The garden includes a blend of classic Maine perennials with modern varieties and native plants. A human-sized frog sculpture contemplates a water garden where real frogs bask on lily pads. We explore this rocky coastal site, now transformed with a hillside stroll garden, game lawn, vegetable and cutting garden, chess lawn, lily pond, moss walk, dry-stone Asian-style contemplative garden, and 150-foot long borders ablaze with late summer bloom.

    Cost: $89 (includes cost of tour and lunch) (Member) / $104 (Non-Member. Register at www.newfs.org.