Boston Flora

Tag: C. Colston Burrell

  • Thursday, March 31, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Roberto Burle Marx: A Vibrant Landscape, Online

    Brazil is a land of astounding beauty and unsurpassed diversity. It is also the birthplace of Roberto Burle Marx, one of the most influential and groundbreaking landscape artists of the 20th century. In addition to introducing modernist landscape architecture to Brazil, he was also a noted painter, printmaker, musician, ecologist, and naturalist.

    Burle Marx eschewed typical European geometrical garden design and brought to the Brazilian landscape (and to the world) the use of colorful native species in conjunction with abstract and cubist patterns. C. Colston Burrell explores Burle Marx’s home and studio, where he collected and studied the native plants found in the jungles of Brazil, as well as private gardens and parks he created for friends and municipalities. 

    Burrell is a lecturer, garden designer, and photographer. The author of 12 gardening books, he has twice won the American Horticultural Society Book Award.

    The March 31 online program is sponsored by Smithsonian Associates, and is $25 for Smithsonian members, $30 for nonmembers. Register at www.smithsonianassociates.org

  • Sunday, February 27, 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm – Botanical Gardens World Tour: Innisfree and Fairchild Tropical Garden, Online

    Smithsonian Associates invites you to indulge in a colorful midwinter escape as horticultural experts lead a series of virtual visits that highlight the beauty of notable botanical gardens in settings as far-flung as Shanghai, the Hudson River Valley, and Australia. In vibrant visuals they explore how each garden has taken a unique approach to design and interpretation as they all celebrate plant collections, conservation, education, and the distinctive environments and landscapes in which they bloom. On February 27, the third and final installment will feature Innisfree and Fairchild Tropical Garden.

    Travel from the scenic Hudson River Valley to subtropical peninsular Florida to visit two diverse gardens. Developed between 1930 and 1960, Innisfree was the private garden of Walter and Marion Beck and drew its inspiration from scroll paintings of the 8th-century Chinese poet and painter Wang Wei. With the help of landscape architect Lester Collins from Harvard University, the garden journey was shaped to lead visitors through individual “cup” garden scenes inspired by the Chinese paintings, which meld seamlessly into one large cup around a glacial lake.

    Fairchild Tropical Garden in Coral Gables (below) melds a sublime subtropical landscape with important plant collections and horticultural excellence, as well as research, conservation, and education. Palms are a particular specialty, with an outstanding collection of over 400 species. An internationally important collection of more than 3,700 cycads is displayed in sweeping beds under spreading oaks. The conservatory features orchids, aroids, and bromeliads. The garden is set against a backdrop of lakes in a park-like setting.

    Presenter C. Colston Burrell is a lecturer, garden designer, and photographer. The author of 12 gardening books, he has twice won the American Horticulture Society Book Award.

    $25 for Smithsonian Associates members, $30 for nonmembers. Register HERE.

  • Saturday, March 3, 8:30 am – 4:00 pm – Creating a Resilient Garden

    The URI Master Gardener Program is pleased to bring you Creating a Resilient Garden, an engaging one-day gardening symposium designed for those who want to learn more about creating beautiful and environmentally-sound gardens. The sessions will help you DESIGN resilient gardens, DISCOVER herb gardening, and DECODE the truth about garden remedies. Educating and entertaining their audiences, these three keynote speakers are accomplished specialists in their fields and possess a wealth of knowledge and expertise.

    Please join us on Saturday, March 3 at the Center for Biotechnology and Life Sciences on URI’s Kingston Campus. The facility is accessible to all, and the symposium is open to gardeners of all skill levels — novice to expert! Topics and Speakers include:

    Beauty, Integrity, Resilience: Can a Garden Have Everything? by C. Colston Burrell (pictured below)

    Do our gardening practices have a negative impact on the environment? Can we make a difference by changing the way we approach design, plant choice, planting techniques and maintenance regimes? How do we meet our aesthetic goals while providing the structure and resources necessary to maintain the insects and birds we love? Can we create healthy habitat with a mixture of native and exotic plants? We’ll explore these topics in relation to sustainability, aesthetics and ecosystem function.

    Bloom Where You Are Planted: A Medley of Herbal Ideas by Linda A.Fleming

    Learn everything you have ever wanted to know about growing and using herbs. Seed starting, seed saving, growing, propagation, and harvesting, as well as Linda’s favorite herb garden design, will be presented. Linda will share wonderful herbal ideas and recipes for entertaining. There will be a “hands on” lesson for herbal vinegars. Topics such as her love affair with scented geraniums as pass-along plants, herb topiary instructions and handmade seed packets will be included.

    The Truth About Garden Remedies by Jeff Gillman

    From beer used as fertilizer to baking soda for powdery mildew, there is no shortage of amazing cabinet cures for whatever ails your garden, but which of these cures actually work and which don’t? In this talk we will take a look at many of the most common cabinet cures from all over and discuss which ones work, which ones don’t and why.

    Tickets are $75 and registration deadline is February 20. Register at https://web.uri.edu/mastergardener/symposium/