Boston Flora

Tag: Canton

  • Wednesday, February 11 – Sunday, May 31 – Seeds of Exchange: Canton and London in the 1700s

    In the Garden Museum’s next exhibition opening early 2026, discover the exchange of botanical knowledge shared between Canton (now Guangzhou) and London between 1766-1773, displaying a collection of Chinese botanical art and research for the first time in Britain since it was commissioned 235 years ago.

    The exhibition will explore the relationship between John Bradby Blake (1745-1773), an English botanist who worked as a supercargo for the East India Company in the 1770s, his Chinese interlocutor Whang At Tong 黃遏東, and the botanical artists Bradby Blake commissioned to document plants native to Canton.

    Featuring 30 botanical paintings by the artist Mauk-Sow-U together with herbals, maps, models, a portrait of Whang At Tong 黃遏東 by Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792), and watercolors and drawings of Canton from the V&A, Seeds of Exchange will tell the story of a little-known international botanical collaboration. If you plan a trip to London, be sure to attend, and check their website https://www.gardenmuseum.org.uk/

  • Monday, February 14, 1:00 pm Eastern – The Life and Work of John Bradby Blake: From London to Canton and Back, Online

    The Gardens Trust presents a series on six online talks on Mondays through March 15 exploring the extraordinary life and work of John Bradby Blake (1745 – 1773). The lectures are £5 each or all 6 for £24, and you may register through Eventbrite by clicking HERE.

    In the February 14 session, Dr. Jordan Goodman, University College, London, will discuss aspects of Bradby Blake’s collaborative project in Canton and its posthumous continuation in London and look forward to the more detailed examination of his creative life and accomplishments in the following three lectures.

  • Carroll Property Added to the Museum of American Bird Art at Mass Audubon

    At the end of January, Mass Audubon received a donation from Bill Carroll and the Carroll Family of 2.73 acres of land next to the Museum of American Bird Art at Mass Audubon (MABA) in Canton, MA.

    The new addition—called the Carroll Property—features a lovely series of rapids, or cascades, of Pequit Brook that runs along the Main Loop Trail. Most of the land is a vibrant red maple swamp teeming with various species of native plants and animals.

    This donation of land will be added to MABA’s existing 121-acre wildlife sanctuary, which was established by the bequest of Mildred Morse Allen in 1989.

    If you want to see this property for yourself, just take a walk on the Main Loop Trail at MABA! When you get to the rapids at Pequit Brook, look across and you will see the maple swamp of this property.  For additional information visit https://www.massaudubon.org/our-conservation-work/land-conservation/news-project-updates/success-stories/new-addition-at-maba