Boston Flora

Tag: Elm Bank

  • Friday, September 18 – Sunday, September 20 – New England Fall Flower Show : Growing Together

    The New England Fall Flower Show reflects on the rich history of MHS’s flower shows and embraces the future of how we continue to grow.

    In partnership with New England Home, the 3-day event will feature curated vendors, food trucks, workshops and programs, and floral installations on Friday, Sept. 18 – Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. Curated vendors will offer horticulture and gardening products, arts & crafts, home décor, and health & beauty.

    The event represents how MHS, and we as members of many communities throughout the region, can use the knowledge from the roots of our heritage and the aspirations of future growth to create, change, and inspire in the present. Exhibitions, displays, vendors, and demonstrations will draw inspiration from global plants, styles, themes, and designs. We celebrate the importance of plants around the world and the impact that cultivating and exhibiting plants can have on well being, health, and community.

    The 2026 New England Fall Flower Show will take place on Friday, September 18 through Sunday, September 21, 2025 at the Garden at Elm Bank in Wellesley, MA. For more information visit https://www.masshort.org/fall-flower-show

  • Sunday, February 8, 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm – Houseplant Propagation Workshop

    In this fun, hands-on New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill workshop on February 8 at 2 pm, you will explore several ways to propagate popular plants.

    Discover the joy of creating new life from the houseplants you already have. Through guided demonstrations and plenty of hands-on practice, you’ll learn multiple propagation techniques and the horticultural principles behind them. Instructor Betsy Szymczak is an avid vegetable and flower gardener who enjoys growing begonias, primarily as houseplants. As a longtime member of the American Begonia Society, she served as a certified judge and former ABS Judging Co-Chair. She has judged the begonia sections at the Philadelphia, Boston, and Newport RI flower shows. She is also a Gesneriad Society judge, and she grows about 75 dahlia varieties in a relatively small suburban garden in Natick.

    Betsy is a Principle Certified MA Master Gardener and volunteers at Elm Bank in Wellesley and the Longfellow House in Cambridge, MA.

    Participants will head home with a curated assortment of propagated plants ready to grow on their own. $55 for NEBG members, $66 for nonmembers. Register at www.nebg.org

  • Tuesday, Wednesday, & Saturday, September 8, 9, & 12, 10:00 am – 2:00 pm – Botanical Art with Color Pencils

    Guided by Alice Rosa, a Fellow of the Society of Botanical Artists in London, learn the art of colored pencil for botanical art. This Massachusetts Horticultural Society three day class will take place at the Gardens at Elm Bank on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday, September 8, 9, and 12 from 10 – 2. First, we will start with foundational techniques such as observing, measuring, and drawing all the components of the plant. Then move on to color studies, learning how to layer colored pencils to achieve vibrant and deep hues. We will also explore tools to render textures and fine details. $225 for Mass Hort members, $265 for nonmembers. Register at https://www.masshort.org/upcoming-classes

  • Wednesday & Thursday, August 7 & 8, 9:30 am – 3:30 pm – Drawing in the Garden: Sunflowers in Color Pencils

    Get out into the garden and draw amongst the flowers with botanical artist & instructor, Carol Ann Morley. This summer will bring a special garden exhibit of Sunflowers to the Garden at Elm Bank. Capture the beauty of Sunflowers with quick sketches, study the details of the flower’s structure through observation, and add color notes of their vibrant colors. In the classroom have fun creating a color pencil palette to work from and discover what combinations work best for portraying greens and the tricky color yellow.

    This class is for artists with some graphite experience. The two classes are Wednesday and Thursday, August 7 and 8, from 9:30 – 3:30, at the Garden at Elm Bank Cheney Classroom. $225 for Mass Hort members, $275 for nonmembers. Register at www.masshort.org

  • Saturday, February 3, 10:00 am – In Conversation with Adrian Bloom

    The Massachusetts Horticultural Society hosts a talk and book signing in early February which you won’t want to miss. Plantsman, author and designer of Bressingham Garden, Adrian Bloom, is coming to the Garden at Elm Bank, 900 Washington Street in Wellesley, on February 3, 2023. Learn about his career, projects including Bressingham Garden at Massachusetts Horticultural Society, and his new book, Foggy Bottom, which will be available for purchase and signing at the event! Coffee and Pastries included with registration.

    9:30 – Check-in and enjoy coffee/pastries
    10am – Adrian Bloom, in conversation with James Hearsum, MHS Executive Director
    11am – Book Signing, purchase a new copy of Foggy Bottom and have it signed, before it’s released in the U.S.!

    MHS members $35, nonmembers $40. Register at https://www.masshort.org/adrian-bloom-230203

  • Tuesday, October 3, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm – Full-Day Immersive Art Workshop: Creating Art in Dialogue with Nature

    Immersing ourselves in the inner and outer process of creating can take us deeper into our own space of creative flow, reflection, and mindfulness. Finding inspiration through connecting with elements of the natural world that might also be in ourselves, connects us with our own belonging and interbeing.

    Nadine Mazzola will guide participants in weaving these themes together, encouraging each person’s own unique expression using a simple variety of artistic media. Through time wandering alone, playful experimenting, and time reflecting together, we will explore and celebrate these qualities in the natural world and ourselves. Participants are asked to bring a sack lunch as we will take a break in the afternoon. 

    What to Expect: A leisurely walk with stops along the way where we will gather and sit. Please check the weather forecast so you are prepared and see the suggestions below for different types of weather. Students will need weather-appropriate clothing and accessories (sunglasses, sunscreen, extra warm layers or rain jacket or umbrella, etc.) for outdoor experiential learning activities.

    Instructed by Nadine Mazzola, Certified Forest Therapy Guide, Award-Winning Author. The class will be held on October 3 from 10 – 4 at The Gardens at Elm Bank. Register with the Massachusetts Horticultural Society ($135 – $185) at www.masshort.org

  • Thursday & Friday, August 17 & 18, 9:30 am – 3:30 pm – Colored Pencil Techniques for Botanical Subjects on Toned Paper

    There is something magical about colored pencils on toned paper, but achieving the colors you want to match is difficult. 

    In this Massachusetts Horticultural Society class, co-sponsored with the Wellesley College Friends of Horticulture, learn how to control the values and forms of colored botanical subjects using toned paper. Through class demonstrations, Carol Ann Morley will show you how to make colored palettes for different colored subjects, maintain true tonal values and color, and explore how colors change their appearance on different colored backgrounds. This class is useful to help problem-solve color choices, especially white and light subjects on darker backgrounds

    2 days: Thurs. & Fri., Aug. 17 & 18      
    9:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.

    WCBG Friends & MHS Members: $225 / Non-Members: $275. Register at www.masshort.org

  • Wednesday & Thursday, May 3 & 4, 9:30 am – 4:00 pm Eastern, and Friday, May 5, 9:30 am – 2:30 pm – Variegated Plants in Graphite

    Variegated plants have next-level opportunities for stunning portraits and graphite is the versatile medium to pair with those intricate patterns. Susan Fisher will show you a systematic process that will sort out confusing value issues from the beginning. Learn manageable skills to produce tone and form for variegated subjects. Demonstrations, discussions and easy-to-follow exercises in graphite application are designed to refine proficiency. For intermediate to advanced artists. The three classes May 3 – 5 will take place in person at The Gardens at Elm Bank in Wellesley, sponsored by The Friends of Wellesley Botanic Gardens, and is $395 for Friends members, $495 for non-members. Contact wcbgfriends@wellesley.edu for more information.

    Susan Fisher All Rights Reserved

  • Friday, May 28 – Tuesday, September 7 – Ribbit the Exhibit

    Everything will start hopping at Massachusetts Horticultural Society when Ribbit the Exhibit makes its debut at The Gardens at Elm Bank on May 28.
    Twenty whimsical copper sculptures by artist J.A. Cobb will be placed throughout the Gardens. Ranging from 4 – 7ft tall, these frogs will bring wonder and curiosity to The Gardens at Elm Bank.
    This exhibit is included with daily admission to The Gardens at Elm Bank, $10 for Adults, free for ages 12 and under. Free for Massachusetts Horticultural Society members. For more information visit www.masshort.org

  • Saturday, October 24, 9:00 am – 3:00 pm – Tree Ring Print Making

    In this Massachusetts Horticultural workshop, students will explore the history, culture & practice of traditional relief printing. This October 24 course (rescheduled from March) in the Putnam Building at Elm Bank, 900 Washington Street in Wellesley, explores not only the techniques and applied styles of relief printing, but the botanical significance of working with woody stems. A demonstration of inking and burning materials will begin the course, then students will apply their understanding of materials, techniques, and styles of relief printing to complete their own final piece. Participants will take home a hanging wall art piece & stationery cards which highlight the cross section of a tree. The class begins at 9 am and is taught by Ian T. Meli. Ian Meli is a lifelong artist, woodworker, sculptor, & designer, creating work professionally since 1989. He earned his Bachelor’s in Visual Arts from UMass Boston in 2018. Ian has experience teaching both at the adult education level, as well as the high school vocational level as a carpentry instructor. He has had work displayed at the Harbor Gallery at UMass Boston, as well as in several publications. Ian currently resides in Jamaica Plain, and enjoys riding his bicycle, whether it’s through the Arnold Arboretum for pleasure or commuting to work alongside the Emerald Necklace.

    $85 for Mass Hort members, $110 general admission Register at www.masshort.org, or call Allison Dush at 617-933-4973.