Boston Flora

Tag: Gardens Trust

  • Tuesday, May 20, 5:00 am – 6:30 am Eastern (but recorded) – Avant Gardening in the Twilight of a Millennium, Online

    The Gardens Trust’s final series of A History of Gardens will consider developments of the recent past. Starting with the arrival of the sleek, functional style of Modernism after the first world war, the talks will move on to explore contemporary thinking on the challenges of conserving and restoring historic parks and gardens, the rise of ecological perennial planting, the reappearance of allusive gardens and how a garden’s ‘spirit of place’ can guide sustainable plans for the future.

    Themes and exemplars in garden-making are more difficult to identify without the benefit of distance and time. But considering recent ideas and approaches is bound to bring a thought-provoking end to our History of Gardens. This ticket link is for the sixth series of 5 talks in our History of Gardens Course at £35 or you may purchase a ticket for individual talks, costing £8 via the links on the website. (Gardens Trust members £6 each or all 5 for £26.25). Ticket holders can join each session live and/or view a recording for up to 2 weeks afterwards. Ticket sales close 4 hours before the first talk.

    Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days (and again a few hours) prior to the start of the first talk (if you do not receive this link please contact us) and a link to the recorded session will be sent shortly after each session and will be available for 2 weeks.

    Talk 4 on May 20 is Avant Gardening in the Twilight of a Millennium, with Patrick Eyres. Ian Hamilton Finlay (1925-2006) coined the term Avant-Gardening, to evoke the process of synthesising art and horticulture at Little Sparta. In the centenary of Finlay’s birth, Little Sparta will be the focus. The allusion and association of Avant-Gardening provides common ground with four other contemporary gardens. Fragility is a parallel theme. Little Sparta (Ian and Sue Finlay), The Garden of Cosmic Speculation (Charles and Maggie Jencks) and Prospect Cottage (Derek Jarman) have survived the death of their creators; the Garden of History (Jim Pierce) and the Driftwood Garden (Brian Yale) have not.

    Dr Patrick Eyres is editor and publisher of the unique New Arcadian Journal, in which artists and writers explore the landscape garden. The 56th and penultimate edition is underway. He has also published in numerous other books and journals and taught in the School of Art and Design at Bradford Collage. He served on the boards of the Wentworth Castle Heritage Trust, Leeds Art Fund, Garden History Society and Little Sparta Trust. On behalf of The Gardens Trust, he set up and chaired for the first ten years the annual New Research Symposium in Garden History. He continues to advise on the conservation of Little Sparta.

  • Wednesday, May 28, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm Eastern – Gardens on Film: Risk and Reward

    Historic parks and gardens play a frequent – and frequently tantalizing – role in films and on TV. Where is the 18th century landscape that forms the background to scenes in Bridgerton? Which English country estate serves as Paris for both James Bond and Sherlock Holmes? Is that really a world heritage site being flooded for a scene in The Secret Garden?

    Join The Gardens Trust on Wednesdays in May for behind-the-scenes at some of the locations used in costume dramas, children’s adventures, murder mysteries and much else. We’ll hear from a location manager on choosing the right gardens for shoots and from a garden historian on films in her own county, as well as the experience of three major players who regularly manage film crews in their historic landscapes – the National Trust, the Royal Parks and English Heritage. This ticket costs £35 for the full series of five talks or you may purchase a ticket for individual talks, costing £8. To sign up, visit Eventbrite UK HERE. Ticket holders can join each session live and/or view a recording for up to 2 weeks afterwards. Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days (and again a few hours) prior to the start of the first talk.

    This May 28 talk will focus on how the members of the English Heritage venue hire team work with their gardens and landscapes specialists to protect spaces used for filming while encouraging filming hires across the portfolio of English Heritage sites. The session will look at some of the potential risks, approaches to mitigation – and the rewards attached to using historic gardens and landscapes in film. It will include case studies from some familiar film and TV series such as Bridgerton, Downton Abbey and The Crown.

    Christina Pascoe is National Venue Hire Manager and Interim Commercial Development Team Lead at English Heritage. Christina and her team manage all hires at English Heritage from small scale photoshoots to large scale filming hires, events, concerts and weddings. Christina is also the founder and chair of the Heritage Filming Alliance, established in 2024 to support venues within the heritage and culture sector during the planning and delivery of filming hires and to support them in expanding their filming business. She is also a trustee of The Bowes Museum.

  • Tuesday, May 13, 5:00 am – 6:30 am Eastern (but recorded – Ecological Planting Design: A History

    The Gardens Trust’s final series of A History of Gardens will consider developments of the recent past. Starting with the arrival of the sleek, functional style of Modernism after the first world war, the talks will move on to explore contemporary thinking on the challenges of conserving and restoring historic parks and gardens, the rise of ecological perennial planting, the reappearance of allusive gardens and how a garden’s ‘spirit of place’ can guide sustainable plans for the future.

    Themes and exemplars in garden-making are more difficult to identify without the benefit of distance and time. But considering recent ideas and approaches is bound to bring a thought-provoking end to our History of Gardens. This ticket link is for the sixth series of 5 talks in our History of Gardens Course at £35 or you may purchase a ticket for individual talks, costing £8 via the links on the website. (Gardens Trust members £6 each or all 5 for £26.25). Ticket holders can join each session live and/or view a recording for up to 2 weeks afterwards. Ticket sales close 4 hours before the first talk.

    Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days (and again a few hours) prior to the start of the first talk (if you do not receive this link please contact us) and a link to the recorded session will be sent shortly after each session and will be available for 2 weeks.

    Talk 3 on May 13 is on Ecological Planting Design, with Noel Kingsbury. Visiting Britain, Germany, the USA and The Netherlands, we explore the roots of the contemporary interest in ecological perennial planting design, making connections with the landscape garden movement of the 18th century, cottage gardening, the growth of ecology as a science and the sometimes murky politics of those involved.

    Noel Kingsbury is a writer, researcher, teacher and planting designer, largely known as a promotor of ecological planting design. With Annie Guilfoyle he runs gardenmasterclass.org as a place to share colleagues’ inspiration and wisdom in the global garden and landscape community. After living in the west of England for many years, he is now making a low-irrigation garden in central Portugal.

  • Wednesday, May 21, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm Eastern – Gardens on Film: Filming in Royal Parks, Online

    Historic parks and gardens play a frequent – and frequently tantalizing – role in films and on TV. Where is the 18th century landscape that forms the background to scenes in Bridgerton? Which English country estate serves as Paris for both James Bond and Sherlock Holmes? Is that really a world heritage site being flooded for a scene in The Secret Garden?

    Join The Gardens Trust on Wednesdays in May for behind-the-scenes at some of the locations used in costume dramas, children’s adventures, murder mysteries and much else. We’ll hear from a location manager on choosing the right gardens for shoots and from a garden historian on films in her own county, as well as the experience of three major players who regularly manage film crews in their historic landscapes – the National Trust, the Royal Parks and English Heritage. This ticket costs £35 for the full series of five talks or you may purchase a ticket for individual talks, costing £8. To sign up, visit Eventbrite UK HERE. Ticket holders can join each session live and/or view a recording for up to 2 weeks afterwards. Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days (and again a few hours) prior to the start of the first talk.

    The third talk in the series takes place May 21. The Royal Parks offer filming opportunities in eight of London’s largest open public spaces, including St James’s Park, Regent’s Park and Kensington Gardens, allowing film-makers to recreate almost any historical period. Recent shoots have included the fight scene between Colin Firth and Hugh Grant in Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason and the music video for Late Night Talking with Harry Styles flying down The Mall in a giant bed!

    Flo van Heck is Senior Filming & Events Manager at The Royal Parks.

  • Tuesday, May 6, 7:00 am – 8:30 am Eastern (but recorded) – Conservation and “Restoration”, Online

    The Gardens Trust’s final series of A History of Gardens will consider developments of the recent past. Starting with the arrival of the sleek, functional style of Modernism after the first world war, the talks will move on to explore contemporary thinking on the challenges of conserving and restoring historic parks and gardens, the rise of ecological perennial planting, the reappearance of allusive gardens and how a garden’s ‘spirit of place’ can guide sustainable plans for the future.

    Themes and exemplars in garden-making are more difficult to identify without the benefit of distance and time. But considering recent ideas and approaches is bound to bring a thought-provoking end to our History of Gardens. This ticket link is for the sixth series of 5 talks in our History of Gardens Course at £35 or you may purchase a ticket for individual talks, costing £8 via the links on the website. (Gardens Trust members £6 each or all 5 for £26.25). Ticket holders can join each session live and/or view a recording for up to 2 weeks afterwards. Ticket sales close 4 hours before the first talk.

    Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days (and again a few hours) prior to the start of the first talk (if you do not receive this link please contact us) and a link to the recorded session will be sent shortly after each session and will be available for 2 weeks.

    Week 2 on May 6 is The Conservation and “Restoration” of Historic Parks and Gardens in the Late Twentieth Century and Earliest 21st Century, a Personal View with John Watkins. In the last few decades, we have seen a renaissance for historic parks and gardens in the UK. The initial stimulus was arguably the Great Storm of 1987. It caused catastrophic damage, with an estimated 15 million trees flattened. But as Historic England later reported, for designed landscapes ‘the alarming destruction was often outweighed by the opportunities for renewal’ as a multimillion-pound landscape rehabilitation program led to turbocharged research and subsequent replanting and restoration. A second factor has been the establishment of the National Lottery in 1994, since when £2.1 billion has been awarded to projects supporting landscapes, parks and nature. A third factor in the renaissance has been a generally buoyant economy with more homeowners becoming interested in gardens and a growing garden tourist economy.

    The lecture will provide a personal view highlighting selected ‘restoration’ projects over the last 40 years that have both conserved and rejuvenated many historic gardens and designed landscapes. John Watkins has led the Gardens and Landscape Team in English Heritage for 27 years and will be retiring in July 2025. He is a professional horticulturist with some 47 years’ experience, awarded the RHS Associate of Honour in 2016. He jointly edited and contributed to the English Heritage Manual: The Management & Maintenance of Historic Parks, Gardens & Landscapes (Frances Lincoln, 2007). His experience of high-profile restoration projects includes Chiswick House and Gardens, Down House, Eltham Palace, Wrest Park, Witley Court, Kenilworth Castle, Boscobel House, Audley End Kitchen Garden and Mount Grace Priory. He has recently completed major projects at Marble Hill in London, Belsay Hall in Northumberland. In April 2025 he was appointed as Chair of the Gardens Trust.

  • Wednesday, May 14, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm Eastern – Gardens on Film: Filming in Three Gardens, Online

    Historic parks and gardens play a frequent – and frequently tantalizing – role in films and on TV. Where is the 18th century landscape that forms the background to scenes in Bridgerton? Which English country estate serves as Paris for both James Bond and Sherlock Holmes? Is that really a world heritage site being flooded for a scene in The Secret Garden?

    Join The Gardens Trust on Wednesdays in May for behind-the-scenes at some of the locations used in costume dramas, children’s adventures, murder mysteries and much else. We’ll hear from a location manager on choosing the right gardens for shoots and from a garden historian on films in her own county, as well as the experience of three major players who regularly manage film crews in their historic landscapes – the National Trust, the Royal Parks and English Heritage. This ticket costs £35 for the full series of five talks or you may purchase a ticket for individual talks, costing £8. To sign up, visit Eventbrite UK HERE. Ticket holders can join each session live and/or view a recording for up to 2 weeks afterwards. Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days (and again a few hours) prior to the start of the first talk.

    The second talk on May 14 will explain how and why the National Trust allows filming in its historic gardens. It will encompass three shoots. First, the classic children’s story, The Secret Garden, the most recent version of which, filmed in 2019, took place in two of our gardens to help create the garden seen on screen. Second, Alice in Wonderland (below) used a garden chosen by the director, Tim Burton, even though the property, Anthony in Cornwall, had never hosted a film before. The third garden, Lamb House, was an example of filming in the actual garden that featured in the Mapp and Lucia books and where the author lived.

    Harvey Edgington was London’s first full time Film Officer having created the role at the London Borough of Greenwich. This involved finding locations for films such as Patriot Games and Four Weddings and a Funeral. Directly before joining the Trust, he did similar work for Film London across the capital. Harvey swapped housing estates for country estates by setting up the NT Filming and Locations Office in 2003, a department he has headed up ever since. He has since spoken about his work at industry events in France, Spain, Sweden, Korea, Poland and the UK.

  • Tuesday, April 29, 5:00 am – 6:30 am Eastern (but recorded) – A History of Gardens: Modernism – The Recent Past

    The Gardens Trust’s final series of A History of Gardens will consider developments of the recent past. Starting with the arrival of the sleek, functional style of Modernism after the first world war, the talks will move on to explore contemporary thinking on the challenges of conserving and restoring historic parks and gardens, the rise of ecological perennial planting, the reappearance of allusive gardens and how a garden’s ‘spirit of place’ can guide sustainable plans for the future.

    Themes and exemplars in garden-making are more difficult to identify without the benefit of distance and time. But considering recent ideas and approaches is bound to bring a thought-provoking end to our History of Gardens. This ticket link is for the sixth series of 5 talks in our History of Gardens Course at £35 or you may purchase a ticket for individual talks, costing £8 via the links on the website. (Gardens Trust members £6 each or all 5 for £26.25). Ticket holders can join each session live and/or view a recording for up to 2 weeks afterwards. Ticket sales close 4 hours before the first talk.

    Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days (and again a few hours) prior to the start of the first talk (if you do not receive this link please contact us) and a link to the recorded session will be sent shortly after each session and will be available for 2 weeks.

    Talk 1 on April 29 is Modernism, with Katie Campbell. Modernism was a short-lived fashion in British horticulture which left a long legacy. Provoked by the horrors of the First World War, Modernists rejected traditional styles and methods, and sought a new, nonaligned, universal approach. Renouncing vernacular and historical references, they promoted an international style which was as comfortable in the Greek islands as in the Scottish Highlands. While eschewing metaphor and allusion, it embraced machine-age mass production and modern materials, used plants architecturally to create clearly delineated spaces, and was more interested in texture and form than color. Its focus on simplicity, functionality and monumentality still infuse contemporary British garden design.

    Katie Campbell lectures widely, has taught at Birkbeck, Bristol and Buckingham universities, writes for various publications and leads art and garden tours. Her most recent book, Cultivating the Renaissance (Routledge, 2021) explores the evolution of Renaissance ideas and aesthetics through the Medici’s Tuscan villas. Previous publications include British Gardens in Time (Quarto, 2014), Paradise of Exiles: The Anglo-Florentine Garden (Francis Lincoln, 2009), Policies and Pleasaunces (Barn Elms, 2007), and Icons of Twentieth Century Landscape Design (Frances Lincoln, 2006). Image below: High and Over, Amersham, ©Mary Casserley: marycasserley.com

  • Wednesday, May 7, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm Eastern – Gardens on Film: From Script to Screen, Unveiling the Art of Finding and Managing Filming Locations, Online

    Historic parks and gardens play a frequent – and frequently tantalizing – role in films and on TV. Where is the 18th century landscape that forms the background to scenes in Bridgerton? Which English country estate serves as Paris for both James Bond and Sherlock Holmes? Is that really a world heritage site being flooded for a scene in The Secret Garden?

    Join The Gardens Trust on Wednesdays in May for behind-the-scenes at some of the locations used in costume dramas, children’s adventures, murder mysteries and much else. We’ll hear from a location manager on choosing the right gardens for shoots and from a garden historian on films in her own county, as well as the experience of three major players who regularly manage film crews in their historic landscapes – the National Trust, the Royal Parks and English Heritage. This ticket costs £35 for the full series of five talks or you may purchase a ticket for individual talks, costing £8. To sign up, visit Eventbrite UK HERE. Ticket holders can join each session live and/or view a recording for up to 2 weeks afterwards. Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days (and again a few hours) prior to the start of the first talk.

    The first talk on Wednesday May 7 is Gardens on Film, From Script to Screen. In this talk, Jenni Lewis will take you on a journey through the entire filming process, from script to screen, revealing how the perfect locations are discovered, chosen, and brought to life on set. She’ll share insider insights into managing complex shoots in outdoor and historic spaces, offering a glimpse into the meticulous planning and problem-solving behind the scenes. With a focus on the mutual benefits between filming and the locations themselves, this session will showcase the hidden magic that turns real-world places into unforgettable cinematic backdrops. Prepare for a deep dive into the world of location scouting and management—where creativity meets logistics in some of the most beautiful places.

    Jenni Lewis is a seasoned Location Manager whose 18 years in the UK film industry have shaped the landscapes of iconic productions like Bridgerton, Matilda: The Musical, Belfast, Downton Abbey, The Secret Garden, Red Joan, and Howards End. Specializing in large-scale shoots in gardens and public spaces, Jenni brings a wealth of experience in navigating both the logistical and creative challenges of location management.

  • Wednesday, April 9, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm Eastern – Artists’ Gardens: Derek Jarman’s Garden, Online

    Plants and gardens have long served as a creative inspiration for artists. They are places of color, structure and changing light, representations of memories and emotions, expressions of the cycle of life and the passing of time. When the garden is one created by the artist themself, the scope for exploration and engagement intensifies and, whether garden-lover or art-lover, we are drawn in to their stories and meanings. In this four-part series, The Gardens Trust will explore a range of gardens created and celebrated by their artist owners. Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days prior to the start of the talk, and again a few hours before the talk. A link to the recorded session (available for 2 weeks) will be sent shortly afterwards. Register through Eventbrite HERE

    The garden at Prospect Cottage on Dungeness Point was created in the late 1980s by the maverick, controversial, supremely talented theater director, filmmaker and gay rights activist, Derek Jarman. The garden, built on a flat, desolate expanse of shingle in the shadow of the Dungeness nuclear power station, almost defies our definition of a garden: it has no borders and no boundaries. Yet Jarman created a wonderfully artistic landscape from stones, shells and driftwood scavenged from the beach, along with old tools, discarded rusty objects and an improbable array of indigenous and introduced plants. The result was a garden of ethereal beauty, and it still remains, 30 years after Jarman’s death, for us to explore, and to marvel at.

    Jill Francis is an early modern historian, specialising in gardens and gardening in the late-sixteenth and early-seventeenth centuries, although she makes occasional forays into later gardens when they spark her interest – as here! She has taught history at the University of Birmingham and the University of Worcester and still contributes to the MA program on West Midlands History at Birmingham. She is an occasional lecturer in a variety of garden history groups and associations and is now particularly involved with the Gardens’ Trust online program, both as a speaker and as a volunteer. She also works at the Shakespeare Institute Library in Stratford-upon-Avon. Her book, Gardens and Gardening in Early Modern England and Wales, was published by Yale University Press (2018).

    Image: Derek Jarman’s Cottage and Garden, photo ©Jill Francis

  • Wednesday, April 2, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm Eastern – Artists’ Gardens: Painters in their Places, Online

    Plants and gardens have long served as a creative inspiration for artists. They are places of color, structure and changing light, representations of memories and emotions, expressions of the cycle of life and the passing of time. When the garden is one created by the artist themself, the scope for exploration and engagement intensifies and, whether garden-lover or art-lover, we are drawn in to their stories and meanings. In this four-part series, The Gardens Trust will explore a range of gardens created and celebrated by their artist owners. Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days prior to the start of the talk, and again a few hours before the talk. A link to the recorded session (available for 2 weeks) will be sent shortly afterwards. Register through Eventbrite HERE.

    Gardens, fashions, sculpture and antique culture meet and mix as we move between France, Spain, Italy and England with artists who both recorded and, in the case of Sorolla and le Sidaner, created gardens. The third artist is John Singer Sargent. On April 2 we will examine the concepts of the role of gardens in art and culture more generally as exampled and contrasted by these three artists.

    Twigs Way is a garden historian, writer and researcher fascinated by the past and intrigued by the role of flowers, gardens and landscape in art and culture of all kinds. Her talks reflect themes of, class and gender, politics, art and literature along with the quirky and unusual. Twigs is Course Director of the MA/PhD in Garden History at Buckingham University and an accredited Arts Society lecturer. Her history of the Chrysanthemum in art and culture was published by Reaktion (2020) and the new edition of A History of Women in the Garden was published by Bloomsbury (2023). Image: Les Jardins Henri Le Sidaner, Gerberoy, photo ©Twigs Way