Boston Flora

Tag: Innisfree Garden

  • Thursday, January 29, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm Eastern – Bats of the Hudson Valley, Online

    While Innisfree Garden’s many bats are rarely seen by visitors, as the garden is not often open in the evening, the garden’s diverse habitat could support as many as nine species native to New York State. These fascinating nocturnal animals play an important role in healthy ecosystems, and Innisfree is glad to provide them with a safe place to live.

    Join Hudsonia biologist and educator Amanda Bevan Zientek on January 29 at 1 pm Eastern for a virtual lecture that sheds light on these often-misunderstood creatures. Amanda will discuss the lives, habits, and ecological importance of bats, including several of the species that call Innisfree and the wider surrounding area home, as well as the challenges bats face today. The next time you attend an evening event at Innisfree, you may find yourself with a new appreciation for those shadowy shapes fluttering overhead.

    This lecture is being held virtually via Zoom and will be available to view live or later as a recorded session.

    $35 non-members; $25 members. Register at https://www.innisfreegarden.org/events/bats-2026

  • Wednesday, April 20, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm – Romanticism at Innisfree, Online

    Those who know his work think of landscape architect Lester Collins as a modernist, even a minimalist. Those who know Innisfree think of its connections to the gardens of ancient China and Japan. Innisfree and Collins’ larger body of work nevertheless draw deeply on the ideas and ideals of Romanticism, celebrating nature and the deep, emotional connection between humans and the natural world. Using Innisfree as the nexus, landscape curator Kate Kerin will introduce these ideas as a continuum rooted in 18th century Europe, flowering in the 19th century Hudson Valley with the likes of Andrew Jackson Downing, Frederick Law Olmsted, and artists of the Hudson River School, and very much alive today with growing interest in nature conservation, nature’s role in human health, and nature-based gardening strategies.

    Kate Kerin has spent her career studying, preserving, teaching about, and designing landscapes. She has a particular interest in garden history. Kate has been working with Innisfree since 2012.

    The Zoom lecture will take place April 20 at 1 pm Eastern, and is free to Innisfree members, $15 for nonmembers. Register HERE

  • Wednesday, April 6, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm – Landscape, Poetry, and Ecology: Romanticism at Innisfree, Online

    Help Innisfree Garden celebrate National Poetry month on April 6 at6 1 pm with poet Paul Kane, who will discuss the convergence of poetry, nature, and ecology in Romantic ideology and how these ideas can be read in the Innisfree landscape. A professor of English and Environmental Studies at Vassar College, Paul is a scholar of both American and Australian literature. He writes primarily on the work of the Transcendentalists, including Ralph Waldo Emerson, but also focuses on contemporary poetry and criticism. A recipient of NEH and Guggenheim fellowships, Paul has published numerous books, edited others, and has been included in various anthologies of poetry and critical essays. He has been bringing his students to Innisfree for many years. Free for Innisfree members, $15 for nonmembers. Register HERE. The talk will be on Zoom.

    Photo credit: Florence Minnis

  • Wednesday, February 23, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm – Effective Solutions for Dealing with Deer, Online

    The second of Innisfree Garden’s 2022 Roots of Inspiration webinar series will take place February 23 with Brad Roeller.

    Innisfree trustee Brad Roeller believes that by learning about the environmental and biological factors which influence deer and their food choices, homeowners and professionals can implement informed strategies for deer-proofing their landscapes. Drawing on over forty years of gardening in deer country and his findings in the Deer Browse Garden he created at the Cary Institute funded by a ten-year grant from Cornell, Brad will share hard-won lessons on how to deter deer from browsing ornamental plants. Over the course of his career, Brad has evaluated hundreds of popular herbaceous and woody ornamentals. He will share those plants showing any inherent resistance to deer plus his top picks from the plethora of products, gadgets, and methods intended to discourage deer from foraging in landscape plantings. This talk will also examine how historic and current land use trends impact deer densities and look at the ramifications of high deer populations.

    Retired but actively involved in planning for and managing the Innisfree landscape, Brad Roeller offers a wealth of ideas and expertise to gardeners at every level. Over the past forty years, he has held top horticultural positions at the Cary Institute of Ecosystems Studies, the New York Botanical Garden, and a storied private estate, has published widely, and has been teaching at NYBG and other major institutions. Reflecting his own interests, his research has focused on ecologically-driven and sustainable landscape practices, gardening in areas with high deer populations, and landscape plants for Northern gardens.

    Free for Innisfree members, $15 for nonmembers. Register HERE.