Boston Flora

Tag: Jill Francis

  • 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

  • Tuesday, September 24, 5:00 am – 6:30 am Eastern (but recorded) – A History of Gardens 2: Between Kings, Gardens of the Mid 17th Century, Online

    What is a garden? Why were they created as they were? What influences were at play in garden making, and how have gardens evolved and developed over time? These are the questions we will explore as we traverse the history of gardens through the ages.

    Following on from our opening talks on early gardens, this second series will examine how gardens developed during the 17th century. We will explore how exotic plants from around the world started to appear in European gardens, and were captured in botanical art, before the tumultuous impact of the English civil wars on gardens and gardening from the 1640s. The second part of the century saw the rise of extravagant, dramatic styles, now known as baroque gardens and exemplified by the work of André Le Nôtre for the Sun King at Versailles. We will explore these gardens through an analysis of the work of Le Nôtre and his contemporaries in France, and the series will end with a talk scrutinising how the European baroque style played out in England.

    This ticket – purchase through Eventbrite HERE – is for this individual talk and costs £8, and you may purchase tickets for other individual sessions via the links below, or you may purchase a ticket for the entire [second] series of 5 talks in our History of Gardens Course at £35 via the link here. (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.

    After decades of relative peace and prosperity in Britain, the mid 17th century saw the country plunged into civil war, resulting in almost twenty years of turmoil, instability and uncertainty. This talk will examine the effect that this had on gardens as their owners returned – from the wars, from exile, from prison – and retreated to their neglected estates. With no role to play in the new Commonwealth regime, they turned to rebuilding, improving and in some cases, creating wonderful new gardens, such as the ones built by John Evelyn at Sayes Court and Wotton House. These gardens, and the fascinating stories behind them, will be the subject of this talk.

    Dr Jill Francis is an early modern historian, specializing in gardens and gardening in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. She has taught history at the universities of Birmingham and Worcester, and still contributes to the programme of activities for both the Centre for Midlands History and Winterbourne House and Gardens. She is currently involved with delivering the online lecture programme for the Gardens Trust, and 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 in June 2018.

  • Wednesday, October 2, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm Eastern – Gardens and the Written Word: Plants and Gardens in Shakespeare

    Through an exploration of drama, diaries, novels and magazines, this Gardens Trust Wednesday five part series will examine how writers have used gardens and plants to evoke memories, capture ideas of taste and fashion, satirize attitudes, champion social change and give deeper meaning to the world. The chosen authors cover almost four centuries of literature and, through examining their words, we can gain new understandings of the roles, meanings and emotive power of historic landscapes and horticulture. This ticket link https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/gardens-and-the-written-word-tickets-930348275737 is for the entire series of 5 talks, or you may purchase a ticket for individual talks, costing £8 via the links on that page. (Gardens Trust members £6 each or all 5 for £26.25). All purchases are handled through Eventbrite.

    Ticket holders can join each session live and/or view a recording for up to 1 week 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 1 weeks.

    On Week One on October 2, we experience gardens primarily through our senses – sight, sound, scent, touch, even taste. So how are they evoked so powerfully in literature when none of these sensory media are available to us? William Shakespeare uses botanical images throughout his plays to set the scene on the stage, to enhance the stories he is telling, and to illustrate more universal truths about the complexities of the human condition. For these potent images to work, he had to know that his audience would understand them – after all, they would not all have been expert gardeners, and neither, I suspect, was Shakespeare. This talk will explore how the playwright’s references to plants, flowers and horticulture contributed to the action on the stage, and at the same time, consider the extent to which these images must have reflected the assumed interests and knowledge of his audiences.

    Dr Jill Francis is an early modern historian, specializing in gardens and gardening in the late-sixteenth and early-seventeenth centuries. She was awarded her PhD in 2011 by the University of Birmingham where she teaches as a visiting lecturer for both the Centre for Midlands History and Cultures and the Winterbourne House and Gardens program of activities. She is also currently involved with delivering the online program of lectures for the Gardens Trust and 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 in June 2018.

  • Tuesday, April 16, 5:00 am – 6:30 am Eastern (but recorded) – History of Gardens: Elizabethan Gardens, Online

    This five week online course from the Gardens Trust will be suitable for anyone curious about gardens and their stories – whether absolute beginners or those with some garden history knowledge. Running from April 14 – May 14, the course aims to help participants recognize important eras, themes and styles in mainly British garden history from the earliest times to today, grasp something of the social, economic, political and international contexts in which gardens have been created and find greater pleasure in visiting historic gardens. You can sign up for whole series or dip into individual talks. There will be opportunities to discuss issues with speakers after each talk, and short reading lists for further exploration.

    Week One on April 16 is Elizabethan Gardens with Jill Francis. From the magnificent gardens of the Queen’s Royal palaces to the fabulous show gardens of her courtiers which acted as a backdrop to elaborate entertainments, to the creation of the gardens of the gentry, to the productive plots of land that would have surrounded all but the smallest of dwellings, Elizabethan gardens were characterized by symmetry, proportion and harmony, in tune with the relative peace and prosperity of the age. This talk will explore a range of gardens right across the social spectrum, looking at how they were created, how they were used and how they reflected the social status of their owners.

    Jill Francis is an early modern historian, specializing in gardens and gardening in the late-sixteenth and early-seventeenth centuries. She was awarded her PhD in 2011 by the University of Birmingham where she teaches as a visiting lecturer for both the Centre for Midlands History and Cultures and contributes to the Winterbourne House and Gardens program of activities. She is an occasional lecturer in a variety of Garden History fora and is now specifically involved with delivering the online program for the Gardens Trust. 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 in June 2018.

    For tickets, visit www.eventbrite.co.uk Ticket holders can join each session live or view a recording for up to 2 weeks afterwards. £8 each or all 5 for £35 (Gardens Trust members £6 each or all 5 for £26.25) 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.

  • Tuesday, March 7, 5:00 am – 6:30 am (but recorded) – Garden Technology: A History of Pest Control, Online

    This is the third lecture in a six-week series of lectures which will look at the history and development of garden technology from Medieval times right up to the present day. The ‘technology’ of gardening has developed enormously over the past centuries due to mechanization, automation, advances in science – and we can now grow plants without soil, we have automated watering systems for our greenhouses and we can watch while the robot mower, controlled from our smartphones, trims our lawns to perfection. But although we may approach them differently, the tasks and challenges that face gardeners today are much the same as they were back in Tudor times and earlier: preparing the soil, planting, protecting, composting, propagating and so on and so on. The rise in the organic movement over the past few decades has reminded us that the gardeners of old knew at least as much about gardening and working in harmony with nature as we do now, so how have new technologies developed and progressed our gardening knowledge, practice, and techniques?

    The Gardens Trust has engaged a series of expert speakers to examine this question, including the renowned garden writer and designer, Noel Kingsbury, National Trust curator James Rothwell, expert on lawnmowers through the ages Keith Wootton, as well as regular Gardens Trust lecturers Jill Francis and our very own David Marsh; who will take a different technology in turn – tools, fertilizers, pest control, glasshouses, lawnmowers and plant breeding – and explore their history and development in relation to gardening. Tickets £24 or £5 each. Register through Eventbrite HERE. Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days prior to the start of the talk, and again a few hours before the talk (If you do not receive this link please contact us). A link to the recorded session will be sent shortly after each session and will be available for 1 week.

    On March 7, enjoy Things ‘that noye Gardens’ – A History of Pest Control, with Jill Francis. Garden pests and diseases have been with us for as long as we have been making gardens. The first gardening text to be published in English promises to teach us how to dress, sow and set a garden, but at the same time, and equally importantly, offers remedies for ‘beasts, worms, flies and suchlike’ that are harmful to gardens. This talk will look at the many and various ways gardeners have sought to control them, from the downright superstitious, through practical remedies learned through observation and experience to the introduction of revolutionary chemical controls, which we may now wonder whether they have done more harm than good.

    Jill Francis is an early modern historian, specializing in gardens and gardening in the late-sixteenth and early-seventeenth centuries. She was awarded her PhD in 2011 by the University of Birmingham and has taught as a visiting lecturer at Birmingham and also the University of Worcester. She also has lectured in a variety of Garden History fora, including the Institute of Historical Research Landscape and Gardens seminar program and most recently, has become increasing involved in the Gardens Trust extensive online provision. She also works at the Shakespeare Institute Library in Stratford-upon-Avon. Her first book, Gardens and Gardening in Early Modern England and Wales, was published by Yale University Press in June 2018.

  • Tuesday, February 21, 5:00 am Eastern (but recorded) – Garden Technology: The Tools of the Trade, Online

    This is the first lecture in a six-week series of lectures which will look at the history and development of garden technology from Medieval times right up to the present day. The ‘technology’ of gardening has developed enormously over the past centuries due to mechanization, automation, advances in science – and we can now grow plants without soil, we have automated watering systems for our greenhouses and we can watch while the robot mower, controlled from our smartphones, trims our lawns to perfection. But although we may approach them differently, the tasks and challenges that face gardeners today are much the same as they were back in Tudor times and earlier: preparing the soil, planting, protecting, composting, propagating and so on and so on. The rise in the organic movement over the past few decades has reminded us that the gardeners of old knew at least as much about gardening and working in harmony with nature as we do now, so how have new technologies developed and progressed our gardening knowledge, practice, and techniques?

    The Gardens Trust has engaged a series of expert speakers to examine this question, including the renowned garden writer and designer, Noel Kingsbury, National Trust curator James Rothwell, expert on lawnmowers through the ages Keith Wootton, as well as regular Gardens Trust lecturers Jill Francis and our very own David Marsh; who will take a different technology in turn – tools, fertilizers, pest control, glasshouses, lawnmowers and plant breeding – and explore their history and development in relation to gardening.

    On February 21, Jill Francis begins with The Tools of the Trade. Ever since Adam was a boy, people have been using mechanical aids to help with the hard labour of gardening. Spades, mattocks and hoes have been used all over the world for thousands of years, and we still use versions of these tools today, although perhaps surprisingly, there are no records of the garden fork being used until the seventeenth century. Adapted from farming implements, garden tools were repaired, sharpened and cherished, they were listed in inventories, household accounts and passed on in wills, but this essential aspect of our gardening heritage is rarely discussed in garden histories. This talk will offer an overview of the development of garden tools from ancient times into the modern world.

    Jill Francis is an early modern historian, specialising in gardens and gardening in the late-sixteenth and early-seventeenth centuries. She was awarded her PhD in 2011 by the University of Birmingham and has taught as a visiting lecturer at Birmingham and also the University of Worcester. She also has lectured in a variety of Garden History fora, including the Institute of Historical Research Landscape and Gardens seminar programme and most recently, has become increasing involved in the Gardens Trust extensive online provision. She also works at the Shakespeare Institute Library in Stratford-upon-Avon. Her first book, Gardens and Gardening in Early Modern England and Wales, was published by Yale University Press in June 2018.

    Register HERE. Tickets £24 or £5 each through Eventbrite. Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days prior to the start of the talk, and again a few hours before the talk (If you do not receive this link please contact us). A link to the recorded session will be sent shortly after each session and will be available for 1 week .