Berkshire Botanical Garden announces its 29th Annual Winter Lecture on February 21 at 2 pm – How’s the Wow? Discover How to Bring the ‘Wow” to Your Own Garden. The talk will take place at Lenox Memorial Middle and High School in Lenox. Celebrated horticulturist Karl Gercens III will explore how bold color, unexpected plant pairings and fearless experimentation create moments of surprise and delight. Drawing on his work at Longwood Gardens, Gercens will teach how to bring the “Wow” to your own garden, transforming ordinary spaces into extraordinary experiences. Reception to follow.
Raised on a 10,000-acre cotton plantation in Mississippi, Gercens’ passion for horticulture began early. The long Southern growing seasons gave him room to experiment and innovate, eventually leading him to earn a B.S. in Ornamental Horticulture from Mississippi State University. His impressive career includes internships at Walt Disney World and the Filoli Estate in California, and today he curates many of the spectacular seasonal displays in Longwood’s world-famous four-acre Conservatory. With a distinctive eye for combining colorful trees, shrubs, and perennials, Karl’s work has earned him recognition across the country and around the world. He has visited public gardens in all 50 U.S. states and over 24 countries, each journey deepening his expertise and inspiration.
Karl Gercens, Longwood Gardens’ conservatory manager, explores the exciting possibilities of container garden design and display in this Smithsonian Associates Zoom lecture on March 10. He surveys the wide range of available container materials, including metal, wood, ceramics, and terracotta, and discusses the importance of carefully selecting the plantings that go into them.
He provides advice on plants that thrive in conditions of sun, shade, and wind (and even in the presence of animals), as well as tips on watering, fertilization, and pest and disease control. Photos of displays at Longwood Gardens offer inspiration for creating your own container garden. $25 for Smithsonian Associates members, $30 for nonmembers. Register at https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/programs/container-gardening
Smithsonian Associates presents an online lecture on September 16 at 7 pm on Longwood Gardens. For more than 115 years, Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, has been recognized as one of the world’s most important and beautiful collections of gardens and glasshouses. As he explores its indoor spaces, Karl Gercens, Longwood’s conservatory manager, draws on his quarter century of making and maintaining displays that have dazzled millions of visitors. Learn how the historic Orangery went from utilitarian citrus production to now displaying more than 50,000 pots of blooming flowers and trace the East Conservatory’s history of facelifts since its 1927 debut.
Gercens also previews the centerpiece of “Longwood Reimagined: A New Garden Experience,” a transformation of 17 acres of its conservatory and grounds. The 32,000-square-foot West Conservatory, scheduled to open in November, is built on the 19th-century tradition of glasshouses and incorporates new sustainable technologies. The steel-and-glass structure’s asymmetrical peaks will rise from a pool on which the entire building will seem to float, and its interior islands of Mediterranean-inspired gardens will be set amid pools, canals, and fountains in a tapestry-like design. Register at https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/programs/longwood-gardens-still-growing $25 for Smithsonian members, $30 for nonmembers.
Join Smithsonian Associates expert presenters on three consecutive Sundays in February, online, to tour some of the world’s greatest botanical gardens. Indulge in a colorful midwinter escape as horticultural experts lead a series of virtual visits that highlight the beauty of notable botanical gardens in settings as far-flung as Morocco, New Zealand, Israel, Belgium, and the East Coast of the United States. In vibrant visuals they explore how each garden has taken a unique approach to design and interpretation as they celebrate plant collections, conservation, education, and the distinctive environments and landscapes in which they bloom.
February 4 Donabo Gardens of Tangier, Morocco, and the Jerusalem Botanical Garden, Israel
Visit two Mediterranean public gardens in bustling historic cities that provide horticultural and ecological education while conserving open space in highly urbanized areas. Each garden strives to manage water in a seasonally dry environment as it develops collections of native and exotic plants. While in Tangier, make a brief visit to an extraordinary private garden rarely seen by visitors.
Presenter Keith Tomlinson has worked as a naturalist and public garden administrator for 25 years, visiting wilderness areas and botanical gardens around the world. He is the author of numerous articles on plant conservation, botanical garden travel, and environmental education.
February 11 The Royal Greenhouses, Laeken, Belgium, and Chanticleer Gardens, Pennsylvania
If glasshouses can be a confection, then the Serres Royales (Royal Greenhouses) is a sumptuous dessert. Dating to the Victoria era when architecture was equally as important as a plant collection, these indoor gardens are second to none. Open to the public for only a few weeks each spring, it’s worth planning a trip to experience them. Narrow corridors flanked with flowers open into multi-story rooms encircled by exotic trees collected from around the globe. This is a world horticultural treasure of beauty, innovation, and history.
Chanticleer has been described as one of the most romantic, imaginative, and innovative gardens in the United States. Nestled in the heart of America’s Garden Capital, this Philadelphia-area gem is brimming with intriguing plants and artistic accoutrements. The garden is relatively new, having come about in the 1990s. Survey its development over the years as well as some of the highlights of Chanticleer’s captivating, ever-changing displays.
Presenter Karl Gercens is the conservatory manager at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, where he has been in the glasshouses for 25 years. With more than 3,000 individual gardens visited in almost 30 countries, Karl seeks inspiration from across the globe.
February 18 Dunedin Botanic Gardens, New Zealand and Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, Virginia
Known as the Wildlife Capital of New Zealand, the city of Dunedin prides itself on stunning scenery and unique biodiversity. The Dunedin Botanic Garden, New Zealand’s first, marked its 160th anniversary in 2023. With extensive plant collections, viewsheds, and beautiful walks through the native bush, the garden acts as a green sanctuary for those looking to escape the urban environment. Explore this jewel within the city and understand how it fulfills its international responsibility for conservation.
Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in central Virginia, by contrast, is a relatively young botanical garden celebrating its 40th anniversary. Devoted to inspiring communities and enhancing relationships with the natural world, the garden is continuously growing and evolving, immersing visitors in a world of beauty with surprising vistas around every turn. Enjoy a virtual tour of the 50 acres of gardens, explore the evolving exhibitions, and find inspiration in the programmatic offerings.
Presenter Chelsea Mahaffey is a public garden professional at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. She is an advocate for horticulture as a career and passionate about the importance of plants in our lives.
$60 for the three session package for Smithsonian Associates members, $75 for nonmembers. Register at www.smithsonianassociates.org
Reserve a space now (no later than July 1) for the NEBC Field Trip to the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens and Boothbay Region, Friday, September 10 – Sunday, September 12.
Highlights of this fabulous trip include a visit to the Kate Furbish “Flora of Maine” art collection at Bowdoin College with Special Collections Curator Richard Lindemann, a trip to the scenic salt marsh at Popham Beach with Arthur Haines, a lobster picnic at Robinson’s Wharf on Southport Island, a ferry ride for an all day excursion to botanize the beaches and coastal headlands of Monhegan Island with Melissa Dow Cullina, a catered pool-side barbeque (with vegetarian option), an evening workshop on digital macrophotography with Bill Cullina, and early bird hike along stunning Ocean Point in Boothbay, and a guided tour of the new Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens (pictured below – photograph copyright Karl Gercens). The first scheduled activity is at Bowdoin College, Brunswick, at 10 am on Friday September 10. The final scheduled activity will be lunch on Sunday, September 12 at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, though participants may stay at the Gardens as long as they wish until closing. Participants may choose to stay with the group at the Coburn House Inn in Boothbay at a reasonable group rate.
Registration fee is $75, to be sent to the trip coordinator Melissa Dow Cullina, 250 Hendricks Hill Road, Southport Island, ME 04576. Please make check out to Melissa, who will be coordinating all aspects of the trip. The fee includes one bag lunch, ferry ticket, barbeque, CMBG ticket, and all scheduled events. For more information, email Melissa at mcullina@gmail.com, or call 207-633-4546. You may also find links to lodging options, and may download a pdf file with registration form, at www.rhodora.org.
