Boston Flora

Tag: Lurie Garden

  • Sunday, February 16, 2:00 pm – 28th Annual Winter Lecture: Jacqueline van der Kloet

    Jacqueline van der Kloet will share bulb basics, color combinations, seasonal care for bulbs including naturalizing them to become independent, layering bulbs, growing bulbs on a larger scale, and integration for constant blooms in the garden for the Berkshire Botanical Garden Winter Lecture 2025 on Sunday, February 16, at 2 p.m. Join her on the journey through her favorite spring, summer, autumn, and winter flowering bulbs, and case studies of her naturalistic garden designs from around the world, including the Netherlands, Japan, Germany, the UK, and the Lurie Garden in the United States, where she collaborated with leading plantsman, Piet Oudolf.

    Growing Bulbs in the Natural Garden is a four-season guide to combining bulbs with perennials and grasses in a loose, carefree style, from a leading figure in the New Perennial movement. From the earliest snowdrops to alpine violets, tulips, alliums, late autumn crocuses, and many more, bulbs add interest and color to the garden throughout the year. Renowned naturalistic garden designer, Jacqueline van der Kloet, has mastered a casual, magical technique where bulbs emerge playfully among other plants, as if dancing freely among the perennials and grasses. Both friendly and accessible, van der Kloet will explore the recently published book; introducing bulbs as essential to any garden at any scale, inviting in pollinators, providing wonderful pops of color and personality, and extending a garden’s bloom time in the shoulder seasons.

    Growing Bulbs in the Natural Garden provides unique inspiration and expert insight gained from van der Kloet’s vast career, using nature as a model. Indeed, growing bulbs in van der Kloet‘s style makes the garden appear as if nature had planted the bulbs herself. 

    Jacqueline van der Kloet is an internationally acclaimed garden designer and one of Holland’s best-known gardening authorities. She is a plant specialist whose advice is sought by designers and landscape architects. Her designs are prized for their beauty, naturalized schemes, bold uses of color. Van der Kloet’s client list includes some of the most prestigious public gardens in the world. In North America, she teamed with Piet Oudolf for innovative plantings at New York’s Battery Park, New York Botanical Garden, and Chicago’s Lurie Garden. Her work across Europe and Asia ranges from Holland’s famous Keukenhof, to the palace Huis ten Bosch in Nagasaki, Japan to the Newport Bay Club at Disneyland, Paris. Her work includes many private gardens and she frequently contributes to international exhibitions.

    Also, please join us for a coffee and cookie reception after the lecture, to be held at the Lenox Middle High School in Lenox, Massachusetts. BBG members $40, nonmembers $55. Register at www.berkshirebotanical.org

  • Saturday, March 11, 11:00 am – 12:30 pm Eastern – Birth of a New Perennial Garden, Online

    The Berkshire Botanical Garden presents a personal introduction to the design principles of Piet Oudolf — one of the world’s leading naturalistic landscape designers. His work includes New York’s High Line, Chicago’s Lurie Garden, the Oudolf Meadow at Delaware Botanic Gardens, and Oudolf Garden Detroit. Deborah Chud’s five years of research on Oudolf’s gardens led to her own Oudolfian garden and the only known database of his plant combinations. Part 1 of this class traces her discovery of Oudolf’s work, her research on his plant combinations and her use of that research to create a garden in his style. Part 2 explores the historical context in which he emerged as a landscape designer. Part 3 provides an introduction to his design principles, particularly his concept of structure and the special balance he creates between coherence and contrast. At the end of the talk, participants will enjoy some practical Oudolfian “do’s and don’ts” for solving the problem of excessive contrast. Co-hosted with New England Botanic Garden. $12 for BBG and NEBG members, $15 for nonmembers. Register at https://www.berkshirebotanical.org/events/birth-new-perennial-garden

    Deborah Chud is a retired Massachusetts physician turned garden maker, consultant and educator. Her five years of research on Piet Oudolf have generated the most comprehensive database of his plant combinations. In the fall of 2020, she presented her work at an international event organized by Oudolf’s co-author, Noel Kingsbury, under the aegis of gardenmasterclass.org. Deborah has also presented to members of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, Harvard’s Arnold Arboretum, the United States Botanical Garden in Washington, D.C., the Ecological Landscape Alliance, the Northwest Perennial Alliance, Toronto Botanical Garden, and Delaware Botanic Gardens. The latter two public gardens contain Oudolf-designed sections.

  • Tuesday, May 17 – Saturday, May 21 – AHS President’s Council Trip to Chicago

    The year the annual American Horticultural Society President’s Council Trip destination is the greater Chicago area from May 17 – 21.  Participants will explore world famous parks and gardens, and stay at the historic Drake Hotel overlooking Lake Michigan.  The trip includes visits to notable private gardens in the area, as well as many of the city’s renowned public gardens including the Lurie Garden in Millennium Park, Chicago Botanic Garden, The Morton Arboretum, and Garfield Park Conservatory.  A special guided tour of the Ball Horticultural Company’s laboratories and trial and demonstration gardens also has been arranged.  To obtain a trip itinerary and learn how to join the President’s Council, email development@ahs.org, or visit www.ahs.org/ways-to-give/presidents-council.

  • Tuesday, June 9 – Sunday, June 21 = Discovering Gardens in the Netherlands

    The American Horticultural Society announces an upcoming tour June 9 – 21 entitled Discovering Gardens in the Netherlands.  Visit the private garden of Piet Oudolf, one of the world’s most influential and innovative garden designers, whose credits include the High Line park in New York City and Lurie Garden in Chicago.  See the colorful world-famous flower auction at Aalsmeer.  Experience gardens that represent the best in Dutch horticulture, and discover how they have inspired gardens around the world.  Hosted by AHS Board member Jane Diamantis and her husband George, and tour leader Susie Orso of Specialtours, this is a journey you won’t want to miss.  For more information visit www.ahs.org/gardening-programs/travel-study, or contact Eleanor Nelson at enelson@ahs.org, telephone 703-768-5700, ext. 132. Image of Aalsmeer flower auction from www.tripadvisor.com.

  • Saturday, October 25, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon – Magical Mixes

    Join Jacqueline van der Kloet at the Berkshire Botanical Gardens on Saturday, October 25, from 10 – 12, for a talk on plant combinations in her garden designs. She will focus on how she combines bulbs, perennials, flowering shrubs and trees in a naturalistic garden style. Using a case-study approach, she will suggest perennials and spring flowering bulbs and how to use them in all kinds of situations: private gardens small and large, estates, public parks and exhibitions. The program will include her inspirational lecture, a short break and time devoted to the technical “how to” aspects of her designs. She will answer all of your bulb questions and suggest solutions.

    Jacqueline van der Kloet is an internationally known garden designer based in Weesp, Holland. She is known for her artistic combinations of bulbs, perennials and flowering shrubs and trees. Her designs for public, private and corporate clients are found throughout Europe. She designed displays, both in 2002 and 2012, for Floriade, the international exhibition of flowers and gardening, held every ten years in the Netherlands. She renovated the bulb plantings at the famous Keukenhof Gardens in Lisse, Netherlands, and has worked extensively with “New Wave” garden designer Piet Oudolf to create bulb planting schemes for three of America’s newest and most exciting public spaces: Millennial Park and the Lurie Garden in Chicago, Battery Park in New York City and the Seasonal Walk at the New York Botanical Garden. She has designed planting schemes at private gardens, including the Linden Allee at Martha Stewart’s Bedford, NY, estate.

    BBG member price $30, nonmembers $35. Register at http://www.berkshirebotanical.org/ai1ec_event/dutch-garden-designer-jacqueline-van-der-kloet-magical-mixes/?instance_id=2602, or call 413-298-3926, x 15.