Boston Flora

Tag: Margaret Roach

  • Tuesday, February 11, 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm Eastern – From Wasteland to Wonder, Online

    Grow Native Massachusetts kicks off its 2026 Free Public Lecture Series on February 11 with Basil Camu, the author of From Wasteland to Wonder: Easy Ways to Heal Earth in the Sub/Urban Landscape. The program will be live on Zoom, at 7 pm – 8pm Eastern. Register at https://grownativemass.org/Our-Programs/evenings-experts

    The way we currently manage our suburban and urban landscapes is creating an ecological wasteland. Fortunately, we have an alternative path: by working ​​with natural systems instead of against them, we have the power to help Earth heal. Basil will begin by discussing the functions of natural systems and how they’re being damaged by standard land care practices. Then he will delve into impactful ways we can take action, from planting saplings and saving mature trees, to creating pocket forests and replacing our lawns with Piedmont prairies. Finally, for those who want to help shift paradigms even more, Basil will introduce us to his initiative Project Pando, which provides a model for community-based efforts that gather native seeds, raise them into trees, and give them away for free.

    Basil Camu pursues his purpose and passions as the co-founder of Leaf & Limb, a tree care company in Raleigh, NC, and Project Pando, a non-profit that aims to connect people to trees. He is an ISA Board Certified Master Arborist His work has been featured in the New York Times, Gardenista, and A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach.

  • Tuesday, February 4, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm Eastern – Celebrate the Winter Garden with Warren Leach, Online

    The winter landscape may be quiet, but the garden doesn’t have to be bleak! With thoughtful planning you can celebrate winter’s unique beauty and enjoy brightly colored berries, twigs, stems, foliage, and even winter-blooming flowers that shrug off the snow and cold.

    Join Innisfree Gardens on February 4 at 1 pm Eastern online with award-winning landscape designer, horticulturist, nurseryman, and plant collector Warren Leach. Showcasing stunning gardens he has created, Warren will share inspired design ideas and plant choices that will help you create a more engaging and beautiful winter garden. Warren Leach’s new book, Plants for the Winter Garden, has already garnered tremendous praise, including during a recent interview with Margaret Roach. We are delighted to host him for this exclusive virtual lecture, the only online talk he will be giving in his busy 2025 speaking calendar. 

    Warren Leach has been sharing his expertise and passion for more than thirty-five years, designing private gardens and displays at major garden shows throughout New England as well as teaching and publishing widely. He has received the Massachusetts Horticultural Society Gold Medal, the Elizabeth and Roger Swain Award, multiple awards from the National Landscape Association, and many others. Warren and his wife own Tranquil Lake Nursery in Rehoboth, MA.

    There will be a Q&A session at the end of the lecture. A link to the recorded talk will be emailed to ticket-holders. $25 for Innisfree members, $35 for nonmembers. Register at https://www.innisfreegarden.org/2025calendar/wintergarden

  • Saturday, February 18, 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm Eastern – Berkshire Botanical Garden’s 26th Annual Winter Lecture with Midori Shintani, Online

    Berkshire Botanical Garden presents Midori Shintani, head gardener of Japan’s famous Tokachi Millennium Forest, in its online Winter Lecture, “Discovering Tokachi,” on February 18, 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.

    Midori will share how she and her team have nurtured the native forests and cultivated garden areas through the seasons. She will also explain how her gardening methods are rooted in the accumulated wisdom of the ancient Japanese belief of mother culture, and how she has built a solid partnership with garden designer Dan Pearson and her garden team.

    The Tokachi Millennium Forest is located at the foot of the Hidaka Mountains in Hokkaido, the northernmost island of Japan. The project was originally started in 1990 by a local newspaper company that acquired about 990 acres there to create a carbon-offsetting forest. Eventually this became a project to restore the natural forest ecosystems, to share with the public and be sustainable for the next 1,000 years. The garden project of the Tokachi Millennium Forest began in 1996. In 2008, the forest officially was opened to the public, and has continued to evolve. 

    Midori Shintani was born and raised in the Fukui Prefecture in central Japan, in the countryside surrounded by sea and mountains. Spending time with plants in this area rich with nature was an early influence. Midori trained in horticulture and landscape architecture at Minami Kyushu University, Japan. In 2002 she moved to Sweden and trained to become a gardener at Millesgården and Rosendals Trädgård. In 2004 she moved back to Japan and worked at a garden design and landscaping company and perennial nursery, gaining experience in both traditional and modern techniques to create her own gardening style. Since 2008 she has been the head gardener of Tokachi Millennium Forest, merging “new Japanese horticulture” into wild nature. She writes and lectures widely.

    Tickets for the Winter Lecture are $30 for members of Berkshire Botanical Garden and $35 for non-members and are available online at berkshirebotanical.org/events or by calling 413-320-4794. 

    Established in 1997, the Winter Lecture Series was initiated by the Berkshire Botanical Garden to bring inspiring and noted speakers to the region to talk about horticulture, landscape design and history, plants and plant exploration, and home gardening. Past speakers have included such luminaries as Tom Coward, Marco Polo Stufano, Dan Hinkley, Edwina von Gal, Penelope Hobhouse, Bill Cullina, Fergus Garrett, Debs Goodenough, Dr. Michael Dirr, Ken Druse, Anna Pavord, Thomas Woltz and Margaret Roach. Proceeds from ticket sales support the Garden’s education programs.

  • Saturday, February 20, 2:00 pm – Berkshire Botanical Garden Winter Lecture, Online

    Berkshire Botanical Garden’s 24th annual Winter Lecture, Make Visible, Instill Value and Engage the Public in Our Shared Landscape Heritage will be held online on Saturday, February 20, 2021 featuring Charles Birnbaum, FASLA, FAAR, President and CEO of The Cultural Landscape Foundation, Washington, D.C.

    Drawing heavily on both the work of The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) and many of their collaborators, this lecture will highlight a diversity of resource types throughout the U.S., emphasizing stewardship strategies and opportunities for public engagement in the Berkshires region. What is the foundational knowledge that informs stewardship/interpretation of our shared landscape legacy? How do we assign value and assess significance for our cultural landscape legacy? How can we work (and communicate) holistically across multiple disciplines? How do we make a landscape’s layers of history, (a.k.a. “palimpsest”), at a cultural landscape like Naumkeag, The Mount or Elm Court understood? Then, armed with this foundational knowledge, how can we tell these stories to the broadest possible public?

    Finally, the interface between history/historic preservation and natural systems/ecology in weighing decisions will provide an armature for new ideas and strategies.

    The Winter Lecture Series began in 1997 to bring inspiring and noted speakers to the region to talk about horticulture, landscape design and history, plants and plant exploration, and home gardening. Past speakers have included such luminaries as Marco Polo Stufano, Dan Hinkley, Penelope Hobhouse, Bill Cullina, Fergus Garrett, Debs Goodenough, Dr. Michael Dirr, Ken Druse, Anna Pavord, Thomas Woltz and Margaret Roach. Proceeds from ticket sales support the Garden’s educational efforts. Sponsored by The Red Lion Inn, Stockbridge, MA.

    Online registration for this program is temporarily unavailable. Please call 413 354-8410 to register. 

  • Saturday, March 28, 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm – Making a Garden for the Birds – Postponed

    “I always say the birds taught me to garden. And I thank them.” – Margaret Roach
    What started out decades ago as merely a semi-conscious wish to see more birds as she started a garden on a former blank canvas, ended up bringing about 68 avian species into Margaret’s garden each year, each in its own time, with a smaller but substantial number nesting in it or at its periphery. Margaret will share all her “if I knew then what I know now” aha’s about setting realistic aims (no, not every site is going to attract bluebirds, no matter how many boxes you buy!) and accomplishing them-all within the context of a visually pleasing home landscape. She’ll cover her top tips for making a garden that makes birds right at home, must-have resources, and much more.

    Margaret will be signing copies of her all-new version of A Way to Garden after the talk, which takes place at Tower Hill Botanic Garden on March 28 from 2 – 3:30. The book is available in Tower Hill’s Garden Shop. Margaret Roach, after 15 years at Martha Stewart Living and a decade each at Newsday and The New York Times, now writes the nationally acclaimed blog “A Way to Garden” and is author of the 2011 corporate-dropout memoir, And I Shall Have Some Peace There, about walking away from “success” for a quieter life lived closer to nature. The Backyard Parables (2013) blends garden memoir and how-to advice. An all-new version of her first award-winning book A Way to Garden was published in spring 2019, on its 21st anniversary. She has worked for more than 25 years to make her garden in the Hudson Valley-Berkshires area a visual treat every day of the year. It has been open for Garden Conservancy Open Days for more than 20 years.

    The lecture is $15 for Tower Hill Members, $18 for nonmembers. Register at www.towerhillbg.org.

  • Thursday, April 25, 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm – Nonstop Plants: A Garden for 365 Days

    Join The Massachusetts Horticultural Society on April 25 at the Gardens at Elm Bank for this special evening and book signing. Copies of Margaret Roach’s all-new version of her first award-winning book, A Way to Garden, are being published in spring 2019 by Timber Press, on its 21st anniversary. Copies will be available for purchase and signing at this event (before it’s on shelves)!

    The evening will also include an inspiring and informative presentation, The 365-Day Garden. Want to make a garden for all seasons? Margaret loves looking out her windows 365 days a year—not just in “garden season.” She has worked for more than 25 years to make her garden in the Hudson Valley-Berkshires area a visual treat every day of the year. Meet the plants and the philosophy that make it happen, delivered with a dose of “horticultural how-to and woo-woo.” 

    Come hear the story of her garden, including:

    • the background of how she came to garden in rural Columbia County, NY—with a little “before and after” for perspective
    • how and why she made a four-season garden—and the basic principles of garden design that she applied
    • how to shop for plants with that goal in mind (with profiles of many of her garden-worthy favorites)
    • what makes the garden so appealing to nearly 70 species of birds and other welcome wildlife
    • how to go beyond “outdoor decorating” aimed at pure visual effect, and really engage with the garden through all your senses and emotions (that’s the “woo-woo” part!)

    Cocktail hour begins at 6, presentation to begin at 7. $30 for Mass Hort members, $45 general admission. Register at www.masshort.org.

  • Thursday, October 18, 5:30 pm – 9:00 pm – Massachusetts Horticultural Society Honorary Medals Dinner

    The Massachusetts Horticultural Society’s 118th Honorary Medals Dinner will take place Thursday, October 18 from 5:30 – 9 in the Hunnewell Building at The Gardens at Elm Bank, 900 Washington Street in Wellesley.

    Margaret Roach (pictured below) is the 2018 nominee for the George Robert White Medal of Honor, the highest honor given by the Society. Ms. Roach will be honored for her distinguished career in horticulture as a garden writer for publications, such as Newsday and Martha Stewart Living, where she was able to reach millions of people as she shared her knowledge of gardening. The author of three books, A Way to Garden, And I Shall Have Some Peace There, and The Backyard Parables and her web site, A Way to Garden. She also hosts a public-radio show and podcast which all continue to make meaningful connections between people, plants, and their beloved gardens.

    The George Robert White Medal of Honor was established in 1909 and is among the most distinguished horticultural awards in the United States. The first honoree was Charles Sprague Sargent, Director of the Arnold Arboretum. Other recipients have included Gertrude Jekyll, Jens Jensen, The Royal Horticultural Society, Massachusetts General Hospital and Tasha Tudor.

    Dale Deppe of Spring Meadow Nursery is the 2018 nominee for the Jackson Dawson Memorial Award. This award is given for exceptional skill in the science or practice of hybridization or propagation of hardy, woody plants.

    William Cannon is the nominee for the Thomas Roland Medal, which honors men and women who have shown exceptional horticultural skill. Mr. Cannon is honored for his expertise of holly and his garden in Brewster, MA.

    Betsy Ridge Madsen will receive a Gold Medal for her leadership as Chair of Massachusetts Horticultural Society and her dedication to help continue the Society’s legacy. Betsy’s volunteerism at the Flower Show as a judge, clerk, and many other positions helps continue Mass Hort’s tradition of promoting Amateur Competitions for passionate designers and plants people. As a floral designer, gardener, horticulturist and spokesperson, Ms. Ridge Madsen has advanced the art and science of horticulture by example and her willingness to share her expertise with others.

    Carol Stocker will receive a Gold Medal in recognition of her work as a garden writer for the Boston Globe and other publications which has promoted the art and science of horticulture to thousands of readers.

    Karen Perkins is nominated for the Silver Medal for her efforts in the propagation and promotion of Epimediums. She is the owner of Garden Vision Epimediums, and has demonstrated her dedication to the science of horticulture and promoting plants for people to enjoy in their gardens.

    Trish Wesley Umbrell is nominated for the Silver Medal for her extraordinary skill as a garden educator, both formerly with Mass Hort and currently with the Natick Community Organic Farm.

    Reservations are required ($125 per person).  Visit https://masshort.org/education-events/honorary-medals-dinner/

    Image result for margaret roach

  • Saturday, May 5, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm – Garden of Margaret Roach

    The Garden Conservancy’s Open Days 2018 has a special event coming up May 5 at the garden of Margaret Roach, 99 Valley View Road in Copake Falls, New York (in the Berkshires). Margaret was a former editor of Martha Stewart Magazine and was the featured speaker a few years ago at the Boston Committee of the GCA spring meeting and luncheon. In her own words: “The garden, about thirty years of age, reflects my obsession with plants, particularly those with good foliage or of interest to wildlife, and also my belief that even in Zone 5B the view out the window can be compelling and satisfying all 365 days of the year. Sixty-five kinds of birds have been my longtime companions, along with every local frog and toad species, and we are all happy together. Informal mixed borders, shrubberies, frog-filled water gardens, and container groupings cover the steep two-and-one-third-acre hillside. It’s a former orchard with a simple Victorian-era farmhouse and little outbuildings set in Taconic State Park lands on a rural farm road.”

    Read more about Margaret and additional activities at her garden at http://www.awaytogarden.com.

    Specialty growers Broken Arrow Nursery will be on site selling plants during all Margaret’s Open Days. Admission to this garden is $7 for members and nonmembers without tickets purchased in advance. For more information and directions visit https://www.gardenconservancy.org/open-days/open-days-schedule/columbia-county-ny-open-day-5

    Image result for Margaret Roach garden Copake Falls

  • Saturday, January 13, 2:00 pm – The New Shade Garden: Creating a Lush Oasis in the Age of Climate Change

    Berkshire Botanical Garden’s 2018 Annual Winter Lecture will take place Saturday, January 13 at 2 pm at Lenox Memorial High School in Lenox.

    Ken Druse plumbs the depths of shade once again – 20 years after the publication of his best seller, The Natural Shade Garden. This time, it’s to tackle the challenges that have arisen due to our changing climate. The low-stress environment of shade (lower temperatures, fewer water demands, carbon sequestration) is extremely beneficial for our plants, our planet, and us. Ken details new ways of looking at all aspects of the gardening process, in topics such as designing your garden, choosing and planting trees, preparing soil, solving the deer problem, and the vast array of flowers and foliage – all within the challenges of a changing climate, shrinking resources, and new weather patterns. Ken knows that the best defense is to create a cool, verdant retreat – he says, “The garden of the future will be in the shade.”

    Ken Druse is a celebrated lecturer, an award-winning photographer, and an author, who has been called “the guru of natural gardening” by the New York Times. He is best known for his twenty gar­den books published over the last twenty-five years. The American Horticultural Society listed his first large-format work, The Natural Garden (Clarkson Potter, 1988), among the best books of all time. His book, Making More Plants (Stewart Tabori & Chang, 2012) won the award of the year from the prestigious Garden Writers Association. That group gave Ken the 2013 gold medal for photography and the silver for writing. Also in 2013, the Smithsonian Institute announced the acquisition of the Ken Druse Collection of Garden Photography comprising 100,000 images of American gardens and plants.

    The Garden Club of America presented Ken with the Sarah Chapman Francis medal for lifetime achievement in garden communication.

    KenDruse.com is a blog with ten years of archived podcast interviews. He also appears monthly on Margaret Roach’s radio show, A Way to Garden.

    The Winter Lecture Series was begun by the Berkshire Botanical Garden in 1997 and was established to bring inspiring speakers to the region to talk about horticulture, landscape design and history, plants and plant exploration, and home gardening.

    Over the years, the Garden has invited such luminaries as Marco Polo Stufano, Anna Pavord, Joe Eck, Tovah Martin, Dan Hinkley, W. Gary Smith, Penelope Hobhouse, Ken Druse, Gordon Hayward, Lauren Springer and Scott Ogden, Bill Cullina, Fergus Garrett, Debs Goodenough, Margaret Roach, Michael Dirr, Glyn Jones, Louis Benech, Alan Power and Thomas Woltz to share their knowledge of plants, gardening, design and history with an interested audience of gardeners and horticulturists from the region. The series has proven to be a popular event in the region and is held annually in mid-winter. Proceeds from ticket sales are used to further the Garden’s education and horticulture efforts.

    Advance registration is highly recommended, but walk-ins are always welcome, space permitting.  Many thanks to the Winter Lecture sponsor: The Red Lion Inn. Register online at https://berkshirebotanical.org/see-and-do/winter-lecture-series/

  • Saturday, March 2, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm – Two Lives, Two Books, and Some Common Themes

    Join two beloved authors, Katrina Kenison and Margaret Roach, on Saturday, March 2 at 1 pm at the Berkshire Botanical Garden for readings and conversation inspired by their much-anticipated new books, Magical Journey: an Apprenticeship in Contentment and The Backyard Parables: a Meditation on Gardening, and Life. Katrina has spent 25 years nurturing a marriage, raising two sons to adulthood and tending to the myriad demands of home and family life. Margaret has spent precisely the same amount of time nurturing countless plants in the garden—a generous plot that has proven to be as worthy and complicated a life partner as any human mate. Now, despite different paths and charges, they find themselves in much the same spot, asking “What next?”—even as they learn to let go of what was, clearing space for new growth. Come connect with two authors, two friends, two lives, two books—and some common themes for discussion by all.

    Margaret Roach is the author of A Way to Garden and the memoir, And I Shall Have Some Peace There. She has been an editor at The New York Times, fashion editor and garden editor at Newsday, the first garden editor for Martha Stewart Living and the editorial director of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. Margaret is now a consultant and avid gardener, keeping fans up to date on her website, awaytogarden.com.

    Katrina Kenison is the author of The Gift of an Ordinary Day and Mitten Strings for God: Reflections for Mothers in a Hurry, and, with Rolf Gates, Meditations from the Mat: Daily Reflections on the Path of Yoga. Her writing has appeared in O: the Oprah Magazine, Real Simple, Family Circle, Redbook, Woman’s Day and Health. From 1990 until 2006, Kenison was the series editor of The Best American Short Stories, published annually by Houghton Mifflin. She co-edited, with John Updike, The Best American Short Stories of the Century. A certified Reiki master and Kripalu yoga teacher, Katrina lives with her family in rural New Hampshire.

    Register on line at www.berkshirebotanical.org.  $15 for BBG members, $20 for nonmembers.