Boston Flora

Tag: National Trust

  • New Gardening Video: The History of Wentworth Castle Gardens

    In this video, discover the history of Wentworth Castle Gardens and how the National Trust cares for this special place in partnership with Barnsley Council and Northern College. Wentworth Castle Gardens in South Yorkshire is best known for its collection of rhododendron blooms whose flowers brighten up borders and pathways each spring. This landscape garden is home to the National Plant Collection of Rhododendron Species. Rhododendrons were introduced here in the 1870s when the estate was owned by Thomas Wentworth. Subsequent owners and gardeners have since added new varieties of these hardy plants, which thrive in the area’s acidic soil.  Watch this five minute video with Rachel Parkin on YouTube by clicking HERE.

  • Monday, May 23, 1:00 pm – The Rose: Hinton Ampner’s Exceptional Garden, Online

    The Gardens Trust, in association with the Historic Roses Group, will sponsor a Zoom lecture on May 23 at 1 pm Eastern time with John Wood. This ticket is for this individual session and costs £5. 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 1 week) will be sent shortly afterwards.

    Hinton Ampner is a National Trust property with a 14-acre garden set amid the rolling Hampshire countryside. The garden has an exceptional framework with wonderful vistas complemented by topiary and a great variety of plants including dahlias, roses and salvias, as well as woodland areas. Roses are grown at Hinton Ampner in many varied locations and styles: in formal beds, long borders, mixed with other plants or trained on walls, and clambering high into trees. In his talk John Wood, head gardener, will cover how he deals with restoring rose borders and what to consider when planting your roses. He will share some of his favourite roses and talk about the situations in which he uses them.

    John Wood has worked for the National Trust for 25 Years. Having started at Mottisfont to assist the head gardener, David Stone, with the restoration of the renowned Walled Rose Garden, it was there that he developed his love of roses. In 2000 John moved to Hinton Ampner. Here John and his team have restored the Walled Garden and continue restoring many of the large beds and borders. In his spare time John tends to his own collection of roses. He is a member of the committee of the Historic Rose Group, has helped build and staff the HRG’s award-winning stands at the Hampton Court Flower Show, also providing the spectacular bouquets of roses for display there and at RHS Wisley’s Plant Society weekend show. John is also an expert photographer and his images feature in HRG publicity.

  • Monday, May 9, 1:00 pm – The Rose: Graham Stuart Thomas and Mottisfont Abbey, Online

    This talk is the second in a Gardens Trust Lecture Series on Mondays at 1 pm Eastern time, in association with the Historic Roses Group. £5 – register at Eventbrite HERE. You will be sent Zoom log in information and after, a recorded link to watch at your leisure for seven days following. Historic roses are timeless and beautiful old roses from past centuries continue to deserve a place in today’s gardens. With their classic ‘old-fashioned’ charm and graceful forms, the soft petals and delicate colours of old roses are often accompanied by a deliciously rich and powerful fragrance. Moreover, old roses contain the original gene pool from which all later roses have been bred. They are supremely rewarding to grow, fascinating to study and they need to be conserved.

    On May 9, David Stone will speak on Graham Stuart Thomas and the Roses of Mottisfont. This lavishly illustrated talk tells the story of the history and development of the ornamental Garden Rose. It also tells of the formation of the world-famous display gardens of Historic Roses at Mottisfont Abbey, Hampshire, and the role of Graham Stuart Thomas, the National Trust’s Gardens Adviser, in their creation and establishment. The maintenance and care of shrub roses in general is also covered, with illustrations as to the pruning methods developed by the Garden Team of Mottisfont under their (then) Head Gardener, David Stone.

    David Stone was Head Gardener at Mottisfont Abbey from 1978 until 2014. For more than 20 years he worked closely with Graham Thomas at Mottisfont, and today is recognized as a leading authority on the history and cultivation of Historic Roses. He has lectured in Europe, the U.S.A, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. David Stone sits on the committee of the Historic Roses Group, for which he wrote A Newcomer’s Guide to Old Roses, a booklet available from the HRG website, and has written on roses in the gardening media. In his spare time he also writes poetry. In 2014 he was awarded the British Empire Medal and made an Associate of Honour of the R.H.S.

  • The National Trust’s School of Gardening: Caring for Hedges

    Hidcote is an Arts and Crafts-inspired garden with intricately designed outdoor spaces in the rolling Cotswold hills.
    The garden is divided into a series of outdoor rooms, each with its own character. The formality of these rooms melts away as you move through the garden away from the house. An integral aspect of the design as laid out by the American, Major Lawrence Johnston in the early 1900s was the use of hedges to separate spaces. Visit Hidcote on video with Rebecca Bevan to learn hedge care from the experts. The five minute video is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCuT_Cx_dao

  • Wednesday, January 19, 10:00 am GMT – Memories of Sissinghurst and her Grandparents, Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson, with Juliet Nicolson, Online

    As one of the most famous gardens in the world, set in the ruins of a redbrick mansion where Elizabeth 1st stayed in 1573 for an exuberant weekend, Sissinghurst needs little introduction. Juliet Nicolson has known Sissinghurst all her life and her childhood memories of the creators of the garden, her grandparents Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson, remain vivid. Racing the length of the Yew Walk, leaping from the top of the Tower steps, helping dig the earth with Harold for his meticulous planting of the Spring Garden and watching Vita as she trained her beloved old roses over hazel hoops helped inform Juliet’s lifelong love of the place.

    Last summer, in defiance of every obstacle, Delos, the beautiful garden inspired by Vita and Harold’s love of Greece, finally brought its Mediterranean beauty to the Kentish Weald. This new ‘garden room’ is the realisation of a dream cherished by Juliet’s grandparents, but which was impossible to complete during their own lives due to lack of time and resources. Completed with the dedication of many, including the National Trust, the garden designer Dan Pearson, Head Gardener Troy Scott-Smith, and Sissinghurst’s stellar garden team, Juliet will outline the story of its evolution.

    Juliet Nicolson is a highly successful author, journalist and social historian . A House Full of Daughters, a poignant account of the women in the Nicolson family, is perhaps her best known work; though Frostquake, published last year and charting the extraordinary winter of 1962/3, was received with universal acclaim and appears in paperback this week!

    This Gardens Trust event, in conjunction with the Kent Gardens Trust, will take place Wednesday, January 19 at 10 am GMT, which is very early, but the recorded version is available almost immediately after and is available for £5 through Eventbrite. Register 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. A link to the recorded session (available for 1 week) will be sent shortly afterwards.

  • Tuesday, November 23, 2:00 pm (Live Online), and Wednesday, November 25 – Monday, November 29 (Recorded) – The Unlikely Genius of Humphry Repton

    Widely acknowledged as the last great British landscape designer of the 18th century, Humphry Repton created landscapes that survive as a bridge between Capability Brown’s mission to make England perfect, and Frederick Law Olmsted’s belief in landscape as a public good.

    Despite having little prior experience, Repton described himself as a ‘landscape gardener’ and sought to make landscapes appropriate to the status of each client and each estate where he worked. His first paid commission was Catton Park, north of Norwich, in 1788 five years after the death of Capability Brown. Though he was at first inspired by his great predecessor, he came to separate himself from Brown’s grand designs.

    Repton’s landscapes, for important clients such as the Dukes of Bedford and Portland, featured subtle adjustments and fine-tuning to the natural features of the countryside in the Brownian tradition, as well as deliberate interventions that tested the desire of his contemporaries for wilder and more picturesque scenery. He also became known for presenting his designs in ‘Red Books’ (so called for their binding) that contained explanatory text and watercolors elaborated with overlays to show ‘before’ and ‘after’ views.

    Renowned garden historian John Phibbs will explore some of Repton’s most celebrated landscapes—from the early maturity of his gardens at Courteenhall and Mulgrave Castle, to his more adventurous landscapes at Stanage, Brightling, and Endsleigh. John will illustrate some of his red books and discuss the impact that Repton’s work has had, not only in Britain but throughout the English-speaking world.

    John Phibbs is a renowned garden historian with more than 30 years’ experience in the management and restoration of historic landscapes. He has worked on a broad range of parks and gardens—over 400 sites. He is an acknowledge authority on Georgian landscapes. He has served on the National Trust’s Gardens Panel and now serves on the Design Review Panel of the Georgian Group, which has a role concerned with the conservation of Georgian buildings and landscapes. He is the author of Capability Brown: Designing the English Landscape (2016) and Place-making, the Art of Capability Brown (2017). His recent book, on which this lecture is based, Humphry Repton: Designing the Landscape Garden was published by Rizzoli, September 2021.

    This Royal Oak Foundation online presentation will take place live on Tuesday, November 23 at 2 pm Eastern on Zoom, or you may rent the lecture to view at your leisure between Wednesday, November 24 – Monday, November 29. $15 Royal Oak members, $30 nonmembers. Register at https://www.royal-oak.org/events/fall-2021/repton/

  • How to Prune Wisteria, Online with The National Trust

    Try your hand at growing and caring for wisteria. One of the great treats of late spring and early summer is the spectacular blooming and sweet smell of wisteria. Wisteria is a gorgeous plant but it needs to be pruned twice a year to keep it looking its best. In this free, short video, National Trust gardener Andy Darragh shows Rebecca Bevan, the author of The National Trust School of Gardening, how he cares for the wisteria at Fenton House in London.  Access the video on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kaSSu2NAU8

  • Monday, June 14, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm – Other Voices in Garden History Discussion Panel, Online

    This last in a series of illustrated lectures sponsored by The Gardens Trust will explore the impact and legacy of empire, colonialism and enslavement on western garden and landscape history. Our aim is to bring back some of the voices usually absent from this history, to identify and fill gaps in our collective knowledge, and to explore new ways of engaging with the whole history of gardens, landscapes and horticulture.

    The series will finish with a discussion of some of the issues and themes that have arisen from the lectures, and a chance for the audience to offer reflections and ask questions.

    This ticket icosts £5, and you may purchase tickets via the Eventbrite link here. Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days prior to the start of the talk, and a link to the recorded session (available for 1 week) will be sent shortly afterwards.

    The session will be chaired by Dr Oliver Cox, Heritage Engagement Fellow, University of Oxford, and the panelists will include:

    Professor Corinne Fowler, a research expert at the University of Leicester, director of the ‘Colonial Countryside: National Trust Houses Reinterpreted’ project and author of the book Green Unpleasant Land: Creative Responses to Rural England’s Colonial Connections (Peepal Tree Press, 2020).

    Tiger de Souza MBE, Volunteering, Participation and Inclusion Director for the National Trust.

    Errol Fernandes, senior gardener for English Heritage at Kenwood House, and an artist and art/horticultural psychotherapist.

  • Monday, May 24, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm – Other Voices in Garden History: Working Towards Inclusive Botanic Gardens, Online

    This seventh in a series of illustrated lectures sponsored by the Gardens Trust will explore the impact and legacy of empire, colonialism and enslavement on western garden and landscape history. Our aim is to bring back some of the voices usually absent from this history, to identify and fill gaps in our collective knowledge, and to explore new ways of engaging with the whole history of gardens, landscapes and horticulture.

    This ticket costs £5, and you may purchase via the Eventbrite link here. Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days prior to the start of the talk, and a link to the recorded session (available for 1 week) will be sent shortly afterwards.

    The Royal Botanic Gardens, at Kew and Edinburgh, with roots from colonial times, are developing a roadmap for change and working towards a more equitable and inclusive botanic gardens. Drawing on current work at Edinburgh and Kew, they share their process and recommendations for best practice. This session, on May 24 at 1 pm Eastern, will be presented by a panel of staff from the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew and Edinburgh.

  • Monday, April 26, 1:00 pm – 12:30 pm – Other Voices in Garden History: Learning from the Blackamoor, Online

    This series of Gardens Trust illustrated lectures will explore the impact and legacy of empire, colonialism and enslavement on western garden and landscape history. Our aim is to bring back some of the voices usually absent from this history, to identify and fill gaps in our collective knowledge, and to explore new ways of engaging with the whole history of gardens, landscapes and horticulture.

    The diverse range of topics and speakers will offer a new range of perspectives on the history of gardens and landscapes and suggest more inclusive ways of presenting and interpreting their stories. The series does not aim to point fingers or to encourage hand-wringing but is more a celebration of voices starting to be heard.

    This talk on April 26 at 2 pm Eastern is the third in our series aiming to hear voices previously absent from our garden history:

    When William III commissioned a pair of kneeling slaves for the privy garden at Hampton Court palace, he initiated a new genre of British garden sculpture. As the product of a culture that valued the profitability of the Atlantic slave economy, The Blackamoor, a.k.a. The Kneeling Slave, became the most popular of all the lead statues made for British gardens in the 18th century. Unlike the visualising Blackamoor, the source of income remained invisible in landscape gardens – as exemplified by Harewood in Yorkshire, where both ‘Capability’ Brown and Humphry Repton were consulted.

    This ticket is for this individual session and costs £5, and you may purchase tickets for other individual sessions via the link, or you may purchase a ticket for the entire course of 10 sessions at a cost of £40 (students £15) via the link here.

    Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days prior to the start of the talk, and a link to the recorded session (available for 1 week) will be sent shortly afterwards.

    Dr Patrick Eyres is editor of the unique, artist-illustrated New Arcadian Journal, which engages with the cultural politics of designed landscapes (53 editions since 1981: www.newarcadianpress.co.uk). He has also published in numerous other books and journals, most recently in Penny Florence (ed.), Thinking The Sculpture Garden (2020). For many years he served on the boards of the Little Sparta Trust, Garden History Society, Leeds Art Fund, and Wentworth Castle Heritage Trust. On behalf of The Gardens Trust, he set up and chaired for the first ten years the annual New Research Symposium in Garden History.