Boston Flora

Tag: Pacific Horticulture

  • Monday, July 7 – Friday, July 18 – Great English Gardens & the Hampton Court Flower Show

    England is famous for its gardens. The Pacific Horticulture itinerary includes vast stunning landscapes of Capability Brown, the extraordinary designs of Tim Smit and John Brookes, as well as exquisite, small cottage gardens where you can chat with the owners. You’ll visit Sissinghurst Castle, Wisley, Great Dixter, Denmans, Heligans, Hever Castle, Hampton Court Palace — where you’ll take in the spectacular Hampton Court Flower Show featuring creative display gardens and horticultural exhibits — Hestercombe, and more.

    Greg Graves, PHS board member will escort this tour, taking place Monday, July 7 – Friday, July 18. The tour is under development at this time; contact Sterling Tours to be notified of a full itinerary once it is completed.  See more at: http://www.pacifichorticulture.org/tours/great-english-gardens-the-hampton-court-flower-show/#sthash.KEcGyayJ.dpuf

    http://www.specialgrouptours.com//srv/htdocs/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/5902542806_5750d4f752_b-800x533.jpg

  • Sunday, June 9 – Friday, June 14 – Natural History of Santa Cruz Island

    Join Pacific Horticulture June 9 – 14 on this rare opportunity to explore the unique flora and fauna of California’s Channel Islands, home to species of plants and animals found nowhere else on Earth. Twenty-five miles off the coast of southern California lies Santa Cruz Island, the largest of California’s eight Channel Islands. More than 1,000 species of plants and animals inhabit the island’s high peaks, deep canyons, pastoral valleys, and 77 miles of dramatic coastline. Once on the brink of ecological collapse, Santa Cruz Island now offers visitors a glimpse of what southern California used to be like hundreds of years ago.  This tour will be led by Steve Gerischer of Pacific Horticulture and Steve Junak, botanist at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden and principal author of Flora of Santa Cruz Island.  A complete itinerary may be found at http://www.sterlingtoursltd.com/SantaCruz.html.  Tour price $865 per person.

  • Thursday, April 4 – Monday, April 15 – Morocco & Andalucia: Islamic Gardens and Architecture

    Travel to the Imperial Cities of Marrakech, Fez, and Meknes, to Tangier and across the Straits of Gibraltar to the Moorish Kingdoms of Granada, Cordoba, and Seville. Visiting private and public gardens you’ll see the defining elements of Islamic design and architecture. Along the way we’ll explore those ancient medinas and fabulous palaces that have enchanted travelers for centuries plus stay in historic hotels and enjoy regional cuisine in private homes and acclaimed restaurants; join us on this grand adventure.

    This Pacific Horticulture Morocco & Andalucía tour, co-sponsored by San Diego Horticulture Society, will be escorted by Katherine Greenberg, who is an author and garden designer with a special interest in California native plants, PHS board member, and past president of PHS and the Mediterranean Garden Society

    For more information, contact Sterling Tours. Reach them by phone at 800-976-9497 or access the Morocco & Andalucia itinerary listed at the Sterling Tours website, www.sterlingtoursltd.com.

  • Monday, May 20 – Sunday, May 26 – Gardens of the Philadelphia Region

    The greater Philadelphia area boasts some of the most outstanding gardens in the United States of America. It includes estate gardens founded on fabulous wealth, a historic garden pre-dating American Independence, exceptional nurseries, and delightful private gardens. Destinations include:

    Mt. Cuba, dedicated to the study, conservation and appreciation of plants native to the Appalachian Piedmont Region
    Henry Francis du Pont’s Winterthur, encompassing a 60-acre naturalistic garden and the premier museum of American decorative arts
    The Scott Arboretum at Swarthmore College established to further horticulture through beautiful visual demonstration
    The Morris Arboretum at the University of Pennsylvania with its collection of more than 13,000 labeled plants including many collected from around the world under the leadership of John Morris and E. H. Wilson
    Chanticleer, pictured below, called by some the most romantic, imaginative, and exciting public garden in America
    Meadowbrook Farm, lovingly designed and created by J. Liddon Pennock, Jr, whose pictures grace innumerable books and magazines because of the 25 acre site’s beauty.
    Bartram’s Garden, a historic landmark dating from 1728, this site is the home and garden of America’s first botanist, John Bartram.
    Longwood Garden, one of he world’s premier horticulture showcase, a legal of Pierre S. du Pont that features exquisite flowers, majestic trees, and opulent architecture.
    Private garden visits that feature outstanding landscape architecture and plant choices and rarely open for public view.

    Space for this tour, taking place May 20 – 26,  is limited—sign up now as this tour is sure to sell out early.

    This tour is escorted by Pacific Horticulture Society Board President, Greg Graves. Click here for a detailed itinerary for this tour on the Sterling Tours website. Or, call them for additional information at 1-800-976-9497. $1,865 per person, double occupancy, $595 single supplement.

  • Friday, November 9 – Saturday, November 17 – From Shangri-La to Bali Hai: The Hawaiian Islands of Oahu & Kauai

    Join Pacific Horticulture on a tropical garden adventure to the Hawaiian islands of Oahu and Kauai, November 9 – 17. Oahu, known as the Gathering Place, is home to world-famous Waikiki and an extraordinary collection of public and private gardens. Kauai, is called the Garden Island for its lush rain forests, emerald valleys, spectacular beaches and Waimea – the Grand Canyon of the Pacific. We’ve arranged a special invitation to visit Doris Duke’s Shangri-la on Oahu, a sunset tour of the Allerton Estate on Kauai (below) and much, much more.

    This Pacific Horticulture Hawaii tour will be escorted by Josh Schechtel, MD, who is a pediatrician with a passion for plant propagation and garden design, PHS board member and treasurer.

    For more information or to register, contact Sterling Tours. Reach them by phone at 800-976-9497 or access the Oahu/Kauai itinerary at the Sterling Tours website, http://www.sterlingtoursltd.com/OahuKauai.html.

  • Wednesday, March 6 – Monday, March 11 – Gardens & Wildflowers of the Desert Southwest

    Take part in a five-day exploration of the beautiful Tucson area, timed for peak spring wildflower bloom, on March 6 – 11 with Pacific Horticulture magazine. In addition to exclusive private garden visits, guests will experience inside looks at the famous Arizona Desert Museum and Tohono Chul Park (below, photo courtesy of www.gardentourist.org). Included are nursery visits and meals highlighting the delicious cuisine of the Southwest.

    This tour is escorted by Lorene Edwards Forkner, editor of Pacific Horticulture magazine. It also features a special presentation on “Gardening in Tucson” by Dick Hildreth, co-founder of the Pacific Horticulture Society, and noted southwest gardening expert, Scott Calhoun.

    Read the complete itinerary of this spring-time trip to the Tucson area at the Sterling Tours website, www.sterlingtoursltd.com. You can also call them for additional information at 1-800-976-9497. This upcoming tour is limited to 24 people; reserve your space to ensure you don’t miss this opportunity to see the desert southwest at its best.

  • Tuesday, October 9 – Friday, October 26 – A Madagascar Expedition

    Isolated off the east coast of Africa, Madagascar is an extraordinary country and one of the world’s highest conservation priorities. Here, the proportion of unique species may be incomparable on earth—an evolutionary heritage of tremendous interest to travelers, botanists, conservationists, and scientists, alike. During Pacific Horticulture’s 18-day expedition, led by an outstanding Madagascar guide, you will explore reserves in diverse habitats, including Perinet and Mantadia National Park (below) in the eastern moist montane rainforests; Lokobe Reserve on the island of Nosy Be, some of the last rainforest in the northwest; and renowned Berenty Reserve in the south, which edges the spiny forest with bizarre woody and thorny plants reminiscent of plants in the American desert southwest. We will also see a profusion of lemurs in these reserves, plus chameleons and countless birds unique to the country.

    The Pacific Horticulture Madagascar tour will be escorted by Steve Gerischer, a professional landscape designer and part-time teacher and lecturer, president of the Southern California Horticultural Society, and PHS board member.  For more information contact Betchart Expeditions. Reach them by phone at 800-252-4910 or at Betchart Expeditions.

  • Wednesday, March 25 – Tuesday, April 1 – Gardens and Historic Homes of Savannah and Charleston

    Step back in time to a world of colonial mansions, antebellum homes, and peaceful public squares shaded by ancient live oaks. Experience the beauty and charm of America’s only tea garden and taste freshly-brewed American Classic Tea. This Pacific Horticulture Tour escorted by Greg Graves, President of the Pacific Horticulture Society, is timed for peak bloom of magnolias, daffodils, iris, camellias, early azaleas, and roses…and so much more. The Savannah walking tour features the home and garden featured in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.  You will have exclusive access to many private gardens not open to the public in both Charleston and Savannah.  For a complete brochure, call Sterling Tours at 800-976-9497, or visit www.sterlingtoursltd.com/Charleston2012.html.  Image below by Gina from www.antique-art-garden.blogspot.com.

  • October, 2011 – Chile: From Desert to Forest

    This Pacific Horticulture Tour will be escorted by Kathy Musial, Curator of Living Collections, Huntington Botanical Gardens, and board member, Pacific Horticulture Society in October 2011. Join her as she visits central Chile and “Norte Chico” to see spring wildflowers and magnificent forests. You will begin in Chile’s capital, Santiago, where you’ll see the new Chagual Botanic Garden and visit private gardens featuring native plants, including those of Juan Grimm, Chile’s leading landscape architect. You then head north to the edge of the Atacama Desert, where, if the rains have been good, you’ll be treated to the spectacular “Desierto Florido” (the Flowering Desert), with carpets of bulbs and annuals. Traveling southward, you’ll explore the Mediterranean climate vegetation of central Chile, similar to California’s chaparral but sprinkled with puyas and cacti. South of Santiago, you’ll visit forests with vegetation transitioning from Mediterranean to rain forest, ending up at magnificent stands of monkey puzzle trees (Araucaria araucana – image below from www.redwoodgardenbridges.com), one of Chile’s signature plants.  For more information please contact: Hidden Treasures Botanical Tours at (573) 881-6316, or log on to http://www.hiddentreasuresbotanicaltours.com/pacific.html.  Please note that prior trips organized for Pacific Horticulture had been managed by a different tour operator, and some potential travelers (including me!) had difficulty communicating with the other company. Hidden Treasures promises to be much more responsive.

  • Saturday, July 9 – Thursday, July 14 – Gardens of Portland, Oregon

    Join Pacific Horticulture Society members and friends on a fabulous garden tour to Portland, Oregon July 9 – July 14. Visit nine private gardens featuring creative use of plant materials. The gardens range from a small, exquisite, designer’s city garden, to artist, landscape architect Jeffrey Bale’s mosaics and stonework in his own “heavenly paradise”, featured in many magazines and books, to an urban farm complete with chickens, ducks, bees, vineyard and aquaponic herb garden, to woodland gardens and a quirky garden shown on Canadian television, where “plants and art mingle”.  For more information please contact Sterling Tours – Portland, at 619-299-3010, or log on to www.sterlingtoursltd.com/Portland2011.html. Photo of Portland’s Japanese Gardens from Savvy Style at Bella Figura.