Boston Flora

Tag: potager

  • Thursday, January 17, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Potager Gardens

    Starting with a presentation of images illustrating the different elements of the Potager garden and of containers that also follow the same elements of design, and with the design elements of the typical Potager garden in mind, instructor Betsy Grecoe will guide participants through a design process for what they would like to plant.

    Participants will use graph paper, rulers, and colored markers to design what they would like to plant when they get home. Several books will also be available to provide more suggestions and illustrations of the design elements. As some of us do not have the space, or the desire to uproot the entire yard and plant a new garden, this design exercise can be adapted to container gardens as well. The class takes place January 17 from 7 – 8:30 at The Gardens at Elm Bank, 900 Washington Street in Wellesley. $12 for Mass Hort members, $20 for general public.

    Betsy Grecoe is a past-president of the Tewksbury Garden Club and former English teacher who has traveled extensively, visiting gardens across the United States. Register at https://masshort.org/education-events/potager-gardens/

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  • Saturday, September 7, 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm – Garden Club of Concord Garden Tour

    The Garden Club of Concord will sponsor a self-guided tour next Saturday, September 7, from 2 – 5.  The four gardens on tour are free, open to the public, and all are within one mile of Concord Center.  Please pick up tour tickets with garden locations from the Garden Club of Concord Table at the Farmers Market, Main Street, Concord from 10 – 2 on the day of the tour, or email concordgardentours@gmail.com.  No pets or strollers, children welcome accompanied by adults, gardens not handicapped accessible.

    The first garden is a three season organic garden, with veggies, herbs, chickens and bees.  Using biodynamic and organic methods, the host’s vegetable and herb gardens provide much of the family’s produce starting in early spring through late fall.  Tucked to one side of the property at the edge of a tiny brook is a chicken coop and yard, home to the family’s hens when they are not free ranging.  The owner, an avid biodynamic beekeeper, has her hives placed on the opposite edge of the yard, overlooking the gardens.

    Next, the raspberry batch garden which was created by a family who moved from Michigan to Massachusetts with 12 raspberry canes in tow.  Nineteen years later there are now 11 varieties, some cross-pollinated by the owner, a recently retired molecular biologist who has made it his passion to grow and breed raspberries.

    The chicken coop and kitchen potager is a little bit of country in the heart of Concord.  The owners have created several gardens, including a small formal kitchen potager in the center of the yard, with herbs and vegetables planted within brick pathways.  Soon the garden shed was transformed into a chicken coop and family and friends have been enjoying fresh organic eggs.  A pergola, later attached to the building, adds an element of whimsy to the scene as well as providing a space to sit in the gardens and enjoy the charming antics of the hens.

    Finally, meet the goats at a low maintenance garden!  If this gardener could pass on one piece of wisdom it would be that anyone can garden and grow food.  She and her partner have transformed their backyard into a low maintenance and highly productive garden of vegetables, herbs, and fruit, using a system of hoops and row covers over raised beds.  In 2009, she fulfilled a long-time dream of raising goats.

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  • Saturday, June 15, 9:30 am – 12:30 pm – At Home in a Potager Garden

    Growing food at home in a beautifully designed potager garden is a combination of the best of both gardening worlds: utility and beauty. On Saturday, June 15, visit a Berkshire County garden homestead with a focus on growing food, flowers and fruit in a secluded setting with extraordinary views to the west. Designed and cultivated by a husband and wife team, this is their vision of sustainable gardening. Consider design elements including paths, vertical structures, fencing, ornamental pots and layout. Also learn about plant selection, crop rotation, companion planting, mulching of both food and flowers, and don’t forget a trip to the compost pile. The owners will share their experiences with extending the vegetable season in cold frames and unheated hoop house. The owners invite students to picnic on the lawn or back porch following the workshop. The leader of this Berkshire Botanical Garden sponsored tour, Elisabeth Cary, is the Director of Education at the Berkshire Botanical Garden and has been gardening for over 25 years. She specializes in perennial, vegetable and mixed-border gardens. Bring a bagged lunch and dress for the weather. Enrollment is limited: $45 for BBG members, $55 for nonmembers. Register on line at www.berkshirebotanical.org or call 413-298-3926.

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  • Friday, April 1 – Saturday, April 2 – Eighth Annual Great Gardens and Landscaping Symposium

    The inspirational and exhilarating Eighth Annual Great Gardens and Landscaping Symposium (that has sold out for several years) will energize your approach to gardening.  The symposium will be held Friday, April 1 and Saturday, April 2 at The Equinox Resort, a world class, four diamond resort in Manchester, Vermont.  The symposium features six info-packed lectures led by nationally and regionally renowned professionals in their fields, as well as a vendors area.  Exchange ideas and swap “the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat” gardening stories with other passionate gardeners at workshops, meals and free time.  Drawings for great gardening gifts throughout the Symposium will sweeten the deal.  One and two night packages are available, as well as day-only rates.  Speakers include Ellen Ecker Ogden on The Complete Kitchen Garden: The Art of Designing a Classic Potager, Bill Cullina on The Botany of Design, as well as Beyond Black-eyed Susans and Border Phlox: Exceptional Native Perennials for Creative Gardening, Charlotte Albers on Mad About Blue, Heather Poire speaking on Proven Winners Annual: The Perfect Accessory for Perennial Gardens, and Kerry Ann Mendez presenting Exciting New or Underused Perennials for 2011. Symposium sponsors include The American Horticultural Society, Equinox Valley Nursery (see their lilac image below,)  The Espoma Company, Fine Gardening Magazine, Gardener’s Supply Company, Liquid Fence, Luster Leaf Products, Neptune’s Harvest, Proven Winners, SmileMonster.com, and White Flower Farm.  You may register on line at www.pyours.com/Symposium2011.html.  Registration deadline is March 28.

  • May 5 – May 14 – The Loire Valley and the Festival of the Domaine de Courson

    Explore the beautiful and storied Loire Valley in northwestern France in springtime, May 5 – 14, 2011. This exclusive American Horticultural Society tour will provide entree to some of the finest privately-owned historic chateaus and gardens, including Chateau de Cheverny (below, also called the Chateau of Tintin,)  Chateau de Chenonceau, and the inspirational ornamental potager at Villandry.  For the grand finale, you will enjoy the international “Journees des Plantes” festival at the Domaine de Courson, south of Paris.  For complete information, contact AHS travel planner MacNair Travel at 866-627-6621, or email ahs@macnairtravel.com.