Boston Flora

Tag: Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

  • Wednesday, November 1, 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm Eastern – Head Gardeners at Historic Sites: Frances Tophill at Sharpham, Online

    The Gardens Trust Wednesday webinar series this Autumn will focus on head gardeners working at historic sites. This is the first lecture of the second set of five talks, exploring how individual head gardeners are balancing the heritage of their site, the wishes of its owner(s) and their own interests and experience. We’ll hear about the role from both seasoned head gardeners and those more recently appointed. Learn about the challenges they face, including climate change, as well as the joys of horticulture and heritage. you may purchase a ticket for the entire course of 5 sessions at a cost of £20 via the link 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.

    On November 1, meet Frances Tophill at Sharpham. On the banks of the river Dart in Devon, Sharpham has been a dwelling since the 14th century. The present Palladian mansion, designed by Sir Robert Taylor, was built in the 1760s. The gardens have been through many changes over the years and are set in a Grade II registered landscape attributed to Capability Brown. There are 19th century pleasure gardens around the house, formal terraced gardens designed by Percy Cane in the 1960s (recently replanted as a tea garden), a walled kitchen garden, woodland garden and two orchards planted since 2000.

    The house and gardens have been vested in the Sharpham Trust since 1982, an educational charity which aims to connect people with nature and foster mindfulness and well-being through a program of retreats, courses, events and the arts.

    Frances Tophill is currently Head Gardener and Grower at Sharpham Trust and she has also worked at Monet’s Garden and the Andromeda Botanical Garden in Barbados. On screen she is known for her work with Gardeners’ World and Love Your Garden. Her love affair with plants started with an NVQ and apprenticeship at The Salutation Garden in Kent, followed by a degree in Horticulture with Plantsmanship at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. Passionate about conservation and sustainability, Frances has been involved in native tree planting and, in 2022, won ‘best show garden’ for a sustainable garden design and build at Gardeners’ World Live.

  • Saturday, October 3, 9:00 am – 12 noon – The World’s Flora: Home in New England

    Embedded in the New England landscape and filling the catalogues of our nurseries are many plants that have achieved a sort of “resident” status here. Some of them may be among the earliest plants introduced to America from distant parts of the world; others arrived here more recently. This program, to be held at Tower Hill Botanic Garden on Saturday, October 3, from 9 – 12,  combines an indoor slide presentation with an outdoor walkabout to observe some of these plants growing in the on the grounds of Tower Hill.

    We will look at imports from a variety of habitats that were well suited for our conditions, including those that were altogether too well suited and now are designated “invasive species.” Whether you are a gardener tempted to try exotic plants, a geography buff who wants to learn more about the habitats of certain plants, or someone who is merely intrigued by the way in which plants can adapt to different environments, come join us for this brief sampling of international flora.

    Instructor Dennis Collins is a plant taxonomist on the staff of Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Mass. He has degrees in arboriculture and park management, urban forestry and landscape management, and biodiversity and taxonomy of plants. He has worked at the Stockbridge School of Agriculture in Amherst, Mass., and the University of Edinburgh and Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, in Scotland, and has taught many courses on horticultural subjects at Mount Auburn and the Arnold Arboretum. Once, long ago, he led a group of intrepid Garden Club of the Back Bay members on a walking tour of Mt. Auburn, which is still talked about as a highlight of our many wonderful programs. To register, log on to www.towerhillbg.org. The fee is $15 for Tower Hill members and $18 for non-members.

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