Boston Flora

Tag: Sissinghurst

  • Tuesday, November 25, 5:00 am – 6:30 am Eastern (but recorded) – Queer Gardens: Queerness in Gardens

    Gardens are many things. An oasis for nature, a retreat from the outside world, a haven for blooms. But how has the LGBTQI+ community been involved with their design, upkeep and prominence throughout the years? How is queerness seen in the natural world? This November he will explore historic gardeners, queerness in ecology, luminaries in the field and how nature often challenges our misconceptions as to gender and identity in the natural world. From Prospect Cottage to Sissinghurst, to his own back garden in Bromley, these talks will examine the relationship between gardening and sexuality.

    As well as being a historian and tour guide, Sheldon K Goodman is also passionate about gardening. He will give three talks looking at queerness in gardens from the work of gardeners, LGBTQI+ led community gardening initiatives in London, historical people such as Virginia Woolf, Reginald Farrer and Sir Francis Bacon and queer ecology’s roots in Michel Foucault’s The History of Sexuality (tr. Robert Hurley, 1978-2021, Pantheon Books) as well as queer gardening in the here and now. A note on the series title: Sheldon recognizes the history and contentiousness of the word ‘queer’. Originally an insult, it has been reclaimed by many in the LGBTQ community as a neutral description for a large and varied group of people.

    The first session on November 25 is Queerness in Gardens. How important are gardens to LGBTQ+ identity? From community initiatives to national organizations and individuals seeking queerness in nature, how can these spaces affirm and bring solace to the history of horticulture? Have people who have been ostracized from society because of their orientation redirected this hurt into designing gardens?

    With examples including landmark events in the RHS Chelsea Flower Show and 18th century same sex desire, hear how gardens have long provided an anchor for gender and identity. This Gardens Trust talk is £8 through Eventbrite, or £15.75 for the series. Register HERE Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days (and again a few hours) prior to the start of the first talk, and a link to the recorded session will be sent shortly after each session and will be available for 1 week. Image: Derek Jarman’s garden at Dungeness, ©Marathon CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED

  • Sissinghurst Through the Seasons Recording Bundle Available

    Did you miss Troy Scott Smith’s Sissinghurst Through the Seasons webinars, sponsored by The Garden Conservancy? They are pleased to present all four episodes in a convenient bundle, including Troy’s four seasonal video diaries. Combining history, horticulture, and hands-on education, this landmark series is the Garden Conservancy’s most popular virtual program series to date. Throughout this four-part series, Troy Scott Smith will guide you through the course of a gardening year at Sissinghurst. Troy will share with you how the garden looks, which flowers are blooming at each season, and what the garden looked like when it was first created in the 1930s. He will uncover the secrets of pruning and propagation and the art of the English Garden. Each episode is packed with information, all simply explained and illustrated, giving you techniques and confidence to put into practice in your own garden.

    For more information and to purchase the bundle, click the link HERE.

  • Thursday, December 7, 2:00 pm Eastern – Sissinghurst Through the Seasons, Winter Episode, Online

    Troy Scott Smith will guide you through the Garden Conservancy online course of a gardening year at Sissinghurst. Troy will share with you how the garden looks, which flowers are blooming at each season, and what the garden looked like when it was first created in the 1930s. He will uncover the secrets of pruning and propagation and the art of the English Garden. Each episode will be packed with information, all simply explained and illustrated, giving you techniques and confidence to put into practice in your own garden. The Winter episode will take place Thursday, December 7 at 2 pm Eastern. The bare blanket of earth that for many is the “winter garden,” need not be. If harnessed, the potency of the season can be as exhilarating as the heady explosion of summer. Pockets of evergreen planting, almost unnoticed in summer, are now an essential ingredient, exuding a presence and injecting solidity into the sparseness of the scene. Coatings of hoarfrost re-order the prominence of their outlines. Spring plants eager to steal a march on their competitor’s race to flower. There is nothing that disappoints about the winter garden, and in this final episode, Troy will share with you some of the possibilities to make winter in the garden a season to look forward to and enjoy.

    Sissinghurst was created nearly a century ago by the writers Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson as a private home and as refuge dedicated to natural beauty. Today it is owned by the National Trust and visited by hundreds of thousands of visitors annually. Troy’s career has been devoted to the beauty and romance of gardening. Since joining the National Trust of England, Wales & Northern Ireland in 1990, Troy has led some of the world’s most beautiful gardens, among them the Courts (Wiltshire), Bodnant (Wales), and two stints at Sissinghurst (Kent), where he has led a remarkable transformation and restoration of the Vita Sackville-West gardens.

    $5 for Garden Conservancy members, $15 for nonmembers. Register HERE.

  • Thursday, September 21, 2:00 pm Eastern – Sissinghurst Through the Seasons: Fall Episode, Online

    Troy Scott Smith will guide you through the Garden Conservancy online course of a gardening year at Sissinghurst. Troy will share with you how the garden looks, which flowers are blooming at each season, and what the garden looked like when it was first created in the 1930s. He will uncover the secrets of pruning and propagation and the art of the English Garden. Each episode will be packed with information, all simply explained and illustrated, giving you techniques and confidence to put into practice in your own garden. The Fall episode will take place Thursday, September 21 at 2 pm Eastern. Fall is a time for doing, for action, and productivity. The beauty of your garden next year relies on the things you do now. In this episode, Troy will be looking at lifting and dividing and how to make those edits for inspiring and flower-filled borders. Turf care, hedge cutting, propagation, and pruning are also essential tasks of autumn, and we will look at these too. Troy shall also not forget to enjoy and share with you, the beauty of the season.

    Sissinghurst was created nearly a century ago by the writers Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson as a private home and as refuge dedicated to natural beauty. Today it is owned by the National Trust and visited by hundreds of thousands of visitors annually. Troy’s career has been devoted to the beauty and romance of gardening. Since joining the National Trust of England, Wales & Northern Ireland in 1990, Troy has led some of the world’s most beautiful gardens, among them the Courts (Wiltshire), Bodnant (Wales), and two stints at Sissinghurst (Kent), where he has led a remarkable transformation and restoration of the Vita Sackville-West gardens.

    $5 for Garden Conservancy members, $15 for nonmembers. Register HERE.

  • Monday, June 26 – Wednesday, July 5 – Hampton Court Garden Festival & The Gardens of Southern England

    Join the American Horticultural Society for a wonderful tour through southern England, June 26 – July 5, 2023. The brochure with detailed itinerary and travel reservation form with pricing are available now. With AHS Hosts Tracy Ward Violette, Lecturer Garden Historian Marion Mako and Tour Manager Verity Smith of Specialtours you will have memorable experiences including:

    • Out-of-hours visit to the historic Sissinghurst Castle Gardens accompanied by the Head Gardener
    • Tour of the Knepp Estate to learn about the rewilding project and see the new garden by Tom Stuart-Smith
    • A morning at Great Dixter with the Head Gardener, Fergus Garrett, and a private lunch in the Yoemans’ Hall
    • An exploration of the historic towns of Rye, Arundel and the city of Winchester
    • Hampton Court Garden Festival, on the Members’ Day, to see the high quality of show gardens and horticultural exhibitions

    For more information and to make reservations, please contact our Development Department at (703) 768-5700 ext. 117, or email development@ahsgardening.org. Our fax number is (703) 768-8700.

  • Saturday, July 1 – Sunday, July 9 – Historic Kent Castles, Gardens & Coastline

    The romantic county of Kent offers a multitude of historic treasures, from enchanting castles and stately homes to imaginative gardens and delightful coastal towns. On this captivating break we learn about Kent’s role in shaping English history, and discover some of its famous residents such as Anne Boleyn, Charles Dickens and Winston Churchill. In a county famed for its castles, we also explore historic Hever and impressive Leeds Castle. We combine these fascinating architectural wonders with the peacefulness of the Kentish coast, as we experience the classic seaside charm of Margate and Whitstable. The tour is run through Albion Journeys with a special discount for members of the Royal Oak Foundation. $ 5,490 per person. For compete itinerary and details, visit HERE.

    Special extras included in your itinerary
    • Guided tour of Chartwell Gardens
    • Private guided tour of Hever Castle
    • Guided tour by the Head Gardener and refreshments at Riverhill Himalayan Gardens (pictured below)
    • Exclusive out-of-hours garden tour of Sissinghurst Castle Garden
    • Guided walking tour of Canterbury
    • Guided tour of Canterbury Cathedral
    • Guided tour of Whitstable
    • Exclusive guided tour of Leeds Castle
    • Guided tour and afternoon cream tea at Godinton House
    • Guided tour and lunch at The Salutation Gardens
    • Audio guided tour of Windsor Castle
    • Themed evening talk by a guest speaker

  • Thursday, April 28, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm – Reimagining Vita-Sackville West’s Sissinghurst Garden, Online

    For those of you who missed Troy Scott Smith’s talk at Long Hill on April 1, we have another opportunity. In this virtual illustrated Garden Conservancy talk on April 28 at 2 pm, Troy recounts his long tenure at Sissinghurst and his efforts to recapture the distinctive vision of its creators, the writers Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson, in the 1930s, as a refuge dedicated to natural beauty. He studied not only Sackville-West’s and Nicolson’s gardening style, but also their characters, philosophy, and interests, while balancing the reality of hundreds of thousands of annual visitors and the effects of climate change. In the end, Troy shows how he settled on an approach that allowed past, present, and future to co-exist.

    One of Britain’s best-known Head Gardeners, Troy Scott Smith, has devoted his career to the beauty and romance of gardening. Since joining the National Trust of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland in 1990, Troy has led some of the world’s most beautiful gardens, among them the Courts (Wiltshire), Bodnant (Wales) and two stints at Sissinghurst (Kent), where he has led a remarkable transformation and restoration of the Vita Sackville-West gardens.

    After spearheading a multi-year plan as Head Gardener at Sissinghurst, which included the recreation of a Mediterranean-style garden from the Greek Island of Delos, Troy left to take up leadership of the award winning Iford Manor Garden in Wiltshire, near Bath, where he set in motion a 10 -year masterplan. After two years, Troy returned to his spiritual home of Sissinghurst.

    A recording of this webinar will be sent to all registrants a few days after the event. We encourage you to register, even if you cannot attend the live webinar. $5 for Garden Conservancy members, $15 General Admission. Register HERE.

    Members of the Frank & Anne Cabot Society for planned giving have complimentary access to Garden Conservancy webinars. All Cabot Society members will automatically be sent the link to participate on the morning of the webinar. For more information about the Cabot Society, please contact Sarah Parker at sparker@gardenconservancy.org or 845.424.6500, ext. 214.

    Plant profile on roses and over view at Sissinghurst gardens , Sissinghurst, Kent June /July 2015 Rachel Warne

  • Friday, April 1, 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm – Reimagining Vita Sackville-West’s Sissinghurst Gardens

    In this illustrated talk, Troy Scott Smith recounts his long tenure at Sissinghurst and his efforts to recapture the distinctive vision of its creators, the writers Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson, in the 1930s, as a refuge dedicated to natural beauty. He studied not only Sackville-West’s and Nicolson’s gardening style, but also their characters, philosophy, and interests, while balancing the reality of hundreds of thousands of annual visitors and the effects of climate change. In the end, Troy shows how he settled on an approach that allowed past, present, and future to co-exist. The event, sponsored by The Garden Conservancy, will be held at Long Hill, 572 Essex Street, in Beverly, MA. This is an indoor event and masks and proof of vaccination will be required.

    $45 Garden Conservancy and the Trustees of Reservations members
    $55 General admission

    Register at https://www.gardenconservancy.org/

    One of Britain’s best-known head gardeners, Troy Scott Smith has devoted his career to the beauty and romance of gardening. Since joining the National Trust of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, in 1990, Troy has led some of the world’s most beautiful gardens, among them the Courts (Wiltshire), Bodnant (Wales), and two stints at Sissinghurst (Kent), where he has led a remarkable transformation and restoration of the Vita Sackville-West gardens. 

    After spearheading a multi-year plan as head gardener at Sissinghurst, which included the recreation of a Mediterranean-style garden from the Greek Island of Delos, Troy left to assume leadership of the award- winning Iford Manor Garden in Wiltshire, near Bath, where he set in motion a ten-year master plan. After two years, Troy returned to his spiritual home of Sissinghurst.

  • 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, June 19, 9:00 am – 4:30 pm – Two Fabulous Gardens in Washington, Connecticut

    Visit two fabulous gardens in Washington, Connecticut in one day with Berkshire Botanical Garden: the beautiful, panoramic Highmeadows Garden (pictured), the private estate of fashion designer Linda Allard, and Hollister House, an American interpretation of such classic English gardens as Sissinghurst, Great Dixter and Hidcote. Linda Allard will provide a tour of her gardens at Highmeadows. A tour of Hollister House will be led by head gardener Krista Adams. The trip will take place Tuesday, June 19, from 9 – 4:30. $50 for BBG members, $65 for nonmembers. Participants should bring a lunch and dress for the weather. Transportation to and from BBG included in price and time. Register at https://www.berkshirebotanical.org/events/site-field-study-washington-connecticuts-two-fabulous-gardens