The stories of the individual plant hunters who operated between the mid-eighteenth and mid-twentieth century have often been told and told well. The aim of this online Gardens Trust series of lectures with Dr. Toby Musgrave, therefore, is to broaden the subject and to explore four complementary yet contrasting topics. It will also serve as an introduction to the whole topic of plant hunting, collecting and transfer round the world, which we are planning to cover in more depth in the autumn. The third lecture on March 20 is Victorian Excesses. The series ticket costs £16 for the course of 4 sessions or you may purchase a ticket for individual sessions, costing £5. To register through Eventbrite, and for more information, visit HERE, or visit The Gardens Trust events page, https://thegardenstrust.org/events-archive/?events=gardenstrust. Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days prior to the start of the talk, and again a few hours before the talk (If you do not receive this link please contact us). A link to the recorded session will be sent shortly after each session and will be available for 1 week.
The century before the outbreak of the First World War was the zenith of British domestic horticulture, a time when private gardens were a statement of conspicuous consumption and the plants cultivated often rare and expensive. This lecture will reveal some of the less well-known and sometimes barmy tales of horticultural excess.
The stories of the individual plant hunters who operated between the mid-eighteenth and mid-twentieth century have often been told and told well. The aim of this online Gardens Trust series of lectures with Dr. Toby Musgrave, therefore, is to broaden the subject and to explore four complementary yet contrasting topics. It will also serve as an introduction to the whole topic of plant hunting, collecting and transfer round the world, which we are planning to cover in more depth in the autumn. The secon lecture on March 13 is Economic Botany and Plant Exchange. The series ticket costs £16 for the course of 4 sessions or you may purchase a ticket for individual sessions, costing £5. To register through Eventbrite, and for more information, visit HERE, or visit The Gardens Trust events page, https://thegardenstrust.org/events-archive/?events=gardenstrust. Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days prior to the start of the talk, and again a few hours before the talk (If you do not receive this link please contact us). A link to the recorded session will be sent shortly after each session and will be available for 1 week.
It is well known that Sir Joseph Banks in his role as unofficial Director of the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew established a paradigm for botanical plant hunting on a global scale. This lecture offers a different economic perspective and examines plants as a vehicle for colonial expansion and exploitation; and it will bring the topic up to date with a discussion of contemporary issues including as genetic copyright and cultural and intellectual property.
The stories of the individual plant hunters who operated between the mid-eighteenth and mid-twentieth century have often been told and told well. The aim of this online Gardens Trust series of lectures with Dr. Toby Musgrave, therefore, is to broaden the subject and to explore four complementary yet contrasting topics. It will also serve as an introduction to the whole topic of plant hunting, collecting and transfer round the world, which we are planning to cover in more depth in the autumn. The first lecture on March 6 is The Early Passion for Plants. The series ticket costs £16 for the course of 4 sessions or you may purchase a ticket for individual sessions, costing £5. To register through Eventbrite, and for more information, visit HERE, or visit The Gardens Trust events page, https://thegardenstrust.org/events-archive/?events=gardenstrust. Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days prior to the start of the talk, and again a few hours before the talk (If you do not receive this link please contact us). A link to the recorded session will be sent shortly after each session and will be available for 1 week.
With a time frame from Ancient Egypt to the seventeenth century the objective is to explore the passion for plants in the time before the great age of plant hunting. This fascination with flora will include the introduction of new garden plants but will also venture beyond the garden walls and examine associated subjects such as botany, medicine and nomenclature. Dr Toby Musgrave FSA FLS is a garden and plants historian, horticulturist and author. His books have covered a wide range of subjects from head gardeners to heritage fruit and vegetables, plant hunters to paradise gardens, and a biography of Sir Joseph Banks. He was a major contributor to Radio 4’s series “The British Garden” and he has been a consultant for many gardening and garden history related programmes on both the BBC and commercial television. He lives in Denmark and when not gardening, teaching or writing he works as a submersible pilot. Photo courtesy https://nilescribes.org/2021/05/01/ancient-egyptian-gardens/
On Sunday, September 11 online, join plants and gardens historian, Dr. Toby Musgrave, as he holds a botanical prism to world history and offers a fresh perspective. From your morning cup of tea to the spark of the Opium Wars, plants play a remarkable role in our daily lives and our politics. During our time together we will explore the role that cash crops such as corn, cotton, coffee, palm oil, tobacco, sugar cane, and others play in the global economy.
Together we will discover the eight ”Founder Crops” which facilitated the Neolithic Revolution and the start of civilization. Spices were the driving force for the Age of Discovery, the resultant post-Columbian colonization of the Americas, and the arrival in Europe of the potato, which played such a tragic role in the story of Ireland. And another Mesoamerican plant – tobacco – shaped the emergence of the United States.
Sugar and cotton gave rise to and supported the transatlantic Slave Trade and the resultant oppression, exploitation, and death of so many million Africans. Cotton stimulated both the British East India Company’s acquisition of India and the Industrial Revolution and was a causal factor of the American Civil War.
Simple opium plants sparked the international Opium Wars – sales to China made the British Government the biggest drug cartel the world has seen. Quinine enabled the colonization of Africa, while rubber was key to the advance of the automotive industry. Most of these plants continue to play a major role on the global stage and have been joined by others including corn and palm oil. When we pause to consider the impact, the wider worldwide scope of influence these plants have had is substantial.
Led by an expert on plants and garden history, Dr. Toby Musgrave, this interactive seminar is designed to inform curiosity as well as future travels. Participants will come away with increased knowledge and understanding of the power of plants in shaping the landscape of human history books.
Dr. Toby Musgrave is a foremost authority on the subjects of garden and plant history and design, about which he has authored or co-authored 18 books. Most recently The Garden: Elements and Styles and The Multifarious Mr. Banks. He is a part-time Faculty Lecturer at the Danish Institute of Studies Abroad in his adopted country, Denmark, where he teaches American study abroad students. Between semesters he works as a gardens tour leader and as a lecturer aboard small, expedition cruise ships. Additionally, he acts as a consultant to various garden restoration projects and has written numerous articles for a range of magazines and newspapers including The Garden, Gardens Illustrated, The English Garden, Country Life, The Times, The Telegraph, Haven, and Jyllands Posten. His own garden is one of the de Runde Haver. For more information about Toby and his work please visit www.TobyMusgrave.com.
This Context Learning webinar is $26.50, and if you can’t make this time, a video recording will be sent after the seminar to enjoy later. Register at www.contextlearning.com
Join Dr. Toby Musgrave for an exclusive conversation in which he will present and discuss a comprehensive medley of elements and styles featured in his latest publication The Garden Book. A beautifully illustrated A-to-Z who’s who of the world’s finest garden-makers, planters, horticulturists, and their signature works from throughout history, spanning all styles and continents, this international bestseller has been fully revised and updated for a modern, global readership. From the first religious gardens to Dan Pearson’s heavenly Tokachi garden in Japan today, each entry illustrates a key work by the designer, describes the garden, and evokes the unique spirit and ethos of their work. Images span four millennia, from ancient Persian gardens to the naturalistic designs of today, with landscapes from Chanticleer to Central Park, Sissinghurst to Versailles, showcasing the biggest names and rising stars of contemporary garden design alongside iconic figures of the past, including Capability Brown, Andrea Cochran, Antoni Gaudí, Dan Hinkley, Gertrude Jekyll, Christopher Lloyd, Cornelia Oberlander, Charles Platt, Carlo Scarpa, Piet Oudolf and more.
Dr. Musgrave’s book is an essential reference for today’s gardeners, offering infinite inspiration to create their own signature spaces, whatever their landscape. An exquisite gift and invaluable and authoritative reference for gardeners and garden lovers alike, offering lasting appeal to garden designers, students of garden design, amateur gardeners, and garden historians.
This is a special event presented by Context Learning in partnership with Phaidon Press. Every ticket purchase includes an autographed copy of Dr. Toby Musgrave’s Fall 2021 revised and updated edition of The Garden Book, at 20% off of retail price, for Context customers only** Please Note: Your special edition of The Garden Book will be shipped after this event and delivered within 14 days. Please provide a shipping address and phone number (required for delivery) at checkout.
Renaissance-era Italy has provided a plethora of marvels for modern travelers to explore. Too often overshadowed by paintings and sculptures held in museums, are Italy’s gorgeous gardens. These extravagant, breath-taking and innovative works of art revolutionized European garden design and which and still inspire present-day garden designers and guests. Today Italy’s remarkable gardens boast contemporary masterpieces as diverse as they are beautiful. During our time together in this seminar, we will take an adventure through a medley of glamorous public gardens in four distinct regions of Italy.
Beginning from Rome and Campagna, we’ll stop by the hidden Vatican Gardens and Palazzo del Quirinale. Then we’ll proceed ahead to the spectacular Villa d’Este at Tivoli, the bizarre Bomarzo, the sublime Villa Lante, and the romantic Garden of Ninfa.
From there we set out for Florence and Environs, to experience the grandiose Boboli Gardens and the privately-owned Villa Torrigiani. We’ll also dive into the Medici villas at Castello, Petraia and Fiesole, the elegant Villa Gamberaia, and the private Fattoria di Celle with its world-renowned collection of site-specific sculpture.
We’ll conclude our journey with a stopover and Venice and travels through the lakes on Lombardy. We’ll discover the extravaganza of Isola Bella and Villa Taranto on Lake Maggiore, and Villas Carlotta, Cicogna Mozzoni and Melzi on Lake Como. Our conversation will also spotlight the Palazzo Malipiero, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, the Fondazione Querini Stampalia and the Chiesa del Santissimo Redentore in Venice
Led by an expert on gardens and garden history, Dr. Toby Musgrave, this interactive seminar will showcase and celebrate a selection of Italy’s great and inspiring gardens. Designed to inform curiosity as well as future travels, participants will come away with increased knowledge and understanding of Italy’s great and diverse, and inspiring botanical history.
This seminar is a part of Context Learning’s ongoing series featuring International Gardens. For more details, please click here. $36.50. Register at www.contextlearning.com
Join garden historian and author Dr. Toby Musgrave online on a ‘Grand Tour’ showcasing America’s great and inspiring gardens, revealing their diversity and richness, and exploring their contribution to global garden art.
We’ll explore a variety of gardens in a variety of locations and climates around the United States, each of which is open to the public and can be visited and experienced in person. From the eastern seaboard to the west coast; the cold, high Rockies to the tropical southeast; balmy California to hot, dry deserts; the warm, wet Pacific northwest to the Prairies and the cool northeast create the full spectrum of garden design possibilities. Ranging across historical periods and styles, we will visit well known (and lesser well-known) gardens around the country to reveal in broad terms the evolution of American garden design over time. Beginning with early Colonial gardens on the East Coast and Mission gardens in California, we will move on to English Landscape-style gardens and French Baroque influenced antebellum plantation gardens. As we move chronologically ahead, we will also study the opulence of the Beaux-Arts-inspired Country Place Era and how it evolved into the innovative “homegrown” styles such as Prairie Gardens. We will conclude with a look at modern and contemporary American garden design.
Gardens featured include: Colonial Williamsburg, San Diego Mission, Mount Vernon, Monticello, Middleton Place, Rosedown Plantation, Biltmore, Dumbarton Oaks, Filoli, Innisfree, Longwood, Naumkeag, the Huntington Library, Untermeyer, Wave Hill, Longue Vue, Casa del Herro, J Irwin House and Garden, El Novillero, Lotusland, Sunnylands, Chanticleer, Chase Garden, Getty Centre, Hollister House and Windcliff.
Led by an expert on gardens and garden history, Dr Toby Musgrave, this Context interactive seminar will showcase and celebrate America’s great and inspiring gardens. Designed to inform curiosity as well as future travels, participants will come away with an increased knowledge and understanding of America’s great garden heritage. $36.50. Register at www.contextlearning.com
Dumbarton Oaks (Photo by Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Join Untermyer Gardens online for a virtual conversation with Toby Musgrave and Timothy Tilghman (2:00-4:30PM with intermission, on January 30, 2021) for an illustrated discussion of garden elements and styles from around the world and how they have been reflected at Untermyer Gardens. We will start by exploring examples from great gardens and consider their influence on the historic features and styles at Untermyer that were restored over the past decade. Following a break, we will continue to examine internationally renowned gardens for guidance as we prepare for our imminent historic restoration projects. Finally, and perhaps most interestingly, we will look to established gardens of the world as inspiration for new elements we aspire to create through our second decade at Untermyer. By purchasing tickets, you will be able to view live or on demand. $15 – Register at www.untermyergardens.org.
Dr. Toby Musgrave is an authority on garden history and design. He devised and presented the BBC Radio 4 series The British Garden, and has written for many magazines and newspapers. He teaches garden history at the Danish Institute for Study Abroad, and has also lectured at Oxford University and the Royal Horticultural Society. He was consultant editor for The Gardener’s Garden (2014) and is author of Green Escapes (2018), both by Phaidon. Toby’s latest book, one of nine, The Garden: Elements and Styles (2020) provides the structure for this event. Timothy Tilghman leads the Untermyer Gardens Conservancy’s ambitious restoration effort. Head Gardener at Untermyer Gardens since June 2011, he has more than 25 years of horticultural experience, with 19 years devoted to public horticulture. His previous positions include: Head Gardener, Rocky Hills, a Garden Conservancy Project Garden, Mt. Kisco, NY; Senior Garden Editor, Martha Stewart Living, New York, NY; Gardener, Wave Hill, Bronx, NY; Assistant Curator, Scott Arboretum of Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA; Intern, Willowwood Arboretum, Chester, NJ; Intern, Powell Botanical Garden, Kansas City, MO. He holds a B.S. in Plant Science/Ornamental Horticulture from the University of Missouri, Columbia, MO.
