Tower Hill Botanic Garden is sponsoring a trip September 19 – 30, 2016, to the Italian Lakes Region, the Italian Riviera, the Tuscan countryside, Florence, Siena, Bologna, and Venice. Learn about this small group travel experience trip on Saturday, January 23 at 1 pm at Tower Hill Botanic Garden, and mark you calendar for February 12, the deposit due date. If you are unable to make the January 23 presentation but would like to learn more about the trip, call 508-869-6111, x 124.
Plant a lovely winter garden to grow indoors while you are waiting for the garden to grow outdoors! Combine potted plants with fresh cut flowers in a decorative container. With proper care, the plants will last for many months and the fresh flowers can be replaced when desired. Please bring floral scissors and an apron to this Tower Hill Botanic Garden class on Saturday, January 23 from 10:30 – 12:30. Plants, flowers, container and mechanics will be supplied by the instructor, Betsy Williams.
To register for this event, please call Gayle Holland (508) 869-6111 x124 or email gholland@towerhillbg.org. Online registration is currently in the process of being revamped, but THBG member price is $75, nonmember price $90. Photo from www.welwynflorist.co.uk.
Patrick Hillman, Staff Horticulturist at Tower Hill Botanic Garden, will take you on an expert-led look at the Limonaia and Orangerie at Tower Hill, both filled with wonderful plants that can be grown in smaller sizes on your windowsill. Cost is included with admission. Register by calling 508-869-6111 x 124, or email registrar@towerhillbg.org.
The most dazzling winter lights show in the region returns to Tower Hill Botanic Garden from November 27 to January 3 with extended hours and expanded displays. In recent years, more people than ever have been discovering Winter Reimagined and the joy of walking through the gardens while admiring the sparkling lights strung through Tower Hill’s distinguished collection of shrubs, trees, and landscape features. After strolling through the glowing gardens, visitors are welcome to explore the indoor facilities, which bring the cheer of the season to new levels.
Winter Reimagined, now in its 19th year, has something for all ages to enjoy at Tower Hill, a nonprofit botanic garden open year-round for the public’s enjoyment. There will be seasonal food at Twigs Café, crafts and scavenger hunts for children, conservatories filled with lush subtropical plants, unique finds in the Garden Shop, outdoor fire pits, wreath making workshops, and many strings of creatively-placed indoor lights and decorations of recycled materials. And yes, the Igloo will be back for the kid in all of us to crawl inside.
The month will also feature dozens of trees decorated trees. These 1,500 volunteer-made decorations have been created with materials reused or repurposed from gardens, grounds, and recycling bins. See how an empty soda bottle can add floral-inspired pizazz to a set of LED string lights or how catalogs and unused brochures can be reimagined into ornamental flowers with a little flare. Visitors will have a chance to marvel at the transformation of the ordinary into something magical and do-it-yourselfers are sure to find inspiration for seasonal projects
Admission fees go toward Tower Hill’s mission to make the world a better place with plants. New hours of operation for this event only are Sundays and Tuesdays 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Wednesdays through Saturdays 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. (The property is closed Mondays, Dec. 24, 25 and 31, and Jan. 1). Tower Hill is free for children 5 and under and is located at 11 French Drive in Boylston, Mass. Please call 508-869-6111 or visit towerhillbg.org to plan your visit.
Guest artisans and vendors will be on hand Saturday, November 14 from 5 – 8 at Tower Hill Botanic Garden, 11 French Drive in Boylston. Tower Hill members receive a 20% discount in The Shop, excluding art and live plants. Enjoy food samples and a cash bar while you pick up your holiday gifts. Cost: Included with admission.
Tower Hill Botanic Garden in Boylston, Massachusetts, is sponsoring a Hand Painted Glassware Workshop on Wednesday, November 11 from 6:30 – 8:30, at a cost of $40 for THBG members, $55 for nonmembers. Learn how to create a custom painted glass in a floral design, for your own collection or suitable for holiday giving. You may choose from several types of glassware and designs. All materials included.
After a career in business Charlene Spencer started exploring her creativity and discovered she loved painting. She started with canvas and branched out to glass. Her business, DIY Creative Studio offers classes in furniture painting, jewelry, home décor, Zentangle, glass painting and more. To register, visit www.towerhillbg.org, or call 508-869-6111, ext 124.
R. William Thomas, Executive Director, Chanticleer Foundation, will visit Tower Hill Botanic Garden on Saturday, November 7 for a talk and book signing. To visit Chanticleer – one of the foremost public gardens in the world – is to step into a world of beauty and creativity that few other gardens can match. Chanticleer isn’t just a place to marvel at however. It also offers practical lessons for re-creating some of the garden’s most spectacular effects in your own landscape. Tower Hill members $15, nonmembers $25. Register online at www.towerhillbg.org.
On Sunday, November 8, from 1 – 2 at Tower Hill Botanic Garden, Cheryl Monroe will give a slightly serious, slightly irreverent look at the form of Latin used in botanical nomenclature. We will discuss the wacky ways some plants get their names and how to write them correctly; explore the perils of pronunciation; and learn a few useful words that will help you decipher your garden and bring out your latent Linnaeus. Great for gardeners of all levels.
Cheryl is a licensed adult educator who has been lecturing throughout New England since 2009. She follows two garden mottos: First, to always pay attention to the science, staying current with plant research, new plant introductions and design trends, secondly : “Pretty it up!” She strives to have beautiful pest free gardens on her 1 acre plot in central Massachusetts where she grows over 100 clematis species and hybrids, dozens upon dozens of ornamental vines, hundreds upon hundreds of perennials , and a large variety of both deciduous and coniferous trees and shrubs. Cheryl is a mom of four, lover of corgi dogs, avid reader, and knitter, but mostly and whenever possible, a gardener. Tower Hill members $15, nonmembers $25. Register online at www.towerhillbg.org.
Chris Marano, a well known and respected Massachusetts herbalist, will be introducing a winter preparation for our systems using Earth-based wisdom. As we start slowing down in the colder days, our systems can be nurtured herbally to keep the metabolism efficient for the holiday preparations. Learn how the traditional spices and herbs have more than a purpose of taste for this time of year. Come enjoy this fascinating lecture at Tower Hill Botanic Garden on Sunday, November 8, from 2:30 – 4 about Old World use of plants. Co-sponsored with the Herbal Community of Central Mass.
Chris Marano RH (AHG), MA, BS, is a community herbalist of Western, Chinese, and Native American healing traditions, offering clinical health consultations and custom-blended herbal preparations for people seeking guidance on the path to wellness. Chris is also founder, director, and head educator of Clearpath Herbals, a school and center dedicated to the teaching and integration of holism, herbal medicine, and Earth-based wisdom. THBG members $25, nonmembers $35. Register online at www.towerhillbg.org. Image by B. Stachowski from www.ediblepioneervalley.com.
Learn everything you need to know about fine craft of raising, training and displaying fancy exhibition chrysanthemums in this Tower Hill Botanic Garden presentation by plantsman and blogger Matt Mattus, to be held Sunday, November 1, from 2:30 – 4. With cultural techniques that date back to the 15th century the chrysanthemum remained popular until the early 20th century, when the economics and interest in keeping such a collection, waned. Today, those fancy varieties (spiders, recurves and brush types) as well as their training methods (columns shields, arches, cascades) are rarely seen outside of the handful of specialist collectors and botanic gardens who continue to raise and display these flowers. Inspired by this deep tradition, plantsman Matt Mattus has dedicated much of his research in learning as much as he can about the culture and history of these flowers. He has amassed an important collection of exotic and vintage named varieties, which he grows and displays in his private greenhouse in Worcester. We’ve been able to convince Matt to share with us his not only his tips and tricks, but also some of the actual specimens. A slide presentation is included, full of tactical information such as where to find all the materials you will need to create your own display for next autumn. Free with admission. Image from www.fhshh.com.
