Boston Flora

Tag: Virginia

  • Thursday, March 12, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm Eastern – Stratford Hall, Online

    The second program in Morven Museum & Garden’s 2026 Grand Homes and Gardens series, Freedom at Home: Telling the Full Story of America’s Founding Homes & Gardens, featuring Stratford Hall in Stratford, Virginia with speaker Dr. Gordon Blaine Steffey, Director of Research and the Jessie Ball duPont Memorial Library. The virtual event will take place March 12 beginning at 6:30 and is $10 for Morven members, $20 for nonmembers. Register at https://www.morven.org/events/grandhomes-stratford-hall

    Stratford Hall, located in Stratford, Virginia, was the boyhood home of two signers of the Declaration of Independence, Richard Henry Lee, and Francis Lightfoot Lee. It was also the birthplace of Robert E. Lee, General in Chief of the Armies of the Confederate States during the Civil War.

    Four generations of the Lee family inhabited Stratford as did hundreds of enslaved Africans and African Americans who lived and labored at the plantation. Construction of the site’s Georgian Great House was completed in the 1740s. At that time, an estimated 200 enslaved people were living at Stratford and surrounding properties owned by Thomas Lee, father to Declaration signers Richard Henry and Francis Lightfoot Lee.

    Today, Stratford Hall stands as a model of Georgian architecture, standing almost entirely as it did in the 1740s. The site interprets the lives of the politically active Lee family. Extensive research, archaeological work, and engagement with descendant communities is ongoing to tell the stories of the people enslaved at Stratford.

  • Sunday, November 4 – Friday, November 9 – Mark Catesby’s Third Centennial in America

    300 years ago and a century before Audubon, British born Mark Catesby followed his passion in search of plants and nature that were foreign to England and set out for America in 1712. There he discovered a new world of endless possibilities and strange creatures.

    The Catesby Commemorative Trust invites you to explore Mark Catesby’s world and discover how he introduced the wild beauty of North America to the astonished eyes of Europe and went on to influence artists such as William Bartram and John James Audubon.

    On November 4th – 9th, 2012, The Catesby Commemorative Trust will bring together experts from America and Europe to discuss Catesby’s influences, drawings, science and impact on natural history.  You will travel to places once visited by Mark Catesby and have the privilege of viewing his most famous etchings.

    They  hope you will join them in Richmond, Virginia, Washington, D.C. and Charleston, South Carolina to discover the scientific value and marvel at the beauty of Mark Catesby’s remarkable work. For a complete itinerary, and to register, visit www.catesbytrust.org/tercentennial/

  • Sunday, March 20, 1:30 pm – American Rhododendron Society DeBurlo Lecture

    The Massachusetts Chapter of the American Rhododendron Society is hosting the DeBurlo Lecture, featuring speaker Donald Hyatt, in the Hunnewell Building at Elm Bank on Sunday, March 20, beginning at 1:30 pm.  The lecture will last roughly one hour, with ARS providing time for questions and refreshments.  This event is free to MHS members.

    Although professionally a mathematics and computer science teacher in Fairfax County Public Schools in Northern Virginia for 33 years, Donald Hyatt has always maintained a strong interest in plants. He lives in the family home his late parents built in 1950, and maintains a lovely mature garden that he started when he was only 3 years old.

    Don’s educational background includes a Bachelors degree in Horticulture with double major in Biochemistry, but he also earned a Masters degree in Computer Science. He served as the Computer Systems Lab Director at the highest ranked school in the US, the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, VA, from the time school opened in 1985 until he retired in 2002. During his teaching career, Don received a number of tributes as an educator. A team of students he coached won a million dollar supercomputer for their school, and numerous other students won national and international awards in various science and Internet competitions. Don was personally honored as a Teacher of the Year finalist in Fairfax County.

    After retiring, Don has focused his efforts on varied horticulture interests including the documentation and preservation of rare native azalea populations in the Southern Appalachians. Don has served on the national boards of the ASA (Azalea Society of America) and the ARS (American Rhododendron Society). He has received national awards from both organizations including the Distinguished Service Award from the ASA, and both Bronze and Silver Medals from the ARS. He is a frequent speaker at national and international plant conferences, has authored a number of articles on azaleas and rhododendrons, and is recognized as an accomplished botanical illustrator and photographer.

    Recently, Don has been championing the local opposition to what many see as an ill-conceived decision by certain administrators at the U.S. National Arboretum who plan to destroy the magnificent azalea display (pictured below) on the historic Glenn Dale Hillside planted in 1947 by the Arboretum’s first Director, Benjamin Y. Morrison.  If you plan to attend, please rsvp to Susan Harding at dsh1965@comcast.net.

  • Friday, August 20 – Sunday, August 22 – In the Garden Weekend

    The American Horticultural Society is once again teaming up with the Homestead Resort in Hot Springs, Virginia, for the In the Garden Weekend, held August 20-22. The 12th annual event will include presentations by André Viette, nurseryman and host of the “In the Garden” radio show; Kerry Mendez, owner of Perennially Yours in upstate New York; Paul Meyer, director of the Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania; Holly Shimizu, executive director of the U.S. Botanic Garden; and Forrest Lee, the Homestead’s grounds superintendent. In addition to the presentations, tours of the Homestead’s gardens, meals, and accommodations are offered as part of the weekend package. All attendees receive a free year of membership in the AHS. Visit www.ahs.org or call 703-768-5700 for additional information.  To register, visit the Homestead’s website, www.thehomestead.com.

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