No better way to spend a day – visit the Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Livestock Show & Fair, beginning Thursday, August 15 at 4 pm, and running through Sunday, August 18 at 10:00 pm. The event takes place at 35 Panhandle Road in West Tisbury. For complete information, visit https://marthasvineyardagriculturalsociety.org/the-fair
Heirloom Gardening is John Forti’s newest presentation. This PowerPoint program shares inspiration from our long history of heirloom preservation, garden craft and homestead lifeways. Artisanal lifestyles that are helping us to rebuild vibrant local agricultural economies and celebrate sustainable cottage industries that are contributing to our new, homegrown American arts & crafts movement and backyard environmentalism. This Martha’s Vineyard Garden Club program on September 19 at 1 pm at The Old Mill in West Tisbury allows for a look at how you can make a difference in your own backyard and community. The presentation draws from his book of traditional plants and skills for the modern world. Illustrated with period images and contemporary woodcuts.
BIO: John Forti is an award-winning heirloom specialist, garden historian, ethnobotanist, garden writer, and local foods advocate. He is executive director of Bedrock Gardens, an artist-inspired public sculpture garden and landscape in Lee, New Hampshire, and the recipient of a national 2020 Award of Excellence from National Garden Clubs. John was formerly the Director of Horticulture for Plimoth Plantation and the Massachusetts Horticultural Society and is involved with Slow Food USA, the national chapter of Slow Food, a global organization and international grassroots movement connecting food producers and consumers to champion local agriculture, farmers markets, and traditional, regional cuisine.
http://www.jforti.com/
The Heirloom Gardener – John Forti on Facebook
John Forti- The Heirloom Gardener Book- Amazon
FREE to GC Members / Open to non-members – cost TBD at a later date
West Tisbury members and VP to provide snacks & refreshments
The Vineyard Conservation Society (VCS) is the Island’s local environmental organization, dedicated to preserving our land and water through advocacy, education, and legal defense. In this Martha’s Vineyard Garden Club program on July 18, Samantha Look will share the details of the VCS “Vineyard Lawns” initiative. Due to rising concerns for how the health of our ponds, our wildlife, our pets and our own bodies are impacted by lawn care practices, VCS is advocating for a more holistic and ecologically friendly approach to how we maintain our lawns. The collective area dedicated to lawn space in the United States is roughly equivalent to the combined landmass of Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. How we reduce and manage these spaces has significant impacts. Sam will share information about how the seemingly simple act of caring for a lawn intersects strongly with climate change, water quality and personal health, as well as tips and resources for how to apply the Vineyard Lawn approach in your own backyard.
Samantha is the newly-appointed Executive Director of VCS. She began working with the organization in 2014 and helped lead plastic pollution reduction efforts, including the island-wide plastic bag ban. She is one of the three member team that maintains the Island Climate Action Network and is the liaison for the Land Use, Natural Resources and Biodiversity section of the MV Climate Action Plan. She helped lead efforts to draft and campaign the house size bylaw that was successfully adopted in West Tisbury in 2022. Sam is an avid gardener, and before working for VCS, was an assistant designer in her mother, Carly Look’s, landscape design office. Understanding the role that home gardeners can play in the protection of biodiversity and the ways in which our yards can act as extensions of our local ecosystems is a central interest to Sam and VCS.
FREE to MVGC Members / Open to non-members @ $10.00 pp. The program will take place at 1 pm at The Old Mill in West Tisbury. Oak Bluffs members and VP to provide snacks & refreshments
The Martha’s Vineyard Garden Club will sponsor Blooming Art 2016 on Friday, June 24 & Saturday, June 25 from 10 – 5, and Sunday, June 26 from noon – 3. In addition, join them on Thursday, June 23 at 5 pm at The Old Mill in West Tisbury, 690 Edgartown-WT Road, for the gala opening reception, including hors d’oeuvre and libations. Parking will be at the Grange Hall, 1067 State Road, and a van service will take guests to and from the Old Mill for the reception. Admission to the public exhibit will be $5 at the door. Tickets to the reception are $50, and may be purchased by calling Vito Palermo at 508-939-9522, or by emailing mvgcBloomingArt@gmail.com.
Blooming Art is modeled after the Museum of Fine Art’s Art in Bloom show, an annual celebration of floral arrangements inspired by the Museum’s masterpieces. For four days in late June, the Old Mill in West Tisbury will be transformed into a gallery filled with the art of forty-two Vineyard artists displayed with interpretive floral arrangements created by Garden Club members. All artworks are for sale and proceeds benefit the Garden Club’s Scholarship Fund and the Old Mill Preservation Fund. Participating Artists:
Joan Apt, Leslie Baker, Sandy Bernat, Benjamin Cabot, Eva Cincotta, Paul Doherty, Margot Datz, Angela Egerton, Valentine Estabrook, Margaret Emerson, Sheila M. Fane, Joann Frechette, Mary French, Debra Gaines, Roberta Gross, Genevieve Jacobs, Jay Lagemann, Washington Ledesma, Kanta Lipsky, Ilka List, Dorothy Lubell, Thaw Malin, Majorie Mason, Joyce Maxner, Ellen McCluskey, Marianne Neill, Dorothy Petell, Kathy Poehler, Debby Rosenthal, Judith Drew Schubert, Ed Woody Schulman, Alison Shaw, Susan Silva, Donna Straw, Jane Thame, Katy Upson, Fern Vaughan, Vineyard Colors, Wendy Weldon, Jules Worthington and Peggy Zablotny.
The Polly Hill Arboretum in West Tisbury will hold its Annual Fall Plant Sale on Saturday, September 12, from 10 – 2. Late summer and early fall is a perfect time to plant. Join the Polly Hill Arboretum in West Tisbury for their end-of-the-season sale. Arboretum staff will be on hand to answer questions and offer advice. We have chosen trees, shrubs, and perennials, including many Island natives which are suitable for our Vineyard climate. No Fee. In addition, at 1pm, ecological landscape designer Michael Talbot will present a talk on creating and managing landscapes in harmony with the Vineyard’s fragile environment. $5/free for PHA members. Many rare specimens will be available. For more information, visit www.pollyhillarboretum.org.
Join Rebecca McMackin, Director of Horticulture for Brooklyn Bridge Park, at the Polly Hill Arboretum in West Tisbury on Wednesday, September 18 at 7:30 to learn about a park purposely created with ecology in mind. This 85-acre post-industrial waterfront site stretches 1.3 miles along Brooklyn’s East River edge, built in-part on old commercial piers. The park’s award winning piers include top notch recreation, from opera to outdoor films, expansive organic lawns, and fantastic food, all of it beautifully designed. But the piers also contain native woodlands, freshwater wetlands, salt marshes, and numerous meadows. These areas closely mimic native ecosystems and are managed with an emphasis on wildlife habitat.
McMackin will discuss the many ecological strategies employed by the park’s designers, Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, as well as the management techniques currently in use to cultivate biodiverse parkland. Pragmatic strategies for encouraging ecologically beneficial landscapes will be enumerated. $10/$5 for PHA members.
The Polly Hill Arboretum in West Tisbury welcomes back volunteer and amateur astronomer Barbara Caseau for another evening of astronomy. Come learn about the object in the sky that most of us take for granted – the moon. Discover April’s “Sprouting Grass Moon†through the telescope and hear Barbara’s moon stories and legends. If you have your own binoculars or telescopes you are invited to bring them along to class. A flashlight is also suggested. Thursday April 18, 7:30-9:00pm. No Fee, “Cloud dateâ€, April 19. Image from www.ancientcloth.files.wordpress.com.
The beautiful light of a Martha’s Vineyard summer evening— experience the magic of the Arboretum on this stroll through the Polly Hill Arboretum garden with horticultural consultant, designer, and photographer Patrick Cullina and PHA’s Tim Boland and Tom Clark. Don’t miss this opportunity to see the grounds and “talk trees†with this fun and incredibly knowledgeable group.
Wine and cheese served from 5-7pm. Tour beginning at 5:45pm . Event fee $75/$65 for PHA members, refreshments are included in the price.
Tickets must be purchased in advance, call 508-693-9426 or email Karin@pollyhillarboretum.org.
Shopping for plants has gotten confusing. With the unending new plant varieties available, how do you distinguish real value from novelty? How do you discern great plants from the not-so-good, and does buying the best plants lead to the best gardens?
Join Patrick Cullina at the Polly Hill Arboretum in West Tisbury, Martha’s Vineyard, on Wednesday, August 1 beginning at 7:30 pm as he explores methods for navigating the nursery, shopping for the garden, and strategies for selecting beautiful plants one might otherwise miss. Cullina is a consultant, horticultural designer, and photographer who previously served as vice president of horticulture and park operations for Friends of the High Line in New York City as well as vice president at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. $10/$5 for PHA members. Sponsored by Middletown Nursery. To register, visit www.pollyhillarboretum.org.
Want to know what goes on in the Polly Hill Arboretum greenhouse and nursery? Here’s your chance to get more than just the tantalizing glimpse most visitors experience. Led by collections and grounds manager Tom Clark, we’ll stroll right past the “Employees Only†sign and explore the inner workings of the Arboretum’s plant production facilities. We’ll look at the nuts and bolts, hear about the impact these new facilities have had on the development of the Arboretum’s living collection, and see some of the results of PHA’s plant exploration trips to Japan and the Southeast, and local collecting here on the Vineyard. The excursion takes place Thursday, July 19, beginning at 10 in the morning in West Tisbury. $5/free for PHA members. For more information, visit www.pollyhillarboretum.org.
