By Robert Graham, New England Botanic Garden July 2024 With summer in full swing, many of our native plants, and garden weeds, are coming into bloom. This is a great time for ambitious individuals interested in learning more about their natural world to identify different plants. Plant ID can be a complicated and sometimes [...]
By Megan Stouffer, New England Botanic Garden June 2024 Thousands of pieces of colorful flowing fabric hang above Garden staff and members of the Poetic Kinetics team. Above the group, arborists cling to the trees, anchoring the magnificent kinetic artwork allowing it to appear as if it were floating among the towering oaks of [...]
By Megan Stouffer, New England Botanic Garden Staff July 2023 As July rolls around, the phrase ‘Plastic Free July’ may once again surface as a popular topic across news outlets, social media, and social circles. Plastic Free July—a month when individuals and organizations challenge themselves to reduce plastic use—attempts to make limiting reliance on plastics [...]
The longest, darkest, coldest season is upon us. If you’re not a winter lover, your garden can help get you through it if you design with winter in mind. What you need are plants with winter interest. Among gardeners and horticulturists, the term "winter interest” describes plants that offer a sensory, often visual, appeal [...]
Creating “Sylvia” was no quick task for area artist S.E. Clark. In a video (see below), Clark walks viewers through the multi-day process of painstakingly layering paints to transform a large, gray, concrete garden gnome—essentially a blank canvas—into a work of art inspired by Austrian painter, Gustav Klimt. With a name meaning “woodland” and a dress [...]
Swirling strands of rope lights. One hundred feet of rainbow. Uplighting, spotlighting, dripping icicle lights, bottle flowers, orbs, starbursts, and dancing fairy lights illuminating trees. You name it. We’ve got it. The Garden’s annual Night Lights event immerses visitors in a spectacular world of color and illumination. This year, artfully crafted displays made from [...]
