TALKS   

Engaging lectures accompanied by fabulous images

 

Garden History Topics

 

Beyond the Potted Palm: How Victorians Gave us House Plants

​The Victorian Era was also England's Golden Age of Plant Exploration. It was a time when the public's growing interest in natural history and their     obsession with "collecting" came together around plants. The variety of house plants available for purchase burgeoned during Queen Victoria's reign.       Ever after, Brits and we Americans have been in love with them. Not only can house plants compliment and enhance any room's decor, but NASA        studies confirm their ability to remove indoor air pollution. Learn about many of the plants that populated Victorian parlors, how to care for them           

and simple ways to bring a Victorian touch to plantscaping your home.  60 minutes.

 

Josephine - The Empress Gardened

French Empress Josephine’s fine taste informed 18th and 19th century style, from couture fashion to interior design.  Likewise, was she influenced by 

her Caribbean heritage, her narrow escape from the guillotine, and her legendary love for flowers.  When divorced from her husband, Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, this powerful style-maker and lifelong fashionista focused her energies on her estate, Malmaison. There, Josephine’s passion for plants 

grew and bloomed.  Her legendary love of roses stopped a war, cost a fortune, set explorers to sail, and started a floral industry that endures today.  

60 minutes.

 

Suitable for Framing: A Victorian Woman's Place in Botanic Art & Illustration

In 1834, when renowned British botanist John Lindley wrote "A Ladies Botany", he did so to block women from, not welcome them into, the academic 

world of horticulture. Learn how women figured it out anyway and managed to contribute to science, influence public taste and advance their own craft. 

The Victorian artists featured range from rebels to spinsters, suffragettes to missionary wives and are highlighted with strikingly beautiful imagery and humor.  60 minutes.                                                                                                                                                                                          

 

Bring the Bard to your Yard: Gardening in the Age of Elizabeth I

History's greatest playwright was also one heck of a gardener. The age of Elizabeth I provided William Shakespeare with a rich and varied plant palette,     both from England' s considerable bounty and foreign introductions. These he "planted" in his prolific contributions to English literature, and they           

still bloom today in language filled with plant lore and flower symbolism. Learn Elizabeth I's role in the advancement of English horticulture and         

peruse Elizabethan garden elements including mazes, knots, fantastical topiary and the pleached bower to add to your garden. Explore some            

Tudor and Shakespearean gardens in the UK and the USA to visit for inspiration.  Turns out, the world's not only a stage, it's also a garden! 60 minutes.

 

Medicinal Plants of the Civil War

Could plants have played a role in the outcome of the Civil War?  Learn how important plants were in every aspect of this conflict, on battlefields            

and home fronts of both the North and the South.  Over 30 plants are discussed and their medicinal properties noted.  "Receipts," or recipes are        included for popular herbal remedies such as horehound lozenges and witch hazel tonic. The history of patent medicines is explored and you will          

meet one of America's most important poets, the first African American physician and the man who revolutionized medical texts.  Audiences are            often surprised to see how many "Civil War" plants they are already growing, and the haunting historic images create a compelling tale of interest            

to history buffs as well as gardeners.  60 minutes.                                                                                                                                                   

The Real Housewives of New Jersey: Early American Women and Their Kitchen Gardens

Kitchen gardens in the 1700's fed, healed, and clothed Early American families. The 18th century "huswife" skill set included "physicke, cookery,     distillation, perfumery, the making of wool, hemp, flax, dayries, brewing, baking," and, of course - gardening.  Growing plants both Native American        and from their homelands, these women turned their soup pots into the "melting pot" that is America and exemplified all the best qualities of     plantswomen and patriots. 60 minutes.                                                                                                                                                  

 

We Grew it Here: 100 Years of New Jersey's Horticultural History

Think New Jersey only grows tomatoes?  Think again.  New Jersey was once the pinnacle for peaches, the ultimate for orchids, the tops for turf.  19th century New Jersey plant nurseries led the nation with their innovative breeding, greenhouse, field, and marketing techniques.  Meet the horticultural superstars who made New Jersey their home. Impresarios, hermits, academics, politicos and a cast of unlikely characters will make you a believer

that yes, New Jersey is the "Garden State."  60 minutes

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                                                  Plant-Centric Topics​

 

Love Potion No. 9 - The Quest for the Passionate Plants (Coming Summer, 2025)

Ever pick the petals from a dandelion? That's the first step in making many a love potion. Philters have existed since earliest recorded history and in       every culture across the globe. Trace the evolution of love potions through mythology and literature to current cutting edge olfaction science and              its pheromones. Explore the plants that comprise these potions, then learn how to plant, grow and harvest them. Get tips from love potion pros              like Cleopatra, Shakespeare, the Borgias and Nostradamus. The "Passionate Plants" can be pretty or poisonous, delicious or dangerous, but they              are never boring. You will be equipped to create your own love potion. Use it with caution. Results cannot be guaranteed.  60 minutes.          

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Plants of the Bible for your New Jersey Garden

The Old and New Testament are filled with references to plants, many of which will grow here in New Jersey.  These,   like the Cedar of Lebanon tree,        

as well as plants used in biblical times, like flax, and plants whose names have a biblical association, like the 'Joseph's Coat of Many Colors' rose, are         

all highlighted in this talk. You can bring meaningful symbolism, remember a favorite passage, or be reminded of stories from the Bible in your garden.     We'll also "visit" some Bible Gardens near our area. Whether you are starting from scratch or doing some periodic refreshing, these plant suggestions      

add more than mere ornamental beauty.  60 minutes

 

Growing Great Garlic 

Ancient Egyptians swore oaths on heads of garlic, early Olympic athletes consumed copious quantities of it, and WW I soldiers used it as an antibiotic.      Now however, garlic is a star ingredient in just about every culture's cuisine.  So, why not grow your own great garlic? Learn about the various kinds          

of garlic, and which are best for your cooking style. We'll cover soil preparation, foolproof planting instructions, winter care, spring care and summer       care, important garlic harvest tips, curing and storage.  A list of garlic vendors will be provided along with information on great cultivars to grow. 

60 minutes

 

Drama Queens: Dark Beauties for your Garden

Defined as "the absence of color," black in its many hues can highlight, offset and dramatize every real color in your garden. Understand how to use       black hued plants for maximum impact . Over 75 dark beauties, including annuals, perennials, vines, trees and shrubs are featured in this          compendium of powerful plants. We'll cover their habit and culture, and a useful plant list is provided. To create rhythm, punctuate place, outline          areas and focus the eye, nothing works like black. Keep the drama out of your house, and in the garden!  60 minutes

 

Simply DeVine: The Charm and Surprise of Annual Vines

Vines can be effective screens, provide vertical interest, maintain shade for under plantings and bring color and fragrance where you want it.  Annual      vines can grow up to 20’ long in a single season.  This class is recommended for seasoned gardeners with some seed starting experience. Learn          

about a cadre of start-from-seed annual vines, design tips for using them in your landscape and who they will attract. Beautiful, fragrant, pollinator-attracting - add some charm and surprise to your garden.   60 minutes

 

The Final Act: Your Autumn Garden

There's no reason to simply succumb to pumpkins and potted mums come fall.  Learn how to extend your garden's floristic display by including plants     that bloom from August through November.  A selection of perennials, shrubs and trees which come into their own in autumn will be explored             

and a detailed plant list provided.  Develop a plan to succeed with successive New Jersey appropriate blooms for a fabulous garden "final act"              

and save those pumpkins for pie!  60 minutes

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                        WORKSHOPS  

A rapid fire illustrated talk, followed by an only slightly chaotic hands-on garden project

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Into Thin Air: Getting Started with Air Plants - for groups of 30 maximum

Unlike the rest of the plant world, air plants are epiphytic. That means they live on tree branches or other plant parts that are not in the ground.

Learn about this mysterious and otherworldly looking family of plants that does not need soil to survive. Explore the different types, learn what

each one needs to thrive, find just the right way to display your air plant. Then, make a twisted wire and rock holder to exhibit your new plant

friend on and take them home.

 

Pteridomania: The Victorian Love of Ferns - for groups of 30 maximum

What was behind the Victorian love of ferns, pteridomania,  which at its height threatened the native fern population of England?  We'll learn all          about the Victorian collecting crazes and which ferns are best for New Jersey pteridomaniacs.  Then, we'll craft a Victorian-style shell pot to                

hold a tiny fern for your home.

90 minutes

 

Lettuce Begin: A Lettuce Workshop

for groups of 10-20 in February - April or August - September

Learn the history of lettuce from early Egypt, why Roman chef Epicus watered his lettuce with wine, how come Peter, Flopsy and Mopsy were always             asleep in the carrot patch, and everything you need to grow this easy and healthy crop. We'll cover lettuce types, site selection, seed starting, IPM            and pest control, historic recipes, and seed saving Then, plant a flat of unusual lettuce cultivars for your spring or fall garden.

90 minutes

 

Herbal Vinegar Workshop

for groups of 10-20 in July - September

Capture summer’s bounty for your pantry in this hands-on workshop in which every participant will make 2 bottles of herbal vinegar. Herbal vinegar        can be used in salad dressings, marinades, pickling, velveting, gravlax, sushi rice, all kinds of refreshing summer drinks and even desserts (think         

grilled peaches drizzled with lavender balsamic vinegar) Add layers of flavor to your cooking with this easy to master skill  Learn how to harvest           herbs and prepare them, what equipment to use, savvy techniques and tips, and proper storage.  A recipe handout is provided.                                       90 minutes

 

Every Last Bit -Saving the Flavors of Summer

for groups of 10-20 in July - September

What to do with all those herbs at the end of the season? Learn how to dry, freeze, and dehydrate your herbs as well as how to prepare perennial herbs for the long winter ahead.  Which herbs can you take cuttings of to grow in water inside on a sunny windowsill? How do you make herbal butter, herbal sugar, herbal syrup, herbal salt and candied edible flowers?  Get the answers as you sample all of these delicious herbal treats. Get ready to get busy in your late summer herb garden!

 

Please email me to discuss fees and travel arrangements.