Botany for the Home Gardener
Sponsored by the Massachusetts Horticultural Society

In this six-session course, join Master Gardener Gretel Anspach, to explore the fundamentals of plant structures and their function, reproductive and floral biology, introductory concepts in physiology and metabolism, and overall systematic organization and classification of major plant groups within the plant kingdom. Participants will better understand the world of plants and gain a far deeper appreciation for their wonder. 

Gretel Anspach is a Lifetime Master Gardener with the Massachusetts Master Gardener Association, a Trustee of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, and a recently-retired systems engineer for Raytheon. Gretel helped to establish and maintain two food production gardens that have provided fresh produce to the Marlboro Food Pantry for the last eight years. 

Designing the Winter Landscape, Landscape Design Class 
Sponsored by the Massachusetts Horticultural Society

Virtual Dates – February 10th & 17th, 10am-2pm
On-Site Garden Visit – February 11th, 10-11am
Place:  The Gardens at Elm Bank
Cost:  Members: $165; Non-Members: $205 

Maria von Brincken will help you design an outdoor space that uses texture, color, and mass planting to create visual interest throughout the winter. Winter gardens also create a backdrop for seasonal flower gardens. Featuring our Bressingham Garden, her design work, and others, Maria will introduce you to lay-out and plant lists that will inspire your garden planning during these cold months. There will be class time for you to experiment with winter planting combinations and layout that could work in your own gardens.

Maria von Brincken, principle of Maria von Brincken Landscape Garden Design, is an award-winning certified designer (APLD and LI) celebrating her 21st year in professional practice. Maria specializes in custom beautiful spaces and colorful flower gardens using native and ornamental plants.

Trained as a fine artist, color theorist, and organic gardener Maria brings years of critical design thinking to her landscape solutions. Her design has been featured in Fine Gardening Magazine, Landscape Ideas You Can Use and others. 

Her lectures and workshops have been featured at Mass Hort, Boston The Flower Show, Radcliffe Seminars and the LI, Conn. Master Gardener’s Conference, Perennial Plant Conference, ELA- just to name a few. Her lectures, classes, and workshops teach successful ways of thinking and techniques.

Learn more about Maria and her work at www.mariavonbrincken.com

“A Piet Oudolf Story”
Sponsored by the Massachusetts Horticultural Society
Virtual Date: Tuesday, February 16, 2021 from 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Place:  Virtual Class
Cost:  $10/member; $17/general admission

The first half of Deborah Chud’s “Piet Oudolf Story” traces her discovery of Piet Oudolf’s work, her research on his plant combinations, and her use of that research to create a garden in his style. The second half covers the historical context in which he emerged as a landscape designer and his basic principles of landscape design. Visit her Instagram, @pietgarden, to get a glimpse into her work.

Deborah Chud is a retired physician who took up gardening in June of 2016.  The database resulting from her 5 years of research on Piet Oudolf’s plant combinations  constitutes the most comprehensive record of his juxtapositions across all gardens documented in his books. She recently presented her research at an international symposium (“Piet Oudolf: How Does He Do It?”) organized by Noel Kingsbury, under the aegis of gardenmasterclass.org. She is a member of the Perennial Plant Association and currently works a landscape design consultant and educator in the Boston area.

Interested in becoming a member of Massachusetts Horticultural Society? Click here to learn more