At the Berkshire Botanical Garden This Summer

I highly recommend the Berkshire Botanical Garden as well worth a summer visit. It is composed of 23 display areas including perennial borders, mixed borders featuring thousands of annuals, a rock garden, rose garden, pond garden, children’s garden, native plant gardens, an arboretum and woodland preserve open daily, 9-5 Admission - Adults: $12; Seniors/Students: $10; Members/Children under 12: Free. Guided public tours Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, 10am – free with Garden admission. Berkshire Botanical Garden, 5 West Stockbridge Road, Stockbridge, MA 01262
413 29 8-3926 www.berkshirebotanical.org

Upcoming specials events include Bird Necessities: Outdoor Installations by Artists and Designers opens June 11 for the season. The New Rose Garden Opening will be held July 16 with a workshop and reception with guest gardener Michael Marriott of David Austin Roses. Cocktails in Great Gardens will be held three Friday evenings: June 17, July 15, and August 19.

Bird Necessities: Outdoor Installations Created by Artists, is an exhibition that explores ways to provide birds with food, shelter, habitat and artful assistance in attaining them, opens at Berkshire Botanical Garden Saturday, June 11, 5:30-7pm with a reception at the Garden.

Curated by Great Barrington and Manhattan-based artist Anne G Fredericks, the exhibition grew out of Garden’s 2011 theme, Out on a Limb, and highlights artists who are active members of the Berkshire community with a special feeling for the terroir: Naomi Blumenthal, estate garden designer, potter and jewelry maker who draws inspiration from the local landscape; Dale Culleton, an artist/potter who restores both landscapes and buildings, and Jon Piasecki, an award-winning landscape designer and stone worker. All have worked to preserve aspects of our local environment: tree species, view-scapes, gardens, historic sites and indigenous woodland environments. As artists, they have each developed a personal oeuvre that is deeply rooted in nature.

Through Labor Day, visitors can view Bird Necessities: Outdoor Installations Created by Artists throughout the Garden’s various environments: Anne Fredericks’ work is a hanging pavilion filled with bedding and nesting materials where birds of all kinds can “shop” for substance to create their nests; Naomi Blumenthal exhibits a collection of natural and functional sculptural bird feeders and houses fashioned after strange and natural tree fruit; Dale Culleton’s bird habitat is an eight foot tall structure of local black locust and white marble with references back to the Shaker use of those two materials, and Jon Piasecki’s intricate habitat is inspired by a male bower bird - an accomplished avian builder whose elaborate structures are said to represent the origin of architecture.

The exhibit is free with the cost of admission, and is open daily, 9am-5pm. Tickets to the opening reception are $25 and are available by calling Berkshire Botanical Garden at

Also through Labor Day is Out on a Limb: Architects Take a Bough
An exhibition of six tree houses built on storied fantasy, inspired by birds, reflecting history, reminiscent of childhood, it is curated by Matt Larkin and Elizabeth Hamilton. Free with admission to the Garden
Open daily, 9-5.

Friday, July 8, 11 am is Birds of Prey, a lecture free with Garden admission.Wildlife rehabilitator Tom Ricardi will visit with magnificent birds of prey, demonstrate some of their unique behaviors and inspire children of all ages to appreciate, respect and conserve these important members of our wild kingdom. Free with admission to the garden.

Tuesday July 12, 10am-1pm is The Garden in Watercolor, a Hands on workshop for Members $145/Nonmembers $175. Individual classes $45.

View the summer garden with an eye for color, mood, texture and painting. Learn the basics of composition and color through the medium of watercolor. Take all four sessions or individual classes. Instructor: Ann Kremers.

Wednesday July 13, 2-4 pm
Preserving the Harvest – Putting Food By

You Can Do It!

Lecture/demonstration in a professional kitchen off site (directions available upon registration)

Members $22/Nonmembers $25

First of a series of four classes on preserving the harvest with tried and true methods. This class features canning - learn how to put up your own salsa, chutneys and condiments. Explore the many ways a canner can be put to use creating wonderful and unique gifts as well as enhancing your own food pantry. The class will also cover pressure canning and demystify this useful method for insuring food safety. Instructor: Kathy Harrison.

Thursday, July 14, 4 pm.

The Crystal Palace: The History of Greenhouses in America

Illustrated Lecture

Members $20/Nonmembers $25

Learn how the functional greenhouses of the 18th and 19th centuries for growing tropical plants were expanded into glasshouses, orangeries, and conservatories to become increasingly ornamental and an indicator of great wealth in American society. Slides of these crystal palaces and their associated historical head houses and potting sheds will be shown. Instructor: Arete Warren, art historian.
Berkshire Botanical Garden, 5 West Stockbridge Road, Stockbridge, MA 01262
413 29 8-3926 www.berkshirebotanical.org

Friday, July 15, 10 – 4 pm.

Making Paper Garden Lanterns – Japanese Style
Hands on workshop

Members $75/Nonmembers $85; Materials fee $15 paid to instructor. Materials list available upon registration.

Make a beautiful Japanese style paper garden lantern from natural materials to create a one of a kind lamp for your home or garden. Instructor: Nancy Moore Bess
Berkshire Botanical Garden, 5 West Stockbridge Road, Stockbridge, MA 01262
413 29 8-3926 www.berkshirebotanical.org

Friday, July 15, 5-7pm

Cocktails in Great Gardens
Members $20/Nonmembers $25
One in a series of four Friday evening visits to spectacular private gardens. Enjoy this rare opportunity to roam these private spaces with the gardeners themselves, while enjoying wine and hors d’oeuvres in the beautiful waning light of the summer day. Garden location to be announced.

Saturday, July 16, 2 – 3:30 pm

Naturally Healthy Roses with Rosarian Michael Marriott

Lecture

Members $30/Nonmembers $35

An in-depth look at naturally healthy roses that exhibit New England hardiness and compliment an informal growing setting. Learn about the planning behind Berkshire Botanical Garden’s newly redesigned rose garden and learn tips and techniques for successfully growing this group of plants. Rosarian Michael Marriott has been nursery manger for David Austin Roses, Ltd. since 1985. He has gardened since he was a child and studied Agricultural Botany at University

Saturday, July 16, 3:30pm

Rose Garden Opening and Reception
Join rosarian Michael Marriott of David Austin Roses as Berkshire Botanical Garden celebrates the opening of the new rose garden.

Tuesday July 19, 10am-1pm

The Garden in Watercolor

Hands on workshop

Members $145/Nonmembers $175. Individual classes $45.

View the summer garden with an eye for color, mood, texture and painting. Learn the basics of composition and color through the medium of watercolor. Take all four sessions or individual classes.

Instructor: Ann Kremers.

Tuesday & Wednesday, July 19 & 20, 3 - 6 pm

Macro Photography
Hands-on workshop

Members $55/Nonmembers $65

Materials list available upon registration

Learn to take amazing photos of flowers, leaves, insects, feathers, pebbles and more. Each class will include a lecture on techniques, demonstrations, and practice time in the garden. Participants will bring developed photos to the second class for analysis and critique. Classes include tips and techniques of macro settings, different lenses and lighting techniques for advanced photo adventures. Discuss focus, light, composition, color and final output of your photographs. Students will have an opportunity to use the instructor’s high-end macro lenses during class. Instructor: Taylor Mickle.

Thursday, July 21, 4 pm

Beverage Confidential – The History of Libations

Sweet Perfection . . . Chocolate from Seed to Sweet

Class Fee: $22

One of four in a series of classes on the history, lore and practical know-how on some of life’s best indulgences. Chocolate has been considered a delicacy for centuries, beginning with the pre-Columbian Mayan cultures. Learn about the natural history of the tropical cocao plant, consider its culinary properties and learn about the art and craft of chocolate making from an expert.

Instructor: Joshua Needleman

Wednesday, July 27, 2-4 pm

Preserving the Harvest – Putting Food By

Dry it – You’ll Like It & Baby It’s Cold Inside!

Lecture/demonstration in a professional kitchen off site (directions available upon registration)

Member $22

Learn how to use a dehydrator to make soup, snacks and delicacies to give as gifts or enjoy at home. Freezing summer’s bounty is a fool proof method for putting food by. Master the basics of blanching, chilling, air tight wrapping and freezing for a taste of summer in the depths of winter.

Instructor Kathy Harrison

Thursday, July 28, 4 pm

Beverage Confidential – The History of Libations

Beyond the Buzz. . .All About Coffee

Class Fee: $22
One of four in a series of classes on the history, lore and practical know-how on some of life’s best indulgences. Enjoy a stimulating program on the history of coffee and learn about its remarkable journey from ancient Ethiopia to the latte shops of modern society. Learn how to brew a great cup of coffee and enjoy a delicious sample of the Barrington Coffee Roasting Company summer menu. Instructor: Barth Anderson.