P erfect Pairings

Botanical Mixology

MEREDITH POWELL

Sunday, March 19, 1–2pm

Like flowers and pollinators, some liquid flavor combinations are drawn to each other and just meant to be. Explore the connection between botanicals and booze while learning foolproof techniques for your home bar. Get hands-on practice measuring, mixing, and mastering flavor with steal-the-recipe craft cocktails to sip while you stroll through the final days of Allure: An Orchid Exhibition.

$50M; $65NM

Visual Arts

Neurographic Sketching NIKKI HOWLAND

Tap into your subconscious and relax your mind! This course will focus on the basic techniques and the meditative qualities of neurographic art. You will leave the session with a contemplative way to create something unique and beautiful that leaves you feeling calm and thoughtful.

Saturday, March 4, 9:30–11:30am

$40M; $55NM

Chinese Brush Painting: Orchids SAU-MEI LEUNG

In this workshop, explore and develop an understanding of different brush strokes to create an expressive orchid painting. This class is great for beginners as well as experienced artists. If you want to find out how exciting, relaxing, and fun it is to paint and be inspired by the orchid exhibition, don’t miss this workshop.

Sunday, March 5, 1–3pm

$55M; $70NM

Introduction to Zentangle KAREN KEEFE

Zentangle is an easy-to-learn method of creating beautiful images from repetitive patterns, many of them inspired by nature. This hands-on class introduces the basic Zentangle principles and methodology.

Sunday, March 12, 1–4:30pm

$45M; $60NM

Needle Felted Orchids MERRY BENINATO

Celebrate the beauty of the orchid and learn more about the craft of needle felting! In this class you will work with an orchid design on wool and create a finished original art piece that will look beautiful hanging in your home.

Saturday, March 18, 10am –12:30pm

$60M; $75NM

Experiments with Watercolors VICTORIA CHAPMAN

Play and experiment with watercolors and see what they do! Participants will explore how watercolors work and feel using a variety of brushes and different quantities of water, and discover how the paint can mix with other materials, such as salt and ink. At the end, participants will try painting their own picture from life or imagination.

Saturday, March 18, 1–3pm

$55M; $70NM

Dish Flower Arrangement Using Pin Frogs

MARY BETH HAYES

Create a dish flower arrangement with flowering branches, fresh flowers and foliage, and a kenzan (pin frog). Learn the design principles of minimalism and negative space, and how to use floral material.

Saturday, March 25, 1–2:30pm

$85M; $100NM; $115 PAIR

EcoArt NIKKI HOWLAND

This class explores sculptural creation using found objects. Whether the objects chosen are from nature or not, we will be focused on how art can help form positive ecological perspectives. We will briefly cover the elements of principles and design and discuss how to apply them to your own work.

4 WEEK SESSION

Sundays, April 2–30 , 1–4pm (no class april 9)

$125M; $150NM

Hand Embroidery: Spring Flowers LIZ IVES

Learn the basics of hand embroidery with a focus on spring flowers to brighten your home. Open to beginners as well as experienced embroiderers!

Sunday, April 2, 10:30am –1:30pm

$70M; $85NM

Sogestsu Ikebana KAYE VOSBURGH

This course introduces Japanese flower arranging and gives students experience making arrangements in low containers (moribana) using a pin holder (kenzan).

Thursday, April 13, 9:30am–12pm

$35M; $45NM | NO WALK-INS

En Plein Air Painting JILL

POTTLE

Painting outside in the landscape is a rich experience: not only are you responding to the natural light, but also the atmosphere of the day and a moment in time. Come and paint in the glorious gardens of New England Botanic Garden or the deep woods that surrounds the formal gardens. Learn how to simplify, design, compose, and get down the information quickly before the light changes.

Fridays, April 28–May 19, 1:45–4:45pm

$125M; $150NM

Making May Day Posies

MARY BETH HAYES

Celebrate May Day in the British/Celtic way by making flower posies to secretly gift to friends and neighbors. Learn how to make flower posies and to grow your own unusual spring flowers.

Saturday, April 29, 10:30am –12pm

$75M; $90NM; $105 PAIR

Introduction to Cyanotype Printmaking

TONYA LEMOS

Enjoy making cyanotype photographic prints using specimens from our botanical gardens in this rewarding, educational, and playful workshop. We will work with the sun as our UV light source, and the sun and weather at the time will determine the intensity and sort of cyanotype prints we produce. Everyone will go home with their very own cyanotype art—usually something frame-worthy.

Saturday, April 29, 1–3pm

$50M; $65NM

Gardening, Plants, & Horticulture

Orchids of the Exhibition Walk & Talk

Join our conservatory garden staff for a special early morning walk and talk through Allure: An Orchid Exhibition. Explore the exhibition before the garden opens to the general public, and learn more about the 2,000 orchids on display.

Wednesdays, February 15–March 15, 9–10am

$15M; $25NM

Therapeutic Horticulture:

Tropical Dish Gardens DEBORAH KRAUSE

Experience the therapeutic benefits of horticulture while creating a dish garden in a decorative container. You will select beautiful tropical plants with various colors, textures, fragrances, and sizes. It can be landscaped to represent a scene in nature, or a miniature ecosystem.

Saturday, March 4, 10:30am –12:30pm

$35M; $50NM

Work in the Spring Garden REED PUGH

This workshop will educate home gardeners on proper practices and timing for early season work in the garden. Topics include mulching, fertilization, pest and disease management, soil testing/preparation, pruning, pollinator and beneficial insect protection, transplanting and division, planting, irrigation, and weed management. We will spend about half our time inside before going out to the garden.

Saturday, March 18, 10:30am –12pm

$35M; $50NM

Trough Gardening: Getting Enchanted LORI

CHIPS

Have you always wanted to start a trough garden? This lecture will cover all the basics, such as creating a trough, exploring different planting styles, placing the troughs within the greater garden, and choosing the best plants, including conifers and shrubs, alpine and rock garden plants, and the always popular hardy succulents.

Co-sponsored by the North American Rock Garden Society

Saturday, March 25, 10:30am –12pm

$20M; $30NM

Beyond the Rectangle: Advanced Trough Gardening

LORI CHIPS

Once a gardener has made a few troughs and grown plants in them, the next challenge is already on the horizon: it might be a new shape, a rare plant, or even a fresh new design idea. Join expert Lori Chips for talk that will challenge you to to look beyond the rectangle, throw timidity to the wind, and plant what makes your heart sing.

Co-sponsored by the North American Rock Garden Society

Saturday, March 25, 1:30–3pm

$20M; $30NM

Easy Rose Care TERESA MOSHER

Learn rose care from expert Teresa Mosher. Teresa will discuss uncovering winter protected roses, pruning various types of roses, planting, fertilizing, and how to choose hardy varieties.

Saturday, April 8, 1–2:30pm

$35M; $50NM

Introduction to Horticultural Science & Botany

REED PUGH

Designed for the home gardener, this class will provide an introductory review of plants and their parts, botanical nomenclature, plant identification of leaves and flowers through the use of horticultural language, and soil basics. After a class review of information, we will go out into the garden to apply our knowledge.

Saturday, April 29, 10am –12pm

$35M; $50NM

The Heirloom Gardener: Traditional Plants and Skills JOHN FORTI

In this lecture, John shares inspiration from our long history of heirloom preservation, garden craft, herbalism, and homestead lifeways. Artisanal gardening lifestyles are helping us to rebuild vibrant local agricultural economies and celebrate sustainable cottage industries that are contributing to our new, homegrown American arts and crafts movement and backyard environmentalism. Join us for a refreshing look at how you can make a difference and build habitat in your own backyard and community.

Co-sponsored by the Herbal Community of Central Massachusetts

Saturday, April 29, 1–2pm

$20M; $30NM

Seasonal Pruning: Early Spring REED PUGH

Throughout the year it is important to prune plants, and there are critical windows of time to execute this work. This series of workshops will focus on the essentials of when and how to prune. It will also focus on early spring flowering shrubs that flower on previous season's growth (old wood), renovative pruning on certain plants, and cleaning up winter damage.

Sunday, April 30, 10:30pm –12pm or 1–2:30pm

$35M; $50NM

Youth Programs

Kids Workshops

Mason Jar Gardens | AGES 5–12

Learn the basics of plant care and create your own miniature herb or flower garden.

Saturday, March 4, 1:30–3pm

M: $28 CHILD, $0 ADULT

NM: $36 CHILD, $18 ADULT

Plant Slime | AGES 5–10

Learn about the amazing adaptations of carnivorous plants and mix up plant inspired slime recipes.

Sunday, March 26, 11am –12:30pm

M: $15 CHILD, $0 ADULT

NM: $22 CHILD, $18 ADULT

Fairy Houses & Gnome Homes | AGES 5–12

Use natural materials to create your own fairy house or gnome home in a basket.

Sunday, April 2, 2–3:30pm

M: $25 CHILD, $0 ADULT

NM: $32 CHILD, $18 ADULT

Family Fun

Garden Buds | AGES 3–5

Join us for circle time, a story, a take-home craft packet, and a guided garden adventure.

Thursdays in March & April, 10:30–11:30am

M: $8 CHILD, $0 ADULT

NM: $15 CHILD, $18 ADULT

Little Seedlings | AGES 1–3

Come explore the wonderful world of plants and practice sorting, counting, observing, and more.

Tuesday, March 28, 10:30–11:30am

Tuesday, April 25, 10:30–11:30am

M: $6 CHILD, $6 ADULT NM: $10 CHILD, $18 ADULT

Wake Up Spring! | AGES 4–8

Welcome spring and join us for a guided hike of New England Botanic Garden’s mile-long loop trail.

Sunday, March 19, 2–3:30pm

M: $9 CHILD, $6 ADULT NM: $16 CHILD, $24 ADULT

Terrific Trees | AGES 6–12

Join us for a special Arbor Day celebration and explore the terrific world of trees.

Sunday, April 30, 11am –12:30pm

M: $9 CHILD, $6 ADULT NM: $16 CHILD, $24 ADULT

JUST FOR KIDS!

Afterschool Adventures | AGES 7–9

Join us for outdoor afterschool adventures where we’ll learn, play, and explore.

Wednesday, March 29, 3–5pm

Wednesday, April 26, 3–5pm

M: $22 CHILD; NM: $30 CHILD

Summer Discoveries

Animal Adventures | AGES 5–10

Beaks, claws, and wings, oh my! Learn about the amazing animals that live among us as we explore, play, and investigate in nature.

Monday to Friday, July 31 to August 4, 9am –3pm

M: $375 CHILD; NM: $425 CHILD

Myths and Magic | AGES 5–10

Join us for a week of play, exploration, and investigation as we search for signs of magic in enchanted gardens, cast spells, and make nature potions.

Monday to Friday, August 7 to 11, 9am –3pm

M: $375 CHILD; NM: $425 CHILD

APRIL 15–23, 2023

Get your groove on this April break and come learn about the power of nature. Celebrate Mother Earth and spread peace, love, and flower power, when you join us for family classes, workshops, drop-in activities, outdoor adventures, and more. Can you dig it?

Drop-in Activities | ALL AGES

Learn about the science of flowers, celebrate the earth, and spread good vibes at our drop-in activity station.

Saturday to Friday, April 15 to 21, 10am –4pm

INCLUDED WITH ADMISSION

Beats & Blooms:

Spring Sing-Along | ALL AGES

Join us for an interactive spring sing-along just for kids!

Saturday, April 15, 1–3pm

INCLUDED WITH ADMISSION

Daffodil Days | AGES 3–8

Join us for a guided garden adventure and learn about our favorite spring blooms.

Saturday, April 15, 1–2pm

M: $9 CHILD, $6 ADULT

NM: $16 CHILD, $24 ADULT

Nature Treasure Journal | AGES 7–12

Upcycle a vintage book to create a personalized journal to capture your nature adventures.

Sunday, April 16, 2–3:30pm

M: $18 CHILD, $0 ADULT NM: $25 CHILD, $18 ADULT

Flower Lab | AGES 6–12

Explore the world of botany and learn about fantastic flowers as we dissect, craft, and plant.

Monday, April 17, 1:30–3pm

M: $20 CHILD, $0 ADULT

NM: $28 CHILD, $18 ADULT

Tie Dye It! | AGES 5–12

Tie dye a tote and learn how to extract colorful dyes from nature.

Tuesday, April 18, 1:30–3pm

M: $25 CHILD, $0 ADULT

NM: $32 CHILD, $18 ADULT

Floral Fairy Crowns | AGES 5–12

Learn about the language of flowers and create your own lasting floral crown.

Wednesday, April 19, 1:30–3pm

M: $20 CHILD, $0 ADULT

NM: $28 CHILD, $18 ADULT

Garden Buds | AGES 3–5

Join us for circle time, a story, a take-home craft packet, and a guided garden adventure.

Thursday, April 20, 10:30–11:30am

M: $8 CHILD, $0 ADULT

NM: $15 CHILD, $18 ADULT

Groovy Jewelry | AGES 8–16

Create your own handmade jewelry using raw minerals, stones, and crystals.

Friday, April 21, 1:30–3pm

M: $30 CHILD, $0 ADULT

NM: $38 CHILD, $18 ADULT

Nature Prints Party | AGES 5–12

Get creative and craft frame worthy prints and more using natural materials.

Saturday, April 22, 1:30–3pm

M: $25 CHILD, $0 ADULT

NM: $32 CHILD, $18 ADULT

17

Nature Play Days in The Ramble

Drop-in for FREE fun family activities this season. Use your imagination to create magical worlds and explore the great outdoors as we dress up, craft, make music, play, and make new friends. Nature Play Days begin on Monday, April 17. Visit our website for more details.

Nature Play Days Weekly Schedule beginning April 17

EVERY DAY / 10am –5pm

MONDAYS / 12–2pm

TUESDAYS / 11am –12pm

WEDNESDAYS / 12–2pm

FRIDAYS / 12–2pm

School Programs

New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill offers a wide range of educational programs to engage children of all ages in hands-on, minds-on outdoor learning. Book your spring visit today!

Discovery Backpacks

Music Makers

Nature Storytime

Imagination Station

Exploration Station

Music Makers | AGES 2–8

Dance to your own beat and make music with us.

Mondays, 12–2pm

Nature Storytime | AGES 3–8

Join us for an interactive hour of exciting stories about plants, animals, nature, and more.

Tuesdays, 11am –12pm

Imagination Station | AGES 3–8

Stop by for imaginative play as we dress up and create magical worlds together.

Wednesdays, 12–2pm

Exploration Station | AGES 3–10

Drop by our Exploration Stations to play, read, learn, and investigate.

Fridays, 12–2pm

Discovery Backpacks | AGES 3–12

Check out our Discovery Backpacks filled with exciting activities and tools for exploring together.

Everyday, 10am –5pm

Children's Birthday Parties

Make your child’s birthday one to remember by hosting their special day with us! Now booking for spring. Visit nebg.org for details.