The Great Garden Series: The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

The Oak Spring Garden Foundation is an operating foundation dedicated to sharing the gifts and ideas of Rachel "Bunny" Mellon.  Its mission is to support and inspire fresh thinking and bold action on the history and future of plants, including the art and culture of plants, gardens and landscapes.

Oak Spring Garden Foundation

This series of afternoon lectures, will focus on three great gardens that have strong associations with Oak Spring.

Oak Spring Garden Foundation | The Apple House

Overview: This series of three afternoon lectures, combined with visits to the library and archives at the Oak Spring Garden Foundation, will focus on three great gardens that have strong associations with Oak Spring.Each session will begin with an illustrated lecture in the Apple House at the Oak Spring Garden Foundation. The lectures will describe the historical development of the garden in question, followed by an opportunity to view illustrative original documents, images and archives in the Oak Spring Library and archives. A delicious afternoon tea will round out the day’s events.Registration will be for individual lectures, all of which will begin at 3:30pm. Registration for the whole series is not required.Lecture I: The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew – with Peter Crane &amp; Rachel HeslopThe Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 2003, had its origin in two royal estates that were united by King George III, and ultimately designated as the national botanic garden by Queen Victoria. Beginning in the Georgian era many plants from all over the world began to be grown at Kew, and during the Victorian era, reflecting Britain’s colonial reach, Kew developed into its current role as a global center for the study and cultivation of plants. Today the Kew landscape reveals elements of two iconic eighteenth-century landscapes, a Victorian landscape with great nineteenth century glasshouses, and more recent interventions from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The lecture will outline the evolution of the Kew landscape. Using items from the Oak Spring Library it will also highlight some of the great personalities from history who have influenced its development.Upcoming Lectures:<ul><li>Lecture II: White House Rose Garden - Feburary 29, 2024</li><li>Lecture III: The Garden at Little Oak Spring - March 28, 2024</li></ul>About The Lecturers:Sir Peter Crane, FRS is President of the Oak Spring Garden Foundation. In addition to his work in leading and developing educational and natural history organizations, including the Field Museum in Chicago, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew as Director from 1999-2006 and most recently as Dean of the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies at Yale University, he has had a long career as a professor and researcher in both the U.K. and the United States. He is best known for his work on the origin and early evolution of flowering plants (angiosperms) based on studies of the plant fossil record. His popular writing includes Ginkgo: The Tree That Time Forgot, a book that traces the evolution and cultural history of Ginkgo biloba to the present day.Rachel Heslop is the Senior Project Coordinator at the Oak Spring Garden Foundation. Prior to joining the Foundation, she worked for the landscape architecture firm Oehme, van Sweden in Washington, DC and was part of the project team that led to the restoration of the White House Rose Garden in 2020. More recently, she conducted the research on the history and evolution of the Oak Spring gardens as part of a forthcoming cultural landscape report.About Oak Spring Garden Foundation: The Oak Spring Garden Foundation (OSGF) is a philanthropic foundation based at the former primary estate of the late Paul and Rachel Mellon, who were major philanthropists in the U.S. of the arts, humanities, and sciences in the second half of the twentieth century. OSGF is located in the northern Virginia Piedmont and Blue Ridge Mountains region (ca. one-hour drive from Washington, D.C.). Led by Sir Peter Crane, the Foundation’s inaugural President, OSGF provides workshops, short courses and supports residencies for artists and scholars. Its celebrated Library comprises rare books, manuscripts and works of art relating to horticulture, landscape design, botany and natural history. It is becoming a new center of stimulation of all things botanical, from fundamental research in plant evolution and conservation, to horticultural and plant conservation practice, to the history and art of plants, gardens and landscapes.Photo Release StatementBy attending this event, you consent to your likeness and image being used for ongoing promotional and marketing efforts.Availability: Each lecture will be capped at 20 participants. Registrations will be accepted on a rolling basis through Eventbrite until full.Header Image: View of the Wilderness at Kew (1763)

Agenda

Arrivals

Welcome and Introductions

Lectures

Library Visit

Wrap Up: Tea & Coffee 

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The Great Garden Series: The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

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The Great Garden Series: The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

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