Beatrix Farrand Society is thrilled to offer another outstanding lecture series in 2025 that celebrates the many ways we connect to landscape.
Click here to view programs from previous years.
Unless otherwise noted, programs cost $10 for members, $20 for non-members, and are free for students. Pre-registration is required.
The Butterfly Effect : Micro Plantings for Macro Impact
Jared Barnes, Ph.D.
Thursday, July 10 at 4:00 PM
Garland Farm
In this spirited presentation, Dr. Jared Barnes explores how even small plantings can significantly enhance the ecological balance of your garden, provide essential habitats for creatures and pollinators, and contribute to a thriving ecosystem. You will discover how small-scale choices can lead to large-scale positive effects, enriching both your garden’s beauty and its ecological function. And, by strategically incorporating these plants, you can create a dynamic and sustainable garden environment that fosters biodiversity.
Jared Barnes, Ph.D., has been passionate about gardening since childhood and is now an award-winning horticulture professor at Stephen F. Austin State University. He holds a Ph.D. in horticultural science from NC State and has traveled extensively across the U.S. and 11 countries to broaden his horticultural perspective. He writes the plant•ed newsletter (featured in The NY Times), hosts The Plantastic Podcast, and gardens with his wife and daughter at Ephemera Farm. His accolades include the 2021 SFA Teaching Excellence Award and multiple honors from the Perennial Plant Association. His expertise has been featured in The NY Times, People, Organic Gardening, and more, with articles published in The American Gardener and Fine Gardening.
A Life in the Garden: Tales and Tips for Growing Food in Every Season
Barbara Damrosch
Thursday, July 24 at 4:00 PM
Garland Farm
She brings a wealth of experience to her recent book A Life in the Garden, exploring themes like the rhythm of the seasons, the satisfaction of growing food, and the therapeutic power of working with soil. She offers thoughts on the role of gardening in modern life and its ability to connect people to nature, creativity and community. In her presentation, she wants to show you how gardening can be a partnership with nature, not a battle, and will get you into the vegetable garden if you are not there already.
Barbara Damrosch is one of the nation’s most respected garden experts and writers. For many years she did business as a landscaper and landscape designer in Northwest Connecticut. That interest was expressed in her early book Theme Gardens and in her 1988 book The Garden Primer, which covers gardening in general. Meanwhile, an increasing enthusiasm for growing her own food (and eating the results!) began to shift her focus, and make her writing more personal as well. The result was a weekly column for The Washington Post called “A Cook’s Garden” which she authored for nearly 15 years. Her passion for growing edibles culminated in her 1991 marriage to fellow author Eliot Coleman, and the couple’s ownership of Four Season Farm, in Harborside, Maine, a year-round experimental market garden, exemplifying small-scale sustainable agriculture.
Evolving Intentions: Dynamic Preservation in Designed Historic Landscapes
Annual Lecture
Thomas Woltz
Saturday, August 2 at 4:00 PM
Holy Family Chapel, Seal Harbor
Free admission
Please select the number of guests using “Quantity” and email the names of guests to programs@beatrixfarrandsociety.org.
If you register to attend on Zoom, a link will be sent to you separately.
In the words of Charles Birnbaum, CEO of The Cultural Landscape Foundation, “Landscape preservation is all about managing change in an evolving world.” The design process for the transformation of historic gardens and landscapes to adapt to 21st century demands of climate resilience, universal accessibility, and expanding public visitation will be discussed. Woltz, Senior Principal of Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects (NBW), will illustrate contemporary design opportunities in landscape preservation through case studies from NBW’s portfolio, including Frederic Church’s Olana, Filoli, and Mount Cuba Center. He will also highlight projects restoring Beatrix Farrand landscapes, such as Edith Wharton’s The Mount and Dumbarton Oaks Fellow’s Housing. The presentation will feature a preview of the firm’s 2025 monograph, The Land is Full, that presents 12 recent public parks and gardens designed by NBW in the US and Canada.
Woltz leads NBW in revitalizing public landscapes at the intersection of culture and ecology. His collaborative approach integrates scientists and historians, uncovering lost histories through designs for urban parks, post-industrial sites, and campuses. NBW’s work spans 30 states and 12 countries. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects and has received numerous accolades, including Design Innovator of the Year by Wall Street Journal Magazine. Woltz is the 2018 recipient of the Beatrix Farrand Society Achievement Award and the firm has worked on four Beatrix Farrand landscapes.
Tulip Mania
Jason Delaney
Thursday, August 7 at 4:00 PM
Garland Farm
Drawing from five centuries’ worth of lavish content in the Oak Spring Garden Library’s rare and antiquarian holdings in Virginia, Jason Delaney will discuss the tulip’s wild origins, its artistic historical representation, its early commercial aspects as the first speculative commodity, and its place in our gardens today.
Jason Delaney’s career includes over 20 years at Missouri Botanical Garden, advancing to be the Bulb Collections Specialist which took him all across the world from the Altai mountains of southern Siberia, the Caucasus Mountains of the Republic of Georgia, the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco, and the Changbaishan Mountains in northeastern China. Today, Jason owns and operates Professional Horticultural Services (PHS), specializing in residential garden design and maintenance; and PHS Daffodils, specializing in daffodil production. Collecting novel garden varieties and historic varieties for genetic preservation are his primary focus; he has yet to learn restraint from acquiring new bulbs annually.
Sitting Still With Laurie Olin: Screening
A Documentary Film by Gina Angelone
Thursday, August 14 at 4:00 PM
The Neighborhood House, Northeast Harbor
You may not know his name, but chances are you know his work. Laurie Olin is responsible for many of the most iconic and beloved parks, gardens, and public spaces in the country, including the Getty Center Gardens, Battery Park City, Columbus Circle, the National Gallery of Art’s sculpture garden, the Washington Monument grounds, Bryant Park, Mission Bay, and Independence Mall, to name only a few. SITTING STILL offers an intimate look into the mind of Laurie Olin, a brilliant and irreverent landscape architect dedicated to designing public spaces fostering democracy and equality. At a time when profit often outweighs people, Olin’s work stands as a testament to the power of landscape in addressing environmental crises and social divides.
The Beatrix Farrand Society Achievement Award and Ceremony
Tom Stuart-Smith
Thursday, August 21 at 4:00 pm
Lecture will be held at Maren Auditorium,
MDI Biological Laboratory, Salsbury Cove;
Reception to immediately follow at Garland Farm
Free admission
During the 2025 Achievement Award and Ceremony, recipient Tom Stuart-Smith’s lecture will explore the art of landscape design, drawing connections to Beatrix Farrand’s approach to integrating diverse cultural influences and botanical traditions. Stuart-Smith will discuss how gardens can serve as narratives of cultural exchange and meaning.
As a landscape architect leading a team of 20 designers from his Hertfordshire studio, Stuart-Smith creates gardens, parks, and landscapes worldwide. His clients include the Royal Horticultural Society, the Royal Academy of Arts, The Duke of Devonshire, and Tate. His recent projects include multiple commissions at Chatsworth, a garden at the Hepworth Wakefield, Le Jardin Secret in Marrakech, a new native plant space in Hamburg’s central park, and the Islamic-inspired Jellicoe Gardens in King’s Cross.
At the Chelsea Flower Show, he has designed nine award-winning gardens, all earning gold medals, with three recognized as ‘Best in Show.’ Currently, he is developing a new garden for Tate Britain, set to open in 2026, and working on the first major public garden in the centre of Edinburgh for 200 years.
Stuart-Smith is a Vice President of the Royal Horticultural Society, an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects, a Fellow of the Landscape Institute, and a Royal Designer for Industry. He was awarded an OBE in 2023.
Where do your plants come from?
Craig Regelbrugge
Thursday, September 4 at 4:00 PM
The Neighborhood House, Northeast Harbor
Whether professional horticulturists, collectors, or just avid gardeners, we are united by a love for plants. Have you ever put down the trowel and paused to think about how plants get to us as consumers, and what goes into the process of breeding,growing and delivering them commercially?
Craig Regelbrugge dedicated his career to public policy work in service of the commercial horticulture industry. Much of his work focused on “unintended consequences” – plant pest and invasive plant prevention and response. He’ll share reflections, observations, and lessons learned and a few thoughts about the future as he describes how the horticulture industry developed, and what it takes these days to produce plants consumers want.
Directions to Garland Farm
GPS Address:
475 Bay View Drive
Bar Harbor, ME 04609
+44° 25′ 43.81″, -68° 19′ 25.22″
Garland Farm is located on Route 3 on Mount Desert Island. From the island bridge, go east toward Bar Harbor for approximately 2 miles and turn left on Bay View Drive. Turn left into the parking area in the field and follow footpath to barn.
From downtown Bar Harbor, go north on Route 3 passing Hadley Point Road (about 7 miles). Continue .7 miles, turn right on Bay View Drive, then left into the parking area. Do not park on Bay View Drive.
Accessible parking is available with advance notice. Please call 207-288-0237.