BRATTLEBORO — Orchids, wildflowers, bumblebees, botanical illustration, and a garden tour are the subjects of upcoming events offered by the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) between April 24 and June 7.
The programs complement BMAC's spring exhibit “Flora: A Celebration of Flowers in Contemporary Art” on view through June 22.
• On Thursday, April 24, at 7 p.m., Sally Winchester, owner of Brattleboro's Windham Flowers, presents a workshop on how to care for orchids, demystifying what it takes to raise them at home.
Participants will view and handle plants and other items, and Winchester will provide handouts containing orchid care tips. Winchester specializes in orchids and other houseplants at Windham Flowers. Admission is free.
• On Saturday, April 26, from 1 to 3:30 p.m., naturalist Patti Smith of Bonnyvale Environmental Education Center (BEEC) leads a spring wildflower walk at a rich, “sweet soil” site in BEEC's forest, where hardy, early-spring wildflowers proliferate. She'll lead participants to see both unusual plants and more common flowers that take advantage of light that reaches the forest floor before leaves come out.
Meet at BEEC on Bonnyvale Road, West Brattleboro, about two miles from Route 9), just shy of 1 p.m. The walk is about {3/4} of a mile on hilly terrain, but the pace will be leisurely. Admission is free.
• Learn about the Vermont Bumblebee Survey on Thursday, May 1, at 7 p.m. at BMAC, when Sara Zahendra, field biologist with the Vermont Center for Ecostudies (VCE), discusses her work on this important environmental project.
Bumblebee species are in decline, but little is known about their distribution and the threats they face in Vermont. Zahendra will explain what entomologist Leif Richardson says when he notes wild bees perform the majority of all pollination on Vermont farms but that we don't know how the loss of native bee species will affect our food supply or overall environmental health. Admission is free.
• For those who like to draw, Bobbi Angell, whose exquisite botanical drawings and etchings are on view in the museum's ticket gallery, will give a botanical illustration workshop at BMAC on Saturday, May 3, at 10 a.m.
Angell will discuss her career and techniques and guide participants in drawing spring flowers and orchids. A botanical artist, printmaker, and gardener with a degree in botany, Angell has contributed finely detailed pen-and-ink illustrations to scientific and scholarly publications as well as seed catalogs, gardening books, and the popular North Hill Garden memoirs.
No experience is necessary, but participants should bring their own sketchbooks and pencils. Admission of $10 ($5 for BMAC members) includes museum admission.
• Speaking of North Hill Garden, BMAC members are invited to join an exclusive tour of the renowned gardens of Joe Eck and the late Wayne Winterrowd, authors of A Year at North Hill (1995), Living Seasonally (1999), and Our Life in Gardens (2009).
Recognized as one of the finest private gardens in North America, North Hill Garden has as its mission “to demonstrate ornamental horticulture at its highest level in the context of the Green Mountains.”
Part of BMAC's “Hidden in the Hills” series of excursions to notable venues, the tour is open to BMAC members only and is limited to 20 guests.
Admission is free. For reservations or to become a member, call 802-257-0124, ext. 101.