Sunken Garden Restored!!

Highfield Hall & Gardens Sunken Garden

The Sunken Garden is nearly complete thanks to the generous support from Stephen and Joan Clark for funding this initiative. We would not have been able to accomplish this task in such short timespan! We cannot thank you enough! 

We are also grateful to the Eversource team and Cape Cod Vocational Tech as they provided their time and talent planting over 300 dwarfed holly bushes. 

As you may know, we had to remove the boxwoods last Fall due to disease and George Chapman has been busy all winter planning and lining up the plants and volunteers. With the help of Larry Silva and the weekly Garden Volunteers, our gardens are looking fantastic and ready for the season ahead! 

We would like to take this opportunity and acknowledge the following: 

- Stephen & Joan Clark for their incredible support
- James McBratney, Sylvan Nursery for providing shrubbery at a much reduced price
- John Burnett, Upper Cape Tech Horticulture Department
- Paul Sellers, Eversource for organizing the volunteers from his company

Thank you all for your generosity!

Member Preview Spring Exhibitions

Member Preview

May 1, 2023

3:30 pm - 5:30 pm

(time change)

We invite all members to attend our next Member Preview for both Spring shows, Entanglements and no blue no green.

Artist Nancy Grice will showcase her incredible works of art. After years of painting realistically, from landscapes and genre painting, she sought refuge in the basics of form. Grice employs a series of glazes and interactive finishes such as metallic pigments to render geometric shapes and color. 

The elements inhabiting her compositions suggest a new dimension of light and time, themes she repeated in her life when she alternated living between different time zones and different hemispheres in New Zealand and Maine.

Local Woods Hole Artist, Sven Atema will present his stunningly original paintings and drawings in Highfield Hall’s second-floor galleries. A finely tuned collection of imagery appears-and-reappears in his mystical renderings. Atema works with permanent water-based pigments of which he literally and figuratively pours forms suggestive of earth and sea life onto wood, stretched linen, and paper. The artist visually expresses earth’s fragility and its dynamism at counterbalancing stress on its resources through his continuous experiments with various media.

no blue no green alludes to the ocean’s significant role in sustaining life on the planet. With 71% of our planet covered in water it is the ocean that is the balancing force in one direction or another. Water sustains us and it also will significantly shape our future. 

Both exhibits open May 2^nd and closes June 11th 2023. 

Garden Design

GARDEN DESIGN 101

Thursday, May 4, 2023

4:30 pm - 6:00 pm

$15 / $25 non-member

Garden Design 101 takes concepts from architecture, interior and garden design and shows you how to incorporate these principles into your garden. Topics include: assessment and function, enclosure and third dimension, texture and shape, rhythm and repeat planting, timing and massing, color and maintenance. This presentation also shows how adding an element to your garden, such as a fence can vastly enhance the garden’s beauty and focuses on gardening as a process rather than as a product.

Class instructor, Mary Jo Maffei has been gardening since she was a teenager, but started gardening seriously and studying garden design 30 years ago. She is passionate about beautiful and functional garden design, and loves helping others create their own beautiful outdoor space.

REGISTER NOW

ADULT FELTING CLASS

ADULT FELTING CLASS WITH CHERYL

Saturday, May 13, 2023

10:30 am - 12:30 pm

$30 / $40 non-member

Adult Felting Class with Cheryl Flett of FabFunFiber. Learn all about felting, the process and design, and create your own felt flowers! This workshop is perfect for adults who want to express their creative side with a fun and accessible project. All materials will be provided.

REGISTER NOW

FLOWER POUNDING HAS RETURNED TO HIGHFIELD

FLOWER POUNDING WITH ANNA HOLMES

Saturday, May 20, 2023

12:30 pm - 3:30 pm

$40 / $50 non-member

Join Anna during this creative process to create a decorative flower grid using flowers and foliage to make a wall hanging or greeting card. 

Your designs will be applied to a specially treated fabric and other applications will be reviewed to use this technique. Please bring a few blooms, foliage, herbs from your garden, a metal hammer with a flat head, ruler, hand towel, tweezers, and ear plugs. 

This class was a sell out last year, don't wait to register! 

Register online today or call us at 508-495-1878, ext. 2

REGISTER NOW

STANLEY & GRIMM COMING TO HIGHFIELD

STANLEY & GRIMM

Sunday, May 21, 2023

4:00 pm - 6:00 pm

$20 / $30 non-member

Popular Celtic duo Stanley & Grimm entertain with a celebration of traditional music through old and new interpretations of jigs, reels, and songs played with lively fiddle, guitar, and voice. 

Fiddler Nikki Engstrom and singer/guitarist Sean Brennan create a musical journey through a bounty of fiddle tunes and ballads of all origins, alongside modern tunes and songs they have composed. Nikki has delighted audiences for over two decades with her spirited and sensitive playing.

Through a broad range of fiddle music from old and new sets of jigs and reels to slow airs, with Sean's warm vocals and rhythmic guitar, Stanley & Grimm capture the essence and energy of great traditional music. 

Register online today or call us at 508-495-1878, ext. 2

REGISTER NOW

FARM TO TABLE IS BEGINING!

FARMTO TABLE WITH GAIL

MAY HARVEST

Thursday, May 25, 2023

12:00 pm - 2:00 pm

$65 / $75 non-member

Each of our Farm to Table classes will include an appetizer, salad or soup, entrée, and dessert. We will also serve a refreshing beverage that utilizes fresh herbs and shows off some edible flowers. Gail has been growing herbs on Cape Cod for almost fifty years and will answer questions about herb gardening along with “all things culinary.” Guest chefs may join her, depending on their availability during our “high season.” 

May harvests typically bring more greens and beans to the market. These early plants are a sure sign that spring has arrived: arugula, asparagus, chard, garlic scapes, green onions, lettuce, morels and other mushrooms, new potatoes, radishes, rhubarb, and spinach. Herbs that appear include lovage, chives, parsley, and thyme. 

In our May 25th class, we will look towards Memorial Day, and sample some different salads to serve at your first official cookout.

This is a demonstration class with tastings. Please note that the dishes mentioned in the class description are subject to change according to the guest chef and the availability of ingredients. 

Grab a seat at the table TODAY! 

Register online now or call, 508-495-1878 ext. 2

REGISTER NOW

GIFT SHOP VENDOR SPOTLIGHT

Featuring another new vendor this year is Bonnie Garaventi of Sandwich, MA. Bonnie is the owner/artist from the Goodness Studio supplying the Highfield Gift Shop with one-of-a-kind items for your home and garden. Her adorable creatures and wall hanging behind the piglets are wonderfully crafted! A must have for any patio space. 

Please stop by to pick up a gift for your special someone!

UPCOMING PROGRAMS AT A GLANCE

We are adding programs daily to the website, please check our website for more information.

- Qi Gong in the Garden with Margie, May 30th
- Celebrate Pride Day with Jo Lima, June 2nd
- Carolyn Enger, Classical Pianist, June 4th
- Turning Point Dance, June 11th

VIEW OUR CALENDAR

GARDEN TIP FROM GEORGE CHAPMAN

PRUNING FLOWERING SHRUBS

There is always a lot of discussion concerning the when and how of pruning deciduous flowering shrubs to maintain size, shape and flowering. Another type of pruning not so often discussed is rejuvenation pruning. This type of pruning involves the thinning out of the plant canopy and removal of old stems from the base to promote the flower power of the plant. 

Thinning is best done now as plants are in the green bud stage and it is easy to see the structure of the branching. Removing up to one third of the interior weaker branches allows for light and air to penetrate the canopy promoting flower production. Removing up to one third of the oldest stems at ground level promotes the growth of new and vigorous stems for future flowering. 

Lilac, forsythia, and the ever popular mophead Hydrangea macrophylla benefit greatly from old stem removal. Older stems are generally at the center of the plant, wider in diameter and have a woody or darker appearance.

CORPORATE MEMBERSHIP

This annual membership program gives you exceptional access to Highfield Hall & Gardens’ programs, exhibits and exclusive VIP events.

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