Gardens Tour
Join the Blithewold Gardens staff for a special tour! Get the inside scoop on plant selection, color strategy, and garden design for our display gardens. Learn about new management techniques and how the team is continually planning for the next phase of the gardens.
Pre-registration is required. Class size is limited to 12.
Meeting Place: Bristol. Categories: Gardens. Forests and Trees. Plants. Organized by: Blithewold Manor, Gardens and Arboretum. Organizer Homepage: https://www.blithewold.org. Contact: Jillian Cleveland. Contact email: JCleveland@blithewold.org. Intended Audience: General. Cost: $25 Members | $35 Nonmembers. Calendar By: https://www.provgardener.com.
Wednesday, June 11, 2025, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
Blithewold Manor, Gardens and Arboretum
101 Ferry Road
Bristol, Rhode Island 02809.
For more info visit www.blithewold.org. Books and Banter: Saturday Book Club
On Saturday, June 14, join us for the third edition of Books and Banter, the Saturday Book Club at the Roger Williams Park Botanical Center. This month we're reading Daniel Mason's "The North Woods." This work of historical fiction tells the story of a single house in New England over the course of several centuries. Free with admission!
Meeting Place: Providence. Categories: Recreation/Exploration. History/Natural History. Plants. Organized by: Roger Williams Park Botanical Center. Organizer Homepage: https://www.providenceri.gov/botanical-center/. Contact: Julia Ruiz Borys. Contact email: bcinformation@providenceri.gov. Intended Audience: Adults. College/University. General. Teachers. Cost: Free with Admission. Calendar By: https://www.provgardener.com.
Saturday, June 14, 2025, 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM.
Roger Williams Park Botanical Center
1 Floral Avenue, Providence, RI, 02905.
For more info visit www.providenceri.gov. 100th Anniversary of the Victrola with Restoration Expert Ned Connors
Blithewold’s restored 1925 Victrola Credenza phonograph is celebrating its 100th birthday! Come join Ned Connors, historian of recorded sound and friend of Blithewold, for an evening of period 78 RPM records played on the mansion’s rare and still hearty Credenza, plus a talk on the popular culture and recorded sound of the remarkable—and often misunderstood—decade of the 1920s.
Feel free to dress the part and don your favorite fascinator, beads, and fringe while you sip and snack on some “roaring good” goodies.
Pre-registration is required.
Meeting Place: Bristol. Categories: Gardens. Organized by: Blithewold Manor, Gardens and Arboretum. Organizer Homepage: https://www.blithewold.org. Contact: Jillian Cleveland. Contact email: JCleveland@blithewold.org. Intended Audience: General. Cost: $35 Members | $45 Nonmembers. Calendar By: https://www.provgardener.com.
Thursday, June 19, 2025, 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM.
The Dining Room
Blithewold Manor, Gardens and Arboretum
101 Ferry Road
Bristol, Rhode Island 02809.
For more info visit www.blithewold.org. Wine Tasting and Talk on the Porch with Lynda Gaines
Come join us for a deep dive into wine. In each class, we will taste five different wines from a variety of regions, compare and contrast them, and learn a bit more about grape varietals and winemaking practices, with a focus on wines from regions that offer a good value for your money. Discover a favorite new grape varietal or taste wines from a region you’ve never tried. We’ll be drinking wine and having a good time doing it!
June 26: Red Wines
Learn how tannins, oak influence, and climate impact how wine tastes.
Limited to 12 Participants. Pre-registration is required.
Meeting Place: Bristol. Categories: Gardens. Recreation/Exploration. Organized by: Blithewold Manor, Gardens and Arboretum. Organizer Homepage: https://www.blithewold.org. Contact: Jillian Cleveland. Contact email: JCleveland@blithewold.org. Intended Audience: General. Cost: $50 Members | $55 Nonmembers. Calendar By: https://www.provgardener.com.
Thursday, June 26, 2025, 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM.
Breakfast Porch
Blithewold Manor, Gardens and Arboretum
101 Ferry Road
Bristol, Rhode Island 02809.
For more info visit www.blithewold.org. Discover the Chamaecypris
Chamaecyparis, also known as false cypress, make up 15 percent of the living collection of Blithewold’s Arboretum, with more than 200 specimens to see! Join Dan Christina for a walking tour of forms and cultivars that are sure to capture your interest and provide inspiration for your own home landscape.
Pre-registration is required. Class size is limited to 20.
Meeting Place: Bristol. Categories: Plants. Gardens. Forests and Trees. Organized by: Blithewold Manor, Gardens and Arboretum. Organizer Homepage: https://www.blithewold.org. Contact: Jillian Cleveland. Contact email: JCleveland@blithewold.org. Intended Audience: General. Cost: $25 Members | $35 Nonmembers. Calendar By: https://www.provgardener.com.
Tuesday, July 15, 2025, 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM.
Grounds
Blithewold Manor, Gardens and Arboretum
101 Ferry Road
Bristol, Rhode Island 02809.
For more info visit www.blithewold.org. Demystifying the Hydrangea with Reed Pugh
Hydrangeas are some of the most striking flowering shrubs, from the size and color of their inflorescences, to their lengthy flowering times. However, there is much confusion regarding water and soil requirements, sun exposure, fertilization, and pruning of these colorful shrubs. We will walk through the gardens and visit many cultivars of common species in New England: macrophylla (Big Leaf), arborescens (Smooth), paniculata (Paniculate), quercifolia (Oak Leaf), as well as some special, uncommon species. A handout will provide information for the proper care of the different species and a listing of the plants visited.
Pre-registration is required. Class size is limited to 15.
Meeting Place: Bristol. Categories: Gardens. Plants. Organized by: Blithewold Manor, Gardens and Arboretum. Organizer Homepage: https://www.blithewold.org. Contact: Jillian Cleveland. Contact email: JCleveland@blithewold.org. Intended Audience: General. Cost: $25 Members | $35 Nonmembers. Calendar By: https://www.provgardener.com.
Saturday, July 19, 2025, 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM.
The Grounds
Blithewold Manor, Gardens and Arboretum
101 Ferry Road
Bristol, Rhode Island 02809.
For more info visit www.blithewold.org. Gardening With the Masters
July 19 and July 20, 2025, from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
A biennial, two-day event that allows ticket holders to visit the beautiful gardens of (and tended by) certified URI Master Gardener volunteers. Tour participants have the opportunity to go behind the gates at gardens that showcase environmentally-friendly gardening practices across Rhode Island. Examples of practices on display include hot and cold composting, native plant pollinator gardens, hugelkultur, low-input vegetable growing, drip irrigation, small-space and container gardening, and more!
Admission tickets are $30/each. Each ticket admits one visitor to all the gardens open during the official tour weekend. During the registration process, you will have the option to purchase multiple tickets (up to ten). Ticket purchases are non-refundable. Tickets are transferable in the event that you are unable to attend the tour.
Bring Family and Friends, but kindly leave your pets at home with the exception of service animals: Admission is free for youth under…
Meeting Place: -Multiple Locations. Categories: Gardens. Plants. Organized by: URI Cooperative Extension. Organizer Homepage: https://web.uri.edu/coopext/. Contact email: coopext@uri.edu. Intended Audience: General. Cost: $30/each youth under 18 is free. Calendar By: https://www.provgardener.com.
Saturday, July 19, 2025, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM.
For more info visit web.uri.edu. Gardening With the Masters
July 19 and July 20, 2025, from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
A biennial, two-day event that allows ticket holders to visit the beautiful gardens of (and tended by) certified URI Master Gardener volunteers. Tour participants have the opportunity to go behind the gates at gardens that showcase environmentally-friendly gardening practices across Rhode Island. Examples of practices on display include hot and cold composting, native plant pollinator gardens, hugelkultur, low-input vegetable growing, drip irrigation, small-space and container gardening, and more!
Admission tickets are $30/each. Each ticket admits one visitor to all the gardens open during the official tour weekend. During the registration process, you will have the option to purchase multiple tickets (up to ten). Ticket purchases are non-refundable. Tickets are transferable in the event that you are unable to attend the tour.
Bring Family and Friends, but kindly leave your pets at home with the exception of service animals: Admission is free for youth under…
Meeting Place: -Multiple Locations. Categories: Gardens. Plants. Organized by: URI Cooperative Extension. Organizer Homepage: https://web.uri.edu/coopext/. Contact email: coopext@uri.edu. Intended Audience: General. Cost: $30/each youth under 18 is free. Calendar By: https://www.provgardener.com.
Sunday, July 20, 2025, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM.
For more info visit web.uri.edu. Pollinator Stroll
Summer is a wonderful time to get out and appreciate the natural world - it is a sensory feast, with all sorts of life being at their most vibrant. However, you do not need to get lost deep in the woods or in the middle of a vast meadow to experience nature! Join the Rhode Island Division of Fish and Wildlife at the splendid garden at Kettle Pond Visitor Center in Charlestown for a nature walk exploring native plants, pollinators, and learn how to make a pollinator garden of your own. This program is FREE and held in partnership with the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Registration is required and space is limited.
Meeting Place: Charlestown. Categories: Critters. Ecology/Habitat. Gardens. Organized by: RIDEM Division of Fish and Wildlife. Organizer Homepage: https://www.dem.ri.gov/fishwildlife. Contact: Mary Gannon. Contact email: mary.gannon@dem.ri.gov. Intended Audience: Adults. General. Cost: Free. Certification and Licensing: No. Volunteer Opportunity: No. Calendar By: https://www.provgardener.com.
Saturday, August 2, 2025, 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM.
USFWS Kettle Pond Visitor Center, 50 Bend Rd, Charlestown, RI.
For more info visit forms.office.com.