Now in bloom, guests of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum can awe at dozens of cascading colorful nasturtium blooms, a tradition dating back to 1913. These flowering vines require at least 10 employees to hang and mark the annual return of color to the classic Fenway museum.
The tradition began when Isabella herself decided to implement it the week before Easter in her Brookline home and the museum! The vines are now on display and dangling gloriously and are expected to hang around until April 14, the late Isabella Stewart Gardner’s birthday! Gardner would notoriously always decorate the courtyard with these nasturtiums, making this an over 100-year-old museum tradition.
The nasturtiums usually last about three weeks, so you can enjoy the display until late April, right around Marathon time!
It makes me sick at heart that I have so much else to do, I can’t get in more often to paint in the court… I do hope to get in some sunny day soon, said Arthur Pope, the friend of Gardner an artist who captured the nasturtiums in full bloom.
The Nasturtium vines are a huge undertaking for the museum but are greatly admired by visitors. The seeds are started way back in June, planted in late summer, and then trained in museum greenhouses with meticulous care to ensure the optimal length of up to 20 feet, and dramatic blooms!
Tickets are required for admission, or you can join the museum for free First Thursdays!
Find the Hanging Nasturtiums at 25 Evans Way Boston, MA 02115 this April