Online. Virtual program on Gardening in the Age of Elizabeth I

West Milford Township Library will host garden historian and writer Lesley Parness for Bring the Bard to your Yard: Gardening in the Age of Elizabeth I. This free program will be presented online on Saturday, Aug. 7, from 2-3 p.m.

The age of Elizabeth I provided William Shakespeare with a rich and varied plant palette, both from England’s considerable bounty and foreign introductions. These he “planted” in his prolific contributions to English literature, and they still bloom today in language filled with plant lore and flower symbolism.

In this workshop, participants will learn Elizabeth I’s role in the advancement of English horticulture and will see Elizabethan garden elements including mounts and mazes, spouting sundials, fantastical topiary and the pleached bower.

Parness has worked in public gardens in America and abroad for the past four decades. She is a founding member and past president of Garden State Gardens, a non-profit consortium of New Jersey’s public gardens, and a member of the Herb Society of America and the Council on Botanic and Horticultural Libraries. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including The Friends of the Frelinghuysen Arboretum’s Annual and Arbor Day Awards, The Friends of Berry Lane Park’s Annual Award and The North Jersey Civil War Roundtable’s Special Achievement Award.

To register for this program, visit wmtl.org/events or call 973-728-2822.