🖼️🌷This Boston museum blooms TODAY

It’s Wednesday, Boston.

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🥳 Also, happy birthday to Kendall Yuknewicz-Boisvert! Not only is she a B-Sider, but she’s also one of Gia’s best friends (and roommates) and extremely generous with her snacks. Have the best day!

👀 What’s on tap today:

• Boston’s getting icy 

• The Jonas Brothers at Fenway

• Why so Sadfleck?

Up first…

ARTS & CULTURE

Boston’s best springtime tradition

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is officially in BLOOM. The museum’s annual hanging nasturtiums display is making its grand return today, and there’s more to it than meets the eye.

Here’s what to know:

🎂 Isabella Stewart Gardner started the trend. The ISGM has year-round floral displays in its courtyard, but the nasturtiums are a crowd favorite. Gardner herself created the OG display in the early 1900s by growing the plants and hanging them in the museum’s central courtyard around her birthday, April 14. 

🌷 The museum has honored the tradition for over 100 years. That looks like painstakingly growing and hanging 18 20-foot vines dotted with bright orange flowers (her color of choice) in Gardner’s honor every year. They spend about three weeks on display in the museum’s central courtyard windows starting in late March, and typically sticking around until ISG’s b-day. We could try to describe the scene, but you’re probably better off just taking a look.

😮‍💨 Growing the nasturtiums ain’t easy. The process starts a whopping nine months in advance. The Gardner’s horticulture team grows the plants from seeds in the museum’s greenhouse, starting with over 100 nasturtiums. The plants are potted and re-potted as the most viable vines with the best-looking flowers are selected. Come winter, they’re pruned daily and staked up on trellises, before they’re eventually cut down, transported to the museum, and carefully carried (each plant is about 50 pounds!) to the courtyard. “It’s this really long, caring, labor-intensive process,” Erika Rumbley, the Gardner’s director of horticulture, told WBUR.

🖼️ You can find nasturtium-themed easter eggs all over the museum. The blooms don’t stop in the courtyard — at least three of the objects in ISG’s collection feature the plants, including “Nasturtiums at Fenway Court.” You can even get nasturtium-flavored chocolate and jelly in the gift shop. Apparently, they have a peppery, spicy flavor.

👀 Wanna take a peek? The display is up now, and should stick around through April 14, though their lifespan ultimately depends on the weather. Admission is $22, or free if you’re named Isabella. 

TOGETHER WITH TOAST

If you thought “The Bear” was intense …

🍝 🏃‍♂️ Try working in a Boston restaurant on Marathon Monday. With thousands of (hungry) spectators flooding the city, it's a whirlwind of orders, stress, and zero room for error. But spots like Stella and A.T. O’Keeffe’s along the Marathon route have it down to a science. We spoke to the folks who work behind the scenes to see how they’re prepping for the biggest rush of the year — crafting marathon menus and fine-tuning every move to stay ahead of the crowd. Check out the full video and find your next meal on Toast today. 

CITY

Quick & dirty headlines

⛸️ The world’s *best* skaters are in Boston. And we’re NOT talking about the Bruins. The World Figure Skating Championships are kicking off at TD Garden today, starring Olympic contenders, world champions, and even one guy who’s landed a quadruple axel (nicknamed the “quad god”). The contest is a crucial step for skaters on the road to next year’s winter Olympics, so you can expect to see folks giving it their all. And the best part? Tickets are plentiful, and many events are going for around $25 through the weekend.  

🎸 Somerville officials are cracking down on PorchFest. Earlier this month, the city announced some safety-minded changes to this year’s PorchFest-ivities following years of rapid growth and last year’s Guster fiasco. Think: A new application process for bands that doesn’t guarantee admission, banning performances on “key safety route” streets, new volunteer and emergency management teams, and more porta potties and garbage cans. The festival is slotted for May 10. You can apply to host, play, or volunteer here.

🧬 Ever used 23andMe? Delete your data ASAP. At least, one state attorney general and one journalist think you should. The company that gives users detailed genetic information is heading to bankruptcy court to sell its assets — a.k.a. your DNA data — which means it could be used in ways you didn’t sign up for. The good news: If you’d rather keep your DNA to yourself, you can still download then delete the data by following these steps. Emily doesn’t need the world to know she’s genetically predisposed to having a longer second toe (just you guys).

🔥 Fenway’s gonna be burnin’ up this summer. Yes, we’re talking about the Jonas Brothers, who have joined the park’s summer concert series with a show on August 23. Fenway will be a stop on the band’s 20th anniversary tour (feel old yet?) and artists Marshmello and Boys Like Girls will be opening. As for the music, if their previous tours are any indication, we can expect a mix of oldies, newer hits, and a smattering of the brothers’ individual projects. Tickets go on sale Friday, March 28 at 10 a.m. Grab ‘em here!

QUICK QUESTION!

🎤 Who’s your Jonas brother of choice?

GIVEAWAY!

Together with Barry’s

Enter to win a three-pack of classes from Barry's Boston. To enter, just refer a friend and have them accept your invite by the end of the day on March 26. If you’ve already referred a friend to B-Side (and they’ve accepted), you're eligible! Full details below*

18+. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Limit one entry per person. See Official Rules & an additional entry option here.

ONE LAST THING

Why so Sadfleck?

If you’ve ever wondered what Ben Affleck thinks about his Sadfleck memes … we have an answer. 

Affleck recently gave GQ a long, chatty interview ahead of his upcoming film “The Accountant 2,” in which he addressed the many viral pap photos of him looking disheveled, drinking a Dunkin’ coffee, balancing packages, or smoking a cig (usually at the same time).

“I’ll go out and pick up the packages or deliveries and I don’t really care that people are there to take my picture,” he said. “And some people are probably, I guess you’d call them smarter or more strategic because they think, well: ‘I don’t want to be seen wearing some T-shirt or spilling some drink.’ And I just think: Oh [expletive] it, man, I could give a [expletive]. I just want to get the coffee.”

So there you have it, folks! He just wants to get the coffee. 

— Written by Gia Orsino and Emily Schario

☕ Thanks for reading! And that’s why he’s the DunKing, we guess.

💜 Special shoutout to today’s sponsor, Toast, for supporting local journalism and helping local restaurants run smoothly on Boston’s busiest day. 

🏃 The results are in: 60% of readers say you couldn’t pay them to run the Boston Marathon. One reader said: “I refuse to participate in activities that end with me wrapped up in one of those foil emergency blankets.” Honestly, fair enough!

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