Boston Flora

Month: August 2009

  • Wednesday, September 16 – Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay Annual Meeting

    The Annual Meeting of the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay is scheduled for Wednesday, September 16th at the Algonquin Club on 217 Commonwealth Avenue.  Paul Grogan, President and CEO of The Boston Foundation will speak on The Foundation’s Indicators Project which has been widely honored as one of the most significant research projects of its kind.  The fourth and latest report will be issued this fall.

    Boston today stands at a crossroads. The American Dream seems out of reach for many, and demographic trends threaten to undermine some of the extraordinary progress made in recent decades. Charting the way forward is the Boston Indicators Project, a signature initiative of the Boston Foundation, drawing on a wealth of data generated by area public agencies, civic institutions and community-based organizations and used to identify critical challenges and opportunities for the region and the neighborhoods that define it.
    The author of Comeback Cities: A Blueprint for Urban Neighborhood Revival and a member of  the legendary team of leaders assembled by Boston Mayor Kevin White, Paul Grogan brought a passion for cities and a deep understanding of civic culture to his leadership of one of Boston’s storied nonprofit organizations. The result has been a new national model for community foundations committed to enabling the regions they serve to compete successfully in the complex world of the 21st century.

    The Boston Foundation is one of the nation’s oldest and largest community foundations.  Mr. Grogan will provide a thumbnail of the Foundation’s history and role in Greater Boston and the Back Bay and where they are today.  For time of the meeting, and to rsvp, please telephone Lois Harvey at 617-247-3961, or email info@nabbonline.com.

    Derby Photo

  • Sunday, September 20 – Director’s Open House at Tower Hill

    Sunday, September 20 – Director’s Open House at Tower Hill

    Celebrate John W. Trexler’s 25th Anniversary as Tower Hill’s founding Executive Director, showcasing the best of Tower Hill.  Fun activities for all ages, multiple garden tours, demonstrations on organic gardening and Italian slow food cooking demonstrations, wildlife exhibits from the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, live birds of prey, hawk watching, wildlife photography, lectures on the interaction of plants and animals, videos, and at 2 pm, a special tree dedication in John’s honor.  For more information log on to www.towerhillbg.org.  Free admission all day.

  • Wednesday, September 9, 5 – 6 pm – Managing the Garden Organically

    Boston’s newest park, the Rose F. Kennedy Greenway, is blooming thanks to careful organic maintenance by the park’s stewards, the Rose F. Kennedy Greenway Conservancy. Learn how you can take these practices and methods home to your garden.  This one hour outdoor presentation and walk will take place Wednesday, September 9, beginning at 5 pm, and the starting location will be determined soon.  To learn more, contact www.hellogreenway.org, or www.rosekennedygreenway.org.

  • Saturday, September 12 – “Native Plants” at The Mall at Chestnut Hill

    The final installment of The Mall at Chestnut Hill’s 2009 Organic Garden Series will take place Saturday, September 12 with “Native Plants.”  Hear a presentation on winterizing gardens, and best of all, there will be a tomato tasting and a lecture on how to preserve food (canning, freezing, fermenting) with results from June’s seedlings.  Also, there will be an opportunity to purchase from a vegetable and fruit stand.  For more information, log on to www.simon.com and click @Your Mall Now!, or call 617-965-3037.

  • Saturday and Sunday, September 12 – 13, 10 – 5 – Bonsai Weekend

    Come to Tower Hill Botanic Garden, 11 French Drive, Boylston, Massachusetts on Saturday or Sunday, September 12 or 13, from 10 – 5, and enjoy Bonsai Weekend, The Art of the Potted Plant.  The exhibit will be in the Stoddard Education and Visitors Center, and is sponsored by The New England Bonsai Society.  Gorgeous displays of specimen bonsai plants, with guided tours, lectures, and programs on bonsai culture will be part of the celebration.  Discover the world of bonsai – the art of growing trees in miniature.  Free admission on Saturday, Regular admission on Sunday.  For more information, log on to www.towerhillbg.org, email thgb@towerhillbg.org, or call 508-869-6111, ext 146.

    http://diveroo.com/gifts//srv/htdocs/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/315y6hvd47l_sl500_aa267_.jpg

  • Tuesday, September 22, 6:30 – 8:30 pm – Introduction to Botany

    Learn botany from dedicated instructor and plant nomenclature specialist Kanchi Gandhi. Among the topics to be explored: plant cells and tissues, anatomy and morphology, reproduction, nutrition, growth and development, plant diversity, evolution, classification, and nomenclature. This course, offering both lecture and laboratory activities, introduces botany to new students or serves as a refresher course. Required text: Botany for Gardeners by Brian Capon. Contact the Arboretum’s bookstore (617.384.5209) for book availability. Sessions continue Tuesdays September 29, October 6, 13, 20, 27, November 3 and 10, all 6:30 – 8:30 at the Arnold Arboretum.  Fee $180 for members of Arnold Arboretum or New England Wild Flower Society, $215 for nonmembers. Register now! Fee will increase to $225 member, $270 nonmember on September 1.  Log on to www.arboretum.harvard.edu to sign up.

    Tattoo Inspiration by Dharmuti.

  • Tuesday, September 15, 6:30 – 8:30 pm – Design a Native Mixed-Border Garden

    The Trustees of Reservations is sponsoring an illustrated lecture and workshop at Long Hill Horticultural Center in Beverly, Massachusetts on Tuesday, September 15, from 6:30 – 8:30 pm.  You’ll learn how to artfully combine shrubs and small trees with a selection of perennial and annual herbaceous plants, and to create a border garden with four seasons of beauty.  Horticulturist and landscape designer Laura Eisner will illustrate basic design principles you can apply to planning and planting a mixed border of any size and shape.  Also covered will be a range of native North American plants that thrive in borders.  Along with plant attributes and drawbacks, Laura will talk about those difficult areas where your plants never seem to thrive and she will discuss which plants will do well there.  Co-sponsored with the New England Wild Flower Society.  Members of the Trusees or NEWFS $25, nonmembers $30.  Registration required.  Contact bzschau@ttor.org.  Log on to www.thetrustees.org for directions.

    http://www.gardenvisit.com/assets/madge/long_hill_massachusetts/600x/long_hill_massachusetts_600x.jpg

  • Monday, August 31, 6 pm – Boston Bikes Initiative Community Meeting

    The Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Services and Boston Bikes invite you to a

    COMMUNITY MEETING

    Monday, August 31, 2009
    6:00 PM
    Boston Public Library Central Branch
    Mezzanine Conference Room
    700 Boylston Street

    As part of Mayor Menino’s Boston Bikes Initiative, the City of Boston is creating bike lanes on major roadways to improve access and safety for all users.  The purpose of this meeting is to discuss the proposed installation of bike lanes on Commonwealth Avenue.

    For more information, please contact:
    Will Onuoha, Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Services
    (617) 635-3485
    Nicole Freedman, Boston Bikes
    (617) 918-4456

    Boston Bikes is part of Mayor Menino’s plan for a vibrant and healthy city that benefits all its citizens. It seeks to make Boston a world-class bicycling city by creating safe and inviting conditions for all residents and visitors.  The Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay supports a public process but has some reservations about the plan as proposed, and encourages us to attend this first public meeting.

  • Saturday, September 12, 9:00 a.m. – Grasses Identification Workshop

    Grasses are all around us in great beauty and abundance, yet – lacking bright colors and distinctive shapes – they can be difficult to identify.  This workshop will demystify the identification process by pointing out common species and, most importantly, explaining the key characteristics to look for.  The workshop, at Lockwood Farm Cottage in Hamden, Connecticut, will focus on naked-eye field ID, not detailed flower morphology.  If we see them, we will touch briefly on common sedges and rushes as well.

    Field trips are a long standing tradition of the Connecticut Botanical Society.  They provide an opportunity to learn about plants and habitats from some the area’s most knowledgeable botanists, and an opportunity to share your own knowledge with others.  The trips also add to the bank of knowledge of New England flora.  On each field trip. a list is made of all plant species identified, and this list becomes part of the Society’s records.  This workshop will be led by Lauren Brown, author of Grasses: A Simplified Identification Guide, published by Houghton Mifflin. For field trips, wear sturdy footwear and bring a lunch.  Sunscreen and insect repellant are also recommended.  For plant identification, you may wish to bring a field guide(s), a hand lens, and a small notebook.  Familiarity with plant taxonomy is helpful, but not required.  No pre-registration is required.  Free to CBS members.  Non-members must pay a $15 fee, which includes a one-year membership in CBS, and entitles you to join future trips this season at no additional cost.  For more information and directions, call 203-481-0377, or log on to www.ct-botanical-society.org.

    Grasses: An Identification Guide (Sponsored by the Roger Tory Peterson Institute)

  • Saturday, September 12, 2 – 4 pm – Tea and Garden Tour

    Join the folks from Russell’s Garden Center at the Damon-Kominz Garden in Weston for tea, a tour, and a talk! This charming and whimsical garden has been created by an avid gardener and her husband with a wonderfully eclectic collection of perennials, trees, and shrubs. Fred Dabney, from Quansett Nurseries, will discuss Fall Perennial Gardening at 2:30 p.m. while tea and scones are served. Fred will also be available for questions and suggestions regarding your garden. Please pre-register as this event is limited to 50 participants. $7.00 fee due at registration. Please call 508-358-2283. For more information, log on to www.russellsgardencenter.com .