Boston Flora

Month: September 2009

  • Tuesday, October 20, 10 am – 12 noon – Design Workshop

    Sign up for a series of three hands-on workshops for beginning and intermediate flower arrangers.  The Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts is sponsoring the classes, to be held at the Espousal Center, 554 Lexington Street, North Waltham, MA on Tuesdays from 10 am to 12 noon on October 20, April 13, 2010, and May 11, 2010.  This series differs from the series beginning on October 14 because it is truly participatory.  The fee for all three sessions is $105, which includes all materials and instruction.  No refunds are offered if you are unable to attend, but you may designate someone to attend in your place, or ask a friend who is attending to collect your flowers and container at the end of class.  You must supply clippers, a notebook, and a clean up bag.  Please mail your check, made out to GCFM, Inc., to Maureen Marshall, Registrar, 79 Morton Street, Holliston, MA 01746. Include your name, address, Garden Club affiliation, Telephone number, and email.  Space is limited to 90 people, and will be allocated on a first come basis.  You may wish to call first to confirm availability.  Maureen’s number is 508-429-4936, and she may also be reached by email at sweetpeapatch@aol.com.

    http://www.comparestoreprices.co.uk/images/unbranded/y/unbranded-yellow-posy.jpg

  • Saturday, October 3, 8:00 am – 3:00 pm and Sunday, October 4, 1:00 pm – 54th Annual Northern Berkshire Fall Foliage Festival Farmer’s Market, Arts & Crafts Festival, and Parade

    The Berkshire Chamber of Commerce and the city of North Adams are proud to announce that the 54th Fall Foliage Festival.  On Saturday, October 3, a Farmer’s Market will be held in the Saint Anthony Municipal Parking Lot  across from MASS MoCA.  The Autumn Arts & Crafts Festival, from 10:00 am – 3:00 pm, takes place on the sidewalk on the north side of Main Street. The Parade will be held on Sunday, October 4, 2009, beginning at 1:00 pm.  The Fall Foliage Festival Parade Committee selected “Taste of the Berkshires” as the theme for the 2009 parade.  This theme is an opportunity for the community to experience all of the flavors of Berkshire County.  The 54th Annual Fall Foliage Festival Parade Grand Marshal will be Carl Jenkins, former director of the Drury High School band, Adjunct Teacher of Oboe, and part-time Coordinator of Fine and Performing Arts for the city of North Adams.  A half century ago, the leadership of the North Adams Chamber of Commerce deemed the advent of the fall foliage season a time for celebration, given that the natural beauty of the surrounding mountain ranges inspired visitors from all over the Eastern United States. For more information, log on to www.fallfoliageparade.com.  The picture below was taken at the North Adams Country Club.

    http://www.northadamscountryclub.com/autumn-leaves.jpg


  • Wednesday, June 15 – Sunday, June 19, 2011: This Glorious Earth

    The World Association of Flower Arrangers announces that the United States of America is the host country of WAFA, responsible for  three years of floral activity.  The 10th World Flower Show will culminate in a four day event at the World Trade Center here in Boston, June 15 – June 19, 2011. Join WAFA as it welcomes floral artists from across the globe.  The show will be an extraordinary time for the USA: a chance to see and participate in a collaborative effort by the National Garden Clubs, Inc. and The Garden Club of America’s design study groups.  There are spaces and places available for everyone who wants to be a part of these memorable events.  Sign up and learn more at www.wafausa.org.

    Subscribe to Floral Design Magazine
    and support the 10th World Flower Show
    In a watershed move, Floral Design Magazine’s publisher, Mike Legg, has joined WAFA USA fundraising efforts by donating US$10.00 for every new subscription and subsequent renewals received until the World Flower Show being held in 2011.
    Start a subscription today by visiting Floral Design Magazine’s special webpage http://www.floraldesignmagazine.com/wafa.html

  • Saturday, October 3, 2:00 – 4:00 pm – Birds of the Americas III Exhibit Opening

    Providing artistic and technical renditions of species across the Americas is the primary goal of local educator and photographer Eduardo del Solar. For this exhibit at Mass Audubon’s Boston Nature Center, 500 Walk Hill Street, Mattapan, he has captured images of endemic species from South America in their natural habitat. This year Eduardo has visited the islands of San Cristobal, Santa Cruz and Española in Galapagos as well as the Bellavista Cloud Forest Reserve in mainland Ecuador. Coastal birds from Lima and images of northern visitors to New England are part of this exhibit as well. Meet the artist and enjoy refreshments! Exhibit runs through October 31, 2009.  The free opening reception with wine and cheese will be held Saturday, October 3, from 2 – 4 pm.  For more information, log on to www.massaudubon.org, call 617-983-8500, or email bnc@massaudubon.org.

    http://www.treehugger.com/eduardo-del-solar.jpg

  • Saturday, October 3, 9 am – 11 am – Save Those Seeds for Next Year’s Garden

    Horticulturist Jeremy Dick will present a program at City Natives, 30 Edgewater Drive in Mattapan, on Saturday, October 3, from 9 – 11 am.  Learn how to collect, process, and store seeds from your garden and from the wild.  This program will cover the proper handling and preservation of seed to greatly increase your success with germination.  Become a seed saver, grow your favorite plants year to year, and share seeds with friends.  Registration is required, although program is free of charge.  To register, call 617-542-7696, or email info@bostonnatural.org.

    Poem on Patience to Plant Seeds by pictoscribe.

  • Saturday, October 24, 1:30 pm – Living in Paradise: Heian Paradise Gardens

    We all live in two worlds: the natural and the symbolic. Our expectations, memories, and the reality of death play a significant role in our lives. There is a rich landscape tradition that evokes many natural and symbolic responses to our ephemeral existence, the afterlife, burial customs, and memorialization. In five programs from October 2009 through March 2010, a series entitled “The Landscape of Eternity” explores some of the ideas and expressions of these landscapes of memory. The Landscape Visions Lecture Series is made possible by a bequest from Jeanne Muller Ryan.  The first program, on October 24, in the Tapestry Room of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, will be given by garden designer and historian Marc Peter Keane.

    In Heian Japan, Amida Buddha’s Western Paradise was recreated in elaborate estate and temple gardens. Within this symbolic landscape, the image of Amida Buddha was enshrined in a hall set on the shore of a pond. Marc Peter Keane explores several of these gardens and their role as a paradise on earth. Tickets: $15 General Public; $12 Seniors; $5 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Members; FREE for Students.  Tickets may be purchased on line at www.gardnermuseum.org, or by calling 617-566-1401. Image: Scenes from the Tale of Genji (detail), 1677; Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

    Genji screen detail - Landscape Visions Lecture

  • Tuesday, October 20, 6:00 pm – News of Brewer Fountain Plaza Renovation

    The Friends of the Public Garden presents News of Brewer Fountain Plaza Renovation, Boston Common, on Tuesday, October 20, beginning at 6:00 pm at The Hampshire House, 84 Beacon Street in Boston.  Come hear the plans to revitalize the landscape in this heavily used area of the park, making it a greener, more inviting gateway into the Common and a destination within the park, with a restored Brewer Fountain as its centerpiece.  Also, hear about the plans to celebrate the Friends of the Public Garden’s 40th Anniversary in 2010.  Reception follows.  The event is free but please RSVP and make a reservation, as space is limited.  Email by Thursday, October 15 at fopg@gis.net, or call 617-723-8144.

    http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2393/2351601886_daf7f2a9af.jpg

  • Wednesday, October 14, 10:30 a.m. – 12 noon – Bonsai Matching

    What would happen if a bonsai tree were planted in the ground? Most of the species seen as bonsai in the Arnold Arboretum’s world-renowned Larz Anderson Bonsai Collection can also be seen in the Arboretum landscape, but they look very different! Explore the history and culture of bonsai and the Arboretum’s long relationship with these fascinating plants. Compare and contrast bonsai with their “unrestricted” counterparts in the landscape. Meet instructor Robbie Apfel, Docent, at the Bonsai House, adjacent to the Dana Greenhouse at 1050 Centre Street.  Free. Advance registration requested.  Log on to www.arboretum.harvard.edu to sign up  and for directions.

    Ficus Bonsai, Washington, DC by Grufnik.

  • Saturday, October 10, 10 am – 2 pm – Double Drumlin with Fire

    Join the New England Wild Flower Society on a hike botanizing two different communities formed by two dramatic glacial features:  a double drumlin and a kettlehole, owned by The Trustees of Reservations. We visit Weir Hill Reservation with Frances Clark and walk through 80 acres of field and woodland under fire management.  Oaks, hickories, blueberries, grasses, and sedges, with a variety of fall wildflowers of various colors highlight the mosaic formed by different burning regimes.  Descending from these dry slopes, we enter a wet meadow and visit the Ward Reservation to investigate the classic kettlehole bog, one of the best examples in eastern Massachusetts.   The colors should be spectacular, with many end-of-season fruits and flowers.   This botany hike emphasizes the different ecologies of these very different sites. Walking is on a wide but steep path over the drumlin, moist in the meadow, and easy along the board walk through the bog.  Bring Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide, Peterson’s Fern Guide, and a hand lens, as well as water and lunch.  Limit 15 participants, fee is $32 for NEWFS or Trustees of Reservations members, $36 for non members.  To register, log on to http://www.newfs.org, or call 508-877-7630.

    http://www.townofnorthandover.com/Pages/NAndoverMA_Conservation/StevensPd1.jpg

  • Friday, October 9, 7 pm – Catching Fire Book Dinner

    Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human presents a groundbreaking theory of our origins.  Author Richard Wrangham, the Ruth Moore Professor of Biological Anthropology at Harvard University and Curator of Primate Behavioral Biology at the Peabody Museum,  shows that the shift from raw to cooked foods was a key factor in human evolution.  Chef Jody Adams invites you to an intimate salon dinner with the author, Richard Wrangham, on Friday, October 9, beginning at 7 pm.  The three course dinner, paired with wine, is priced at $100, including tax and gratuity. The book will be available for purchase courtesy of the Harvard Bookstore.  “Richard’s thought provoking conversation and infectious charm make him an incredible host” says Ms. Adams. He is also the co-author of Demonic Males (perhaps one of the best book titles in recent memory) and co-editor of Chimpanzee Cultures.  Please call 617-661-5050 to reserve your space.  Rialto Restaurant is located at One Bennett Street in Cambridge, in the Charles Hotel, and you may obtain additional information by logging on to www.rialto-restaurant.com.

    Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human