Boston Flora

Month: September 2009

  • Wednesday, October 7, 11 am – Ocean Drive Revisited: A Re-Evaluation of its National Importance

    Join the Preservation Society of Newport County on Wednesday, October 7 at 11 a.m. at Rosecliff, 548 Bellevue Avenue in Newport, Rhode Island for a lecture by Mack Woodward, Senior Architectural Historian of the Rhode Island  Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission.

    Ocean Drive is one of the most significant picturesque landscapes in America.  Recent research has revealed just how important this historic place is in our nation’s landscape history.  This lecture will focus on the layout of the Drive itself, the masterful development of the entire district in the late 19th century, its comparison with similar picturesque sites, and how critics of the time responded to the planning of the area.

    Admission free to Preservation Society members, general admission $5.  Advance registration requested.
    Register online, or call (401) 847-1000 ext. 154.

    http://www.providencelimousines.com/images/NewportRI.jpg

  • Thursday, October 8, 6 – 8 pm – Introduction to Fruiting Trees and Shrubs

    The Boston Gardeners’ Council will hold a workshop on Thursday, October 8, from 6 – 8 pm, at the Southwest Corridor Community Farm, Lamartine St. and Hoffman Street in Jamaica Plain.  Ben Crouch, former director of Earthworks City Fruit program, leads this workshop on planning, planting, tending, and harvesting urban orchards.  Free, but registration is required.  Call Boston Natural Areas Network at 617-542-7696, or email info@bostonnatural.org.

    http://newtownpippin.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/newtownpippin-monticello2.jpg

  • Saturday – Sunday, October 3 – 4, 10 am – 5 pm – Berkshire Harvest Festival

    The Berkshires’ longest running and best-known community event will take place during the first weekend in October, October 3 – 4, from 10 – 5, at the Berkshire Botanical Gardens. An old fashioned, family-oriented community festival with something for everyone, including rides, games, food, music, crafts, giant tag sale, and lots more. Parking fee includes admission.  For directions and more information, log on to www.berkshirebotanical.org.

  • Saturday, October 3, 9:30 – 12 noon – Autumn Beauties: Habitat Gardens in Acton

    Fall can be one of the most beautiful seasons in the garden. On Saturday, October 3, from 9:30 – noon, Dori Smith, landscape designer of Gardens for Life in Acton, leads this tour of several gardens designed primarily with native plants to please birds and butterflies, as well as her clients. Native shrubs such as fothergilla and cranberry viburnum glow with autumn color. Winterberries are ripening, and twigs of dogwood are turning crimson. Many of the fall flowers are still blooming. The designer shows you “before” photos of these landscapes, as well as photos taken in different seasons. She discusses the unique challenges, goals and methods of each project. Learn ways to use stone and water to enhance the effects of the plantings. You are welcome to tour the Acton Arboretum  before or after the garden tour. The tour is sponsored by The New England Wild Flower Society, and costs $25 if a NEWFS member, and $30 if a nonmember.  Limited to 20 participants.  To register, log on to www.newfs.org, or call 508-877-7630.

    http://www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org/potd/fothergilla_major.jpg

  • Friday, September 25 – Sunday, September 27, 10 am – 5 pm – September to Remember

    The Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts, Inc. Southeastern District Design & Horticulture Study Group presents dramatic floral designs, witty artistic crafts, intriguing educational exhibits and lush seasonal horticulture by the region’s most accomplished award-winning designers and horticulturalists inspired by the milestones, history and collection of Heritage Museums & Gardens.  Heritage Museums & Gardens is located at 67 Grove Street (at Pine Street), Sandwich, Massachusetts.  Directions may be obtained at www.heritagemuseumsandgardens.org.  Free with museum admission.

    http://www.penguin.com.au/lookinside/other/9781920989262/images/GF78.jpg

  • Yurt Alert

    Kate Pokorny is a talented young artist living in New York who is, coincidentally, the daughter of Garden Club of the Back Bay Past President Margaret Pokorny.  Kate’s latest project can be followed on her new website, www.yurtalert.com.  In her own words:

    “As a longtime felter I didn’t have the space to make the soapy mess required for the process after I moved to New York City in 2006. I experimented with needle felting and came upon crochet, which, to me, seemed like something you could make anything out of. This was further reinforced when I watched Margaret Wertheim’s TED Talk and saw how crochet can be used to represent hyperbolic space and coral reefs.  I became very interested in oversized knit and crochet work by artists like Kwangho Lee, Claudy Jongstra, and Christien Meindertsma.

    I started crocheting a lot, and was making many small domes when I realized that the same form could be made much larger into a crocheted yurt. Historically, Mongolian nomads made felt for their yurts via a labor intensive process that still required an internal structure at the end of the day.  My project is to take that design a step further and make a locally-sourced (local to New Hampshire), self-supporting crocheted yurt out of hand-felted cording approximately 1.5 – 2 inches thick.”

    You can follow the process on line, leave comments and suggestions, and we can all place bets on when Amy Adams will buy the film rights.

    Me

  • Thursday, October 1, 10:00 am – 12:30 pm – Apples, Apples, Apples

    Spend a morning at Tower Hill Botanic Garden in Boylston, Massachusetts with Betsy Williams, proprietor of The Proper Season in Andover.  Apples, one of our most ancient and useful fruits, have played important parts in fall and winter celebrations for centuries.  Learn the history of this ancient and important fruit.  Make an apple candle to decorate your seasonal table, a spicy apple pomander, fragrant mast balls, apple-cinnamon ornaments, and two quarts of spicy Autumn Apple Potpourri.  Please bring floral scissors and an apron to class – this is a messy class, so be sure to wear old clothes!  Betsy will be giving a separate class in the afternoon (Glorious Autumn Pot), so plan to have lunch at Twigs and spend the day.  Cost of the Apples, Apples, Apples program is $50 for Tower Hill members, $55 for non-members.  Register on-line at www.towerhillbg.org.

    http://www.candlebay.com/candlepics/med/7.jpg

  • Thursday, October 1, 1:30 – 3:00 pm – Glorious Autumn Pot

    Betsy Williams of The Proper Season in Andover will help you plant a pot that captures the glory of autumn in New England during this workshop at Tower Hill Botanic Garden in Boylston, MA.  Summer may be over but there are at least two, sometimes three, months of growing season left.  Fill a 12″ pot with brilliant mums, richly colored kales, a miniature evergreen tree, English ivy, and other hardy plant material.  With proper care, your pot will brighten your doorway or patio through November and your evergreen tree will live for many years.  Be sure to bring an apron and floral or garden scissors to class.  Register on-line ($50 for Tower Hill members, $55 for non-members) at www.towerhillbg.org.

  • Saturday, September 26, 10:30 a.m. – An Introduction to the Arnold Arboretum Horticultural Library

    The library staff strives to help students and researchers become increasingly independent users of information resources by providing instruction on library research methods that enable them to refine their inquiries, understand the range of tools available, and select the appropriate resources. Join the library staff on Saturday, September 26 at 10:30 a.m. for an information session describing the scope of the collection, including its visual resources and extensive archives. Special emphasis will be given to online reference tools such as electronic journals.  Location: Arnold Arboretum Horticultural Library,125 Arborway, Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts.  Seating is limited, please rsvp to hortlib@arnarb.harvard.edu.  For directions, log on to www.arboretum.harvard.edu.

  • Thursdays, Sept. 24, Oct. 1, 8, 15, 6:30 – 8:30 pm – Private Spaces: Garden Redesign for Homeowners

    Have you bought a home and with it an overgrown garden? Or are you living with a garden that’s become uninspiring? Even the smallest of yards can yield a successful garden if planned wisely. You will learn how to design your personal space for maximum use and aesthetic appeal and to deal with questions of sun, shade, drainage, and water in an urban or suburban environment. Peter Medaglia, Landscape Designer and Owner of Gold Medal Gardens, will discuss plants suitable for smaller spaces and will work with you to develop your own redesign. These classes will take place at the Hunnewell Building at the Arnold Arboretum.

    Fee: $96 Arnold Arboretum member, $115 nonmember.  For more information, and to register, log on to www.arboretum.harvard.edu, or call 617-384-5277.  Photo courtesy of edgeplot (Flickr).

    Xeric Garden by edgeplot.