Boston Flora

Month: October 2009

  • Sunday, October 25, 3:00 pm – Cider Hard & Sweet: History, Tradition & Making Your Own

    Meet author Ben Watson at the Fruitlands Museum in Harvard, Massachusetts on Sunday, October 25 at 3 pm.  He is a Yale alumnus, Slow Food proponent and farm activist living in Francestown, New Hampshire, and will speak about his new book, Cider Hard & Sweet: History, Tradition & Making Your Own.  Ben provides instruction, recipes and background on cider and cider-making in his work.  Localvores will delight in the idea of preserving apple essence for year-round consumption and historians will enjoy the thought of John Adams drinking hard cider for breakfast. Free with museum admission.  For directions and more information, log on to www.fruitlands.org.

    http://www.seasonalchef.com/watsonbook.jpg

  • Thursday, November 5, 6:00 pm – Natural History Museums in the Environmental Century

    In the 21st century the planet faces radical transformation, which includes mass extinction, rapid change in climate, and large-scale loss of natural habitat.

    American Museum of Natural History Paleontologist Michael Novacek will discuss how natural history museums like Harvard’s Museum of Comparative Zoology offer unique opportunities for scientific discovery, education, and inspiration, and provide a management plan that draws on the past, reveals the present, and maps our future.  The lecture will take place at the Harvard Museum of Natural History, 26 Oxford Street
    Cambridge , MA 02138.

    Sponsor: Harvard Museum of Natural History
    Time(s): 6 pm
    Cost: Free and open to the public
    Phone: 617-495-3045
    Email: hmnhpr@oeb.harvard.edu
    http://www.hmnh.harvard.edu

  • Sunday, October 25, 4:00 pm – Friends of Hayes Park Annual Auction

    The Friends of Hayes Park, Inc. is a group of public-spirited neighbors dedicated to maintaining Hayes Park, a green gem located at the corner of Warren Avenue and West Canton Street in Boston’s South End. Organized in 1987 to redesign what was then a derelict, concrete-paved lot, the Friends now have a membership numbering more than 250 families. Each year, members donate an extraordinary 1,400 hours to keep the park beautiful.

    Since renovating the park in 1992, the Friends, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, has been a “Park Partner” with the Boston Parks Department. The funds needed to maintain the park are all provided by the Friends. In addition, the Friends host free community events, that draw visitors from all across the city — including an annual May Day, Summer Picnic, Harvestfest, and Christmas Caroling — and support local partners, organizing such events as canned goods collections for a local food pantry, and for the last 18 years, sponsoring a South End Little League Baseball team, the Hayes Park Yankees.

    The group’s annual Auction will take place Sunday, October 25, beginning at 4:00 pm at the Boston Ballet Building,  19 Clarendon Street in Boston.  Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door, and may be purchased on line at www.hayespark.org.  An enticing sample of auction items can be found on their home page, so we encourage you to support this fine organization.

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  • Tuesday, November 3, 6:30 – 7:30 pm – The Vertical Garden, From Nature to the City

    The Harvard University Graduate School of Design will sponsor a Margaret McCurry Lecture in the Design Arts on Tuesday, November 3, from 6:30 – 7:30 pm in the Piper Auditorium of the Graduate School of Design in Cambridge.  Patrick Blanc will speak on “The Vertical Garden, from Nature to the City, or how to bring biodiversity close to everybody’s life.”  For more information, email Brooke King at bking@gsd.harvard.edu, or log on to www.gsd.harvard.edu.

    The Vertical Garden, known as Le Mur Vegetal in French, was conceived after many observations in natural environments.  The Vertical Garden relies on a new way to grow plants without any soil.  Since its weight is very light, it is possible to set up the Vertical Garden on any wall, whatever its size.  The Vertical Garden can be implemented outdoors or indoors, in any climatic environment.  The plant species selection is mainly set according to the prevailing climatic conditions.  For an indoor location, an artificial lighting system is usually required.  Watering and fertilization are automated.  The Vertical Garden acts as a phonic and thermic isolation system.  It is also an air purification device.

    http://www.thedailygreen.com/cm/thedailygreen/images/tO/blanc-quai-lg.jpg

  • Thursday, November 5, 6:00 – 8:00 pm – Conservation By Design

    The Conway School of Landscape Design, The Trustees of Reservations, the North County Land Trust and Leominster Land Trust present Randall Arendt in a free public lecture at the Doyle Conservation Center in Leominster, Mass.

    Thursday, November 5: 6:00 – Reception; 6:45 – 8:00 PM – Lecture
    The talk is free and open to the public, but space is limited. RSVP to 413.853.3034 or events@csld.edu.

    Conservation by Design: A Practical Strategy for Preserving Town-wide Open Space Networks will stress practical techniques that enable developers and local officials to work together to accomplish their different objectives in a way that helps preserve natural assets and rural character.

    Mr. Arendt will share numerous examples of designs that achieve both economic and environmental goals. He has designed conservation subdivisions in various landscapes and regions in 21 states, and his designs have been featured in publications of the American Planning Association, the American Society of Landscape Architects, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the National Association of Home Builders, and the National Association of Realtors.

    For more information, please visit http://www.csld.edu/whatsnew.htm.

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  • Burger’s Onion

    We’ve come upon an interesting blog we thought would interest our followers.  Burger’s Onion, http://burgersonion.blogspot.com/, deals with weird botany and horticulture.  Posts with fabulous pictures range from a description of the minute Anacampseros hillii to pictures of flowering Hondelbal (“dog ball” in Afrikaans – just guess what this plant looks like) to gymnosperms of the Namib Desert to Organic Pest Control, the Mad Botany Way (using carnivorous plants to mop up fruit flies in the greenhouse.)  The site also has good links to plant organizations, on-line communities and specialist nurseries (you can order poison dart frogs from Black Jungle, www.blackjungle.com).  Always good to have a sense of humor.

    http://www.biologyreference.com/images/biol_02_img0213.jpg

  • Thursday, October 22, 6:30 – 8:00 pm – Boston City Council Candidates Debate Parks and Open Space

    Hear the eight finalists for at-large city councilor discuss and debate issues impacting greenspace in Boston. It’s an exciting slate with two open seats and two incumbents who have a strong record of support for parks and the environment. Only the second time that open space has taken the center stage in a city election, October 22nd will help show how large, diverse, and broad the park constituency is in our city. Everyone – regardless of age, race, income level, neighborhood, or background – uses city parks, playgrounds, and outdoor recreation facilities.

    All eight candidates will participate:

    • Felix Arroyo, Jr.
    • Doug Bennett
    • John Connolly
    • Tomas Gonzalez
    • Tito Jackson
    • Andrew Kenneally
    • Steve Murphy
    • Ayanna Pressley

    Four years ago, the first political debate on greenspace issues brought more than 150 people out to hear who would support parks. The candidates said it was the best attended forum that election season. The Boston Globe, the Phoenix, and many local neighborhood papers covered the event. A group of 65 park, youth, arts, sports, health, public safety, and community organizations signed on as sponsors showing the depth and breadth of the parks movement in Boston.

    The event, taking place Thursday, October 22 from 6:30 – 8:00 pm, will be held at the Franklin Park Golf Clubhouse.  For more information, contact the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway Conservancy at www.rosekennedygreenway.org.

    http://www.universalhub.com/images/2009/12candidates.jpg

  • Tuesday, November 17, 11:00 am – Isabella and Her Gardens

    The Boston Committee of the Garden Club of America invites you to its 20th Birthday Celebration Annual Meeting and Fall Lecture on Tuesday, November 17, with registration at 10:30 am, and lecture at 11 am.  Patrick Chassé, the first Curator of Landscape, The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, will give an illustrated lecture entitled  “Isabella and Her Gardens.”

    Like a horticultural Sherlock Holmes, Patrick Chassé tracks down clues to gardens of the past. His latest challenge is to unlock the secrets of a magnificent courtyard garden long identified with a Boston museum and its charismatic founder.

    Mr. Chassé, a landscape architect, has served since 2004 as the curator of landscape at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the first person to hold such a title there. His detective work involves documenting the courtyard’s evolution and reinstating elements of its design as envisioned by Isabella Stewart Gardner in the early 1900s.

    The event will take place at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts.  Cost of lecture is $20 (public invited), Lecture and Luncheon $45 (members of Boston Committee Clubs only, please.)  RSVP by November 12.  Please make check payable to The Boston Committee of the GCA and mail to Mrs. William U. Shipley, 40 Dunster Road, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467.

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  • Monday, November 2, 4:00 – 6:00 pm – Day of the Dead at Forest Hills Cemetery

    November 2 is the date of Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), the traditional Mexican ceremonies honoring family and friends who have died. Over the past few years, Forest Hills Cemetery has served as a location for such a ceremony, and this year is no exception. The ceremony begins at 4:00pm, as the sun is setting.  Hundreds of people, including families with children, attend and participate with their own private remembrances.

    Join The Forest Hills Educational Trust for a traditional Mexican celebration of remembrance co-sponsored by Latin American folkloric performance group La Pinata. Based on the ancient traditions of Mexico’s indigenous peoples who believed that the souls of the dead return each year to visit their families, the Day of the Dead celebrates the continuous cycle of life and death, embracing cultures from all throughout the Americas. Enjoy a program of music and dance as individuals bring offerings of flowers, copies of photos, mementos, and traditional skull-shaped sugar candies to leave on a decorated candle-lit altar for those departed loved ones. Dress warmly. Bring a flashlight. Bilingual: English/Spanish. Admission: Free. Co-sponsored by La Piñata and Spontaneous Celebrations. Visit them at http://www.spontaneouscelebrations.org.

    For more information, log on to www.foresthillstrust.org.

    Day of the Dead

  • Wednesday, November 11, 10:00 am – Low Impact Landscaping

    The November meeting of The Garden Club of the Back Bay will take place Wednesday, November 11, beginning at 10:00 am at The College Club, 44 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston.  We welcome  Paul Marquis, who will speak on  Low Impact Landscaping.  Paul Marquis, of Green Home Solutions in Arlington, MA and former “Green House Doctor” for The Green Roundtable, will be our guest speaker for the November meeting.

    The objective of this talk is to introduce concepts of resource-conserving and environmentally-friendly landscape design and maintenance practices. Conventional residential landscapes are often resource-intensive, and some of the maintenance products and practices typically employed have been associated with adverse long-term health consequences and environmental impact. Topics covered will include low-water landscaping or xeriscaping, rainwater collection and use, advantages of using native plants, more-effective storm water management, and organic turf and landscape management practices. The talk will include a brief discussion of Low Impact Development, green roofs, and “hardscaping” options.

    The Green Roundtable, Inc. (GRT) is an independent non-profit organization whose mission is to mainstream green building and sustainable design and become obsolete.  It works toward this goal by promoting and supporting healthy and environmentally integrated building projects through strategic outreach, education, policy advocacy and technical assistance.  The Green Roundtable envisions a world in which green building is business as usual. For more information on The Green Roundtable, log on to www.greenroundtable.org.

    Reservations are required for this meeting, which will be followed by an optional luncheon with our speaker ($20) at The College Club.  The public is invited.  For more information, and to register, email info@bostonflora.com. Club members will receive written notice of this meeting with a response slip.

    http://www.greenroundtable.org/contact.attachment/colorcroppedflat-notitle/ColorCroppedFLAT-notitle.jpg