Boston Flora

Month: March 2010

  • Sunday, April 11, 2:00 pm – Wild Urban Plants of the Northeast

    Our cities and towns may seem harsh and unwelcoming to vegetation, but in the new field guide, Wild Urban Plants of the Northeast by Harvard botanist Peter Del Tredici, he details the spectacular array of plants that grow spontaneously in sidewalk cracks, flourish along chain-link fences, and line the banks of streams and rivers. Del Tredici will discuss the valuable ecological roles these plants play, from carbon storage and erosion control to providing food for wildlife. Co-sponsored with the Arnold Arboretum.  He will also sign copies of his book.

    Location:
    Harvard Museum of Natural History
    26 Oxford St.
    Cambridge , MA 02138

    Sponsor: Harvard Museum of Natural History, Arnold Arboretum
    Time(s): 2:00 pm, Sunday, April 11.
    Cost: Free with museum admission. Free to HMNH and Arnold Arboretum members
    Phone: 617-495-3045
    Email: hmnhpr@oeb.harvard.edu
    http://www.hmnh.harvard.edu/lectures_and_special_events/index.php

    http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2004/11.04/photos/15-arboretum1.jpg

  • Saturday, April 17, 12:00 noon – 4:00 pm – Sustainable Seaside Wedding Show

    The Trustees of Reservations invite community members, future brides and grooms, event planners, and all who are interested to attend the organization’s first-ever, Sustainable Seaside Wedding Show at The Great House on Castle Hill located on The Crane Estate in Ipswich, Massachusetts on Saturday, April 17. A National Historic Landmark, Castle Hill on The Crane Estate is one of the most sought-after wedding venues in the Northeast. The elegant architecture, panoramic ocean views, world-famous designed landscapes, and award winning Inn at Castle Hill’s Bed & Breakfast, offer a complete wedding package for couples who are looking for a special place to create their wedding memories.

    In honor of Earth Day, The Seaside Wedding Show will feature over sixty area vendors who will share many options for choosing an eco-conscious wedding. Attendees will be able to sample food from caterers using local and organic products, learn about ways to conserve resources from florists who use biodegradable materials and sustainably grown plant materials, meet transportation providers offering horse drawn carriages, design companies offering invitations printed on recycled paper, and view couture gowns made of natural fabrics. Guests will learn how to create their ideal wedding day and choose sustainable options at the same time, from food to photography.

    WHERE: Castle Hill on The Crane Estate is located at 290 Argilla Road in Ipswich, MA. For directions and or more information, please visit www.craneestate.org or call 978-356-4351 ext. 4025.

    WHEN: Twelve o’clock to Four o’clock in the afternoon

    HOW: Purchase tickets at www.craneestate.org to be eligible for the GRAND PRIZE drawing: two glorious nights at The Inn at Castle Hill on The Crane Estate (over $900 value)
    Tickets: $5 for Trustees members; $7 for non-members; and $10 at the door.

    YellowBridalBouquet-1.jpg 005_primary.jpg image by weddingflowersguru

  • Tuesday, April 6, 8:00 pm – Webinar: Slow Death By Rubber Duck

    On Tuesday April 6th, please join the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics for a free book club Webinar featuring the “fascinating and frightening,” “cheeky” and “hard-hitting” new book, Slow Death By Rubber Duck.  RSVP now for this free Webinar (which, by the way, is an interactive presentation over the phone and online) on Tuesday, April 6 at 5 p.m. Pacific/8 p.m. Eastern.

    Studies show that harmful toxic chemicals are common in household items, including rubber ducks and bubble bath, and that many of these chemicals are also found inside of our bodies. Over a four-day period, Slow Death By Rubber Duck authors Rick Smith and Bruce Lourie used every day household products suspected of causing harm to our ecosystem and to human health. By revealing the pollution load in their bodies before and after the experiment, Rick and Bruce tell a unique inside story of common toxins and body burden.

    On the April 6 Webinar, author and Executive Director of Environmental Defense Canada Rick Smith will read from Slow Death By Rubber Duck, and together we’ll discuss toxic chemicals found in products as common as hand soap and what you can do to protect your family and the planet.

    All you need to join is a phone, a computer with Internet access and an interest in making the world less toxic. Simply RSVP online, an the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics will e-mail you the call-in info and the Web address so you can see the slides during the reading and discussion.

    Can’t make the Webinar on April 6? No worries – the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics is going to record it and make it available through a link on its web site later on. See what Oprah.com and The Washington Post had to say about Slow Death By Rubber Duck.

    http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_yq0locAP5J4/S0pgYXXSgUI/AAAAAAAABpA/5uHl-saWDE4/s320/rubberduck.jpg

  • Wednesday, April 28, 10:00 am – 1:00 pm – Slow Landscaping

    Taking its inspiration from the Slow Food movement, Slow Landscaping seeks to counteract fast or instant landscaping, by showing the way to more fulfilling, equitable, and sustainable landscape practices. This approach to landscaping human settlements mimics the relationships found in natural ecologies. It seeks to preserve native plants, associated ecosystems and wildlife within an ecoregion. It also supports the use of local materials, reducing waste and carbon outputs and education about plants and their importance in the larger environment. Join two veteran garden designers, Hasso Ewing and Robin Wilkerson, to explore this novel concept and then walk the Garden in the Woods to see how these practices can play out on the landscape.  Sponsored by The New England Wild Flower Society, the class will take place at Garden in the Woods on Wednesday, April 28, from 10 – 1, and members of NEWFS will pay $33, nonmembers $39.  Log on to www.newfs.org to register, or for more information.

    http://dodgycupcake.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/1103395900-year-old-european-beech-tree-in-field-bavaria-germany-posters.jpg

  • Saturday, April 24, 10:30 am – 1:30 pm – Working with Willow

    The Berkshire Botanical Garden again scores a winning program with this hands on workshop on Saturday, April 24 beginning at 10:30 am.  Learn how to work with willow in both a large and small format.  Willow has been used in British gardens for centuries for both fencing and garden structures.  Participants will learn how to work with willow by constructing a free standing willow tower designed to grow a variety of vining plants.  Topics will include growing willow species, selecting, harvesting, preparing and building simple living willow constructions, and more.  Take home a flower tower and the know-how for making willow projects.  Instructor Wendy Jensen is a basket maker located in Monterey, Massachusetts.  Her baskets are sold nationwide and her popular workshops are offered throughout the country.  She builds and installs garden structures throughout the area, including wattle fencing on the the Housatonic  Riverwalk.  Dress for outdoor work, bring hand pruners and a bagged lunch.  The workshop will cost $50 for BBG members, $55 for non members, and an additional $20 materials fee will be paid to the instructor at the class. To register, log on to www.berkshirebotanical.org.

    http://images.meredith.com/lcl/images/2007/07/l_0708garden4.jpg

  • Saturday, April 17, 10:30 am – 12:00 noon – Honeysuckle Sipping Children’s Plant Lore

    Learn about how children play with plants, then and now, and what parents can do to instill a sense of wonderment and appreciation of the natural world in them. For centuries children have played outdoors with leaves, roots, flowers, stems and fruits. Only recently have children become “too busy” for unstructured play outdoors. Consider how to sip honeysuckle, make pine needle dolls, flower chains, cattail ducks, and tulip tree leaf baskets.
    Jeanné  Chesanow is a Master Gardener, author of Gardening in CT, former anthropology instructor,  Cheshire Land Trust director, and Chairman of the Cheshire CT Historic District Commission. She is the author of Honeysuckle Sipping: The Plant Lore of Childhood , a book devoted to the history and traditions of children’s fascination with plants.

    The lecture will be held at the Berkshire Botanical Gardens on Saturday, April 17, from 10:30 – noon, and will cost $16 if you are a member of BBG, and $21 if you are not a member.  For directions, log on to www.berkshirebotanical.org.

    Honeysuckle Sipping: The Plant Lore of Childhood

  • Saturday, April 17, 8:00 am – 4:00 pm – Cape Cod Horticultural Conference

    Come to the Barnstable High School Performing Arts Center, 744 West Main Street in Hyannis on Saturday, April 17, for a full day conference beginning at 8:00 am – 4:00 pm, sponsored by the Master Gardener Association of Cape Cod.  The program will feature:

    Rick Darke, The Wild Garden: A fresh look at the wild garden concept and will illustrate why it is the most enjoyable, sensible approach for livable, ecologically sustainable modern landscapes;

    Vincent Simeone, Wonders of the Winter Landscape: How to enhance the aesthetic value and interest of the garden by using horticultural treasures such as winter fruiting plants, broadleaved evergreens, conifers and trees with interesting bark;

    C.L. Fornari, The Top 25: 25 plants that she thinks you should know about, along with the 25 most interesting/amusing/useful bits of gardening information she has learned in over 25 years of gardening.

    Book signings with speakers, lunch, marketplace, and a raffle will be part of the day. MCLP and MCH professional credits are available.  The cost of $60 includes lunch.  For more information, call 508-375-6690, or email tramos@barnstablecounty.org.  You may also find information at www.capecodextension.org.

    http://diggingdog.com/bookcovers/pockgdgrasses.jpg

  • Tuesdays, April 27, May 4, 11, and 18, 10:00 am – 12:30 pm – Wildflowers of New England

    A great way to begin the study of native plants, this course focuses on learning to identify wild plants and provides field experience across the spectrum of New England flora.  Sessions will cover plant identification using Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide.  Students will become familiar with the family characteristics, growth patterns, habitats, and pollination mechanisms of many of our native wild flowers.  We will also practice plant identification and study plant habitats in the field.  Bring a hand lens to each class.  Required text: Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide.  Sessions (April 27, May 4, 11, and 18) will take place at Garden in the Woods in Framingham, from 10 – 12:30, and the series costs $130 for NEWFS members, and $150 for nonmembers.  To register, or for more information, log on to www.newfs.org.

    http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/_images/ISBNCovers/Covers_Enlarged/9780316604420_388X586.jpg

  • Thursdays, April 8, 15, and 22, 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm – Create Your Own Kitchen Garden

    Come to Tower Hill Botanic Garden on three successive Thursday evenings beginning April 8 for instructor Peggy Flanagan’s design class.  Locally grown food is all the rage these days.  What could be more local than your own backyard?  In this course you will discuss selecting and growing the best fruits and vegetables for a kitchen garden, with an emphasis on organic practices and composting. Students will design their own garden in class and plant a flat of heirloom seeds to take home and get the garden up and running.  Tower Hill members $95, non-members $110.  To register, log on to www.towerhillbg.org.

    http://www.citydirt.net/BHG%2BKitchen%2Bgarden.jpg

  • Saturday, April 3, 10:00 am – Spring Celebration with the Friends of Clarendon Street Playground

    Join the Friends of Clarendon Street Playground (corner of Clarendon Street and Commonwealth Avenue) on Saturday, April 3, beginning at 10:00 am, for an egg hunt, coffee and doughnuts, and a visit from the Easter Bunny!  Volunteers are needed to hide eggs at 8:00 am – if you are able to help with the event, contact playground@nabbonline.com, or call The Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay at 617-247-3961.

    http://freewareme.com/uploads/posts/2009-03/1237472773_easter_egg_clipart.jpg