Boston Flora

Month: March 2010

  • Wednesday, March 24, 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm – Growing & Greening Your Landscaping Business

    The Ecological Landscaping Association Roundtable presents “Growing and Greening Your Landscaping Business, Even in This Economic Climate!” on Wednesday, March 24, from 4 – 6, at Nordic Hall at the Scandinavian Living Center, 206 Waltham Street, West Newton, MA.  $20 for ELA Members and $25 for Non-Members.

    This ELA Roundtable presentation offers a unique perspective on growing a landscaping business in the midst of uncertain economic times. Jackson Madnick will discuss his approach to organic lawn care in combination with the new drought tolerant, ultra deep-root grass seed options. Working with the results of a recent state wide survey, Jackson will present strategies to reach the 91% of the public who are not currently using a landscaping company – a large untapped source of clients. Another highlight of this discussion will be Jackson’s methods for producing the ultimate “Green” Lawns; lawns that are not just green in color but are water saving, run off preventing, carbon foot print lowering, and more profitable for you!

    Walk-ins Also Welcome! For more information: ela.info@comcast.net or (617) 436-5838 Jackson Madnick is an environmental, water-energy, and turf expert. He is currently on the Board of Directors of the Congress of Lakes and Pond Association (COLAP), was the former Chairperson of the Wayland Surface Water Quality Committee, and was instrumental in the successful efforts to renew the National Clean Water Act. Jackson lives in a sustainable house that he is renovating to produce 95% of its heating, cooling, and power from the sun and earth.

    http://www.wildaboutflowers.ca/Misc%20Imagaes/Grass%20Seed%20Bags.jpg

  • Garden Design 2010 Green Awards – Call For Entries

    The second annual awards program sponsored by Garden Design magazine reveals the exciting moment when great design meets ecological responsibility.  Smart water and energy use, repurposing, recyclables, natives and organics, and other earth friendly innovations will be recognized.  Designers and companies owning designs are eligible to enter.  Entries must highlight key “green” components and should not have previously appeared in national publication.  Your entry should include a completed entry form (print at www.gdgreenawards.com), ten uploaded images with captions showing all parts of the completed project, and a single paragraph summary of the project.  There is a $50 fee per entry.  Winners will be published in the January/February 2011 issue of Garden Design.  Deadline for entry is May 1, 2010.

    http://img1.immage.de/0407c78b77gd20090708julyaugustp11jpgw300.jpg

  • Saturday, March 20, 8:30 am – 3:30 pm – The Changing American Flower Garden: Bringing Color, Fragrance and New Attitudes Home

    Attend a one day symposium sponsored by the Rotch Jones Duff House in New Bedford, Massachusetts, on Saturday, March 20, beginning at 8:30 am and concluding at 3:30 pm.  In celebration of the RJD landscape, this symposium, the first of a three year landscape series exploring changing tastes in gardening in the 19th and 20th centuries, will focus on flower gardens.

    Landscape designer and worldwide garden traveler Nan Sinton explores two centuries of the influences on American flower gardening as she shows how attitudes regarding spaces have evolved in her talk entitled “What Were They Thinking?”  Gardener, author, lecturer and long time instructor at New York Botanical Garden, Keynote Speaker Page Dickey, author of Dogs in Their Gardens,  invites gardeners to discover how the floral bounty of meadows and natural places can be brought home to even the tiniest space in her illustrated lecture, “Bringing Wildness into the Garden”, followed by a book signing.  Later, Joann Vieira, Director of Horticulture at Tower Hill Botanic Garden in Boylston, who leads the planning and planting of the extensive gardens and dynamic indoor and outdoor container displays there, will reveal which flowers she chooses for an extended season of bloom in “Tradition Meets Experiment: The Best Plants for a Flourishing Flower Garden.”  Following these presentations, there will be time for informal questions with the speakers.  Registration at The Rotch-Jones-Duff House and Garden Museum, 396 County Road, New Bedford, Massachusetts, begins at 8:30 am, and the program cost of $65 per person (members of the sponsor Rotch Jones Duff House) or $75 (nonmembers) includes lunch.  For more information, or to purchase tickets, call 508-997-1401, or log on to www.rjdmuseum.org.

    http://img.infibeam.com/img/4ce52b3f/256/1/9781584791256.jpg

  • Friday, April 2, 6:30 pm – Complexities of American Rose Species: Their Taxonomy to DNA

    Dr. Walter H. Lewis, Emeritus and University Research Ethnobotanist, Washington University in St. Louis and Missouri Botanical Garden, and the 2010 New England Botanical Club Distinguished Speaker, will give a talk on the Complexities of American Rose Species: Their Taxonomy to DNA on Friday, April 2, in the Lecture Hall (Room 102) of the Fairchild Biochemistry Building at 7 Divinity Avenue in Cambridge.  The Fairchild Biochemistry Building is part of the main campus near Harvard Square and is between Busch Hall and the Peabody Museum.  For specific directions log on to www.rhodora.org/Meetings.html.

    The sponsor, The New England Botanical Club, which originated in 1895, is a non-profit organization that promotes the study of plants of North America, especially the flora of New England and adjacent areas.  The Club publishes the journal Rhodora, holds monthly meetings during the academic year, maintains an herbarium of more than 253,000 sheets, has a small library, and annually grants a graduate student research award.  An office for the Club is maintained at the Harvard University Herbaria, 22 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, and you may reach the office at 617-308-3656 for membership information, or log on to www.rhodora.org.  Regular member dues are $50 annually, and a family rate, including a copy of Rhodora, is $60.  Student membership costs $25.

    http://www.homewoodsuitesshreveport.com/images/apg_1227567703.jpg

  • Saturday, March 27, 8:30 pm – Earth Hour

    On Saturday, March 27, at 8:30 pm Eastern Time, plan to participate in Earth Hour. On Earth Hour, hundreds of millions of people around the world will come together to call for action on climate change by doing something quite simple – turning off their lights for one hour.  The movement symbolizes that by working together, each of us can make a positive impact in this fight, protecting our future and that of future generations.   Since its inception three years ago, Earth Hour’s non-partisan approach has captured the world’s imagination and become a global phenomenon.  Nearly one billion people turned out their lights for Earth Hour 2009, involving 4,100 cities in 87 countries on seven continents.  Earth Hour will once again cascade around the globe, from New Zealand to Hawaii. To learn more, and to see videos of what Earth Hour looks like, log on to www.myearthhour.org.  The Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway will participate, as well as over 300 US cities.

    http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/files/boston.jpg

  • April 17 – April 18 – Global Days of Service, Earth Day 2010

    The Global Days of Service will feature Volunteer Actions by tens of thousands of global participants, from April 17 – 18, 2010. These projects in parks, beaches, schools and forests will focus on climate change solutions like tree planting, energy efficiency retrofits, water protection, urban gardens and forest restoration. Produced with the help of Earth Day Network, along with local community organizations and governments, the activities will address current challenges and will help cities and organizations streamline their energy needs, and ‘green up’ their communities. Suitable for individuals of all ages, including children and families, these activities encourage active lifestyles and healthful living, while also connecting volunteers with the green solutions.  This year marks the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day, and you may find more information about local events at www.earthday.net/earthday2010.

    http://rlv.zcache.com/earth_day_2010_t_shirt_flyer-p2447301798131034752mcvz_400.jpg

  • Sunday, March 21, 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm – The Little Black Dress

    Uxbridge Rotary presents a fundraiser, “The Little Black Dress,” on Sunday, March 21, beginning at 2:00 pm at the Whitinsville Golf Club, Fletcher Street, Whitinsville, Massachusetts, featuring well known floral designer Bill Graham.  Bill is well known to local garden clubs and is an exciting speaker and entertainer.  All proceeds help the Peace of Bread Community Kitchen, and tickets may be purchased on line at www.clubrunner.ca/CPrg/Home/storyitem.asp?cid=3700&iid=135486.  Or, you may call Leslie Reichert at 508-234-4626, or email vacuumlady2@yahoo.com.

    http://rlv.zcache.com/little_black_dress_society_chic_watercolor_sticker-p217838227039698375qjcl_400.jpg

  • Saturday, April 17, 11:00 am – 12:30 pm – Art’s Traveling Cactus & Succulents Plant Show

    Not just spines! Lots of unusual and fascinating plants most people can easily grow. Hundreds of rare and bizarre plants strutting their stuff! Art Scarpa of the Cactus and Succulent Society will bring along both indoor tropical and hardy outdoor plants, depending upon the season, to Tower Hill Botanic Garden in Boylston for this instructional class on Saturday, April 17, beginning at 11 am and running through 12:30 pm. The plants pictured below are aeoniums.  THBG members $20, non-members $22. Register on line at www.towerhillbg.org.

    http://www.russel-ray.com/stuff/aeoniums.jpg

  • Thursday, March 18, 4:00 pm – 169th Annual Meeting of the Worcester County Horticultural Society

    Plan to attend the 169th Annual Meeting of the Worcester County Horticultural Society on Thursday, March 18, beginning at 4 pm, at Tower Hill Botanic Garden, Boylston, Massachusetts, with special guest speaker Dr. Robert Bertin, Biology Department Chair, College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, speaking on Plant Species Native to Worcester County.  The lecture, and a reception to follow, will be preceded by the WCHS business meeting.  Cash bar and hors d’oeuvres by Twigs Cafe.  You may respond by calling 508-869-6111, x 136, or by logging on to the special events page at www.towerhillbg.org.

    http://www.thevitalitymag.com//srv/htdocs/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/cover-tower-hillbutterfly.jpg

  • Saturday, April 17, 10 am – 2 pm – Invasive Plants: Identification, Ecology and Control

    Ted Elliman, Vegetation Manager of the New England Wild Flower Society, in collaboration with the Arnold Arboretum, will present this one day class on Saturday, April 17, from 10 am – 2 pm at Garden in the Woods in Framingham.  This course will provide an introduction to about 40 of the most common invasive non-native plants in our local landscapes (see Japanese knotweed below). Through lecture, discussion, power point presentation, herbarium specimens, and a walk outside, you will become familiar with identification clues as well as the habits of a number of these plants which are so disruptive of natural ecosytems. Ted will discuss management techniques for many of these species, on both a home and a larger landscape scale. Homeowners and property managers who wish to get a head start on invasive control this year will appreciate the timing of this course, which will allow them to learn to identify young invasive plants before they become camouflaged by other vegetation. The New England Wild Flower Society’s Invader’s Magazine, as well as the Massachusetts Field Guide to Invasives, will be available for purchase at a discount. Fee $44 for members of the Arboretum or NEWFS, $52 nonmembers.  To register, log on to www.arboretum.harvard.edu.

    http://www.thewildflowersociety.com/wfs_images/fallopia_japonica_japanese_knotweed.jpg