Boston Flora

Month: May 2010

  • Tuesday, May 25, 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm – Celebrating the Esplanade’s 100 Years of Nature, Culture and Recreation

    You are cordially invited to attend The Esplanade Association’s Ninth Annual Meeting Tuesday, May 25 at The Hampshire House, 84 Beacon Street in Boston.  The theme of this year’s meeting is “Celebrating the Esplanade’s 100 Years of Nature, Culture and Recreation,” with Keynote Presentation by Tupper Thomas, Administrator of Prospect Park and President of the Prospect Park Alliance, Brooklyn, New York. For those of you who missed Ms. Thomas’s speech at the Boston Committee’s Spring meeting in April, here is another chance to hear a truly inspirational, forward thinking, and down to earth practical leader in her field talk about the challenges faced by parks throughout urban areas.  The General Meeting begins at 5:30, and a Member Reception follows at 6:30.  RSVP to Justin Burke by May 20 at 617-227-0365, or email jburke@esplanadeassociation.org.

    The business to be conducted at the meeting includes consideration and voting on amendments to the bylaws of the Association to change the position and title of Board President to Board Chair.

    http://www.brooklynpaper.com/assets/photos/25/17/25_17audubon.jpg

  • Sunday, June 6, 10:00 am – 2:00 pm – Mansfield Hollow

    With a landscape dominated by gravelly, glacial outwash soils, Mansfield Hollow State Park offers such glacial features as kames, eskers, and kettle-holes.  This surface geology has created an unusual inland sand plain/pitch pine/ dry oak forest community, pocketed with kettle-hole ponds and wetlands – an assemblage rarely seen in northeastern Connecticut.  Some botanical highlights include wild indigo, wild lupine, bird’s foot violet, pitch pine, scrub oak, New Jersey tea, and two species of native wild roses.  If time allows, the Windham Cedar Bog, a neighboring parcel owned by Joshua Tract, a local land trust, will be visited.  This gem is one of the few inland Atlantic White Cedar swamps in the area.  Wear long pants, and bring insect repellent, a bag lunch, and a hand lens if you have one.  Directions will be provided upon registration with the New England Wild Flower Society (www.newfs.org). Members of NEWFS pay $32 – please check for nonmember pricing with NEWFS, since this trip is limited to 15 individuals, members will receive first choice with registration.  The date is Sunday, June 6, from 10 – 2, and the trip will be led by Bryan Connolly.

    http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/84/USACE_Mansfield_Hollow_Lake.jpg/380px-USACE_Mansfield_Hollow_Lake.jpg

  • Saturday, May 22, 10:00 am -4:00 pm – Mass Hort and Society Row Plant Sale at Elm Bank

    On Saturday, May 22, from 10 – 4,  the Massachusetts Horticultural Society will hold the Mass Hort and Society Row Plant Sale, featuring thousands of perennials, two dozen local plant societies, children’s activities, garden tours, plant demo stage and the Master Gardener Help Desk.  The public really can “Ask the Experts” and add to their collections of rare and unusual plants sold by the growers themselves, and purchase items from a number of specially selected vendors.   Browse the historic beauty of the Chaney-Baltzell mansion, while enjoying the beautiful rhododendron show,  This is a free event.  For more information, log on to www.masshort.org. Parking – $5 suggested donation.  Mass Hort members may arrive for a special members only shopping hour at 9:00 am.

    http://education.uncc.edu/droyster/gardens/R_catawbiense.jpg

  • Thursday, May 20, 4:30 pm – 8:00 pm – Rain Gardens in Successful Stormwater Management

    A program entitled Rain Gardens in Successful Stormwater Management, co-sponsored by the Ecological Landscaping Association and the Massachusetts Watershed Coalition will take place Thursday, May 20, from 4:30 – 8 pm, at the Doyle Conservation Center. 325 Lindell Avenue, in Leominster.  The participation fee is $20 for ELA Members, and $25 for non-members.

    Explore the possibilities of improved water quality through collaborative efforts at storm water management.  Partnerships among city officials, community groups, businesses, state and federal agencies, and the Massachusetts Watershed Coalition are restoring Monoosnoc Brook in Leominster.  Rapid runoff had increased frequent flooding that erodes stream banks, and dirty, oily storm water deposited into the brook created lethal conditions for stream life.  Thirty-two rain gardens, tree box filters and bio-retention areas are now helping to cleanse runoff from streets and parking lots.  Designs for additional treatment practices, including a constructed storm water wetland, will be installed and continue to improve Monoosnoc Brook and the North Nashua River.

    Starting at the Doyle Conservation Center and then traveling out to a variety of installation sites, tour guides Ed Himlan, Bob Levite, and others will discuss and demonstrate the successful installations of a variety of storm water management techniques.  For more information, call 617-436-5838, or email ela.info@comcast.net.  Walk ins welcome.

    http://www.thetrustees.org/assets/images/prop/central-ma/Photo%20Gallery/C_DR_girlonbridge_TKates.jpg

  • Saturday, June 19, 1:45 pm – 4:00 pm – Horse Island

    The New England Wild Flower Society and the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History have asked Lauren Brown to lead an exclusive botanical field trip to Horse Island, in Connecticut’s Thimble Islands.  Join her on a short excursion to the Thimble Islands, off the coast of Connecticut. Access to the islands is quite limited, but NEWFS has permission to visit one owned by Yale University’s Peabody Museum. The Thimbles are an unusual ecosystem unto themselves and you’ll see an interesting mix of coastal and early successional vegetation, with the feel of coastal Maine. Please be aware that some of the walking will be over uneven, rocky terrain.  Participation is limited to sixteen people, the date is Saturday, June 19, from 1:45 – 4:00 pm, and you may register ($35 for NEWFS members, $40 for nonmembers) on line at www.newfs.org.  All travel arrangements will be sent to you upon registration.

    http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3029/2638071184_4f35f22883.jpg?v=0

  • Tuesday, June 8, 10:00 am – 1:00 pm – Lessons from the Gardens

    On Tuesday, June 8, from 10 am – 1 pm, explore two very different private gardens in the Lexington area, and learn tips for connecting a designed landscape to the surrounding woodlands.  One garden displays a natural, free flowing design while the other is more formal, but with a naturalistic approach.  The second garden offers a rich collection of understory trees and shrubs with perennial details.  Come with a critical eye to evaluate what has been successful and what areas could be changed to bring out the best of the landscape.  June is a time of transition from spring blooming bulbs and shrubs to summery herbs and the bounty of perennials such as geraniums, daisies, and iris.  Discuss challenges faced by home gardeners in woodland sites, such as invasive species and other garden intruders.  The fee is $30 for New England Wild Flower Society members, and $36 for non members.  To register, log on to www.newfs.org.

    http://www.shared-visions.com/explore/gardens/Geranium%20pratense%20%27Mrs.%20Kendall%20Clarke%27.jpg

  • Friday, May 21 – Sunday, August 29 – Romantic Gardens: Nature, Art, and Landscape Design

    The pen and ink drawing that won Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux the commission to design Central Park, and a drawing by J.M.W. Turner, former owned by John Ruskin, are among the treasures in “Romantic Gardens: Nature, Art, and Landscape Design,” at the Morgan Library & Museum in New York City, running from May 21 through August 29.   Scenic vistas, winding paths, bucolic meadows, and rustic retreats suitable for solitary contemplation are just a few of the alluring naturalistic features of gardens created in the Romantic spirit. Landscape designers of the Romantic era sought to express the inherent beauty of nature in opposition to the strictly symmetrical, formal gardens favored by aristocrats of the old regime.

    The Romantics looked to nature as a liberating force, a source of sensual pleasure, moral instruction, religious insight, and artistic inspiration. Eloquent exponents of these ideals, they extolled the mystical powers of nature and argued for more sympathetic styles of garden design in books, manuscripts, and drawings, now regarded as core documents of the Romantic Movement. Their cult of inner beauty and their view of the outside world dominated European thought during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

    The exhibition features approximately ninety highly influential texts and outstanding works of art, providing a compelling overview of ideas championed by the Romantics and also implemented by them in private estates and public parks in Europe and the United States, notably New York’s Central Park. If you plan to be in New York during that period, don’t miss this rare treat.  For information and hours, call 212-685-0008, or log on to www.themorgan.org.

    View of the Welbeck Estate, Humphry Repton (1752–1818), Sketches and Hints on Landscape Gardening (London, 1794). PML 46448. Gift of Henry S. Morgan and Junius S. Morgan, 1954. Photography, Graham Haber, 2009.

  • Wednesday, May 12, 6:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Frameworks for the Future: Activities, Circulation, Wayfinding and Landscape

    On May 12, 2010, you are invited to join The Esplanade Association and the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) to review and comment on proposed improvements to the Charles River Esplanade. These suggested changes, made by the Esplanade 2020 Project and conceptual in nature, are meant to both improve the visitor experience and raise the ecological and aesthetic standards of the riverfront park. Team leaders of the Esplanade 2020 Design Group will present, and there will be ample time for community feedback and questions.

    Frameworks for the Future: Activities, Circulation, Wayfinding, and Landscape
    An Esplanade 2020 Public Meeting
    Wednesday, May 12, 6-8:30pm
    Boston Public Library, McKim Lower Level Conference Room

    Presentations at the public meeting will include: Overview of the Esplanade 2020 Project (John Shields, AIA, President of SheildsDESIGN); Activities (John Stebbins, AIA, LEED AP, Principle Emeritus of Cambridge Seven Associates); Circulation (Anthony Pangaro, Principle of Millennium Partners – Boston, Architect, former Manager of Boston’s Southwest Corridor Project); Wayfinding (Mark Favermann, Architect, President of Favermann Design); and Landscape (Craig Halverson, FASLA, President of Halverson Design Partnership).

    The Esplanade 2020 Project is an initiative of The Esplanade Association, in collaboration with DCR, which is crafting a shared vision for the future of the Charles River Esplanade. In celebration of the park’s Centennial Anniversary, the Esplanade 2020 Project is suggesting visionary but realistic changes to the park that will elevate it to its intended status as a world class destination over the next ten years and beyond. Guided by community feedback collected at a series of public meetings, a core group of architectural, planning, and horticultural professionals is working to analyze current park conditions and make suggestions for substantial park improvements. Esplanade 2020 is an inclusive project, and broad community participation is encouraged.

    For more information about Esplanade 2020, or to RSVP, please visit www.esplanadeassociation.org or contact Chris Murton at 617.227.0365 or cmurton@esplanadeassociation.org.

  • Saturday, May 22, 10:00 am – Coop Loop

    Ever thought about raising chickens in your own backyard? Wondering how to get started? Already have chickens, but interested in how others raise theirs? Curious about chicken tractors? Please join Land’s Sake, Inc. at its farm at 90 Wellesley Street in Weston for this popular tour of chicken coops  in Weston. All ages are welcome; however, strollers are not recommended. No dogs, please. For more information, please call 781-893-1162.

  • Saturday, May 22, 10:30 am – Vegetable Gardening

    Join Russell’s Garden Center’s vegetable gardeners for tips on caring for your vegetable plants over the summer.  On Saturday, May 22 at 10:30 am, find out how to fertilize and water, stake and harvest your crops.  All questions welcome, and the advice session is free.  For directions, call 508-358-2283, or log on to www.russellsgardencenter.com.  Russell’s is located at 397 Boston Post Road in Wayland.