Boston Flora

Month: October 2010

  • Sunday, November 21, 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm – Gibson House Tea at The College Club

    The Gibson House Museum
    invites you to
    Tea at the College Club

    Sunday, November 21, 2010
    3pm to 5pm
    44 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston

    Assorted fine teas, ice tea, mint lemonade, petite tea sandwiches,
    fresh fruit, mini scones, tea breads and tea cookies

    Tickets are $45.00**
    (checks payable to The Gibson Society)
    Seating is limited. Reservations are required.
    Rsvp: 617-267-6338 or info@thegibsonhouse.org

    The Gibson House Museum is the only house museum in Back Bay.
    Since 1957, it has told the story of the Gibson family’s daily life
    during the mid-19th to early 20th centuries. There are also
    displays of Victorian and Edwardian decorative arts.

    The Gibson House Museum
    137 Beacon Street, Boston, MA 02116
    www.thegibsonhouse.org

    **The Gibson House is a Massachusetts not-for-profit corporation.
    All but $23.00 of the cost of your ticket is tax deductible.

  • Saturday, November 20, 10:00 am – Roses for New England: A Guide to Sustainable Rose Gardening

    The New England Rose Society invites you to join its members on Saturday, November 20, at Tower Hill Botanic Garden, 11 French Drive, Boylston, Massachusetts, for the November meeting featuring Mike and Angie Chute, authors of Roses for New England: A Guide to Sustainable Rose Gardening.  Autographed books will be available for purchase at the lecture.  For more information, contact Tracy Peter, Secretary of the NERS, at 978-764-7101.

  • Sunday, November 14, 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm – So You Want to be a Garden Designer?

    Have you ever dreamed of becoming a garden designer or opening a landscape business? If so, you might consider Love Albrecht Howard’s experience and wisdom before seeking out clients.  This free lecture and book signing will take place Sunday, November 14, from 2 – 3:30 at the Hunnewell Building at the Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Jamaica Plain.

    With humor and astuteness, Love will present some key points to direct you towards a successful start, including acquiring horticultural know-how, planning a business strategy, determining your fee structure, and communicating with clients. Current design practitioners may also glean helpful information.

    Love is the author of the recently released Timber Press book, So You Want to Be a Garden Designer: How to Get Started, Grow, and Thrive in the Landscape Design Business. Copies of the book will be available for purchase (cash and checks only, payable to the author) at the event. Phone 617-384-5277, or email adulted@arnarb.harvard.edu for more information.

  • Friday, November 19, 7:30 pm – Plants as Design Elements

    Have you ever wondered why some gardens look better than others? Is it just the plants that were chosen or is it how they fill the space? This lecture presents some of the basics of using plants in the landscape. Step by step you will see how shrubs and trees build a landscape. The talk will highlight examples of great designs and why they work. Free admission. The event will take place Friday, November 19, beginning at 7:30 pm at the Church Exhibition Gallery, Lyman Plant House, Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts. For more information email garden@smith.edu, or call 413-585-2740.

  • Holiday Wreaths 2010 – Everything is Custom

    It’s that time of year again – The Garden Club of the Back Bay is accepting orders for holiday wreaths, to be created during the first full week in December, ready for delivery (where applicable) or pickup on Wednesday, December 8 and Thursday, December 9.  Order forms are just now being mailed to our loyal customer base, those of you who, during the past two seasons, have purchased from us, or who have added their names to our mailing list.  If you wish to receive an order form in the mail, send your address to info@bostonflora.com.  You will also be able to print the form from this website.

    In the coming weeks you’ll hear more about our wreaths right here, but we thought we’d start the discussion with the simplest of descriptions: Everything is Custom.  What that means is that each and every fully decorated wreath is designed to your specification.  Do you like a formal, Christmas look for an indoor space?  Are you planning to hang your wreath outside on a barn door?  Is the wreath going to a seaside cottage, or to a sleek, contemporary condominium?  We will work with you on color and accent choices, and no two wreaths (unless they’re a matched set) will be alike.  That means you won’t see “your” wreath on a neighbor’s door!  Also, while we are happy to publish pictures of wreaths from past years, don’t try to order an identical one – probably the ribbon isn’t available, or the individual decorator may not be available as a volunteer this season.  You will, however, be pleased – we guarantee it!  Below is a wreath made by Margaret Pokorny, one of a set  hung in a spacious lobby, designed for maximum impact.  The shot was taken in the workshop before delivery.

  • Feburary 24 – February 28, 2011 – Winter Bloom in San Diego

    Pacific Horticulture will sponsor a tour entitled Winter Bloom in San Diego on Thursday, February 24 through Monday, February 28, 2011, to be led by local hosts Scott Borden and Jim Bishop, and escorted by Judy Bradley, President of the Pacific Horticulture Society.  Bright sunny days and winter showers bring San Diego gardens into early bloom.  You will explore a diverse collection of private gardens including large properties in semi-rural North County, a Sinjen-designed garden in the heart of the city, the hosts’ own hillside Mediterranean villa, and many more.  Tour the rejuvenated San Diego Botanical Garden (formerly Quail), and take a stroll through the gardens of Balboa Park.  Enjoy welcome and farewell dinners, garden lunches, and a few surprises.  For complete information, contact Sterling Tours – San Diego at 619-299-3010, or log on to www.sterlingtoursltd.com/SanDiego.html.

  • Sunday, November 14, 2:00 pm – Robots From Nature: How Bugs Inspire Technology

    Humans have always been fascinated by how bees fly, cockroaches crawl, and worms wiggle.  Today, scientists from Harvard’s Microrobotics Lab are building tiny insect robots that look and move just like these critters! Join graduate students Ben Finio and Rebecca Kramer in a family program for a close look at these amazing micro-robots, and hear how and why this lab is hard-at-work building these tiny wonders.  The program, which will take place Sunday, November 14 beginning at 2 pm, will be held at the Harvard Museum of Natural History, 26 Oxford Street in Cambridge, and is free with Museum admission ($9 – $6),  For more information, log on to www.hmnh.harvard.edu/family_programs/index.php.  Image below from Counter Surveillance Devices.

  • Thursday, November 18, 6:00 pm – Thoreau as Climatologist: Tracking 160 Years of Climate Change

    Over 160 years ago, Henry David Thoreau initiated a study of flowering times at Walden Pond. Today, a research team including, Charles Davis, Assistant Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and Curator in the Harvard Herbarium (below,)  has updated Thoreau’s records with current data and integrated them with modern evolutionary biology to reveal how climate change and earlier flowering times have affected Walden’s plants. Those that have greatly declined include many charismatic native wildflower species, while those that have thrived include many nonnative and invasive species. Davis will explore how an integration of historical records combined and cutting edge science can help us potentially mitigate the impacts of climate change on biodiversity. This program, taking place Thursday, November 18 at 6 pm, is free and open to the public, at the Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street. Part of the Asa Gray Bicentennial series. For more information, log on to www.hmnh.harvard.edu.

  • Saturday, November 13, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon – Hardwood and Evergreen Propagation

    Join Adam Wheeler, woody plant propagation specialist of Broken Arrow Nursery for a workshop focusing on hardwood and evergreen propagation, on Saturday, November 13, from 10 am – 12 noon at the Berkshire Botanical Garden in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. This workshop will cover collecting, preparing and propagating evergreens and other woody plants by cuttings. Set at the best time of the year for collecting, participants will learn techniques needed for insuring successful rooting. Cultivation requirements, timing and care of easily propagated varieties will also be covered. Take home a selection of “cool” plant material in a simple propagator.

    Adam Wheeler is the Propagation and New Plant Development Manager for Broken Arrow Nursery located in Hamden, Ct. a specialty nursery with a focus on woody plants, especially kalmias. He teaches wood plant propagation workshops throughout New England. $40 BBG members, $45 non-members. Log on to www.berkshirebotanical.org, or call 413-298-3926.

  • Saturday, November 13, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm – Understanding Botanical and Horticultural Names

    In this workshop on plant nomenclature, taking place Saturday, November 13, from 1 – 4, students will have the opportunity to sort out the confusion associated with plant names.  You will discuss common names, binomial scientific names, and the history of nomenclature since Linnaeus.

    The current rules of nomenclature will be reviewed, and you’ll see why and how plant names sometimes change.

    This program takes place at the New England Wild Flower Society’s Garden in the Woods, 180 Hemenway Road in Framingham, is co-sponsored with the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, and costs $40 for NEWFS or Arboretum members and $48 for non-members.  To register, or for more information, log on to www.newfs.org, or call 617-384-5277.