Boston Flora

Month: June 2013

  • Sunday, June 23, 3:30 pm – The Human Shore: Seacoasts in History

    More than half of Americans now live within 50 miles of ocean, but should they? John Gillis (Rutgers University), in his new book The Human Shore: Seacoasts in History, argues that an inadequate understanding of the natural and human history of our shores has left communities unprepared for coastal dwelling.  John will speak at the Harvard Museum of Natural History, 26 Oxford Street in Cambridge, on Sunday, June 23 beginning at 3:30 pm.  For more information visit www.hmnh.harvard.edu/lectures_and_special_events/index.php.  Regular Museum admission rates apply.

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  • Saturday, June 22, 9:30 am – 3:30 pm – Village Garden Club of Dennis Garden Tour

    On Saturday, June 22, from 9:30 – 3:30, enjoy the Village Garden Club of Dennis’s Garden Tour.  Maps and tickets are available in advance for $20 at The Barn and Co. on Route 6A in Dennis, as well as through the Dennis Chamber of Commerce.  On the day of the Tour, tickets will be priced at $25 and are available at the Gazebo in Dennis, at the intersection of Route 6A and Old Bass River Road.  For more information you may contact sbaudanza@comcast.net.

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  • Twilight Garden Party 2013 – Mesh Magnolias

    Twilight Garden Party 2013 – Mesh Magnolias

    Last year we festooned the New England College of Optometry with giant wire mesh magnolia blossoms fabricated by Rita Christensen, a landscape designer but perhaps in this case more importantly a former fashion designer.  We “repurposed” the blossoms this year and lit them up, creating an even more magical look:

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  • Wednesday, June 26, 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm – Going Local Without Going Crazy: 25 Tips to Increase Your Local Footprint

    Julie Shanks will help us understand how to bring healthy, local foods into your kitchen and stay on budget too, in this Massachusetts Horticultural Society workshop on Wednesday, June 26, beginning at 6 at Elm Bank in Wellesley.  Julia has a passion for and an expertise in locavorism, and is eager to share easy ways we can all make change that connect us to the food and farmers in our own communities. The world is changing as more people are supporting local, small businesses and returning to homemade food to avoid the unsavory health and social consequences associated with processed foods. Join Julia for a discussion, Q & A, complete with recipes, ideas, and a healthy dose of delicious fun. Julia is the co-author of The Farmers Kitchen: The Ultimate Guide to Enjoying your CSA and Farmers’ Markets Foods. Their book has been reviewed in the Boston Globe, The Boston Herald, Taste of the Seacoast, and Growing for Market, and was cited as a reference in Michelle Obama’s American Grown.

    Cost – $20.00 for members, $25.00 for non-members.  Sign up at www.masshort.org.

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  • Saturday, June 22, 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm – Dinner by the River

    Enjoy dining, live soft jazz and good company on Saturday, June 22, from 6 – 9, under a beautiful sunset riverside at this year’s Dinner by the River.  The Orange Revitalization Partnership Friends of the Parks will host at Riverfront Park on East River Street in historic Orange.  Tickets are $20, and all are welcome.  For details on tickets and volunteering, please call Pat Andrews, Vice Chair of ORP at 978-544-8555.  This is an annual fund raiser for the town parks.

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  • Twilight Garden Party 2013 – Vintage Tablecloths

    Twilight Garden Party 2013 – Vintage Tablecloths

    For years, when we conducted a garden tour and had our morning coffee and afternoon tea at the Gamble Ballroom at 5 Commonwealth Avenue, in the building then owned by the Boston Center for Adult Education, we used vintage 1940’s and 1950’s cotton tablecloths from a member’s private collection as toppers over white underskirts.  Our signature look received a glamorous update this year with the addition of glistening green underskirts.  Below is an example of one such cloth draping the wine station:

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  • Thursday, June 27, 8:00 am – 6:30 pm – The Gardens of Westport

    Take a day trip with the  Friends of the Wellesley College Botanic Gardens on Thursday, June 27, from 8 am – 6:30 pm.  Travel by car south to special garden spots in and around Westport, Massachusetts, including a farm tour and lunch with Eva Sommaripa, Wellesley College ’63, and Didi Emmons, author of Wild Flavors: One Chef’s Transformative Year Cooking from Eva’s Farm, a book about Eva’s Garden, Eva, her way of life, her plants, and how to cook with them.  You will learn about the little known herbs Boston and New York chefs are discovering, as well as coveted and cultivated weeds, greens, and edible flowers. The book will be available for sale and signing at $30 a copy.  After lunch visit Westport River Winery in Westport, Massachusetts, owned and operated by the Russell Family.  These fourth generation vintners are best known for their extraordinary sparkling wines and white varietals.  You will have a short tour and tasting to learn about this special location for growing grapes and making award-winning wines.  Finish the day at a local private garden with lemonade and cookies before journeying back to Wellesley.For more details contact 781-283-3094, or email wcbgfriends@wellesley.edu.  Friends price $50, public $65.

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  • Tuesday, June 18, 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm – Law of the Locusts: What Insect Swarms Teach Us

    Locust swarms can be one of the most destructive plagues to mankind, but they also offer important new insights into the causes of human obesity, the aging process, and the complexities of crowd behavior. Australian biologist Steve Simpson (University of Sydney) will take us on a strange journey from insect swarms to human health on Tuesday, June 18, from 7 – 8 at the Harvard Museum of Natural History, 24 Oxford Street in Cambridge.

    Parking/Directions: Free event parking in the 52 Oxford Street Garage. An 8-minute walk through Harvard Yard from the Harvard Square red line T stop. For more information visit www.hmnh.harvard.edu.

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  • Twilight Garden Party 2013 – Urns of Plenty

    Paula Daher is another exceptionally talented member and principal of Daher Interior Design.  She filled large black urns with the most amazing burgundy dahlias, blue hydrangea, and other accent flowers, which greeted guests entering the Chapel:

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  • Thursday, June 13, 10:00 am – 3:00 pm – Weston Garden Club Garden Tour

    The Weston Garden Club will hold its 2013 Garden Tour of nine lovely gardens on Thursday, June 13, from 10 – 3.  Meet at the Josiah Smith Tavern Barn, 358 Boston Post Road in Weston for tickets and maps.  $20 in advance, $25 day of tour.  You may send a check payable to Weston Garden Club to 370 Glen Road, Weston, MA 02493. Contact Lynn Taff at 781-237-2535, or email her at LRT.1@comcast.net for tickets and information.  You may also contact Cathy Konover at cakon@verizon.net.

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