Boston Flora

Month: July 2013

  • Thursday, August 1 – Sunday, August 11- Phlox Festival

    Perennial Pleasures Nursery and Tea Garden in East Hardwick, Vermont, is holding its annual Phlox Festival now through August 11. This is the time when the majority of their 137 phlox are blooming, and so it’s a wonderful opportunity to see dozens of cultivars in bloom, and to see firsthand the differences in color, shape, height and fragrance, which are so difficult to describe in writing. It’s a pretty nice show of color, and they think you’ll be happy to discover how much action there can be in a late summer garden, especially when phlox are combined with other late-bloomers such as heleniums, asters, burnets and coneflowers. More than 60 varieties should be blooming in the gardens. Daily garden tours at 11 am. Door prizes. Tea room. For more information call 802-472-5104, or visit www.perennialpleasures.net.

    http://perennialpleasures.net/skin/frontend/perennial/perennial/images/Perennial-Pleasures-Nursery-All-About-Phlox2.jpg

  • Saturday, August 10, 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm – Estuaries, Oysters and Art

    The Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve will be celebrating its 25th anniversary with a gala fundraiser, “Estuaries, Oysters and Art,” from 6 to 9 p.m. August 10 at the reserve, 131 Waquoit Highway (Route 28), East Falmouth. The event will feature art inspired by the estuaries, live music, hors d’oeuvre, an oyster bar, an open bar and silent auction.
    Tickets are $60 per person. Reservations can be made by calling 508-457-0495, ext. 155, or online at www.waquoitbayreservefoundation.org.

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  • Thursday, August 1, 4:00 pm – Brewer Fountain Tour

    Join Friends Executive Director Elizabeth Vizza at 4 pm on Thursday, August 1st at Brewer Fountain Plaza on the Common, near Park Street station to tour the site of the Friends $4 million renovation project in this corner of the park. Learn about the fountain, see how Phase I of the Friends’ renovation of the surrounding plaza and parkland has transformed this busy inner city crossroads, and hear about our plans to complete the project. The tour will conclude just in time for the weekly 5 p.m. jazz concert at the plaza, sponsored by the Friends and performed by students from Berklee College of Music.

    Please RSVP at (617)723-8144 or via info@friendsofthepublicgarden.org.

    http://fopg.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/common_brewer_fountain_plaza14_web3.jpg

  • Thursday, August 15, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm – Boston Park Advocates Mayoral Candidates’ Forum

    We have received a letter from our good friends at Boston Park Advocates which we wish to share with our readers:

    Help make parks and open spaces a priority for Boston’s candidates. The Boston Park Advocates is a network of people and organizations who champion our city’s parks and open spaces. You may have been involved in the past, attending a workshop, as sponsor of a candidates’ forum, or by testifying at a city budget hearing.

    We’re jumping into this exciting campaign season. Will you join us? Here’s what’s happening:

    Mayoral Candidates’ Forum on Thursday, August 15th 7-9pm at the Franklin Park Golf Clubhouse.
    Survey on parks & open space sent to all the candidates.
    Updated www.bostonparks.org – check it out!
    Follow Twitter and facebook activity to get the candidates talking about greenspace.
    Calendar of events so park advocates can make sure candidates hear about open space issues.

    What can you do?

    First, join. Go to the sponsorship link on the website to add your organization to the growing list of groups that care about parks and open space. Let’s show candidates that Boston park advocates are from many disciplines: youth, sports, public safety, arts, bikes, health, CDC, and more.

    Second, link to www.bostonparks.org from your organization’s website to get more people educated about parks and open space.

    Third, get involved, go to candidate events, ask about their experiences with parks and let them know what you think is needed from a new mayor to make our greenspace even more spectacular. There are lots of ways to get involved, look at www.bostonparks.org to learn how.

    We’re not supporting a candidate, we’re supporting parks! Please join us.

    For Boston Park Advocates,

    Christine Poff, Franklin Park Coalition
    Valerie Burns, Boston Natural Areas Network
    Julie Crockford, Emerald Necklace Conservancy
    Liz Vizza, Friends of the Public Garden

    http://www.bostonparks.org//srv/htdocs/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/MayorCollageforWebsiteSlider1.png

  • Wednesday, October 23 – Saturday, October 26 – CitiesAlive Green Roof and Wall Conference

    Green Roofs for Healthy Cities (GRHC) presents the 11th CitiesAlive Green Roof and Wall Conference in San Francisco, October 23-26, 2013. Join sustainable building professionals and more than 95 speakers from across the design, development, planning and utility sectors to train, tour, network, do business and elevate the dialogue around “securing urban resiliency with living architecture: food – energy – water.”

    At CitiesAlive San Francisco, we will explore the many links between the roofs and walls of our cities and the critical social, environmental and economic necessities of urban life that lead to urban resilience. SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – AN AMAZING AMERICAN DESTINATION & BURGEONING MARKET FOR LIVING ARCHITECTURE ON YOUR DOORSTEP.

    From launching the 60’s counterculture, to spawning the likes of Apple, eBay and Netflix, to leading the continent in alternative power technology implementation, the state of California and the San Francisco / Bay area have consistently demonstrated the ability to lead, and create thought and action leaders who have built a legacy of social, economic and ecological innovation. California recently adopted the greenest building code in the USA.

    San Francisco is home to iconic living architecture projects including the California Academy of Sciences green roof in Golden Gate Park. Living architecture activity is rapidly scaling up across the region.

    With the current San Francisco administration taking a particular focus on urban agriculture and biodiversity, there’s never been a better time to bring the CitiesAlive Green Roof & Wall Conference to one of America’s most exciting and diverse cities.  For complete details and registration, visit www.citiesalive.org.

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  • Thursday, August 15, 6:00 pm – Johnson Building Improvement Project

    The Boston Public Library will host a series of roundtable conversations to update Boston Public Library users and interested residents on the Johnson Building Improvement Project.  An overview of the master planning process will take place on Thursday, August 15 at 6 pm in the Boston Room at the Central Library in Copley Square.  Find updates on the Johnson Building and other major projects taking place across the library system on www.bpl.org/compass.

    http://www.friendsofsouthendlibrary.org//srv/htdocs/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Johnson-Building-Public-Commentary-2-.png

  • Thursday, August 15 – Saturday, August 17 – Boston GreenFest

    Boston GreenFest is organized by the Foundation for a Green Future, Inc. As the region’s largest multicultural environmental festival, Boston GreenFest celebrates the many ways we can create a better world by greening our lives and our communities. Turn your world around and have fun at the same time! Free admission at Boston City Hall Plaza at Government Center. Bring your own reuseable water bottle to Boston GreenFest. To help raise awareness about the wastefulness of plastic water bottles, Boston GreenFest will provide free drinking water to everyone. MWRA will help us provide fresh cold water for all festival goers using a special portable water fountain. The Foundation for a Green Future, Inc. is dedicated to ensuring a green future for our planet and is proud to host this event. We teach, support and model sustainable ways to live for ourselves and our children. Green roofs are an important part of the solution. This festival will go beyond our roofs. It will get to the core of GREEN SOLUTIONS for our entire Boston Community. Native American Drum & Dance Ceremony will launch Boston GreenFest 2013 on the Main Stage, Thursday, August 15th at 5 pm. Annawon Weeden will lead the ceremony with friends and family of Wampanoag and Narragansett heritage. The One Gallon ChallengeTM is a “race” to Boston GreenFest to see how long one gallon of gas will last. On display at City Hall Plaza will be a group of cars you’ve never seen before. For more information visit www.bostongreenfest.org.

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  • Sunday, August 11, 6:30 pm – Pop-Up Dinner at Flour Back Bay for Save Our Strength

    To celebrate the second Flour book, FLOUR TOO, Joanna Chang is hosting her first pop-up dinner on Sunday, August 11 at 6:30pm at Flour Back Bay at 131 Clarendon Street. Joanne and the Flour chefs will create a summertime family-style farm menu inspired by the new book. All proceeds, every last dollar, will go to Share our Strength to support their No Kid Hungry campaign. For more information and to reserve tickets, email Peter at peter@flourbakery.com. Tickets are $65 per person or $85 per person with wine pairings. Books will be available for purchase and signing.  For a sneak peek at the menu, visit http://www.flourbakery.com/news/our-first-pop-dinner.

    http://cdn.cstatic.net/images/gridfs/51a64101f92ea172b800c39f/chang-2.jpg

  • Tuesday, August 6, 9:30 am – 11:00 am – Ropes Mansion Garden in Bloom

    The Peabody Essex Museum will sponsor a Tour and Workshop at the Ropes Mansion on Tuesday, August 6, from 9:30 – 11:00 am. Join gardener Robin Pydynkowski to learn how to prune spring flowering plants (shrubbery, roses and vines) and how pruning now prepares for next season. Gain insight into the importance of a garden journal and why photos and annotating can help rectify or prevent common garden errors. Bring photographs of your garden to discuss with the expert. Made possible by the Ropes Botanical Lecture Fund.  Please reserve by August 1 at www.pem.org.  The Ropes Mansion is located at 318 Essex Street in Salem. The house was built for Samuel Barnard, a merchant. In 1768, Judge Nathaniel Ropes, Jr., purchased the house from Barnard’s nephew. The Ropes family then inhabited the house until 1907, when the house was given to the Trustees of the Ropes Memorial for public benefit.

    Although altered through the years and then restored, the house looks much like its original form, with a symmetrical facade of two stories, three small pedimented gables through the roof, roof balustrade, and modillioned cornice. (Compare it to the Crowninshield-Bentley House.) In 1807, however, its interior was extensively renovated. In the mid-1830s five rooms and the central hall were remodeled, and today’s doorway installed (with details inspired by Asher Benjamin’s pattern book.) In 1894 the house was moved away from the street and further modified internally. A large, fine garden was added behind the house in 1912.

    http://www.noblenet.org/salem/wiki/images/2/27/RopesGarden.jpg

  • Saturday, August 17, 10:30 am – 1:30 pm – Turkey Hill Brook Farm

    On Saturday, August 17, visit this four-acre central Massachusetts horse farm, Turkey Hill Brook Farm, landscaped as a sanctuary for farm animals, people, and wildlife. Homeowners Ellen and Robert Sousa have rehabbed their farm’s landscaping using sustainable gardening methods, removing invasive plants, and encouraging native plants to grow as food and housing for birds, pollinators, amphibians and other wildlife. The bird and butterfly borders and pond side gardens should be in full bloom. Please wear comfortable shoes – some terrain is hilly. The farm is located in Spencer, Massachusetts, and the program, sponsored by the New England Wild Flower Society, costs $24 for NEWFS members and $28 for nonmembers. Register at www.newfs.org.

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