The Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts will present a civic development workshop on Thursday, March 27, from 9 – 12:30 at the Espousal Center, 554 Lexington Street, Waltham, entitled Civic Development Projects: What Worked, What Didn’t. Learn how to work effectively with civic authorities to make everyone proud. Photo below of a Garden Club of the Back Bay civic project courtesy of Penny and Ed Cherubino of www.bostonzest.com. Cost is $15 per club OR bring one item for the Raffle Table. Multiple club members may attend for just one club donation. To register contact Louise Sironi at 781-826-8421, or email sironied@verizon.net. Â
Month: March 2014
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Saturday, October 4 – Sunday, October 19 – Madagascar With New England Wild Flower Society
The New England Wild Flower Society invites you to join them to explore the natural heritage and unique flora and wildlife of Madagascar in October, 2014. This 16-day expedition offers travel enthusiasts an exceptional opportunity to become acquainted with the flora and fauna of Madagascar.
Madagascar is the fourth largest island in the world, isolated from the African continent for 30 million years. It is home to at least 12,000 plants—a high percentage that are unique to the country. Ninety‑five percent of the lemurs and reptiles, 80 percent of the flowering plants, 98 percent of the palms, and more than 100 birds are found nowhere else.
Leading this tour will be Herilala Jonah, a superb Madagascar naturalist. Representing the Society will be staff member John Burns.
The itinerary includes:
• Antananarivo & the Lemur Park. Visit the capital city of Madagascar and this private reserve established in 2001 for lemur education and conservation.
• Perinet Reserve, in the eastern rain forests. Look for the largest of the lemurs, the indri, noted for its ear-shattering cries and agility in traveling through the rain forest canopy. Explore the moist forest with trees covered in epiphytes, ferns, and large lianas with bamboo below.
• Berenty Reserve, an internationally acclaimed wildlife reserve in the semi‑arid south. Enjoy the unique spiny desert plus a profusion of ring-tailed lemurs, sifakas, lepilemurs, and flying foxes.
• Reserve de Nahampoana, an excellent botanical reserve near Fort Dauphin.
• Isalo National Park, an extraordinary landscape in the southwest with arid sandstone ridges sculpted by wind and water, with lemurs and endemic plants.
We hope you will join us for this adventure, and discover the magnificence of Madagascar in 2014!
For more trip information, you can download the trip brochure by visiting http://www.newfs.org/images/learn/Madagascar%20brochure%20from%20Betchart-%20final.pdf. Or contact:
Betchart Expeditions, Inc.
17050 Montebello Road
Cupertino, CA 95014-5435Tel: (800) 252-4910 or (408) 252-4910
Fax: (408) 252-1444Email: info@betchartexpeditions.com
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Thursday, March 20, 7:30 pm – Clematis
Cheryl Monroe will discuss Clematis and present a PowerPoint illustrated lecture on Thursday, March 20, beginning at 7:30 pm at the Wollaston Congregational Church Social Hall, 28 Winthrop Avenue in Wollaston (Quincy.) The event is sponsored by the Wollaston Garden Club and is open to the public. For more information email Kathleen Ceurvels at ceurvels@comcast.net.
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Thursday, March 13, 8:00 pm – Emerald Necklace Night at Symphony
On Thursday, March 13, join the Emerald Necklace Conservancy for a special evening at Boston Symphony Hall to benefit the Justine Mee Liff Fund for the Emerald Necklace. German conductor Christoph von Dohnányi and the Soviet-born, Israeli-American pianist Yefim Bronfman collaborate with the BSO in an all-Beethoven program featuring the composer’s piano concertos and his Leonore overture. Tickets for Night at Symphony are limited. Please call Jillian Levine at 617-522-2700 for availability. Thank you www.classical-scene.com (best local website for musical happenings in the Boston area) for the image.
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Saturday, March 22, 12:30 pm – 3:00 pm – Identifying Shrubs and Other Signs of Spring
It’s easier to learn shrub recognition and identification in the spring, when leaves are lacking and the diverse, dense structure of these important components of wildlife habitat are most obvious. In late winter and early spring our native shrub buds are enlarging and opening, with bright colors and textures of twigs more evident. Shrubs are essential ecological components of open, forested and wetland habitats, providing food, structure for nesting, and cover for birds and mammals. Joe Choiniere and Wendy Howes of the Hubbardston Nature Club will take you with them to explore state forest and other conservation properties in Hubbardston, studying our native shrubs. We may even find hazelnut and alder in bloom, their wind-dependent flowers aided by early spring breezes. We’ll also be watching and listening for early migrant bird species—sparrows, blackbirds, and phoebes–as well as other species expected in this transitional period, and watching for other indications that spring is on the way.
Easy walking is planned, but trail conditions will be uncertain, so participants should wear sturdy foot gear. Meet on Saturday, March 22 at 12:30 pm at Hubbardston Town Offices parking lot on Route 68 to car-pool. Foul weather date is March 29. No need to pre-register, but we’d like to know if you’re planning to join us. Contact hubbardstonnatureclub@yahoo.com. Image from www.blogher.com.
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Wednesday, March 12, 7:00 pm – Gardening in the Shade
The Garden Club of Norfolk presents Gardening in the Shade with Suzanne Mahler on Wednesday, March 12, beginning at 7 pm at the Norfolk Public Library Meeting Room, 139 Main Street in Norfolk. Shady sites pose challenges but need not lack pizzazz. Learn which shrubs and perennials tolerate low light while providing fabulous flowers and foliage, for a peaceful shady retreat. Public invited.
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Sunday, March 16, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm – The Legacy of Boston’s Peace Bell in the Emerald Necklace
Last year the Emerald Necklace Conservancy sponsored a popular talk which will be repeated by popular demand on Sunday, March 16, beginning at 1 pm at the Shattuck Visitor Center, in the Back Bay Fens across from the Museum of Fine Arts. Docent Lola Heiler-Stillman has spent many hours over the last three years researching the story of the 17th Century Japanese Temple Bell that resides in the Back Bay Fens. She continues the journey with an updated presentation on the significance of the bell among the peace bells of the world. Free and open to the public.
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Wednesday, March 19, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm – Deer-resistant Landscaping
The Ecological Landscape Alliance and the New England Wild Flower Society will co-sponsor Deer-resistant Landscaping with landscape designer Kathy Connolly on Wednesday, March 19, from 6 – 8 at the Native Plant Center at Nasami Farm, 128 North Street in Whately, Massachusetts. Take your landscape off the menu at the deer café. There is no such thing as a deer-proof plant, but some plants come close. In this seminar, landscape designer Kathy Connolly presents ideas that will help your landscape become a “deer survivor.†Learn about the products that work and how to select the best plants for deer resistance, with special emphasis on our New England natives. We will also review fence ideas and their relative value. We will touch on strategies for managing other uninvited critters as well. Registrations are limited. $24 for ELA and NEWFS members, $29 for nonmembers. To register call 617-436-5838 or visit https://www.eventville.com/catalog/eventregistration1.asp?eventid=1010932.
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Thursday, March 20, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm – Gibson House Museum Eighteenth Annual Benefit
The Gibson House Museum will hold its eighteenth annual benefit on Thursday, March 20 from 6:30 – 8:30 at The Algonquin Club on Commonwealth Avenue. The 2014 honoree is Jonathan L. Fairbanks, an artist who is also one of the world’s foremost experts on American arts and antiques. He created the Department of American Decorative Arts and Sculpture at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and served as its chief curator from 1970 to 1999. He is currently the director of the Fuller Craft Museum. Mr. Fairbanks has received many awards for his outstanding and diverse contributions to his field. We honor him particularly for his long-standing dedication to historic preservation and for increasing our knowledge and appreciation of 19th- and early 20th-century American architecture and decorative arts. Tickets may be reserved by calling 617-267-6338 or by visiting www.thegibsonhouse.org.
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Monday, April 7 – Wednesday, April 9 – 2014 Northeast Natural History Conference
Join the Eagle Hill Institute on Monday, April 7 through Wednesday, April 9 for the 2014 Northeast Natural History Conference, to be held at the Sheraton Springfield Hotel in Springfield, Massachusetts. This conference promises again to be the largest regional forum for researchers, natural resource managers, students, and naturalists to present current information on the varied aspects of applied field biology (freshwater, marine, and terrestrial) and natural history for the Northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. It will serve as a premier venue to identify research and management needs, foster friendships and collegial relationships, and encourage a greater region-wide interest in natural history by bringing people with diverse backgrounds together. Impressed with the Sheraton Springfield Hotel as a wonderful conference facility and western Massachussetts as a central location within reasonable travel distance to so many institutions and organizations focused on natural history research, the organizers are returning there for the 2014 NENHC.
Special Conference Rates:
• $109 plus tax per night for a room with either one king or two queen beds
• $99 plus tax per night for students
• An extra person can share the room on a rollaway bed* for only an additional $15, making it even more affordable for those on a budget.Individuals may call in directly to the Sheraton Springfield reservations desk at the number provided below. In order to receive the special rates, guests must identify themselves as attendees of the Northeast Natural History Conference and make their reservations by March 16th. In addition, students must identify themselves as students at time of registration and then provide student ID at time of check-in. After this date, discounted room rates may be available, but only at the discretion of the Hotel.
Sheraton Springfield Hotel
Address: One Monarch Place, Springfield, MA 01144
Phone: 413-781-1010 or 1-800-325-3535
To register for the conference, visit http://www.eaglehill.us/NENHC_2014/registration/registrationinfo.shtml before March 16.