Boston Flora

Month: April 2014

  • Sunday, May 11, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm – Lilac Sunday

    Of the thousands of flowering plants in the Arnold Arboretum, only one, the lilac, is singled out each year for a daylong celebration.  Tours of the lilacs and other special collections, live music, family activities, food vendors and picnicking (on this special day only), make for a memorable day. Be a part of this beloved Boston tradition on Sunday, May 11! The Arboretum is open as usual from dawn to dusk. Refreshments and activities are available from 10:00am to 4:00pm.

    Parking:
    Street parking along the Arboretum perimeter is limited and visitors are advised to take public transportation. No unauthorized vehicles will be allowed within the gates during the event.

    Accessibility:
    Some parking spaces outside the gates will be designated for special-needs visitors. A limited number of wheelchairs are available on a first-come, first-served basis at information tents in three locations: in front of the Hunnewell Visitor Center, inside the Forest Hills Gate, and inside the Centre Street Gate. They may not be reserved in advance.  While you are in the neighborhood, we invite you to visit local shops and restaurants in Jamaica Plain and Roslindale.  For more Lilac Sunday information call the Arnold Arboretum at 617.524.1718.  Syringa Bloomerang (reg. trademark) pictured below available from www.whiteflowerfarm.com.

    http://images.whiteflowerfarm.com/m067623a.jpg

  • Tuesday, May 13, 9:00 am – Spring and Summer Containers

    Deb Trickett is a Massachusetts Certified Horticulturist and a Massachusetts Certified Landscape professional. We have come to know and love her as the amazingly talented designer of container gardens. Deb’s presentations are informative, funny, interactive and filled with great ideas for making our containers at home look so much more beautiful. The Duxbury Garden Club will sponsor a program on Tuesday, May 13 beginning at 9 am at the Duxbury Bay Maritime School. 457 Washington Street in Duxbury, and the fee to attend is $5. Deb will design two gorgeous spring/summer containers for us, and the Duxbury Garden Club will raffle them off to two lucky winners!  Photo below of one of Deb’s containers from www.finegardening.com.  For more information visit www.communitygardenclubofduxbury.org.

    http://www.finegardening.com/CMS/uploadedimages/Images/Gardening/Web_Only/Deborah_Trickett_xlg.jpg

  • Sunday, May 18, 9:00 am – 3:30 pm – Gardeners’ Fair at Elm Bank

    Join the Massachusetts Horticultural Society at Elm Bank, 900 Washington Street in Wellesley, on Sunday, May 18, for the annual Gardeners’ Fair, featuring White Flower Farm’s Great Tomato Celebration, Society Row Plant Sale, specialty vendors, and children’s activities, plus food and special lectures.  Special Mass Hort members’ hours 8 am – 9 an, and public hours 9 am – 3:30 pm. The Gardeners Fair and the Society Row Plant Sale includes a variety of vendors carrying everything you need to plan, dig, plant, and enjoy your home garden space. The Gardeners’ Fair is your opportunity to find rare and unusual perennials, trees and shrubs; ready-to-plant herbs and vegetables; and tomato varieties by the dozens. It’s also a chance to hear talks by an expert, find unique garden tools, garden ornaments and accessories, as well as other gardening necessities.

    White Flower Farm will be back. They’re bringing ‘The Great Tomato Celebration’, which features over 80 tomato varieties ranging from heirlooms and popular hybrids (see sample heirlooms from White Flower Farm below.) If you’re confused by all the choices, they’ll have experts on hand to offer advice on flavor, yield, disease resistance and planting instructions. White Flower Farm will also have a large selection of herbs and vegetable seedlings, plus planting implements.  Mass Hort members free, General Public $5.00.

    http://images.whiteflowerfarm.com/4900a.jpg

  • Friday, May 9 and Saturday, May 10, 8:00 am – 5:00 pm – Berkshire Botanical 37th Annual Plant Sale

    The 37th Annual Berkshire Botanical Plant Sale will take place Friday and Saturday, May 9 and 10, at the Garden located at 5 West Stockbridge Road, West Stockbridge, Massachusetts.  On Friday, there is a members-only early buying privilege time from 8 – 11, and then the sale will be open to the General Public from 11 – 5. The sale will continue Saturday for everyone from 8 – 5. Gardeners get a jump-start on the season with this annual plant sale, which has become an iconic harbinger of spring in the Berkshires. This year’s theme, Get Your Hands in the Dirt, features thousands of plants to choose from, appropriate to northeastern gardens, organized into the habitats in which they thrive. Vegetables and herbs from Monkshood Nursery will be available to buy, being sold by BBG staff and volunteers. NEW this year: Living fern and succulent wreaths and miniature wall gardens designed by Head Gardener, Christine Caccamo. Last year’s popular Container Design Station will be back again: Let us help you design your own unique container to take home. Silent Auction: Bid on specialty plants, wall gardens, as well as green services. For a list of plant offerings, visit http://www.berkshirebotanical.org/Plant_Sale//srv/htdocs/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Monkshood-Vegetable_Herb-List.pdf.

    http://www.berkshirebotanical.org//srv/htdocs/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Plant-Sale1.jpg

  • Wednesday, May 7, 1:00 pm – Feng Shui: Enhancing Your Environment

    The guiding principle of Feng Shui is that everything is connected and that when the environment is balanced and filled with positive energy, it enhances life goals and leads to a feeling of tranquility.  Based on thousands of years of philosophy, Feng Shui has grown in popularity due to the extraordinary results it can bring.  Lisa Law will give an overview of Feng Shui philosophy, show how to use Feng Shui tools such as the Bagua, and will teach you to employ plants and nature to enhance your environment, in the Wellesley College Botanic Garden lecture on Wednesday, May 7, beginning at 1 pm in the Botanic Garden’s Visitor’s Center.  Friends of Wellesley College Botanic Gardens: free; non-members: $10. Call 781-283-3094 or email wcbgfriends@wellesley.edu.

    http://lisalawdesignservices.com/images/feng_shui1.jpg

  • Wednesday, May 21, 10:00 am – Floral Fantasy with Marie-Francoise Deprez

    The Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts, Inc. Ruth A. Wallack Fund presents Floral Fantasy with Marie-Francoise Deprez, internationally acclaimed designer, on Wednesday, May 21, beginning at 10 am at Regis College Fine Arts Center in Weston, Massachusetts. Seating is limited.

    Marie has her 3rd degree DAFA from the French National Horticultural Society, is a floral art teacher and national judge.  She has a passion for photography and takes most of her pictures herself. She is the author of Jeux de Fleurs : Art Floral Bourg-en-Bresse and Passion Florale.

    Tickets are $20 – send a stamped, self-addressed envelope with a check made out to the Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts to Helga Frazzette, Box 853, Eastham, MA 02642.  You may also call Helga for more information at 508-255-6664, or email frazz@comcast.net.

    http://images.amazon.com/images/I/41VW8GEDD7L.jpg

  • Wednesday, May 7, 7:00 pm – Managing Invasives: From Garlic Mustard to Tupperweed Parties

    The cooperative management of invasive species requires creative new approaches, whether working with your neighbors or town hall.

    Grow Native Massachusetts will explore innovative ways to start grassroots control efforts, discussing effective outreach methods and the importance of public education, in this talk by Julie Richburg to be held Wednesday, May 7 at the Cambridge Public Library, 449 Broadway, beginning at 7 pm. The Westfield River Watershed Invasive Species Partnership will illustrate effective organizational collaboration and coordinated control methods.

    Dr. Julie Richburg is Regional Ecologist at The Trustees of Reservations. The program is free.  For more information visit www.grownativemass.org.

    http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2006/04.27/photos/12-invasive2-450.jpg

  • Saturday, May 3, 10:00 am – 11:30 am – Mushroom Walk and Talk

    Join Michael Rogers, CLS, on Saturday, May 3, from 10 – 11:30 at Elm Bank, 900 Washington Street, Wellesley, to learn how to identify and harvest edible mushrooms. Rogers is a laboratory scientist and mushroom enthusiast who has been researching all different types of native mushrooms throughout the Sudbury Valley and beyond. Learn how to identify species, focusing on those native to Massachusetts and general information on what not to eat. Enjoy a guided hike and lecture. $15 for Massachusetts Horticultural society members, $20 for non-members. Register by calling 617-933-4943, or visit www.masshort.org. Image from www.honest-food.net.

    http://honest-food.net//srv/htdocs/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/honey-mushrooms.jpg

  • Friday, May 16 – Sunday, May 18 – Northern New England Home, Garden and Flower Show

    Celebrate the arrival of spring with us at the 11th Annual Home Garden Flower Show at Fryeburg Fairgrounds, May 16, 17 & 18, 2014 with great exhibitors, garden centers and awesome fair food!

    Always a fun and lively event, this show brings together more than 300 regional home and home related products and services. Quality merchandise from regional artists and artisans, garden centers, product demonstrations, and expert advice from the home and garden pros all add to this popular family event. The spring show was recently chosen as one of the Top Twenty events in Maine by Yankee Magazine.

    Our Meet the Chefs Cooking Series features guest chefs from some of the most popular kitchens in Maine and New Hampshire. Audiences pack the studio kitchen to watch the chefs prepare culinary delights and to sample the results.

    Home and garden related seminars offer cutting-edge information to attendees on eco-friendly and green products and services.

    Garden marketplaces offer a huge assortment of plants, shrubs, flowers and garden supplies and seedlings all zone-hardy and all ready to go!

    Celebrity guests and lots of surprises are planned for the show and we encourage the public to visit our website often for updates. $9 admission for adults, ages 6 – 16 $4, children under 6 free. Complete hours and details can be found at www.homegardenflowershow.com.

    http://www.homegardenflowershow.com//srv/htdocs/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/2.jpg

  • Thursdays, May 1 – June 12, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm – Watercolor Landscapes

    The Friends of Wellesley College Botanic Gardens will sponsor a class on seven consecutive Thursdays, May 1 – June 12, from 1 – 4 pm on campus, entitled Watercolor Landscapes.  Susan Swinand teaches adults at all levels of experience to solve those awkward problems of painting on location: changing natural light and cast shadows, elements of atmospheric and linear perspective, color and composition and all the techniques you’ll need for success.  Learn to use ordinary elements of nature for expressive purposes.  Follow your own interests in the classroom or work on site in the gardens.  One-on-one instruction and group critiques further your progress as you explore what makes a painting work. Friends price is $200, nonmembers $250.  Register by calling 781-283-3094, or email wcbgfriends@wellesley.edu.

    http://artsale.smfa.edu/contacts/1315/1315_headshot.jpg