Boston Flora

Month: April 2014

  • Monday, April 14, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Uncorking the Past: The Quest for Wine, Beer, and Extreme Fermented Beverages

    Call 617-384-5277 and join the wait list for the Arnold Arboretum’s Director’s Lecture Series April 14 offering, Uncorking the Past: The Quest for Wine, Beer, and Extreme Fermented Beverages, presented by Patrick E. McGovern, PhD, Scientific Director, Biomolecular Archaeology Laboratory for Cuisine, Fermented Beverages, and Health at the University of Pennsylvania Museum.  The presentation begins at 7 at the Weld Hill building at the Arboretum.
    Fermented beverages have probably been with the human race from its beginning in Africa. Following a tantalizing trail of archaeological, chemical, artistic, and textual clues, Patrick E. McGovern, the leading authority on ancient alcoholic beverages, will describe how enterprising our ancestors were in concocting a host of beverages from a vast array of natural products (honey, grape, barley, rice, sorghum, chocolate). As humans spread around the planet, this had profound effects on our cultural and biological development. Some of these beverages, including the earliest alcoholic beverage from China (Chateau Jiahu), the mixed drink served at the King Midas funerary feast (Midas Touch), and the chocolate beverage (Theobroma), have been re-created by Dogfish Head Brewery, shedding light on how our ancestors made them and providing a taste sensation and a means for us to travel back in time. The talk will be followed by a tasting of ancient beers recreated by Dogfish Head Craft Brewed Ales. Participants in the tasting must be 21 or older.  $10 Arboretum member, $20 nonmember

    Read about an ancient Nordic grog, McGovern’s latest beverage discovery, and it re-creation. Fermented beverages have probably been with the human race from its beginning in Africa. Following a tantalizing trail of archaeological, chemical, artistic, and textual clues, Patrick E. McGovern, the leading authority on ancient alcoholic beverages, will describe how enterprising our ancestors were in concocting a host of beverages from a vast array of natural products (honey, grape, barley, rice, sorghum, chocolate). As humans spread around the planet, this had profound effects on our cultural and biological development. Some of these beverages, including the earliest alcoholic beverage from China (Chateau Jiahu), the mixed drink served at the King Midas funerary feast (Midas Touch), and the chocolate beverage (Theobroma), have been re-created by Dogfish Head Brewery, shedding light on how our ancestors made them and providing a taste sensation and a means for us to travel back in time. The talk will be followed by a tasting of ancient beers recreated by Dogfish Head Craft Brewed Ales. Participants in the tasting must be 21 or older.
    $10 member, $20 nonmember

    Read about an ancient Nordic grog, McGovern’s latest beverage discovery, and its re-creation, at http://www.penn.museum/press-releases/1031-patrick-mcgovern-nordic-grog.html.

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  • Saturday, April 26 OR Saturday, May 3, 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm – Setting Up a Beehive

    Join beekeeper Jan Johnson for step-by-step instruction and demonstration on setting up a beehive, beginning indoors with a close-up look at how bees arrive for installation. This Berkshire Botanical Garden workshop will be conducted off-site, and registrants will be informed of the venue in advance. Safety equipment, how to stay protected, structural components, assembly and siting of the hive will be discussed. Jan will then demonstrate how to introduce bees into a new hive. Participants will be able to observe from a safe distance.

    This program is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, April 26 or May 3 at 2 pm. These dates are subject to weather conditions and bee delivery. Once you sign up for the workshop, we will keep you posted about the actual day the workshop will occur. It will take place on a weekend. A list of suggested safety equipment is listed below although these items are not mandatory. Protective gear should include a hat and face veil, long-sleeved shirt and pants (or bee suit) and protective boots. Gloves are helpful. Following the demonstration, Jan will be on hand to answer questions.

    $25 for BBG members, $35 for nonmembers.  Register at www.berkshirebotanical.org, or call 413-298-3926, x 15.

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  • Saturday, April 26, 10:30 am – 1:00 pm – Drifts of Daffodils

    Join well known gardener Jeffrey Steele for an in-depth program on naturalizing daffodils at visits to two private gardens on Saturday, April 26 in a program sponsored by the Berkshire Botanical Garden. Each garden demonstrates extensive plantings using contrasting methods for naturalizing daffodils. Timed for the height of the bloom, this program will cover the planning, varietal selection, planting and cultivation to enable participants to successfully create daffodil meadows or woodlands. A short history of daffodils will be included in the program.

    Jeffrey A. Steele is owner of Ashley Falls Nursery, a landscape and garden design and consultation firm with a special interest in historic gardens. He was previously with the Atlanta Botanical Garden and Wilcox Park (a Victorian strolling park restoration in Rhode Island) and was a past director of BBG. The daffodil is his favorite flower, and he has been building a collection for the last 15 years.

    Participants can choose to carpool or drive separately. Those joining the carpool should meet in the parking lot at Berkshire Botanical Garden for a 9:45 am departure. Carpool will return at approximately 1:30 pm. $25 for members of BBG, $30 for nonmembers. Register at www.berkshirebotanical.org, or call 413-298-3926, x 15.

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  • Saturday, April 19, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon – Rejuvenating Shrubs: Lilacs, Weigela, Forsythia and More

    On Saturday, April 19, from 10 – noon, the Berkshire Botanical Garden will hold an offsite workshop on Rejuvenating Shrubs: Lilacs, Weigela, Forsythia and More. Is that old lilac refusing to flower? Spring is a great time to assess your woody shrubs for shape and structure. This hands-on workshop will focus on when, why and how to renovate or rejuvenate your woody plants. Learn about tools, timing and specific techniques available to the home gardener. Following a lecture and several pruning demonstrations, participants will learn by doing.

    Ron Yaple, A.A.S. Forestry, MCA/CLA, owner of Race Mountain Tree Services, has developed a regional reputation as one of the premier arborists. His company serves the tri-state region and is a full-service company. He is a dedicated and knowledgeable teacher of arboriculture.

    BBG members $35, non-members $40.  Register on line at www.berkshirebotanical.org or call 413-298-3926, x 15.

    http://www.botanical-journeys-plant-guides.com/images/variegated-weigela-florida-dg.jpg

  • Wednesday, April 16, 1:00 pm – Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens: An Armchair Visit

    Experience a photo tour of this fabulous plant paradise in Boothbay, Maine, with garden designer and Wellesley College Botanic Garden Friends docent Maureen Bovet on Wednesday, April 16, at 1 pm.  Maureen returns to this garden by the sea as often as possible.  Opened in 2007 after 16 years of planning, the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens offers visitors stunning beauty and intimate experiences as it enhances the botanical heritage and natural landscapes of its 250 acres in coastal Maine.  CMGB Director Bill Cullina describes it best with the subtitle of his book about the garden: “A People’s Garden.”  Friends of Wellesley College Botanic Gardens – free; nonmembers $10. Register by calling 781-283-3094, or email wcbgfriends@wellesley.edu. Image below from the Garden Club of the Back Bay’s favorite photographer Rich Pomerantz.

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  • Sunday, April 27 – Wednesday, April 30 – The 22nd Annual Newport Symposium: East Meets West, Centuries of Exchange

    Join The Preservation Society of Newport County to celebrate the centennial of Alva Vanderbilt Belmont’s Chinese Tea House at Marble House through an exploration of the complex and varied responses to the Far East “ real and imagined “ in the visual arts of Western Europe and The United States. On Sunday, April 27 – Wednesday, April 30, leading scholars will discuss the exchange of objects and the myriad interpretations of Chinoiserie through the lens of European and American architecture, furniture, painting, ceramics, textiles, gardens and collections from the 18th through the 20th centuries.

    Newport has been a nationally significant repository for treasures from the Far East from its Golden Age in the eighteenth century to the Gilded Age. Boasting examples ranging from the rich collections of China trade objects at Hunter House (c. 1748), Kingscote (1841), and Chateau-sur-Mer (1852) to the incorporation of 18th century Chinese lacquer panels into the decoration of The Elms (1902), the Preservation Society’s properties provide a uniquely focused lens through which participants will see the interplay of Eastern and Western design influences on American design and decorative arts. Featured speakers include:

    Sir Hugh Roberts
    Former Director of the Royal Collection and Surveyor of the Queen’s Works of Art
    United Kingdom

    Joan de Jean
    Trustee Professor of French, University of Pennsylvania

    Lee Glazer
    Curator of American Art, Freer-Sackler Galleries (Smithsonian)
    Washington, D.C.

    Carolyn Sargentson
    Senior Research Fellow, Victoria and Albert Museum
    London

    Judy Bullington
    Chair, Art Department, Belmont University
    Nashville, TN

    Ronald Fuchs
    Curator, Reeves Collection, Washington & Lee University
    Lexington, VA

    Laurie Brewer
    Assistant Curator of Costume and Designs, Rhode Island School of Design
    Providence, RI

    Maggie Lidz
    Estate Historian, Winterthur Museum, Delaware

    Noel Fahden Briceno
    Category Manager, Vintage and Antiques, One King’s Lane

    Admission is $500 for Preservation Society Members, $550 for nonmembers, which includes a one-year membership. Register now at http://www.newportmansions.org/events/newport-symposium or call 401-847-1000, ext. 154. There are special room rates at the Hotel Viking: log on to www.hotelviking.com, click on Reserve, click on Enter Group/Negotiated Code under the calendar, which will take you to the online booking portal, then enter online booking code 1JU603 under Special Codes.

  • Saturday, April 19, 9:30 am – 3:30 pm – Unlocking the Mystery

    The Friends of Wellesley College Botanic Gardens invite you to enjoy an opportunity to indulge your artist’s eye as you browse through images of well-known paintings in this one day seminar with Susan Fisher on Saturday, April 19 from 9:30 – 3:30.  Diagram fine art and become familiar with the various parts that make up the whole.  Acquire the tools to enhance your own artistic expression.  Class exercises will encourage you to analyze line, shape, value, color and structure.  It is fun to diagram paintings and empowering to know how to plan your next piece.  $75 for Friends of Wellesley College Botanic Gardens, $95 for non-members.  Sign up by calling 781-283-3094 or email wcbgfriends@wellesley.edu.

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  • Wednesday, April 23, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Creating Chocolate from the Garden

    Create your own handmade, healthy chocolate using garden ingredients.

    Chocolate Therapy, 60 Worcester Road (Rt. 9) in Framingham, creators of artisanal chocolates, will host the Massachusetts Horticultural Society for this hands-on event. Through lecture, demonstration, sampling and chocolate making, attendees will make their own Garden Bark and decorate it like the pros using ingredients from their gardens.

    Learn the sights, sounds and smells of chocolate-making, how to create unique flavor combinations and sample Chocolate Therapy’s award-winning truffles. $45 for Mass Hort members, $50 for nonmembers. Telephone 617-933-4943, or email lkamer@masshort.org to sign up.

    http://www.thismamacooks.com/images/2013/10/Chocolate-Orange-Pistachio-.jpg

  • Thursday, April 17, 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm – Boston Harbor Celebration and Auction

    The Boston Harbor Association will hold its annual Boston Harbor Celebration and Auction on Thursday, April 17, from 5 – 8 at the Boston Harbor Hotel, which, along with Legal Sea Foods, again underwrites the gala. This event supports nearly 1/3 of their work to promote Boston’s harbor and waterfront renaissance, support the working port, and prepare coastal neighborhoods for sea level rise. $200 per person (includes beer and wine, hors d’oeuvre, dinner and dessert.)  For tickets or more information, contact Executive Director Julie Wormser at 617-482-1722, x 102, or log on to www.tbha.org.

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  • Saturday, April 12, 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm – Raw Foods Non-Cooking Class

    Think a Raw Food Diet is just carrot sticks and celery? Paula Denoncourt and June House will share their recipes on Saturday, April 12 from 2 – 4 at Tower Hill Botanic Garden, 11 French Drive, Boylston. These raw food recipes will change your mind. Recipes may include everything from vegetarian sushi, raw tacos, raw lasagna, spaghetti, manicotti to Mexican chocolate chia pudding and much more. You will also learn the benefits of a Raw Food diet and how it can contribute to weight loss, more energy, improved mood, and resistance to illness. These classes will be hands on and will include recipes and handouts. TWBG members $30, non-members $45. Register online at www.towerhillbg.org. Image from www.therawchef.blogs.com.

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