Boston Flora

Month: May 2014

  • Saturday, May 17, 12:00 pm, 1:30 pm, and 3:30 pm – Boston House Museum Alliance Tours: Servant Life in Downtown Boston

    The Boston House Museum Alliance announces its spring 2014 tour series, Servant Life in Downtown Boston.  For these special tours on Saturday, May 17 (12, 1, and 3:30 pm), Otis House, Gibson House Museum, and Nichols House Museum draw on their rich collections and stories to illuminate the history of domestic service over three centuries.  The Otis House tour focuses on the countless hours it took servants to prepare for an elegant entertainment and attend to the day-to-day operations of a large household.  The tour includes a visit to the third floor, a space not currently open to the public.  Tickets ($5 per person) are sold separately at each site.  Presented by Historic New England, The Gibson House Museum, and The Nichols House Museum.  For more information contact Melinda Huff at otishouse@historicnewengland.org or call 617-994-5920.

    http://www.thegibsonhouse.org/uploads/2/0/4/5/20453943/3131844.jpg?1396796451

  • Friday, July 18 – Saturday, July 26 – 10th International Carnivorous Plant Conference & Post-Conference Trip

    The International Carnivorous Plant Society Conference 2014 is presented by the three Australian CP Societies:

    The Australian Carnivorous Plant Society
    The Victorian Carnivorous Plant Society
    The Australasian Carnivorous Plant Society

    The conference will be hosted by The Cairns Botanic Gardens, which houses an impressive collection of tropical CPs.

    This 3-day event (July 18 – 20) will cater for the scientific/academic community, hobbyists, and conservationists alike. The conference will include high quality contemporary speakers and a range of public events.

    To express an interest in attending and to receive a pack, please e-mail: ICPS2014@captiveexotics.com.

    Two post-conference field trips have been organized to capture the diversity of tropical Australian CPs.

    Monday 21 July 2014, a full day trip to Mount Bartle Frere to see 3 different locations for Drosera schizandra.

    Tuesday 22 July to Saturday 26 July 2014, a rare opportunity to visit the very tip of Cape York to see Nepenthes, Tropical Utricularia (below), Drosera, and Byblis.

    For complete registration information visit www.carnivorousplants.org/news/Cairns2014.php.

    http://www.sarracenia.com/photos/utricularia/utricmenzi004.jpg

  • Saturday, May 31, 11:00 am – Historic Interiors: Evolution and Preservation

    Historic interiors are an often overlooked element of historic properties which can tell a compelling story of a house’s history and evolution over time. Join Historic New England’s Sally Zimmerman and Jess Phelps on Saturday, May 31 at 11:00 am as they chart home interiors over time and explore options and tools for protecting these unique components of our collective built heritage. The program, co-sponsored with the Jamaica Plain Historical Society and hosted by the Jamaica Plain Tuesday Club, will take place at the Loring-Greenough House, 12 South Street, Jamaica Plain. The program is free and open to the public, although a $5 donation to the preservation of the Georgian mansion will be greatly appreciated.

    http://p-ec2.pixstatic.com/52555981697ab06b0900021d._w.540_h.135_s.fit_.jpg

  • Tuesdays, May 20 & 27, and Thursdays, May 22 & 29, 9:30 am – 12:30 pm – Growing Green: A Studio Focus

    Explore painting the many shades of green in spring vegetables at the Wellesley College Botanic Gardens, in this art class entitled Growing Green: A Studio Focus, to be held on four mornings, May 20, 22, 27 and 29, from 9:30 – 12:30.  Sarah Roche helps you investigate the potential of your palette to capture complex greens and create a veggie study to showcase your new skills.  Friends of Wellesley College Botanic Gardens – $150, non-members $200.  Register by calling 781-283-3094 or email wcbgfriends@wellesley.edu. Image from www.burpee.com.

    http://www.burpee.com/images/product/prod000754/prod000754_lg.jpg

  • Saturday and Sunday, May 17 – 18, 12:00 noon – 3:00 pm – Annual Newton Community Farm Seedling Sale

    Saturday and Sunday, May 17 – 18, 12:00 noon – 3:00 pm – Annual Newton Community Farm Seedling Sale

    Come to the Newton Community Farm Annual Seedling Sale at 303 Nahanton Street in Newton on Saturday and Sunday, Mary 17 and 18, from 12 – 3. They will have 15,000+ vegetable and herb seedlings ready for transplant. Bring your own boxes for carrying. Cash or check only. A detailed list of what we will be growing can be downloaded at http://newtoncommunityfarm.org//srv/htdocs/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/2014Seedling-Sale_edits-FINAL.pdf.

    May-Seedling-Sale-v4-color

  • Tuesday, May 20, 6:00 pm – Hemlock: A Forest Giant on the Edge

    For millennia, eastern hemlock trees have held irreplaceable cultural value and created unique forest habitat across New England. Today, eastern hemlocks are disappearing from our forests, falling by the tens of thousands as prey to an exotic insect foe.

    In the new book Hemlock: A Forest Giant on the Edge, eight Harvard Forest researchers reflect on eastern hemlock’s irreplaceable value to human culture, ecosystems, and scientific research.

    This free panel discussion, to be held Tuesday, May 20 beginning at 6 pm at the Harvard Museum of Natural History, 24 Oxford Street in Cambridge, featuring two of the book’s authors, Harvard Forest director David R. Foster and ecologist Aaron Ellison (recent speaker at The Garden Club of the Back Bay February meeting,) will explain connections between eastern hemlock’s modern decline and the larger challenges facing nature and society in an era of habitat fragmentation, native species loss, and global climate change.

  • Friends of the Public Garden Spring Membership Drive

    The Friends of the Public Garden has launched its second annual Spring Membership Drive. Members play an important role in supporting the care and protection of some of Boston’s, and America’s, most treasured green spaces and all are invited to join. The Friends is offering a limited-time incentive now through May 22 when anyone who joins will be entered into a drawing to win lunch for two at the Four Seasons Hotel’s Bristol Lounge. Join by stopping by the office at 69 Beacon, calling 617-723-8144, visiting the Friends website at friendsofthepublicgarden.org, or by attending a special “Meet the Friends” reception for prospective members at the office on May 22.

    The Friends of the Public Garden is a non-profit citizen’s advocacy group formed in 1970 to preserve and enhance the Public Garden, America’s first public botanical garden. Shortly after the group organized, its mission was broadened to include the adjacent Boston Common, America’s first public park, and the Commonwealth Avenue Mall, the central spine of the Back Bay neighborhood. The Friends has worked in collaboration with the Parks and Recreation Department of the City of Boston since its beginnings. It is the first public-private partnership of its kind in the region. Today is has more than 2,500 members from over 100 Massachusetts communities and 30 other states.

    Members receive the Friends newsletters and are invited to programs and events throughout the year, including the annual Members Reception. Leadership Friends, who join at the $1,000 or higher level, are also invited to an additional special annual reception and Public Garden sculpture tour.

    For more information or to RSVP for the reception write to info@friendsofthepublicgarden.org or call 617-723-8144.

  • Tuesday, May 20, 5:00 pm – Annual Meeting of The Garden Club of the Back Bay, Inc.

    Tuesday, May 20, 5:00 pm – Annual Meeting of The Garden Club of the Back Bay, Inc.

    The Annual Meeting of The Garden Club of the Back Bay, Inc. will take place Tuesday, May 20, beginning at 5 pm, at The College Club of Boston, 44 Commonwealth Avenue.  Following the business meeting, Liz Vizza, Executive Director of The Friends of the Public Garden, will speak on the Friends’ new Docent Program.  Garden Club of the Back Bay members will receive written notice.  If you are interested in attending, please email info@bostonflora.com by May 13.

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  • Tuesdays, June 3 – June 24, 9:30 am – 12:30 pm – 50 Shades of Grey (and White)

    Painting a white subject involves showing nuances of color and value without getting too dark.  Explore painting the shadows and leaving the highlights to describe the form – using many more than fifty shades and hues of grey.  In this Wellesley College Botanic Gardens class, to be held on Tuesdays, June 3 – 24 from 9:30 – 12:30, Sarah Roche helps you investigate the potential of your palette to create complex greys and compose a delicate, sensitive study.  Friends of Wellesley College Botanic Gardens fee is $150, non-members $200.  Register by calling 781-283-3094, or email wcbgfriends@wellesley.edu. Image of white lilac from www.etsy.com.

     

    http://img0.etsystatic.com/007/1/5630001/il_340x270.472400850_sjc1.jpg

  • Wednesdays, June 4 – June 25, 9:30 am – 12:30 pm – Drawing and Painting for the Petrified

    In this relaxed, informative seminar at the Wellesley College Botanic Gardens, with plenty of helpful demonstrations, you will work towards developing your drawing and painting skills.  Sarah Roche encourages your observational skills to grow as you experiment with line drawings and the accurate representations of botanical forms.  Leap into watercolor painting as Sarah guides you through a series of fun beginning botanical watercolor exercises.  All abilities and anxiety levels welcome.  Please bring to the first class: 9 x 12 sketch paper, HB (No.2) pencils, and white plastic eraser.  Sarah will discuss brushes, palettes, and watercolor papers necessary for the remaining classes.  Samples of paint will be provided.  The Wednesday series of classes, June 4 – 25, will cost $125 for Friends of Wellesley College Botanic Gardens, $150 for nonmembers.  Sign up by calling 781-283-3094, or email wcbgfriends@wellesley.edu.

    http://www.sarahrochebotanicalart.com/pics/front2.jpg