Boston Flora

Month: June 2014

  • Wednesday, June 25, 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm – Tree Huggers at the Esplanade Playspace

    The Esplanade Association will be hosting the first ever Tree Huggers event, at the Esplanade Playspace, on Wednesday, June 25th, from 3:00 – 4:00pm. We invite you and your children to join us for an hour of fun, hands on activities, where we will learn more about the local environment and the nature that exists in the park. We will take a closer look at the squirrels that call the park home and the learn all about the beautiful trees that keep us shaded in the playspace.

    The Esplanade Association has formed the Tree Huggers program as a vehicle to educate children about their local environment while also engaging them in activities that promote park stewardship. As the inaugural Tree Huggers event, we have partnered with local educators to help make this a memorable day at the Esplanade Playspace. We hope that this can be the first of a series of engaging activities to get children interested in science while teaching them the importance of environmental awareness and preservation.

    Activities will be geared toward children ages 5-10, but all are welcome to come and participate.

    Please RSVP by June 18th to lleblanc@esplanadeassociation.org if you are able to attend in order for us to prepare for this fun event.

  • Tuesday and Wednesday, June 24 – 25, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm – Impressions of the Garden Landscape – En Plein Air

    The Massachusetts Horticultural Society, with Tony Conner of the New England Watercolor Society, will spend beautiful mid-summer days (June 24 – 25) sketching and painting landscape and garden subjects with you.  For those unfamiliar with it, this workshop will ease you into the art of painting “en plein air” meaning simply “in open air.”  You’ll learn the valuable skill of capturing impressions of the beauty around us quickly, under changing light effects.  You’ll acquire skills of good observation and an ability to distill much visual information into the few key elements that define the scene, all while enjoying the pleasures of painting outdoors.  Each day will begin with a quick instructor demonstration focusing on simplifying and distilling the subject and will end with a relaxed review of the day’s work.  In between, each participant will have time to work at their own pace, which the instructor helps develop his or her knowledge and skills in creating evocative impressions of the summer landscape.  Attendees must provide their own lunch and materials – list provided upon registration.  $160 Mass Hort members, $180 non-members.  Register at www.masshort.org.

  • Tuesday, July 8 – Thursday, July 10, 9:30 am – 3:30 pm – Botanicals by Brush and Pencil

    Learn to combine three very different media – black India ink, watercolor, and colored pencil – to create rich, luminous paintings on paper.  With Kathie Miranda as your guide, explore the qualities of each medium and discover creative ways of layering ink washes, watercolor and colored pencil together to exploit the inherent benefits of each.  Create a simple botanical composition with your choice of flowering plant.  Add your favorite natural objects such as shells and insects for interesting accents.  This Wellesley Botanical Gardens class will be held Tuesday, July 8 – Thursday, July 10, from 9:30 – 3:30.  Friends of Wellesley Botanic Gardens fee $300, non-members $375.  To register call 781-283-3094, or email wcbgfriends@wellesley.edu.

    http://www.asba-art.org/sites/default/files/styles/sidebar450/public/article/Wildflower-16-4-2.jpg?itok=T4f9gO8y

  • Tuesday, June 24, 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM – Small Shrubs for the Home Garden

    Small shrubs add texture and dimension to the landscape through multiple seasons. Whether grouped with larger shrubs and trees or mixed into a perennial border, they can create a solid-looking ground layer that can tie the entire planting together or can provide points of interest. Horticultural technologist Rachel Brinkman, Horticultural Technologist at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, will lead this walk through the Arboretum landscape on Tuesday, June 24, from 4 – 6, pointing out a variety of smaller shrubs, both deciduous and evergreen, with suggestions for their use in the home landscape. Fee: $20 Arboretum member, $30 nonmember. Register online at https://my.arboretum.harvard.edu/SelectDate.aspx. (Eastern leatherwood pictured below.)

  • Sunday, June 22, 12:00 noon – 4:00 pm – Lichen Diversity in Myles Standish State Forest

    Have you ever wondered about the lichens you see along trails in southern New England? The sandy, glacial soils of Myles Standish State Forest in Carver and Plymouth, MA, support large and diverse assemblages of soil lichens. The bark of woody plants in the pitch pine/scrub oak communities also support the growth of leafy, bushy, and encrusting lichens species. Learn how to distinguish lichen species that grow along the trails and gain an appreciation for lichen diversity in this important Atlantic coastal pitch pine and scrub oak community. Bring a hand lens and a camera to document what you see. Tick-proof clothing is essential, as is plenty of water. The Sunday, June 22 New England Wild Flower Society class (noon – 4) will be led by lichenologist Elizabeth Kneiper, and the fee is $33 for NEWFS members, $40 for nonmembers. Register online at http://www.newfs.org/learn/catalog/fdt1115.  Photo courtesy of www.sciencebuddies.org.

  • Thursday, June 19, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Biology and Control of Common Invasive Species

    This Massachusetts Horticultural Society class, to be held on Thursday, June 19, from 7 – 8:30 in the Parkman Room, Education Building, 900 Washington Street, Wellesley, will introduce you to the biology and control of common invasive plants.  Learn how to time organic and chemical controls to manage your landscape. The class will be conducted by Bruce Wenning, Ecological Landscaping Alliance.  $10 Mass Hort members, $15 non-members.  More information may be found at www.masshort.org.

  • Saturday, June 21, 10:00 am – 12:30 pm – Rain Gardens and More: Effective Uses of Rainwater

    Would you like to learn to protect our precious water resources while creating lush gardens using native plants that attract birds and butterflies? Using water flowing from your roof, driveway, or lawn, rain gardens take full advantage of our natural rainfall rather than wasting it as runoff. On Saturday, June 21, along with past Garden Club of the Back Bay speaker Dori Smith, you will tour a beautiful twenty-acre, 24-home cohousing community in a rural setting (Acton – directions will be provided upon registration,) where a varied, mostly native plant landscape has been in place for 17 years. You’ll explore site features that include rain garden terraces, rain barrels, retention basins, swales, and durable, no-water, organic lawns. You will also learn about rainwater design options and construction methods and discuss strategies for solving runoff problems such as erosion, icy walkways, or wet basements. The New England Wild Flower Society course costs $26 for NEWFS members, $32 for nonmembers. Register at http://www.newfs.org/learn/catalog/hdt1030. Photo of rain garden (not the property to be visited) from www.landarcs.com.

  • Saturday, June 21, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm – South End Garden Tour

    Join your friends and neighbors for the 20th Annual South End Garden Tour on Saturday, June 21, 2014. This year’s rain-or-shine, self-guided Tour will kick off at the South End Branch of the Boston Public Library at 685 Tremont Street from 10 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

    The Tour features many beautiful, private and public gardens in the South End – from pocket-sized patio spaces to rooftop terraces to neighborhood parks and community gardens. All of the gardens show the creativity of the owners and gardeners, and the joy they receive from developing and caring for a city garden. The Tour, a major neighborhood event, attracts garden lovers from all over the city as well as the suburbs, who are often surprised and amazed to find such creative use of outdoor urban space.

    One of the biggest attractions of the South End Garden Tour is its variety of gardens. Because the South End encompasses such a large area, the Tour visits a different area of the neighborhood every year. It’s never the same Tour twice.

    South End artists will be creating paintings in the Tour gardens and other designated locations within the Tour area. The painting will be available for purchase at the reception immediately following the Tour. A reception/art sale will be held at City Year headquarters, 287 Columbus Avenue, Boston MA 02116 (corner of Clarendon Street).  Proceeds of the Tour exclusively benefit the South End & Lower Roxbury Gardens, through Boston Natural Areas Network, a non-profit organization supporting community gardens and urban green spaces. South End & Lower Roxbury Gardens was established to protect community gardens and pocket parks in this historic Boston neighborhood.

    The 2014 South End Garden Tour starts at the South End Branch of the Boston Public Library, located at 685 Tremont Street, where Tour attendees can purchase tickets and will receive a Tour booklet. The booklet contains a detailed map and descriptions of each garden.  The 2014 Tour takes place within the following streets: from the Southwest Corridor to Tremont St. to Northampton St. to West Newton St. Tickets are available on the day of the Tour at the Tour’s starting point for $25.00. For discounted tickets in advance, visit www.southendgardentour.org/ticket/.

  • Wednesdays, June 18 – July 16 – New England Plant Communities

    The diversity of plant communities in New England is truly astounding, including multiple forest types, freshwater wetlands, coastal dunes, grasslands, heathlands, tidal marshes, and montane communities. Understanding the dominant canopy species, indicator species, and range helps us to interpret our own landscape’s ecological identity. Lectures at Garden in the Woods in Framingham, sponsored by the New England Wild Flower Society, cover effects of soils, topography, moisture, geological conditions, and glaciation. Field trips to study the composition and structure of some distinctive plant communities complement the lectures. Extensive handouts included. Dates are Wednesdays, June 18 (6 – 8), June 25 (5 – 8), July 2 (5 – 8), July 9 (6 – 8) and July 16 (6 – 8.) Pat Swain, Community Ecologist, MA Natural Heritage Endangered Species Program, will be the instructor, and the fee is $227 for NEWFS members, $267 for nonmembers. Register online at http://www.newfs.org/learn/catalog/bot4000.

  • Tuesday, June 17, 7:30 am – 9:00 am – To Bee or Not to Bee: What is Killing Our Bees?

    June’s Sustainable Concord Coffee focuses on the importance of bees and why they have been dying off across the country. Bees are vital contributors, through pollination, to agriculture. Pinpointing the cause is crucial to mitigating this problem since bees are prime pollinators of roughly one-third of all crops worldwide. Research suggests that certain commonly used pesticides may be responsible. A new Harvard University School of Public Health study released on May 9, strengthens the link between neonicotinoids and collapse of honey bee colonies. Our presenters are well qualified to speak to the issue of bee death.

    Dr. Richard Callahan is a beekeeper and retired entomologist, he holds a doctorate in pesticide toxicology. Working with Dr. Chensung Lu, an Associate Professor of Environmental Biology at Harvard University and Ken Worchol, a state bee inspector in Worcester County, he was involved in conducting the three year study of the impact on multiple bee colonies of a pesticide called Imidacloprid, manufactured by the Monsanto and Bayer Corporations.

    Mark Hanson is a Concord beekeeper, who kept bees since 1970, first in Stow and then, for twenty-five years, in Concord. He found the decimation of his bee hives due to Colony Collapse Disorder so worrisome that he stopped keeping them in 2012. He reports that other beekeepers throughout Middlesex County are having similar problems. What actions can we take?

    The ConcordCAN! Sustainable Concord Coffee is Tuesday, June 17, from 7:30- 9AM at Harvey Wheeler Community Center, 1276 Main Street in West Concord. Light refreshments are provided. Free and open to the public. There is a large shared parking lot with a childrens’ center and church. For more information go to: www.concordcan.org. Image from www.advocacy.brittanica.com.