Boston Flora

Month: June 2014

  • Sunday, June 15, 1:00 pm – 3:30 pm – Fungi in the Field

    What is a mushroom anyway? Can you distinguish a bolete from a gilled mushroom? Although fall is considered fungi season in the Northeast, fungi are seasonally cyclical, and different species and types can be found almost anytime. On this New England Wild Flower Society trip on Sunday, June 15, from 1 – 3:30 with naturalist Jef (sic) Taylor, you will explore the Drumlin Farm sanctuary looking for fungi, learning about the crucial and sometimes astonishing roles these fascinating life forms play in ecosystems, and discovering methods for identifying mushrooms and other fungi in the field. $25 for NEWFS members, $29 for nonmembers. Register online at http://www.newfs.org/learn/catalog/fdt1079.

  • Monday, June 16, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Tweets and Trills: The Natural History of Birdsong

    Songbirds communicate with unparalleled acoustic complexity and tremendous variation among species. On Monday, June 16, from 7 – 8:30 pm, Bruce Byers, who studies the biological and cultural evolution of birdsong, will introduce the multidimensionality of songbird singing and some of the discoveries by scientists like him who study both the inherited and learned components of song. He will consider how songs function in the social lives of songbirds, how song features might correlate with fitness, and whether variability correlates with differences in ecology and life history. He will also include suggestions to improve your listening skills. Fee: Free Arboretum member, $10 nonmember. Register at https://my.arboretum.harvard.edu/Info.aspx?EventID=1. Meet at the Hunnewell Building.

  • Wednesday, June 18, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm – Colossal Cousins: Oaks and Beeches

    Wander among the mighty oaks and beeches at the Arnold Arboretum on Wednesday, June 18, at 6 pm, to learn about the Fagaceae, a cosmopolitan family of plants found around the world. Jim Gorman will present identification features, natural history, ecological contributions and economic uses, and horticultural firsts, introducing participants to North American natives, old guard species from Europe, and newer horticultural introductions from Asia. Fee $40 Arboretum member, $50 nonmember. Meet at the Bussey Street Gate.  Register online at http://my.arboretum.harvard.edu/Info.aspx?EventID=1.

  • Saturday, June 14, 1:00 pm – To Cook is to Love

    Longtime Boston-based chef John Verlinden serves up his own healthier, modernized version of traditional Latin cooking, while also taking readers on a classic immigration adventure, in his upcoming book, To Cook Is to Love. He will appear on Saturday, June 13, at 1 pm at Porter Square Books, 25 White Street in Cambridge.

    John Verlinden is a chef, food educator and writer who started cooking the summer he turned 12 years old. He honed his craft by working in many restaurants and other food businesses in nearly every capacity—from dishwasher, to busboy, to waiter, to bartender, to chef to owner. Along with his life partner, Oz Mondejar, he owned and operated a popular Cuban-American restaurant, Mucho Gusto Café & Collectibles, in Boston from 1995 to 2000. Among the honors the restaurant received were Boston Magazine’s “Best of Boston”, The Improper Bostonian’s “Boston’s Best”, and Hispanic Magazine’s “Top 50 Hispanic Restaurants in the U.S.” A passion advocate for healthier Latin cooking, Verlinden has participated in a variety of culinary training programs for adults and children. He also maintains a popular blog on his website and produces a food column for a local newspaper. For more information visit www.portersquarebooks.com, or call 617-491-2220.

  • Saturday, June 14, 12:00 noon – 4:00 pm – Fabulous Ferns of the Blue Hills

    Just minutes from downtown Boston, the Blue Hills Reservation is the largest conserved tract in the greater Boston area. It contains many wild treasures—from coyotes to copperheads, dogwoods to lady’s-slippers, and turkey vultures to dragonflies—and, of course, a wealth of fern species. Hiking along the northern Border Path, you will see more than a third of all the fern species native to Massachusetts as well as some hybrid ferns, several club-mosses, and a horsetail. Wear long pants (there is poison ivy on the trail) and suitable footwear; bring a hand lens if you have one, and plenty of water. The hike is sponsored by the New England Wild Flower Society on Saturday, June 14, from 12-4, and the fee is $23 for NEWFS members, $28 for nonmembers. Led by Don Lubin. You may register at http://www.newfs.org/learn/catalog/fdt1032.

  • Wednesday, June 11, 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm, and Saturday, June 14, 9:00 am – 12:00 noon – Woody Plant Health Care: Identifying Insect Pests, Plant Diseases and Stresses

    With an evening lecture and a daytime walk through the Arnold Arboretum to look at examples, John DelRosso will present current methods of identifying, monitoring, and managing various types of insect pests, plant diseases, and stresses to woody plants. The group will tour the Arboretum in search of over twenty different examples of the more common problems associated with landscape plant material. Students are encouraged to bring pest and disease samples (bagged) for identification. Bring a hand lens if you have one and wear comfortable walking shoes for the Saturday walk. Dates: Wednesday, June 11, 6 – 9, and Saturday, June 14, 9 – noon. Fee $60 Arboretum member, $80 nonmember. Register online at https://my.arboretum.harvard.edu/Info.aspx?EventID=1.

  • Monday, June 9, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm – Woody Vines for the Garden

    Effective landscape design includes creative development of vertical space, and vines should be considered from the outset. While touring the Leventritt Garden of Shrubs and Vines at the Arnold Arboretum on Monday, June 9 from 6 – 8, horticulturist Jen Kettell will introduce you to an array of woody vines. She will explain their various growth habits and attachment mechanisms which determine how they are best used in the garden. Focusing on floral, foliar, and fruiting characteristics, she’ll recommend both native and exotic vines for a variety of situations. Fee $20 Arboretum member, $30 nonmember. Register online at http://my.arboretum.harvard.edu/Info.aspx?EventID=1.

  • Thursday, June 12, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Ecological Landscape Design: A Gardener’s Primer

    Beautiful and environmentally sustainable residential landscapes integrate the gardener’s aesthetic vision with the dynamics of a site’s natural systems.  Landscape architect Ann Kearsley will explain how to assess your property’s ecological condition and develop more sustainable garden layouts and planting strategies on Thursday, June 12, from 7 – 8:30 in the Parkman Room in the Education Building, Elm Bank, 900 Washington Street, Wellesley.  Using case studies of projects from her own practice, Ann will illustrate some of the basic principles of ecological landscape design, including site analysis, developing planting plans based on plant communities, supporting healthy soils, integrating stormwater management, and increasing bio-diversity in your own corner of the planet.  $10 Mass Hort members, $15 non-members.  More information may be found at www.masshort.org.

  • Sunday, June 22, 5:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Fruitlands Centennial Farm to Fork Dinner

    Tickets are going fast for the birthday party of the century, to be held at Fruitlands Museum in Harvard, Massachusetts on Sunday, June 22, from 5 – 8:30 pm.

    Help celebrate Fruitlands’ centennial with a sumptuous farm to fork dinner in the field. We’ll start with tours of the Museum buildings and hors d’oeuvre under the tent then move outside to enjoy a sumptuous, locally sourced seated dinner under a summer sky, prepared by Fireside Catering from Gibbet Hill Grill.

    Join us to raise a glass to Fruitlands’ 100th year and raise funds for our education and outreach programs. Purchase tickets ($150 per person) at http://www.fruitlands.org/f2fdinner. Direct questions to kcastorano@fruitlands.org.

  • Saturday, June 14, 10:30 am – 4:00 pm – Garden Dialogues: Connecticut

    On Saturday, June 14th, get exclusive access to private gardens and landscapes in Connecticut through the Cultural Landscape Foundation, and hear directly from the designers and their clients about their collaborative process.

    How do clients and designers work together? What makes for a great, enduring collaboration? Garden Dialogues provides unique opportunities for small groups to visit some of today’s most beautiful gardens created by some of the most accomplished designers currently in practice.

    From 10:30 – 11:30, visit a Greenwich residence with Landscape Architect Susan Cohen. This recently built waterfront home in Bellehaven, positioned to save an old magnolia tree, is reached by a sinuous drive that rises to offer refreshing views of Long Island Sound. Once a rugged hillside, this site has been redesigned to be in quiet harmony with the setting, and multiple landscape walls of native stone echo the stone facade of the house. Features include a crabapple orchard, a cutting garden, and a small terrace overlooking the Sound. Rough-hewn stone steps and a lawn path lead down, through sweeps of perennial grasses, to the gazebo at the water’s edge.

    From 2:00 – 4:00, Janice Parker will take you to a Garden within a Garden in New Canaan (pictured below, in a picture by Neil Landino.) Inspired by a sunny memory of an Italian vineyard, this five-acre landscape successfully integrates an entertaining terrace, vegetable garden, tennis court and prominent pool. The vegetable gardens and fruiting trees were laid out on a strong grid intertwined with masonry. Each space is bordered with broad fences softened by rose bushes and perennials to complete this Bella Italia landscape.

    More gardens will be added. Each separate garden tour is priced at $45. Register online at http://tclf.org/event/garden-dialogues-connecticut.