Boston Flora

Month: July 2014

  • Saturday, July 19 – Saturday, July 26 – Barnstable County Fair 35th Standard Flower Show

    The 35th Standard Flower Show at the Barnstable County Fair will take place Saturday, July 19 – Saturday, July 26, presented by the Southeastern District Garden Clubs. Fair Hours Monday – Thursday July 21 – July 24: 4:00 PM – 10:00 PM; Friday – Sunday July 25 – July 27: 12:00 Noon – 10:00 PM. The Fairgrounds are located at 1220 Nathan Ellis Highway, Route 151, East Falmouth, and paid and free parking are available. $12, $9 seniors, and for complete information visit www.capecodfairgrounds.com.

  • Thursday, July 24, 8:00 am – 5:00 pm – MNLA Summer Conference and Trade Show

    The Massachusetts Nursery and Landscape Association (MNLA) will hold its annual Summer Conference and Trade Show on Thursday, July 24, from 8 – 5 at Savage Farms in Deerfield, Massachusetts.  The keynote presentation will be The Future in Plant Materials by Michael Dirr, author of seven books including Manual of Woody Landscape Plants: Their Identification, Ornamental Characteristics, Culture and Propagation and Uses, a widely used and best-selling reference text. Register on line at  http://www.mnla.com/mnlamfga-summer-conference-and-trade-show/ before July 17.  $55 for sponsor members, $65 for non-members. Walk in registration will be $85 for members, $95 for nonmembers. For more information visit the website or call 413-369-4731. Image of Michael Dirr from Scott Arboretum.

  • Tuesdays, July 15 – July 29, 10:30 am – 12:00 noon – Great American Gardens Series at the MFA

    Tuesday mornings July 15-29 (see below for information on individual weeks,) take a break from the summer heat to hear the fascinating stories behind these monumental and luscious gardens, from their inceptions to recent renovations. Experience one of America’s first botanical gardens, Boston’s green oasis, the Public Garden; the magnificent mansion gardens of Newport, Rhode Island; and the gardens of Thomas Jefferson’s iconic Monticello. All sessions will be held in the Remis Auditorium of The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston from 10:30 – noon.

    Three-session course tickets ($60, $75) are not available online. To order tickets by phone, call 1-800-440-6975; to order in person, visit any MFA ticket desk. The first price is for members, seniors, and students; the second is full price.

    On July 15, Keith Morgan, director of Architectural Studies and professor of American and European Architecture at Boston University will discuss The Boston Public Garden: The Atypical Landscape. How many of us know the true story behind this Boston icon? From its origins as a private botanical garden built on filled marshland to the public horticultural and educational gem of the mid-Victorian era, see how the Public Garden has become a site for celebration and forgotten controversy.

    On July 22, Jeffrey Curtis, Director of Gardens and Grounds at Newport Mansions will present Gardens of the Newport Mansions. Hear the inside story of the miraculous gardens of Newport, Rhode Island’s mansions. The Preservation Society of Newport County has worked tirelessly since the 1940s to preserve Newport’s sumptuous mansions and grounds. Take a visual walk through gardens including Miss Wetmore’s Secret Garden at Chateau-sur-Mer, Rosecliff, and the Sunken Gardens at The Elms.

    Lastly, on July 29, the Museum welcomes Jane Amidon, Associate Dean for Graduate Programs and Research, and Professor and Director of the Urban Landscape Program at Northeastern University, who will speak on Jefferson’s Monticello: A Garden of Science and Art. Our third US president was also the founding father of quintessential American landscape practices. Examine the enduring legacy and fruitful lessons of his civic horticulture through the gardens of his estate in Virginia at Monticello, home to two centuries of innovation in botanical, agrarian, and aesthetic techniques.

  • Friday, August 1, 7:30 am – 5:00 pm – P. Allen Smith Day at Pleasant View Gardens

    Spend Friday, August 1 in New England’s Premier Proven Winners Garden, Pleasant View Gardens in Loudon, New Hampshire, and meet P. Allen Smith. Mahoney’s Garden Center is offering round-trip buses from Mahoney’s in Winchester. Feedback has been so positive the past two years that we’re offering the tour again. Join us as Mahoney’s chartered bus takes you to the area’s premier grower of Proven Winner annuals, perennials and shrubs. Meet and hear from award-winning garden and lifestyle expert, author and TV personality, P. Allen Smith. Day Includes:

    Watch Allen transform ordinary landscapes into extraordinary landscapes in before-and-after presentations. Take a guided tour of New England’s premier Proven Winners® trial garden showcasing over 500 Proven Winners varieties. Participate in educational sessions in and around the garden and learn how to maintain containers at home, water and fertilize, prune hydrangeas, properly maintain shrubs and start an edible herb garden.
    Join in the P. Allen Smith Container Design Throwdown contest. Take a chance to design your own container from plants in Allen’s Platinum Collection and other Proven Winners varieties. Photo opportunities and autographs with P. Allen Smith. Transportation to and from Pleasant View Gardens in Loudon, NH. Morning refreshments and box lunch (vegetarian and gluten-free available.)

    Space is limited. Reserve your seat by July 11th. Cost is $40 per person, to cover the bus, morning refreshments and lunch. To make a reservation, visit any Mahoney’s location or call 781-729-5900. Credit card payment is accepted over the phone.
    Details:

    Winchester: Bus leaves at 7:30 am from Mahoney’s in Winchester, arrives at Pleasant View at 9:00 am, and returns to Winchester by 5:00 pm.

  • Thursday, August 7, 10:00 am – 12:00 pm – The Beautiful Garden of Bunny Williams

    Join head gardener Eric Ruquist on Thursday, August 7, for a tour of the beautiful country garden of renowned interior designer and author Bunny Williams. Located in the northwest corner of Connecticut, the tour is timed to take advantage of the height of this magnificent garden’s flora display. In addition to an insider look at maintaining one of Connecticut’s most beautiful gardens, Mr. Ruquist will focus on the cutting garden and demonstrate how he brings the garden indoors with beautiful floral arrangements. Participants are encouraged to bring a picnic lunch to enjoy on the property following the program.

    Eric Ruquist is an artist, gardener and for 13 years the head gardener for Bunny Williams. He was curator of flower garden collection at Stonecrop Gardens, located in Cold Springs, NY, and greenhouse manager for a private estate in Westchester County. Eric thinks of himself as a plantsman and also gardens his own riverside property in Falls Village.

    Bring a bag lunch and dress for the weather. Participants can choose to carpool or drive separately. Those joining the carpool should meet in the parking lot at Berkshire Botanical Garden for a 9:15 am departure. Carpool will return at approximately 1:30 pm. (Program time in Falls Village, CT, is 10am – noon.) BBG members $50, nonmembers $60. To register, visit http://www.berkshirebotanical.org/ai1ec_event/the-beautiful-garden-of-bunny-williams/?instance_id=2618.

    http://www.tradesecretsct.com/sites/default/files/photos/IMG_2993%20copy.jpg

  • Monday, July 21, 10:30 am – 12:30 pm – Project Native: The Balance and Beauty of Natural Ecosystems

    Located in picturesque Great Barrington, Project Native is a non-profit, native plant nursery and wildlife sanctuary in Western Massachusetts.  In this diverse and beautiful natural ecosystem, Project Native inspires a love of nature that motivates visitors to create, restore, and maintain healthy landscapes.  To accomplish its mission, Project Native grows and sells native plants, maintains a wildlife sanctuary, produces experiential educational programs for all ages, and manages a native butterfly house.  The Ecological  Landscape Alliance tour on Monday, July 21 from 10:30 – 12:30 will include the Project Native Seed Bank, the Restored Woodland, Meadow, Native Plant Nursery, and Native Butterfly House.

    Opened in August 2013, the Native Butterfly House was developed in order to promote the connection between native habitats and local wildlife.  The new 35-by-55 foot structure encloses a garden of native plants grown at Project Native, all of which support the life cycle of native butterflies.  There is no single plant that provides all a butterfly needs to breed and feed.  Butterflies need a community of native plants, and different types of butterflies need different communities.  Join Karen Lyness LeBlanc to learn more about this intricate web and to explore the balance and beauty associated with native plants in the landscape.  $15 for ELA members, $25 for nonmembers.  Register online at https://www.eventville.com/catalog/eventregistration1.asp?eventid=1011084.

  • Friday, July 11 – Water Stories: Conversations in Paint and Sound

    On Friday, July 11, the Museum of Science will open a multi-media project entitled Water Stories: Conversations in Paint and Sound, an exhibit in the Blue Wing on Level 2. Water — our most precious resource. Easy to take for granted, but without it, there can be no life. Industrial practices, human behaviors, and climate change have caused us to face unquestionable challenges regarding the future of our water supply.

    Through paint and sound, artist Anne Neely, in collaboration with sound artist Halsey Burgund, focuses our attention on alarming stories unfolding today. This exhibition will consist of paintings dealing with the beauty and foreboding we face with the water issues in this country through either climate change or man-made problems. Neely invites inquiry into water’s unifying role in our world and the many ways humans affect it.  Free with exhibit halls admission. Image below copyright Anne Neely.

  • Wednesday and Thursday, July 23 and 24, 9:30 am – 3:30 pm – Depth in Detail

    The ability to create convincing 3D realism in botanical art can make or break a piece.  This Friends of Wellesley College Botanic Gardens two-day workshop, to be held Wednesday & Thursday, July 23 – 24, with Elaine Searle, covers the basics of making adjustments to the amount of detail, strength of shadows, clarity of colors, and more to enhance the perception of depth in a botanical painting.  You will work on a small painting in class that you can complete at home to reinforce your learning.  Elaine will offer an email critique of your final painting.  The class meets at the Visitors Center from 9:30 – 3:30, and costs $225 for Friends, $280 for nonmembers.  Call 781-283-3094 to register, or email wcbgfriends@wellesley.edu. Picture below copyright Elaine Searle.

    http://www.botanicalartists.com/ElaineSearle/SearleElaine_Rheum_rhabarbarum.jpg

  • Tuesday, August 5 – Thursday, August 7, 9:30 am – 3:30 pm – Summer Flowers with Catherine Watters

    Master botanical composition with the Friends of Wellesley College Botanic Gardens in a three day course August 5 – 7 at the Visitors Center of the Wellesley College Botanic Gardens.  Are you stymied when attempting to capture the beauty and grace of your favorite summer flowers?  Whether trying to portray a single flower or a garden bouquet, discover the nuance of botanical composition with Catherine Watters.  Analyze elements of composition with a focus on shape, structure and negative space, and then paint your composition.  Catherine will also discuss mixing colors as well as balancing light and shadow to make your painting come to life.  $395 for Friends of Wellesley College Botanic Gardens, $495 for nonmembers. Register by calling 781-283-3094, or email wcbgfriends@wellesley.edu.

    http://www.catherinewatters.com/assets_d/4504/page_media/anemone-detail_139_sm.jpg

  • Wednesday, July 23, 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm – Friends of the Public Garden Summer Party

    Wednesday, July 23, 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm – Friends of the Public Garden Summer Party

    The Friends of the Public Garden cordially invites you to attend a Summer Party to benefit our work in the Common, the Garden, and the Mall.  The party will take place Wednesday, July 23 from 5:30 – 7:30 at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel’s Bangkok Room.  Come celebrate summer with festive hors d’oeuvre, drinks, and friends.  Tickets are $75, available online athttp://bit.ly/1n1Sj6a or by calling 617-723-8144.

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