Boston Flora

Month: March 2016

  • Thursday, March 31, 12:00 noon – 2:30 pm – Design for the Environment Sustainable Fair

    As part of Boston Design Week, the New England School of Art & Design at Suffolk University, 10 St. James Avenue, Atrium, in Boston, will host Design for the Environment Sustainable Fair. The design community, along with society as a whole, has become aware that a new, more “bio-friendly” approach to design must be taken if we are to stop polluting our earth, wasting energy and resources, and jeopardizing the health of all species. We invite you to join our community of industry partners exhibiting their sustainable/green products and services at our Sustainable Fair. Event is free and open to the public. No RSVP Required. For complete information on Boston Design Week, visit www.bostondesignweek.com.

    Sustainable-Fair-Poster_FINAL

  • Wednesday, April 13, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm – Fast Food: A Global Perspective

    Fast food is the most pervasive culinary trend of our time, for better and worse. Large multinational chains run an estimated one million outlets in virtually every corner of the world, serving hundreds of millions of customers every day. Scathing exposés have charged that the industry harms the environment, undermines the health of customers, degrades the diets of children, and underpays its workers. So why has this industry remained so successful? What makes observers so critical? And what are the options for the future? Andrew F. Smith, a culinary historian who teaches in the Food Studies Department at the New School in Manhattan, explores these questions and more. He is the author or editor of twenty-eight books, including his latest, Fast Food: The Good, Bad and Hungry (Reaktion, 2016). This free lecture, part of the Pepin Lecture Series in Food Studies and Gastronomy, will take place Wednesday, April 13 beginning at 6 pm in the College of Arts and Sciences at Boston University, 725 Commonwealth Avenue, Room 211. Register at www.bu.edu/foodandwine/

  • Saturday, April 9, 3:00 pm – Heroic: Concrete Architecture and the New Boston

    From 1960 to 1976, concrete was used by some of the world’s most influential architects in the transformation of Boston including Marcel Breuer, Eduardo Catalano, Henry N. Cobb, Araldo Cossutta, Kallmann and McKinnell, Le Corbusier, I. M. Pei, Paul Rudolph, Josep Lluís Sert, and The Architects Collaborative—creating a vision for the city’s widespread revitalization under the banner of the “New Boston.”  On Saturday, April 9 at 3 pm at the Cyclorama, 539 Tremont Street, come and explore what some have coined “Brutalist” architecture, and the compelling story of a legacy Boston is just beginning to appreciate. Complimentary AD20/21 show admission. A book signing with the authors will follow.

    As the subject of “Brutalist” concrete architecture and its heritage have been taken up on a global scale, due in part to ongoing preservation debates around iconic—yet controversial—buildings, Heroic thoroughly examines the compelling story of the city, the material, and the movement, recording the intentions and aspirations of this generation and considering anew its legacies—both inspired and troubled.

    Mark Pasnik, Michael Kubo, and Chris Grimley are collaborators in over,under, an award-winning, Boston-based architecture and design practice with work ranging from university buildings and museums, to city districts, to exhibitions and books. They are co-directors of the pinkcomma gallery, where they have curated several shows on modernism and Boston’s urban transformation. Mark Pasnik teaches at Wentworth Institute of Technology, Chris Grimley at Northeastern University, and Michael Kubo is a Ph.D. candidate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

    Free, but registration required: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/heroic-concrete-architecture-and-the-new-boston-tickets-22290933783

  • Wednesday, April 6, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Spring Wildflowers: Ephemeral Beauty with a Purpose

    Carol Gracie, author of Spring Wildflowers of the Northeast, will speak at the Cambridge Public Library, 449 Broadway, on Wednesday, April 6 from 7 – 8:30 as part of Grow Native Massachusetts’ public lecture series. Doors open at 6:30 and the lecture is free.

    Our native spring wildflowers evolved in the once contiguous forests that stretched the length of the East Coast and west to the prairies. Their flowering coincides with increased sunlight and warmth before the forest canopy leafs out, and their associations with the early-flying insects of spring are remarkable. Come learn about the life cycles of selected species in detail— and why many populations are in a marked decline due to human activity. By understanding their evolutionary relationships to forest habitat, we can better protect these ephemeral beauties on all lands, and integrate them into our woodland gardens.

    Carol Gracie is a botanist and highly-skilled photographer. In addition to Spring Wildflowers of the Northeast: A Natural History, she has authored several field guides. Her botanizing in South and Central America has led to seven tropical plant species and one genus being named for her.

  • Tuesday, March 22, 9:00 am – 2:00 pm – The Invasive Plant Issue and Invasive Plant Identification

    On Tuesday, March 22 from 9 – 2 UMass Extension’s Landscape, Nursery & Urban Forestry Program will sponsor a workshop on The Invasive Plant Issue and Invasive Plant Identification at the Doubletree Hotel, 11 Beaver Street in Milford. An overview of the topic of invasive plants, focusing on why we should be concerned about them and enhancing your ability to readily identify invasive plants as well as their look-alikes. The work of the Massachusetts Invasive Plant Advisory Group, including its strategies, recommendations, and the recently released Early Detection/Rapid Response Priority List document, will be discussed.

    In the last several years, there has been growing interest in invasive plants and their management. While turf and landscape professionals might be very proficient in the development of a weed management program for turf and/or landscape, invasive plant management often reveals many new and unique challenges to these professionals. This 4-day program is intended to help participants meet these challenges when attempting to develop an invasive plant management program as part of their business. A certificate in Invasive Plant Management may be obtained by attending all four sessions and obtaining a passing grade on each. To earn the certificate, sessions A1 – A3 can be taken in any order, but must be taken prior to Session B, Developing an Invasive Plant Management Program. All sessions will be offered annually to facilitate earning the certificate over more than one year’s time. All sessions may also be taken individually. Registration Cost is $75, $68/person for a group of three or more registrations from the same company. Online registrations include a nominal processing fee.
    – See more at: http://ag.umass.edu/events/invasive-plant-issue-invasive-plant-identification-a3#sthash.Lu92CVbv.dpuf

  • Monday, April 4, 9:30 am – 12:30 pm – Ranunculus (or Roses) in Spring

    Shake off the winter cold with a Friends of Wellesley College Botanic Gardens art class on five successive Mondays, April 4 – May 9, from 9:30 – 12:30 in the greenhouses. Carrie Megan will teach you how to capture the delicate folds of a ranunculus with the use of a mid-range of graphite leads. Then, add a little spring color. With the use of pale “tea washes” you’ll learn how to enhance your finished drawing with a pop of soft color. Intermediate level and above. Friends price $225, nonmembers $275. Register by calling 781-283-3094, or email wcbgfriends@wellesley.edu.  Photo from www.flowermuse.com.

  • Tuesday, March 22, 1:00 pm – 4th Annual Massachusetts Water Forum: Water on My Mind

    The 4th Annual Massachusetts Water Forum, hosted by the Foundation for a Green Future, Inc. in honor of World Water Day, will rethink water management as the Commonwealth prepares for a changing climate.

    The Charles River Watershed Association (CRWA) will present a game-changing plan to transform the way we manage water in our urban and suburban spaces. The forum will encourage all participants to pose questions, add their insights, and think about new designs, systems and resource uses.

    Participants may join us for one or more segment of this program on Tuesday, March 22 at the BSA Space, 290 Congress Street, Boston. The 4th Annual Massachusetts Water Forum is brought to you thanks to our partners:

    The Office of Representative Chris Walsh
    Boston Society of Architects
    Charles River Watershed Association
    City of Boston
    MWRA (Massachusetts Water Resources Authority)
    Boston Water and Sewer Commission (BWSC)
    Massachusetts Rivers Alliance
    Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC)
    Green Schools

    We have the privilege of welcoming the Commonwealth’s Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs, Matthew Beaton, and
    GUEST KEYNOTE SPEAKER from Washington,DC Wenonah Hauter (pictured below), Executive Director of Food & Water Watch, author of Frackopoly. For more information visit http://foundationforagreenfuture.org/blue/4th_annual_mass_water_forum.

  • Sunday, March 20, 1:00 pm – Where the Wild Things Are: Native Plants for Pollinators

    From meadows to mountain tops, our natural areas are often touted as the best places for pollinators and wildlife but what about our gardens?  Join Dan Jaffe on Sunday, March 20 at 1 pm at the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History  in Brewster for a crash course on all things alive in the garden.  Ecological gardening techniques, strategies for attracting new pollinators to your landscape, and the best native plants for each site will be discussed.

    Dan Jaffe is Propagator and Stock Bed Grower at New England Wildflower Society’s Garden in the Woods. Dan Jaffe began his career as an intern at NEWFS, and then served as Plant Sales Coordinator before assuming his current responsibilities. Prior joining the Society, he worked for four years in the nursery business where he held management positions. Dan earned a degree in Botany from the University of Maine.

    Lecture Admission is $10 per person APCC Members $5 / Tickets available online at https://www.showclix.com/event/wherethewildthingsare/listing

    The Gardening for Life Speaker Series is sponsored in part by the Friends of CCMNH and APCC (The Association to Preserve Cape Cod).  For more information please call: 508-896-3867, ext. 133.

  • Saturday, April 2, 8:00 am – 4:00 pm – 2016 Massachusetts Land Trust Coalition Conservation Conference

    The 2016 Massachusetts Land Trust Coalition Conservation Conference will take place Saturday, April 2, from 8 – 4 at Worcester Technical High School. One Skyline Drive in Worcester. This annual, day-long training and networking event provides an opportunity to participate in a full day of workshops and discussions that focus on fostering healthy communities in Massachusetts through land conservation. Join your colleagues in land conservation and acquire the information, skills, and connections you need to be most effective.

    The conference is attended annually by land trust board members and staff; parks administrators and advocates; federal, state and local government employees; planners; foresters, students, and philanthropists. Register online at http://www.massland.org/conference

    Dr. M. Sanjayan will give the keynote address entitled How Nature Can Save Us. We live in the Anthropocene—the Age of Man—and not since cyanobacteria transformed the earth’s early atmosphere has one species, humans, had such an outsized influence on the diversity of life on our planet. How to go about saving nature in the human age is understandably challenging. But perhaps we have been asking the wrong question and it’s nature that can actually save us.  Dr. M. Sanjayan, a global conservation scientist and executive vice president at Conservation International, will discuss reframing conservation by making it about human well being. He will talk about how human communities are helping nature thrive and how bringing people into the picture—that is, emphasizing that humans are a part of our world’s natural systems and not separate from them—complements traditional conservation tools such as protecting important natural areas.  Photo from www.blog.conservation.org.

  • Thursday, March 31, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm – Fans of the Gibson House Museum

    Thursday, March 31, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm – Fans of the Gibson House Museum

    The Friends of the Gibson House Museum invite you to the 20th annual benefit, Fans of the Gibson House Museum, on Thursday, March 31, from 6 – 8 at the Chilton Club, 287 Dartmouth Street.  Wine and hors d’oeuvre will be served.  William C. Clendaniel will be honored for his many remarkable accomplishments as President of Mount Auburn Cemetery (1988 – 2008).  Mr. Clendaniel has spent more than thirty years managing private nonprofit organizations that preserve the natural and cultural heritage of Massachusetts.  He is a Trustee of the Massachusetts Historical Society and serves as Treasurer of the Friends of the Public Garden. Valet parking available.  For tickets ($125) please visit www.thegibsonhouse.org, call 617-267-6338 or email info@thegibsonhouse.org.