Boston Flora

Month: April 2016

  • Tuesday, April 26, 10:00 am – Herb, Knot, and Cottage Gardens

    Growing herbs is a right of passage for most gardeners. Many already know how to grow and harvest these essential plants for our kitchens and homes. In this April 26 lecture in the Putnam Building at Elm Bank, 900 Washington Street in Wellesley, Kelly Orzel of Bowery Beach Farm will discuss various herb garden designs ranging from traditional plans to more unique and specialized arrangements, including knot gardens. Planting suggestions and instructions on how to achieve these geometric patterns will be explained.

    Then we’ll talk about how to grow and use a few of her favorite rare and uncommon herbs including lovage, salad burnet and pelargoniums. And finally we’ll examine various styles, plants and design tips for a cottage garden that integrates herbs.

    Scented pelargoniums and unusual herbs for sale. RSVP to Anne.Stoma@gmail.com by April 19th. Free for NEUHSA members, $5 for HSA and Master Gardeners, $10 for everyone else. Image from www.nittygrittydirtman.com.

  • Saturday, April 23, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon and 12:30 pm – 2:30 pm – Living Salad Bowl Workshop

    At this Gore Place workshop on April 23, noted gardener and floral designer Scott Clarke will teach you how to make a beautiful and edible arrangement. There will be two sessions, one from 10 – noon and a second from 12:30 – 2:30.

    You will plant a living salad bowl with a wonderful variety of greens including red and green leaf lettuce, chard, and spicy micro greens, all cut-and-come-again varieties. Enjoy your salad fixings all season long!

    Appropriate organic soil, container, and transplants will be provided. Space is limited to 20 participants per session.

    $35 per person, $30 for Members. Tickets can be purchased upon arrival or online at: http://livingsaladbowl.bpt.me/

    For more information, email nataliebrubaker@goreplace.org or call (781) 894-2798.

  • May, 2016 – Boston Preservation Month: Keep the Change

    The Boston Landmarks Commission invites you to learn more about Boston’s history, architecture, archaeology, and historic neighborhoods by participating in Preservation Month activities during the month of May.  For a complete calendar of activities visit http://www.cityofboston.gov/images_documents/PM16%20Calendar_tcm3-53174.pdf.  Here, however, are some highlights, by no means the complete list of lectures and walking tours, but something to whet your appetite:

    Sunday, May 1 – Revitalizing Roxbury’s Meetinghouse: A Presentation and Tour.

    Tuesday, May 3 – Tour of the Boston Custom House with Rosanne Foley, Executive Director of the Boston Landmarks Commission.

    Wednesday, May 4 – A Necessary Haze: Drinking in Colonial America with author Corin Hirsch at Old North Church.

    Thursday, May 5, 6 pm, Boston Public Library: Keynote Event Panel Discussion on how old and new can coexist in Boston, using examples of recent projects at the BPL, the Burnham Building (Filene’s), and in the South End Landmark District.

    Saturday, May 7 – A Lion, A Unicorn, and a Time Capsule: Preservation Surprises at the Old State House, 206 Washington Street

    Wednesday, May 11 – A History of Boston in 50 Artifacts with Joseph Bagley at the Boston Public Library, 700 Boylston Street.

    Wednesday, May 18 – Restoring USS Constitution, America’s Ship of State, in the 21st Century, at the Charlestown Navy Yard.

    Thursday, May 19 – Art Deco Walking Tour in Boston’s Financial District.

    Wednesday, May 25 – SAVED: Old South Meeting House and Historic Preservation in America, with Erica Lindamood and Alison Frazee, at 310 Washington Street.

    PM16 Postcard 400_tcm3-53173

  • Saturday, April 23, 9:00 am – 12:00 noon – Earth Day Volunteer Morning

    Celebrate Earth Day on Saturday, April 23 with the Massachusetts Horticultural Society.

    Join them for a morning of community and help prepare the gardens and landscapes for spring. Bring your family and friends, garden tools to help kick off their garden season. Check in at the Hunnewell Carriage House. Rain Date April 26, 9am – noon.  Image from www.anacostiaws.org

    Free, but PLEASE PRE-REGISTER at www.masshort.org.

  • Late April – Ai Weiwei Exhibit

    From late April to late October 2016, The Greenway will present Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads by internationally acclaimed Chinese contemporary artist Ai Weiwei (pronounced “eye way way”) around the Rings Fountain in the Wharf District between Central and Milk Streets. During the installation the Rings Fountain will be open for splashing from late May to early October from 9am to 11pm daily.

    The artist’s first major public sculpture project, Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads is comprised of 12 monumental bronze animal heads representing the twelve signs of the Chinese zodiac. The Zodiac Heads series is on a global, multi-year touring exhibition in the United States, Europe, and Asia. The Boston exhibition of this work is organized by the Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy and presented in collaboration with AW Asia. The exhibition is funded by the Greenway Conservancy and private donors.

    The twelve animal heads are installed in the order of the traditional Chinese zodiac: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. 2016 is the Year of the Monkey. Each sculpture stands roughly 10 feet tall and range in weight from 1,500 to 2,100 pounds.

    For updated information visit www.rosekennedygreenway.org.

  • Thursdays, April 28, May 19, and June 9, 9:30 am – 12:00 noon – Sogetsu Ikebana

    Thursdays, April 28, May 19, and June 9, 9:30 am – 12:00 noon – Sogetsu Ikebana

    Garden Club of the Back Bay member Kaye Vosburgh will instruct you in Sogetsu Ikebana, an internationally recognized school of Japanese flower arranging, in a three session class to be held at Tower Hill Botanic Garden, 11 French Drive in Boylston, on Thursdays, April 28, May 19, and June 9, from 9:30 – noon.  Tower Hill members $35 per class, nonmembers $50 per class. Come to one or attend all three.  Register online at www.towerhillbg.org or call 508-869-6111 ext 124.

  • Friday, April 22 – Saturday, April 23 – Spring Plant Sale

    The Middlesex Conservation District, a not for profit environmental agency, will be holding its annual Spring Plant Sale on Friday 4/22 (3-6pm) and Saturday 4/23 (8am – noon) at the 4H Fairgrounds, 51 S. Chelmsford Rd, Westford, MA. The sale includes tree and shrub seedlings, perennials, fruits, groundcovers and garden supplies, with an emphasis on native varieties. All sale proceeds benefit conservation programs.  Image courtesy of www.foothill.edu.

  • Tuesdays, May 3 – May 24, 9:30 am – 12:30 pm – Leafy Greens: A Studio Focus

    In this Friends of Wellesley College Botanic Garden four week class with Sarah Roche, you will explore your palette to unlock the potential of mixing greens.  Focus on the nuances of form and texture, and refine your leaf painting skills.  This class is geared for artists at both Foundations and Techniques levels of experience.  Tuesdays, May 3, 10, 17 and 24, from 9:30 – 12:30, Friends fee $150, nonmembers $200.  Register at 781-283-3094, or email wcbgfriends@wellesley.edu.

  • Thursday, April 21, 2:30 pm – 4:00 pm – A Hidden Treasure: Arnold Arboretum Herbarium of Cultivated Plants

    Participants in this special tour on Thursday, April 21 from 2:30 – 4 will take a look at the historic Arnold Arboretum collection and find out how and why an herbarium is assembled.

    Irina Kadis, Curatorial Assistant at the Arboretum, will be your guide. Free, but registration is limited and required. Call 617-384-5251, or email adulted@arnarb.harvard.edu.

  • Thursday, April 21, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Organic Lawn Care

    Whether your concerns are about family members, pets, or the environment, the trend toward a greener style of property management includes your lawn for many.

    On Thursday, April 21 at 7 pm, Bruce Wenning of the Ecological Landscape Alliance will review a no-nonsense approach to having a chemical free lawn, and clear up much of the rhetoric involved in decision making when it comes to using or not using chemicals. The program takes place at the Gardens at Elm Bank, 900 Washington Street, Wellesley, and is $12 for Mass Hort members, $20 for nonmembers. Register by calling 617-933-4973, or visit www.masshort.org.  Image from www.lawncare.org.