On Sunday, November 20 from 1:30 – 3, instructor LauraJean Pecci of LJ Floral & Event Design, Cambridge, Massachusetts, will lead a Tower Hill Botanic Garden workshop. Create a lush, natural centerpiece perfect for your Thanksgiving table. LauraJean’s work has been featured in Style Me Pretty, Boston Magazine, and WellWed. All materials are included in the fee of $90 for Tower Hill members, $105 for nonmembers. Register at www.towerhillbg.org or call 508-869-6111, ext. 124.
Elm Research Institute, Keene, New Hampshire offers Grow-to-Order Elm trees for delivery in the fall of 2019. The 12-foot, 2-inch caliper Liberty Elms sell for $50 (price locked in for the next three years) and come with a lifetime warranty against Dutch elm disease. Elm Research Institute, a non-profit organization, was established in 1967 to rally support from the private sector for D.E.D. research. Through grants and membership dues, ERI research led to the development of a preventive injection for American elms and the introduction of the disease-resistant AMERICAN LIBERTY ELM. For complete information visit http://www.libertytreesociety.org/replacement.html or call 603-358-6198. Image from www.elmpost.org.
The 1938 hurricane was so devastating partly because nobody had any inkling that it was bearing down on them. On Thursday, November 17, from 7 – 8:30 at the Arnold Arboretum, journalist and natural historian Stephen Long will show why that happened and place this storm within a historical context of New England hurricanes before and since.
Until now, the hurricane’s damage to the region’s forests and the people who relied on them has gone largely unexamined. Long’s talk will focus on these forests and the people of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont who were faced with acre after acre of blown down trees. Throughout this talk, eyewitness accounts and archival photos will illuminate this most destructive weather event to ever hit New England. Long’s book, Thirty-Eight: The Hurricane that Transformed New England, will be available for purchase and signing. Fee $5 Arboretum member, $10 nonmember. Register at my.arboretum.harvard.edu or call 617-384-5277.
Nina Early will lead a Tower Hill Botanic Garden workshop on Saturday, November 19 from 12:30 – 3:30 at the garden located at 11 French Drive in Boylston, Massachusetts. Take beautiful images with your phone, using Tower Hill’s gardens and conservatory as a backdrop. Class is limited to 12. $30 for Tower Hill members, $45 for nonmembers. Register online at www.towerhillbg.org or call 508-869-6111, ext 124. Photo by Nina Early.
Join the Massachusetts Horticultural Society on Thursday, November 17 from 1 – 3 at Elm Bank, 900 Washington Street for a workshop on The Festive Table with Betsy Williams, just in time for your Thanksgiving and holiday entertaining. Betsy Williams teaches, lectures and writes about living with herbs and flowers. A life long gardener, herb grower and cook, Betsy trained as a florist in Boston and England. She combines her floral, gardening and cooking skills with an extensive knowledge of history, plant lore and seasonal celebrations. An entertaining lecturer, she weaves stories and legends throughout her informative talks and demonstrations.
She has presented at Monticello, The American Horticultural Society’s Youth Symposium, the Pennsylvania Lavender Festival and International Herb Association as well as Colonial Williamsburg, the Ozark Folk Center and the New England, Rhode Island and Cincinnati Flower Shows. $25 for Mass Hort members, $40 for nonmembers. Register at http://www.masshort.org/adult-education
Explore the history and health benefits of bitters and learn how to make them at home with herbalist Guido Mase, co-author of DIY Bitters: Reviving the Forgotten Flavor. This Tower Hill Botanic Garden session will take place Sunday, November 13 from 2 – 4 and will include tastings. Co-sponsored with the Herbal Community of Central Massachusetts. $25 for members of sponsoring organizations, $35 for nonmembers. Register on line at www.towerhillbg.org, or call 508-869-6111, ext 124. Tower Hill is located at 11 French Drive in Boylston, Massachusetts.
Once again our Club is gearing up for Wreath Week, December 5 – 8, and with pine cones, nuts, and seed pods available for the taking on the ground, our hunter/gatherers are combing the woods for materials. We specialize in natural decorations to enhance our basic balsam background, and each decorator takes his or her own path when deciding how to embellish a fully decorated wreath. Some are minimalists, but many feel the customers deserve their money’s worth and make sure the wreaths are fully festooned. A few frankly artificial pieces may be incorporated, such as the tiny birds pictured in the detail below, but we strive to be tasteful. Order your custom wreath online today at www.gardenclubbackbay.org, or print the order form and mail with your check before November 30.
Enjoy the world’s greatest flower show, the Chelsea Flower Show, on members-only day with Tower Hill Botanic Garden. Additional highlights include a city tour of London, Kew Gardens, Kensington Palace, the Savill Garden and Wisley Garden. May 18-25, 2017, cost $3999 per person, double occupancy, including airfare. Bring your most imaginative clothing! Image from www.visitlondon.com. For more information visit: https://gateway.gocollette.com/link/770029
The final fall installment of the Wellesley College Botanic Gardens‘ Family, Form and Function lectures and greenhouse walks with Carol Govan will take place Friday, November 18 from 10 – 12, when Carol speaks on The Gingers and Their Relatives. Did you know that gingers, bananas, birds of paradise, heliconias, cannas, and prayer plants are all closely related? See a presentation of their unusual adaptations and amazing flowers and stories, then visit them personally in the greenhouses. Wellesley Friends free, nonmembers $10. Register at 781-283-3094.
The Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy, along with many volunteers, will this year celebrate the planting of 150,000 bulbs throughout the park since it began its stewardship of The Greenway in 2009.
On November 9th at 1pm, join the Conservancy in Chinatown Park, 160 Kingston Street, with elected officials and various park stakeholders for the ceremonial planting of the 150,000th future flower!
