Boston Flora

Month: November 2017

  • Saturday, November 18, 10:00 am – 12:30 pm – The Festive Table

    Learn how to combine fresh fruits, vegetables and nuts with seasonal berries and gathered evergreens to decorate your home and table for Thanksgiving and the Winter Holidays. Betsy Williams will demonstrate simple ideas and techniques for creating naturalistic, seasonal centerpieces, guest favors and door treatments. Each attendee will decorate a gourd with dried flowers, nuts and berries and make a boxwood apple candle to take home. All materials and handouts included. This Tower Hill Botanic Garden class will take place Saturday, November 18 from 10 – 12:30.

    Betsy Williams teaches, lectures and writes about living with herbs and flowers. A gardener and herb grower since 1972, Betsy trained as a florist in Boston and England. She combines her floral and gardening skills with an extensive knowledge of history, plant lore and seasonal celebrations. Betsy is the author of several books on the uses and stories of herbs and flowers. She has appeared on the Discovery Channel and greater Boston cable stations as well as local and national radio talk shows. Betsy lectures and teaches locally and nationally. Register online at www.towerhillbg.org.

  • Thursday, November 16 – Saturday, November 18, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm – Holiday Showcase and Boutique

    The Garden Club of Hyannis presents Holiday Showcase and Boutique at The Cultural Center of Cape Cod, 307 Old Main Street in South Yarmouth, on Thursday, November 16 through Saturday, November 18, from 10 – 5. Spend Christmas in Tuscany, Scotland, Downton Abbey, and New Year’s Eve in Paris. Join celebrations in China, Scotland, The Netherlands, and Canada. Be delighted and amazed by even more. There will be lavish tablescapes, incredible room transformation and impressive floral arrangements for you to enjoy. In addition, there will be an extraordinary boutique with handmade holiday items for you to purchase which will be located in the Cultural Center of Cape Cod’s new Owl Hall.

    Tickets: $20 in advance at the Cultural Center, through their website (www.cultural- center.org), or from any Hyannis Garden Club Member, or $25 at the door.

  • Thursday, November 16, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm – Wreath ‘n Sip

    Wreath-making at Hancock Shaker Village, 34 Lebanon Mountain Road in Hancock on Thursday, November 16, from 7 – 9. Be inspired. No experience necessary. Join them for a relaxing evening as you design and create a wreath to take home. Grab a drink, take a seat, and the staff will guide you step-by-step in making a beautiful holiday wreath using natural elements. Explore your inner creativity. Registration of $90 includes materials and wine. Sign up online at https://shop.hancockshakervillage.org/product/wreath-n-sip/

    In case you can’t make it out to the Berkshires, don’t forget our own Garden Club of the Back Bay wreaths, such as the one pictured below, available to order at https://bostonflora.com/shop/ .

  • Friday, November 17, 6:30 pm – Timeless Beauties

    On Friday, November 17, beginning at 6:30 pm at the Community Life Center near the First Baptist Church, 50 Parker Street in East Longmeadow, the Springfield Garden Club presents Timeless Beauties, a floral demonstration of designs through the century. Participating at the event, and designing in view of the audience, will be Heather Sullivan, AIFD, of Durocher’s Florist in West Springfield; Matt Flatow from Flowers, Flowers in Springfield and Bob Whitney, AIFD, long-time employee, now retired, from Springfield Floral Supply in Springfield.

    Refreshments will be served. Tickets can be purchased from Springfield Garden Club members or at the door. For more information email suzreed@gmail.com.

  • Thursday, November 16, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm – Landscape Architecture and the ‘New Generic’

    The Harvard Graduate School of Design will present a free lecture on Thursday, November 16 from 6:30 – 8:30 in the Gund Hall Piper Auditorium, 48 Quincy Street in Cambridge, on Landscape Architecture and the ‘New Generic’.

    Michael Jakob teaches History and Theory of Landscape at hepia, Geneva, and aesthetics of design at HEAD, Geneva. He is a visiting professor at Politecnico di Milano and the Accademia di Architettura in Mendrisio. He is, at the same time, Professor of Comparative Literature (Chair) at Grenoble University. Jakob’s teaching and research focus on landscape theory, aesthetics, the history of vertigo, contemporary theories of perception and the poetics of architecture. He is the founder and head of COMPAR(A)ISON, an International Journal of Comparative Literature and the chief editor of “di monte in monte”, a series of books on mountain culture (Edizioni Tarara’, Verbania). He produced several documentary films for TV and has a longstanding experience as a radio journalist.

    Michael Jakob published recently: 100 Paysages, Infolio, Gollion 2011; asp Architecture du paysage, Infolio, Gollion 2012; Mirei Shigemori e il nuovo linguaggio del giardino giapponese, Tarara’, Verbania 2012; the swiss touch in landscape architecture, Tarara’, Verbania 2013/ Ifengspace, Tianjing 2015; La poétique du banc, Macula, Paris 2014/ Sulla Panchina, Einaudi, Turin 2014/ The Bench in the Garden, Oro Editions, Bay Area 2017; Cette ville qui nous regarde, b2 éditions, Paris 2015/ Dall’alto della città, Lettera 22, Siracusa 2017.

    Jakob is a curator of international exhibitions and the author of documentary films on landscape (Chiappetti o il paradiso perduto, RAI, 2014, and Capri: a lezione di paesaggio, 2016).

    Anyone requiring accessibility accommodations should contact the events office at (617) 496-2414 or events@gsd.harvard.edu.

  • Sunday, November 12, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm – Microbes Mini-Festival

    Sunday, November 12, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm – Microbes Mini-Festival

    Join Harvard Museum of Natural History educators, Harvard researchers, and the Art+Bio Collaborative on Sunday, November 12 from 1 – 4 to investigate the world of microbes through observation, stories, and art explorations. Try hands-on activities, observe real microbes hiding in unexpected places, and learn about their role in our lives. Explore the new HMNH exhibit, World in a Drop: Photographic Explorations of Microbial Life, and leave with new perspectives.

    World in a Drop explores the minuscule ecosystem within a single drop of water, home to an astonishing diversity of organisms busily living out their lives and interconnected by myriad complex relationships. The photographic exhibit  is an aesthetic journey into this microbial world, as revealed through cutting-edge imaging technologies. With expertly executed photography, videography, and poetic narration, Scott Chimileski and Roberto Kolter capture the intrinsic beauty of a mysterious world that is seldom recognized. Special Event. Regular museum admission rates apply. Free parking is available at the 52 Oxford Street Garage.

  • Sunday, November 12, 11:00 am – 12:30 pm – Spice Up Your Home With A Grapevine Wreath

    The spice of life, all encapsulated in a wreath. Weston Nurseries, 93 East Main Street in Hopkinton, will help you craft a visual and fragrant creation. A grapevine wreath will frame a mixed arrangement of dried oranges, apples, lavender, quince, wheat moss and cinnamon sticks. A perfect way to welcome your Fall guests at your door! The class takes place Sunday, November 12 from 11 – 12:30, and is $45. Registration includes all materials. Bows available for an additional $10. To sign up, call 508-435-3414 or visit http://wwww.westonnurseries.com.

  • Holiday Wreaths 2017 – All Natural

    As we pointed out recently, purchasers of our fully decorated holiday wreaths may choose All Natural as a decorating option, in addition to choice of bow color. Below is an example of a fully decorated indoor wreath with plaid bow and all natural accents.  Why is this an indoor wreath? The tiny cream colored dried flower stems poking out between the pine cones, milkweed pods, and rose hips are fragile, and might not stand up well in a high wind. This isn’t to say it couldn’t do very well under a porch or overhang – but hanging it on the side of a barn in a windswept area might be problematic. Order early at https://bostonflora.com/shop/ All proceeds benefit the trees, both here in the Back Bay, on the Esplanade, in the Public Garden and Boston Commons, on the Emerald Necklace, in Copley Place, and everywhere we send support annually. It’s all about the trees.

  • Tuesday, November 14, 5:15 pm – 7:30 pm – Drafting the Cape Cod Formula

    When the National Park Service wanted to create a federal park on Cape Cod, residents worried about what would happen to their homes, communities, and coastal traditions. This Massachusetts Historical Society lecture examines how citizens articulated their concerns, and how these responses helped the NPS and Senators John F. Kennedy and Leverett Saltonstall to create a new acquisition and land management policy that would then be applied to other living landscapes. The lecture will be given at the Massachusetts Historical Society building on Boylston Street in Boston by Jacqueline Gonzales of Historical Research Associates, with comment by Steven Moga of Smith College.

    Free and open to the public. To RSVP: email seminars@masshist.org or call (617) 646-0579.