Boston Flora

Month: August 2018

  • Saturday, August 18, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon – Butterfly Walk

    Tower Hill’s gardens and meadows provide bountiful food and shelter for a variety of butterflies in both their adult and larval forms. Join Dawn Vesey of the Massachusetts Butterfly Club on August 18 from 10 – noon to learn more about these beautiful insects and how you can attract them to your own gardens. Perhaps you’ll see a Red-spotted Admiral (below) or a Silver-spotted Skipper, among the many butterflies large and small that make their home at Tower Hill. Please bring close focus binoculars if you have them. Limited to 15; pre-registration required at https://towerhillbg.thankyou4caring.org/pages/event-registration-form—butterfly-walk. $5 for Tower Hill members, $20 for nonmembers.

    Amateur naturalist and photographer, a member of the Massachusetts Butterfly Club (and past Vice President of Eastern Mass), Dawn can often be found searching for and photographing butterflies in the woods and meadows of Tower Hill.

    Image result for red spotted admiral butterfly photos

  • Sundays, August 12, 19, and 26, 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm – Corn Roast at Gore Place Farm

    Celebrate the sweet corn season at the Gore Place Farm Stand on three August Sundays, August 12, 19, and 26, from 2 – 5. Enjoy roasted corn freshly picked from local farms, drink lemonade and play games on the lawn in front of the farmer’s cottage. Admission to this event is free. Food and beverages sold individually. Fore Place is located at 52 Gore Street in Waltham. For details, visit http://goreplace.org

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  • Saturday and Sunday, August 18 – 19, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm – An Introduction to Impressionist Painting in Oils & Acrylics

    Join in the fun of painting with impressionist techniques using color boldly, outdoors, in the botanical setting of Tower Hill Botanic Garden. This two day painting workshop on August 18 – 19 from 10 – 4 with Marcia Wise will enhance the use of color, color placement, values, and technical skills, and provide individual attention as well as group discussions & critiques.

    Oil paints, acrylics, and water soluble oil paints can be used in this workshop. A materials list will be sent upon registration. $150 for Tower Hill members, $165 for nonmembers. Register at https://towerhillbg.thankyou4caring.org/pages/event-registration-form—an-introduction-to-impressionist-painting-in-oils-and-acrylics

    A native of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, instructor Marcia R. Wise began painting lessons as a child studying in Provincetown, Ma. with impressionist painter Henry Hensche. She received formal training at L’Ecole Nationale Superieure Des Beaux Arts in Paris, France; The Art Institute of Boston; and Boston University. Marcia worked as an art teacher in public and private education, and she is now a full time studio artist with gallery representation in Boston & Provincetown, MA., Santa Fe, NM, Los Angeles, CA., New York, and Milford, DE. She also continues to teach private students as well as painting workshops locally, nationally and internationally. Each year Marcia takes people to paint in the Tuscan landscape in Italy. Marcia’s work has been in local and national exhibits as well as in juried shows, publications, and collections. Please visit her website at www.marciarwise.com.  Image below courtesy of Boston Voyager Magazine.

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  • Saturday, August 11, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm – 11th Annual Barbara J. Walker Butterfly Festival

    Saturday, August 11, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm – 11th Annual Barbara J. Walker Butterfly Festival

    Celebrate butterflies with a day of educational fun for all ages! Join the Massachusetts Audubon Society at the Broad Meadow Brook Conservation Center & Wildlife Sanctuary, 414 Massasoit Road in Worcester on Saturday, August 11 from 10 – 4 for the 11th Annual Barbara J. Walker Butterfly Festival.

    Festival Activities

    Naturalist-led walks & workshops
    Children’s activities including face painting, obstacle course, story tent, and nature-themed arts and crafts
    Live caterpillar exhibit, butterfly gardening information and hummingbird station
    Butterfly plant sales, including milkweed for monarchs
    Butterfly Photo Booth (bring your camera!)
    Delicious food, music, vendors, and much more!

    Face painting at the Butterfly Festival

    Come in costume and get a prize!
    Admission
    $6 Nonmembers • $5 Members* • Free for ages 2 & under

    *Members of Mass Audubon and/or Mass Butterfly Club

    Festival-goers can join the Massachusetts Audubon Society that day for half price! Register online at https://www.massaudubon.org/get-outdoors/wildlife-sanctuaries/broad-meadow-brook/news-events/butterfly-festival, in person at Broad Meadow Brook, or by calling 508-753-6087.

    $25 maximum per family

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  • Thursday, August 30 – Friday, August 31 – The Beth Chatto Symposium: Ecological Planting in the 21st Century

    On 30-31 August 2018 the Beth Chatto Education Trust will host a special gathering of gardeners, designers and plantspeople in honor of Beth Chatto. Join us at the University of Essex as we hear from speakers from around the world who are re-imagining ecological gardening in both design and practice, and working to further advance and expand our plant palette. A private garden party will also be held at the Beth Chatto Gardens and Nursery for our dear friends and fellow gardeners.

    All proceeds from the Symposium will go to support the work of the Beth Chatto Education Trust. The all-star cast of international speakers includes James Hitchmough, Dan Pearson, Cassian Schmidt, Keith Wiley, Marina Christopher, Olivier Filippi, Asa Gregers-Warg, Peter Janke, Taylor Johnston, Peter Korn, Andi Pettis, and Midori Shintani. For complete costs and information visit https://www.bethchattosymposium.com/

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  • Tuesday, February 12 – Sunday, February 17, 2019 – South Florida: The Best of Miami and Naples’ Gardens

    Join Pacific Horticulture on February 12 – 17 for an immersive garden adventure in the semi-tropical clime of South Florida. From our base in Miami we’ll visit Kampong, a botanical garden that was once the private estate of Dr. David Fairchild, an influential horticulturist and plant collector. Other botanical garden visits include Montgomery Botanical Center and Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, lush educational gardens committed to the conservation of tropical plants, and we’ll take in the exquisite beauty of a 20-acre estate in Redlands known at Patch of Heaven (pictured below). Our visit to R.F. Orchids includes a tour of the beautiful nursery and background on their history, production methods, and sales operation.

    Landscape designer Raymond Jungles, who is renowned for his work on private gardens and resort hotels throughout Florida and the Caribbean, will accompany our group to Naples Botanical Garden. Jungles, who was part of the garden’s design team, will provide a special tour with backstory about the garden’s design and implementation. An associate of Raymond Jungles will provide our group exclusive entrance to four private home gardens that they have created before a farewell dinner at Fogo de Chao Brazilian Steakhouse on Miami Beach. This tour will be escorted by San Diego landscape designer Amelia B. Lima. Your hotel will be the Residence Inn by Marriott, and the price is $2,950 for PHS members, $3,050 for nonmembers. To read the complete brochure visit https://www.pacifichorticulture.org//srv/htdocs/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/south-Florida-Feb-2019.pdf

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  • Garden Club of the Back Bay 2018 Grants Announced

    At the May 7 Annual Meeting of The Garden Club of the Back Bay, the membership discussed and voted upon the following grants, as well as approving an additional $20,000 for direct tree care for the trees of the Back Bay. The total expenditures of $46,000 are made possible through the support of our members and friends who buy holiday wreaths, attend or sponsor The Twilight Garden Party, or donate as part of their annual charitable giving.  We thank them all.

    Blossom Fund of the Boston Committee of the GCA $ 500 for projects in Boston. The current project is to support the new initiative at Boston Nature Center for pruning and care of mature trees on the property.

    Boston Nature Center/Mass Audubon $ 2,000 for scholarships to their summer camp for children from Mattapan, Roslindale and Jamaica Plain.

    Charlesgate Alliance $ 1,000 for new initiative to provide tree care & preservation

    Commonwealth Avenue Mall Committee $ 5,000 for continuing tree care program

    Emerald Necklace Conservancy $ 2,000 for care of trees in their park system

    Esplanade Association $ 5,000 for critical tree maintenance, allocated specifically to pruning

    Friends of Copley Square $ 1,500 for maintenance of trees in Copley Square

    Friends of the Public Garden $ 5,000 for care of trees in the Public Garden and on the Boston Common

    Food Project $ 2,000 for building and providing raised bed gardens for Boston residents and community centers

    Mount Auburn Cemetery $ 1,000 in support of the transformation of the Asa Gray Garden.  Four maple trees in the garden were relocated from the Boston Public Library to the Asa Gray Garden with the help of The Garden Club of the Back Bay in 1999. (Photo below)

    Neighborhood of Affordable Housing, Inc. $ 1,000 to support its work on preserving and expanding the tree canopy in East Boston

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  • Sunday, August 12, 2:00 pm – Our Native Massachusetts Bees

    Join the Athol Bird& Nature Club on Sunday, August 12 at 2 pm at the Millers River Environmental Center, 100 Main Street in Athol, for an Open House and lecture on Our Native Massachusetts Bees. Can you tell a bee from a wasp? What about a native bee from a honey bee? What is a bee and where does it live? The University of Massachusetts Bee Lab members -Andrea Sroka, Aliza Fassler, and Phoebe Hynes — will have specimens of bees and their look-alikes on hand for you to look at under a microscope. You will also learn about native bee nesting strategies and how to help bees in your backyards. Free.  For more information visit www.atholbirdclub.org

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  • Thursday, August 9, 9:00 am – 3:00 pm – Landscape and Forest Tree and Shrub Insect Workshop

    Join Tawny Simisky, UMass Extension Entomologist, on August 9 from 9 – 3 for this workshop where participants will gain hands-on experience with many important landscape and forest insect pests of trees and shrubs. The UMass Amherst campus arboretum offers a wide variety of ornamental and forest trees and shrubs. Selected insects to be discussed will include bark beetles and wood borers, pests with piercing-sucking mouth parts, defoliators, miners/leafrollers, galls, and more. An introductory lecture will review the basics of diagnostic entomology followed by a walking tour of campus. The day will end with a laboratory session using microscopy, giving us the opportunity for an up-close and personal view of some of these insects.
    Registration

    Preregistration is required, as space is limited to 25 participants; cost is $150/$135 per person. Lunch is on your own, morning coffee will be provided. To register visit http://ag.umass.edu/landscape/events/landscape-forest-tree-shrub-insect-workshop

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  • Saturday, August 11, 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm, and Sunday, August 12, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm – The Grow Show

    Saturday, August 11, 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm, and Sunday, August 12, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm – The Grow Show

    The Berkshire Botanical Garden will host the 48th Annual The Grow Show on Saturday, August 11 from 1 – 5, and Sunday, August 23, from 10 – 5, at The Garden, 5 West Stockbridge Road in Stockbridge.  Entry to the show is free with admission.  Take in the talents of regional gardeners, flower designers, and photographers. The event shares the Garden’s season-long ART/GARDEN theme, where both the floral design and photography divisions take inspiration from notable works of art at regional museums including The Clark, Norman Rockwell, Frelinghuysen Morris House and Studio, Berkshire Botanical Garden, and the Berkshire Museum. The Grow Show’s Horticulture division spotlights regional backyard gardeners when their summer harvest is at its peak.  Nearly 80 horticulture classes are open for registration, representing divisions including annuals, perennials, biennials, vegetables, fruits and berries, container grown plants and dish gardens, among others. There is no charge to enter the Grow Show. For complete information visit https://berkshirebotanical.org/grow-show

    Image result for flower arrangement Clarke Museum