Trustees Trekkers, join The Trustees at Fruitlands Museum in Harvard, Massachusetts on Monday, September 2 from 2 – 3:30 for a guided hike exploring the form and function of leaves. This family program is recommended for ages 7 and up. Explore the trails, take some leaf etchings, and get a closer look through magnifiers to take in the natural world. Member families: $12, nonmembers $20. Register (required) at www.thetrustees.org
Imagine an orchard, lush and bursting with ripe fruit in the sweltering summer sun. Not all of the fruit weighing down the branches and vines will be fit to consume. Some strawberries will dampen and shrivel with mold, some peaches will be blighted in the shade, and some pears will become pockmarked with age.
However, there is a beauty in this natural decaying process that repeats with each season. Perhaps the rot will be cut away and the fruit will be preserved as jam, jellies, pie, or compote. Maybe a hungry child or traveler will wander through the orchard rows and choose a less-than- perfect specimen for their late afternoon snack. Right now, in orchards in New England and beyond, microscopic agents are at work consuming the fruit to its core in a world beyond our sight.
The Harvard Museum of Natural History is pleased to present Fruits in Decay, a special new exhibit in the Glass Flowers Gallery that explores blight, rot, and other diseases on summer fruits. It features exquisitely detailed glass botanical models of strawberries, peaches, apricots, plums, and pears made by famed glass artist Rudolf Blaschka between the years 1924-1932. On display for the first time in nearly two decades, these models capture—with astonishing realism—the intricacies and strange beauty of fruits in various stages of decay.
Donald H. Pfister, Curator of the Farlow Library and Herbarium of Cryptogamic Botany and Asa Gray Professor of Systematic Botany, praises the work of Blaschka, “Rudolf Blaschka’s last work centered on the creation of these models of diseased fruits. They are the culmination of his lifelong attention to accuracy and innovation. They illustrate the effects of fungi as agents of disease in plants and point to their importance in agricultural systems.”
Fruits in Decay includes more than twenty glass specimens depicting common agricultural diseases and the effects of fungus such as peach leaf curl, gray mold, brown rot, soft rot, blue mold, shot-hole disease, stony pear, pear scab, fire blight, and leaf spot.
Visitors will be able to see the delicate artistry of these celebrated Blaschka specimens August 31, 2019 through March 1, 2020. Fruits in Decay will replace the collection’s Rotten Apples exhibit, which will remain open until August 25, 2019.
Join Pacific Horticultural Society November 16 – 24 for a unique opportunity to tour the eco-tourism capital of Central America. As one of the most biodiverse countries in the world, Costa Rica boasts cool cloud forests, lush riverbanks, exotic waterfalls, and tropical dry forests.
We’ll visit private gardens and botanical gardens that support some of the highest density of rare flora and fauna in the world. Our itinerary includes Wilson Botanical Gardens, Nectandra Cloud Forest, and Las Cruces Biological Station. We’ll also visit Chester Skotak, a world-renowned author and bromeliad hybridizer, who has led numerous plant collecting expeditions throughout Central America. A must-see, of course, is the Else Kientzler Garden where we will see a spectacular collection of orchids as we walk along the trails of this gorgeous garden. Included in Else’s garden is Costa Rica’s national flower, pictured below, known locally as guaria morada (Guarianthe skinneri), sometimes referred to as the Easter orchid. Approximately $4,000 per person, $708 single supplement.
For complete itinerary details and information about booking this trip click www.sterlinggardentours.com/costarica2019
Join Tower Hill Botanic Garden on September 14 from 4 – 7 for a celebration of all that has grown at Tower Hill Botanic Garden and all that is to come. Toast the end of summer with a joyful afternoon in the iconic Lawn Garden, featuring botanical tours, live entertainment, lawn games, and seasonal small plates against the backdrop of George Sherwood’s mesmerizing sculptures. For a formal invitation, visit http://towerhillbg.org/momentsinmotion
The Esplanade Association, in partnership with Feminist Bird Club, will be leading a leisurely guided bird walk along the park on Wednesday, August 28 at 8:00 am. This event will be great for beginners and experts alike. We will walk around 1 mile, identifying birds and learning how to use binoculars and field guides. The Esplanade is home to a variety of species from songbirds to waterfowl. No prior birding experience is necessary and everyone is welcome. Jumpstart your day with some birding! Sign up at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/guided-bird-walks-on-the-esplanade-tickets-63974404165 – free, but a $10 donation is suggested.
It can happen in summer. You find yourself lingering over fruits and veggies in the market, examining the “amazing” ones, rearranging the displays. If this sounds familiar, you may need help. Time for a botanical art session at Tower Hill Botanic Garden on August 31 from 9:30 – 3:30 with Helen Byers. Choose a subject that “calls” to you, and join us to draw its portrait in colored pencil. Helen’s instructional tips and demos will help you achieve accurate colors, proportions, and textures. A materials list will be sent to registrants. This is an intermediate level class.
Helen Byers is an award-winning artist and educator whose botanical drawings and paintings have been internationally exhibited, published, and held in private collections. In recent years she has taught often at Tower Hill, as well as at Concord Center for the Visual Arts, Fruitlands Museums, Tin Mountain Conservation Center (NH), and Ghost Ranch Education & Retreat Center (NM).
Tower Hill Botanic Garden member price $84, nonmembers $94. Register at www.towerhillbg.org.
Held under clear tents on the banks of the Charles River, the Esplanade Association invites you to join them on September 14 at 9 pm for Moondance After Dark.
Moondance After Dark invites over 250 of Boston’s young professionals and emerging influencers to experience the Moondance Gala after-party. Guests enjoy cocktails, late night bites, dessert, and dancing alongside the twilight riverfront.
This unique and stylish event is unlike anything else you can experience in Boston. Enjoy an amazing night of socializing, dancing, and celebrating the Park!
Co-hosted by Sophia D’Angelo and Shannon & Aengus McAllister. Tickets are $150 ($125 for Esplanade Association members) and may be purchased at www.moondancegala.org.
*Separate tickets to Moondance After Dark are not required if you already purchased a ticket to the Gala, are sponsoring a table or attending at the Gala as a guest of a table sponsor.
Hollister House Garden in Washington, Connecticut will hold its annual rare and unusual plant sale on Sunday, September 8 from 9 – 3. Admission is $10. Take the opportunity to visit the garden, shop for plants suitable for fall planting, shop for garden tools and accessories, ask an arborist your questions about caring for trees, shrubs, and lawn, and have lunch at the M.O.C. Eatery food truck. More than 15 specialty vendors will be in attendance. For more information visit www.hollisterhousegarden.org.
Enjoy cocktails in the Hollister House Garden in Washington, Connecticut on September 7 from 4 – 6:30 and preview buying at the Sale of Rare and Unusual Plants before the sale is open to the general public on Sunday.
Don’t miss this opportunity to shop for plants suitable for late season planting from some of the Northeast’s premier specialty nurseries.
Vendors include Broken Arrow Nursery, Cricket Hill Garden, Falls Village Flower Farm, Garden Vision Epimediums, Green Spot, Issima, Meadowbrook Gardens, O’Brien Nurserymen, Oesco, Shakespeare’s Garden, Snug Harbor Farm, and Young’s at Three Rivers. Hollister House Garden members $50, nonmembers $65. Register at www.hollisterhousegarden.org.
Join Urban Forestry Today on September 12 at noon Eastern time online for a free webcast Tree Growth & Development in a Changing Climate with Chuck Cannon, PhD, of the Morton Arboretum. How are researchers employing high and low-tech means to better understand factors like tree growth, root development and sap flow? Join Director Chuck Cannon for an update from the Center for Tree Science at The Morton Arboretum. To sign up visit http://www.urbanforestrytoday.org/home.html
