Daily Archives: January 22, 2020


Sunday, February 16, 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm – What’s My Orchid Telling Me Now?

Orchids are the largest family in the plant kingdom and grow all over the world! Some grow in soil and others grow on rocks and trees. Learn orchid anatomy and plant structure, as well as the difference between terrestrial and epiphytic orchids, so you can understand what your orchid is telling you. Matt Tetreault, Tower Hill Botanic Garden’s conservatory horticulturalist, is an orchid expert and develops orchid displays for Tower Hill’s annual shows. Matt will teach you how to assess an orchid’s health and what steps you can take to bring an orchid back to good health. The session will take place February 16 from 1:30 – 3, and is $15 for Tower Hill members, $29 for nonmembers. Register at www.towerhillbg.org.

Matt Tetreault graduated from Worcester State with degrees in biology and chemistry. His diverse experience includes studying mangroves and other subtropical plants in the Dominican Republic, sequencing tropical spider DNA, and working on a salamander population study. After working as an intern at Tower Hill, he was brought on as a conservatory gardener in January 2018 and was promoted to conservatory horticulturist in December 2018. Matt was responsible for all the beautiful forced bulb displays at Tower Hill in the early months of 2019.


Tuesday, January 28, 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm – Botany Blast: What Is Biodiversity and Why Does It Matter?

Jake Grossman, PhD, Putnam Postdoctoral Fellow, Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, will speak in the Hunnewell Building of the Arnold Arboretum on January 28 at 6:30 pm.

Most of us have an intuitive sense of what counts as “biodiversity” and why it is important to live in a biodiverse world, but these questions have also powered decades of revelatory and complex ecological research.

Join Putnam Postdoctoral Fellow Jake Grossman for an exploration of the world of biodiversity research. Our focus will be on how scientists define and quantify biodiversity and how biodiversity loss affects the way that ecosystems work. Jake will share highlights from his dissertation research, which entailed the use of experimentally planted “forests” to study the role of biodiversity in supporting tree growth, health, and nutrient use.

Free, but registration requested. Register at my.arboretum.harvard.edu or call 617-384-5277.