Boston Flora

Month: June 2020

  • Wednesday, July 22, 11:00 am – 12:00 noon – Herb Salts and Sugars Webinar

    Spending more time cooking from home or enjoying your garden? Join beloved gardener, herb grower and cook, Betsy Williams and the Stevens-Coolidge Place to learn the secret to growing, using and preserving savory herbs to enhance your daily meals.

    During this new online offering, Betsy will explore the following topics in a 45-minute webinar presentation followed by a Q&A moderated by Trustees staff. On July 22 from 11 – noon, Betsy will discuss herb salts and sugars.

    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.

    We will be using Zoom for this online program. Space is limited. Pre-registration is required. Trustees members $4, nonmembers $8. Register at http://www.thetrustees.org/things-to-do/northeast/event-56059.html

  • Monday & Tuesday, July 13 & 14, 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm – Handmade Tool Belt Online Workshop

    This Berkshire Botanical Garden online workshop meets July 13 and 14, 4 – 6 p.m.

    Keep your tools close at hand with a handmade canvas tool belt for the garden or workshop. Under the guidance of textile artist Jamie Goldenberg, participants will create their tool belts on their own sewing machines. A basic knowledge of how to use a sewing machine is required; heavy-duty machines are preferred but not necessary. Materials and pattern are included in the cost of this two-session workshop and can be obtained via local pick-up or shipped domestically to those registered before July 7. An additional shipping fee will apply. Workshop is $25 for BBG members, $30 for nonmembers. Register at https://www.berkshirebotanical.org/events/make-tool-belt-garden

    Jamie Goldenberg is a textile artist based in western Massachusetts. Informed by her background in art and cultivating native plants, she designs, dyes and weaves objects with narratives based in the natural world, but meant for the domestic realm. Her approach uses materials from a particular place to make pieces that reflect the experience of that environment. She was a 2016 resident of the Textile Arts Center in Brooklyn, an adjunct professor at the Parsons School of Design in NYC, and co-founder of MUSE in Housatonic, a former textile mill turned artist space. She currently weaves and teaches in her studio in Housatonic. www.harttextiles.net, @harttextiles on Instagram

  • Saturday, September 19, 9:30 am – 12:30 pm – Gardens Tour at the Codman Estate

    Explore the glorious Codman Estate landscape and gardens to celebrate the blooming season’s apex on this house-and-garden tour scheduled for September 19 from 9:30 – 12:30. The address is 34 Codman Road in Lincoln.

    The landscape is undergoing restoration of its historic appearance thanks to the work of the Massachusetts Master Gardeners. Site Manager Wendy Hubbard will present the landscape history talk and museum tour. Tour the gardens with Master Gardener Diane Romanosky to discuss restoration efforts and horticultural processes.

    Over light refreshments, learn more about the Master Gardener program, resources they offer to the gardening public, and volunteer opportunities with Historic New England.

    Tickets are $55 per person via website, https://my.historicnewengland.org/6756/cod-glorious.

  • Fridays, July 3 – October 9 – Lyman Estate’s Architecture and Garden Walking Tour

    Explore the exterior architecture and gardens of Historic New England’s eighteenth-century Lyman Estate and Greenhouses to discover why this property has been, and continues to be, a historic and horticultural gem.

    All visitors are required to wear a mask and maintain six feet of social distance

    Adults $15 – Free for members. Advance tickets required. Reserve on website, https://www.historicnewengland.org/visit/events/?event_location=lyman-estate.

    Every Friday at 3:00 p.m., from July 3 to October 9, 2020.

  • Thursday, July 2, 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm – Herbs for Seasonal Allergies

    Herbal remedies have been used for hundreds of years for allergy prevention and relief.

    In this final installment of Berkshire Botanical Garden’s three-class series, “Herbalism for Trying Times” with herbalist and wellness coach Hannah Jacobson-Hardy, learn about plants that can be made into remedies to help you during allergy season. 

    Hannah Jacobson-Hardy is a community herbalist, wellness coach and founder of Sweet Birch Herbals in Ashfield, MA. Hannah offers herbal consultations, custom made tinctures and teas, workshops, and a wide variety of products for sale, including Full Moon Ghee. Learn more about Hannah at www.sweetbirchherbals.com

    Follow Hannah on social media @sweet_birch_herbals. Register at www.berkshirebotanical.org.

  • September 30 Deadline for Picture This, Mass Audubon Photo Contest

    The Massachusetts Audubon Society is once again seeking photos that highlight people in nature and the beauty of Massachusetts wildlife and landscapes. Last year, they received more than 4,500 images — and can’t wait to see what you have in store for them this year. Deadline for submission is September 30. Submission details and tips are found at www.massaudubon.org

  • Susan Juretschke Wins the Mary Natale Citizenship Award

    Garden Club of the Back Bay member Susan Juretschke will be presented with the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay’s Mary Natale Citizenship Award given for significant and sustained dedication and service to the residential interests of the Back Bay (in particular, unselfish and unheralded commitment to the community). As a member of the Garden Club, Susan serves as its horticulture expert. As a member of the Tree Committee, she serves in the advisory group to the Back Bay Architectural Committee. Susan has quietly tended to the nurturing of Back Bay’s trees. In addition, she continues to lend her expertise to the Back Bay Tree inventory.  Congratulations, Susan!

  • Thursday, September 17 – 2020 Massachusetts Clean Community Awards Gala

    Join Keep Massachusetts Beautiful (KMB) as we recognize our 2020 award winners. This celebration will be full of inspiring stories, good food, drink, and entertainment! The event is planned for September 17 at the Lyman Estate, 185 Lyman Street in Waltham, but as with everything these days, is subject to possible cancellation due to COVID-19.

    Our KMB award winners for 2020 include: Environmental Legislator of the Year; Business Partner of the Year; Chapter Leader of the Year; Rookie Chapter of the Year; Litter Buster of the Year; and Municipal Partner of the Year.

    Individual tickets are $50 each. Tables of 8 are $400. Note: Members of dues-paying KMB chapters can purchase up to 6 individual tickets or a table for 8 at a 25% discount to these prices.

    Free parking available onsite.

    Sponsorship opportunities are available! Contact us if your business would like to participate as a corporate sponsor. Email info@keepmassbeautiful.org, or call 508-320-8621.


  • Monday, July 6 at 12:00 noon – Voting Deadline for Best Botanic Garden

    Monday, July 6 at 12:00 noon – Voting Deadline for Best Botanic Garden

    A USA Today “best of” poll has nominated Garden in the Woods as one of 20 best botanic gardens in North America. Voting in the poll will winnow the candidates to the 10 best. Most of our competitors in this online contest are much larger—with more people to tap for voting support. So, please help them out: Click this link to vote for Garden in the Woods every day until votes close at noon on July 6. (Yes, you can vote multiple times.) As of June 26, Garden in the Woods stood at number 7, so it’s up to us!

  • Garden Club Membership Renewal Time

    Summer is the traditional membership renewal time for the Garden Club of the Back Bay. This year, more than ever, we find ourselves appreciating whatever bits of greenspace we can – our own gardens and our shady sidewalks and our local parks. Your membership and support of the Garden Club helps to care for many of these spaces, and especially for the trees in the Back Bay.  


    The Program Committee has put together a full slate of programs for next year (as usual!) and the scheduled speakers have been making plans to adjust to “Zoom” and online options, as needed. While many of our traditional gatherings will likely be different this year, the Club is committed to continuing to offer educational programming to our members, hands-on gardening opportunities, funding for grants, support for street tree pruning & maintenance, advocacy for greenspaces city-wide, and as many other events as we can find that “pop up” from time to time. Even during this unusually quiet summer, members have been attending meetings of the Architectural Committee to advocate for the preservation of at-risk trees, sprucing up area gardens, attending Zoom committee meetings, updating our BackBayTrees.org website, posting events on the GardenClubBackBay.org website, and scheduling pruning/care for street trees.  


    We hope that you will renew your membership to the Garden Club of the Back Bay, or, if you are not yet a member, join for the first time. Dues remain at $75 this year. There is a “$125 Supporter Level” membership which includes dues and a tax-deductible $50 donation. Renewals are requested before August 15, 2020 to allow for the accurate printing of our 2020-2021 Yearbook.


    Click here to join or renew by Credit Card: 
    www.gardenclubbackbay.org/membership

    Checks made out to The Garden Club of the Back Bay can be sent to: 
    Garden Club of the Back Bay, PO BOX 991017, Boston MA 02199