Boston Flora

Month: June 2020

  • Wednesday, July 1, 10:30 am – 1:00 pm – Hummingbird Garden in a Container

    Experience the magic of watching a tiny, whirring hummingbird feed on flowers blooming close by! Plant a 14” container for your patio or garden the hummingbirds, butterflies, bees and other pollinators will love. With proper care, your Hummingbird Garden will bloom all summer. All materials are supplied: plants, container, soil and a bamboo frame for climbing vines.

    This July 1 Tower Hill Botanic Garden class will begin at 10:30 am at the Garden in Boylston and will be held in our outdoor classroom.

    $80 M; $95 NM (FEE INCLUDES MATERIALS) Register at www.towerhillbg.org.

    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.

  • Sunday, June 28, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm – Wildflower Field Study

    Join ecologist Ted Elliman for a Berkshire Botanical Garden lecture on June 28 from 10 – 4 highlighting wildflowers of New England’s natural habitats, including alpine summits, forests, meadows, wetlands, and coastal environments. This program will focus on spring-flowering plants that will be (or almost be) in bloom in the forests and meadows of the Berkshires. After an introductory lecture, Elliman will lead a walking field study at BBG as well as at an off-site location. Optional transportation to the off-site location will be provided by BBG.

    Ted Elliman has worked for the Native Plant Trust as a staff botanist, invasive species program manager, and as an instructor of botany, ecology, and conservation classes. His book, The Wildflowers of New England, an identification guide to much of the region’s native flora, was published in 2016 by Timber Press.

    $85 for BBG members, $95 for nonmembers. Register at https://www.berkshirebotanical.org/events/spring-wildflower-field-study

  • Tuesday, June 30, 10:00 am – 11:00 am – The Secret Life of Plants: Plant Zine Program

    Use your plants as inspiration for a handmade book! In this June 30 Berkshire Botanical Garden online workshop for kids or kids and their grown-ups, local art educator Joey Chernila will show you step-by-step how to create a fun zine, or homemade artist’s book, featuring your favorite houseplants and garden friends as the main characters. We’ll start by making drawings and watercolor paintings of our plants, and then we’ll cut them out and collage them into our handmade zines. Fun for the whole family! 

    Note: A supply list will be provided upon registration. The class starts at 10 am Eastern. BBG members $10, nonmembers $12. Register at https://www.berkshirebotanical.org/events/secret-life-plants-plant-zines-family-program

    Joey Chernila has been a teaching artist and storyteller in the Berkshires since 2003. He holds a B.A. in Liberal Arts from St. John’s College in Santa Fe, NM as well as a Montessori teaching certificate and has taught at Montessori School of the Berkshires since 2007. He lives with his family in the Berkshires and enjoys walks in the woods with his dog, watering his houseplants and making art from everyday materials.

  • Thursdays, beginning June 25, 3:00 pm – 3:30 pm – Afternoon Garden Live Stream

    Looking for a relaxing afternoon but can’t get to the Stevens-Coolidge Place gardens in person? Tune into Facebook Live every Thursday at 3pm to enjoy a live stream of our gardens. Each week we’ll setup a camera in new location to spot chirping birds, nibbling bunnies and of course flowers! 

    This program is free of charge, but if you are in a position to do so, donations can be submitted using the link below to support The Stevens-Coolidge Place. Thank you from The Trustees:
    thetrustees.org/joinus

  • Friday, June 26, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm – Virtual Tour of Jackson Homestead Museum in Newton

    Friday, June 26, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm – Virtual Tour of Jackson Homestead Museum in Newton

    The Jackson Homestead and Museum is one of two historic house museums that comprise Historic Newton and is now home to exhibitions on the history of food, farming, and family life; slavery and anti-slavery; and notable people and events in Newton, Mass.

    Join us and Clara Silverstein for an online tour of the federal-style house built in 1809 for Timothy Jackson and his family.

    This free tour, from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. on June 26. will focus specifically on the complex legacy of slavery and abolitionism at the homestead, including its history as a stop on the Underground Railroad.

    Register at the Massachusetts Historical Society website, http://masshist.org to receive an email with links and instructions on how to join the program.

  • Thursday, June 25, 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm – Spirit of Place: The Making of a New England Garden

    Join author Bill Noble for this online presentation on June 25 at 6:30 pm as he talks about the making of his Vermont garden, including its evolution, sources of design inspiration, and the principles that guided its making. Noble draws connections between his own garden and the gardens that inspired it, including those of the Cornish Artists’ Colony, and the contemporary and historic gardens he encountered throughout his work with the Garden Conservancy. In this richly illustrated talk, Noble shows how he uses a variety of trees, shrubs and hardy perennials to create planting compositions of foliage and flowering interest that deepen the sense of being rooted in place. This program is presented by Tower Hill Botanic Garden in partnership with the Berkshire Botanical Garden.

    A Zoom link will be sent to participants in the confirmation e-mail that will be sent after registration. Sponsor members $10, nonmembers $15. Register at www.towerhillbg.org

  • Wednesday, June 24, 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm – Celebration of Finding Sanctuary Book Launch

    The Museum of American Bird Art is sponsoring a free online book launch on June 24 at 7 pm.

    Join internationally recognized nature artist Barry Van Dusen and Amy Montague, Director of the Museum of American Bird Art, for a virtual gathering to celebrate Barry’s new book: Finding Sanctuary: An Artist Explores the Nature of Mass Audubon. This lively online celebration will feature an interview of Barry by author and artist Julie Zickefoose, live discussion and viewing of Barry’s work, and time for audience participation.

    Over four and a half years, internationally recognized nature artist Barry Van Dusen visited all of Mass Audubon’s 61 wildlife sanctuaries, nature centers and museums, creating drawings and paintings at each location. This beautiful book celebrates the richness, beauty and ecological diversity of Massachusetts and the Mass Audubon sanctuary system and provides fascinating insights into his artistic process.

    After you register you’ll receive an email invitation with a link and information on how to join the gathering. Registration is required. Register online or call 781-821-8853 to register by phone.

  • Tuesday, June 23, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm – Insects for Beginners Online

    Tuesday, June 23, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm – Insects for Beginners Online

    Insects may be the most important animals on the planet! If you want to learn why, as well as how to tell a beetle from a true bug, a moth from a butterfly, or a hover fly from a bee this is the program for you, to be held on June 23 from 7 – 9. The Mass Audubon/Drumlin Farm team will focus on the most common insect orders and discuss their unique characteristics and how to recognize them.

    To accommodate safe distancing during the Covid-19 pandemic, this program will be offered as an online meeting with discussion.

    You will receive a Microsoft Teams link and instructions on how to join us the day before the program. Registration is required. Register online or call 781-259-2255 to register by phone. For your own security, DO NOT send credit card information via email. $25 for Mass Audubon members, $30 for nonmembers. For more information contact Drumlin Farm Wildlife Sanctuary 208 South Great Road Lincoln, MA 01773 drumlinfarm@massaudubon.org

  • Wednesday, June 24, 7:00 pm – Life in a Leaf: The Wonderful World of Leafminers Webinar

    Join Charley Eiseman online on June 24 at 7 pm to learn the secrets of Leafminers, insect larvae that spend at least part of their lives feeding between the epidermal layers of leaves. This presentation will introduce the major groups of leafminers, as well as share some new discoveries Charley made in the course of completing his guide to the North American species that includes keys to the mines found on each plant genus. In North America they include over 2,000 species of moths, flies, beetles, and sawflies, belonging to over 50 different families. These insects are typically quite host-specific, and the form of the mine varies considerably depending on what insect produces it. As a result, it is often possible to identify the responsible insect using only the host plant and mine characteristics. 

    Charley Eiseman is a freelance naturalist based in western Massachusetts. He has been conducting plant and wildlife surveys and natural resource inventories throughout New England for over twenty years, as well as teaching courses and workshops on interpreting animal tracks and sign (both vertebrate and invertebrate). He holds an MS in Botany (Field Naturalist) from the University of Vermont and a BS in Wildlife and Fisheries Conservation and Management from the University of Massachusetts. Charley is the author of Tracks & Sign of Insects and Other Invertebrates (Stackpole Books, 2010), Leafminers of North America (self-published e-book, 2019), and an insect-themed blog called “BugTracks.” He has also published over 40 scientific papers on insect natural history, including the description of over 60 new species. http://charleyeiseman.com/

    Sponsored by the Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust. Free. Register here.

  • Now Through July 1 – Polly Hill Arboretum Online Plant Sale Pre-Order

    Click on to https://polly-hill-arboretum.square.site/, add plants to your cart, and submit your payment. Watch your email inbox! The Arboretum will contact you after your order is processed regarding your pickup date and time. Please do not call or email to arrange pickup – you will be contacted.

    Once a PHA staff member has contacted you and set up a pickup window, come to the visitor center parking lot during. your designated time to pick up your order at the contactless delivery area. Clear signage in the parking lot will lead you to the pickup area. There are three numbered bays – you will have been assigned a number and your plants will be waiting for you in the corresponding bay with your name on them.

    Customers MUST wear a mask and gloves during pickup. Please maintain social distance of at least 6 feet and absolutely do not touch others’ plants. If you see something in someone else’s bay that you’re interested in, please check the on-line shop.

    Plants will not be delivered to your pickup bay early. Please refrain from gathering in the parking lot before your designated pickup time. Customers assume all responsibility for plant health once your order is delivered to the pickup area. We will require 48 hour notice to reschedule your pickup time. If you are late, PHA is not responsible for any wilt, theft, or other damage done to plants.

    As always, PHA members will receive a 10% discount. Members may use code “STEWARTIA” to receive a discount. If you are unsure of your membership status, please email info@pollyhillarboretum.org with your name and mailing address to request confirmation PRIOR TO placing your order. We cannot apply a discount after your order has been placed. If you would like to renew or purchase a membership along with your plants, you may select “Membership” from the products listed in the online store.

    If for some reason we cannot fulfill part of your order, we will issue a refund for that portion. We will not make automatic substitutions. All sales are final.

    Polly Hill Arboretum thanks you for your support during this unprecedented time.