Boston Flora

Month: June 2020

  • Wednesday, June 24, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon – Bake Gluten-Free Scones with Early Summer Accompaniments Webinar

    There are many variables that go into successful gluten-free baking, as well as new flavors and textures to explore. Learn ways to make your baking healthier and more delicious by incorporating gluten-free recipes. In this Berkshire Botanical Garden online class with master pastry chef Rachel Portnoy, you’ll explore variations in baking scones using different gluten-free flour and flavoring options. You’ll also learn how to create seasonal accompaniments using an abundance of flavors from the garden, including curds, compotes and a refreshing herbal beverage. Follow along and prepare recipes in your own kitchen as you watch Rachel create them in BBG’s kitchen classroom. All participants will receive recipes and an ingredient list beforehand, so you can shop for what you’d like to make during the class.  The class will take place June 24 from 10 – noon, and is $15 for BBG members, $20 for nonmembers. Register at https://www.berkshirebotanical.org/events/bake-gluten-free-scones-early-summer-accompaniments

    Rachel Portnoy started out as a vegetarian cook during her time as a graduate student in English in the 1990’s, and then moved on to specialize in pastry at Le Cordon Bleu in London. She worked at French fine dining and Michelin-starred restaurants in New York, Washington D.C. and London, as well as in France at fine restaurants and bakeries. In 2002, Rachel and her husband, French chef Franck Tessier, moved to Lee, MA, and she fulfilled a long-term dream by opening her own bakery, Cakewalk, in Lee. Rachel eventually sold Cakewalk and moved up the road to open a restaurant on Main Street with Franck called Chez Nous where the couple focuses on fresh, healthy, handmade and delicious cuisine and desserts.

  • Wednesday, June 23, 11:00 am – 12:00 noon – Syrups, Wines, & Liqueurs 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 on June 23 at 11 am, Betsy will explore making syrups, wines, and liqueurs in a 45-minute webinar presentation followed by a Q&A moderated by Trustees staff. The Zoom webinar is $4 for Trustees members, $8 for nonmembers. Register at http://thetrustees.org.

  • Thursday, June 25, 12:00 noon – Restoring Bog Turtles in Massachusetts Webinar

    The Nature Conservancy, Massachusetts Chapter, will sponsor a Zoom webinar on June 25 at noon on Restoring Bog turtles in Massachusetts, with Angela Sirois-Pitel, TNC Stewardship Manager and Mike Jones, MassWildlife’s State Herpetologist. Hidden away in the wetlands of western Massachusetts, a small but mighty bog turtle population is stabilizing, thanks to the ongoing study of this endangered species and careful management of its habitat. Angela and Mike will share stories about days spent wading through bogs in search of nesting, basking, and foraging turtles. They will answer your questions about this important species. Interested participants must register for this free webinar at  https://tnc.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYoc-2vrjooH9MznfJ5v5Ag6A4PvzFyzjYh

  • Trillium Online Presentation

    The Native Plant Trust has posted a nine minute YouTube slide talk by Director of Conservation Michael Piantedosi on Trillium eretum – red wakerobin, and other Trilliums. Learn about Melanthieaceae, the fascinating plant family that includes the Trillium Genus. The link to this free presentation is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGBDLfywfa0

  • New Signs on the Emerald Necklace

    Our Parks have responded to the Covid-19 crisis with new signage. We hope you all will continue to keep apart from others in public spaces, wear masks – this is not a political statement, it’s good manners – and respect the rules. A recent study out of Imperial College, London, said that if only 20% more of the Massachusetts population begins to go out and about, the daily death toll could rise to 500 people a day. A 40% increase could increase the toll to 900 people a day. These numbers do not reflect variables such as face mask use, so they are not hard and fast. Nevertheless, please don’t be cavalier. and be vocal. If you see people without masks, especially people in a retail environment, say something. You can take your business elsewhere. Enjoy our parks in a responsible way, and if you can, support them financially. They are more important than ever these days.

  • Wednesday, July 1, 12:00 noon – 1:00 pm – Specialist Bees Webinar

    The monarch butterfly is probably the most famous insect specialist (the caterpillars only feed on milkweed), but did you know that many native bees are also specialists?

    Female native bee specialists or oligoleges, only collect pollen from a narrow range of native plants; this could mean just one plant genus or many genera that belong to one plant family. During this Walk in the Garden Ecological Landscape Alliance webinar on July 1 at noon, Heather Holm will highlight many of these native plant-bee specializations as well as the overlapping habitat requirements of the bees and plants.

    The presentation will also include the threats to specialist bees such as habitat loss and climate change. Heather Holm had an avid interest in natural history and botany at a young age and spent much of her childhood exploring the woodlands and prairie on the family property. She studied horticulture and biology at the University of Guelph and later web programming and digital design at Seneca college, Canada.

    Heather is an award-winning author and nationally sought-after speaker spending much of her time passionately educating audiences about the fascinating world of native bees and the native plants that support them. Her first book, Pollinators of Native Plants, was published in 2014, and her latest book, Bees, published in 2017, has won six book awards including the 2018 American Horticultural Society Book Award. Heather’s expertise includes the interactions between native bees and native plants, and the natural history and biology of native bees occurring in the upper Midwest and Northeast.

    Heather currently lives in Minnesota with her husband. She is a self-employed author, designer, and publisher. For the past few years, she has been assisting with native bee research projects. In her spare time, Heather is an active community supporter, writing grants and coordinating neighborhood volunteer landscape restoration projects. Currently, she is working on three projects with volunteers, restoring approximately ten acres of city-owned land in her neighborhood for pollinators and people.

    Free but registration required at https://www.ecolandscaping.org/event/webinar-specialist-bees/

  • Wednesday, June 17, 4:00 pm – Annual Meeting of Tower Hill Botanic Garden and Worcester County Horticultural Society

    Members of Tower Hill and the Worcester County Horticultural Society are invited to the 179th Annual Meeting on Wednesday, June 17 at 4 pm by Zoom to review the Society’s business of the past year and elect new trustees. All are welcome, but only members can vote during registration.

    Meeting access information will be sent via email before the meeting.

    Please visit https://www.towerhillbg.org/179-annual-meeting to view the nominating slate and 178th Annual Meeting Minutes.

  • Wednesday, July 8 – Friday, July 10 – 2020 National Children & Youth Garden Symposium Online

    Register now for the 2020 National Children & Youth Garden Symposium, a professional development event for adults working with young people in gardens and other outdoor learning spaces. NCYGS 2020 will be an online event with a combination of live, interactive sessions July 8-10 and prerecorded sessions available for on-demand viewing.

    The past few months have been a challenging time for all of us, but it has also introduced so many new people to the joys of gardening. We hope that these sessions will inspire you for the new challenges and opportunities that await, whether it is reimagining summer camps, designing safe and sustainable gardens, or creating and delivering educational programs that better meet the needs of your community.

    Symposium registration includes access to all live and recorded content; $45 for American Horticultural Society members (log-in required) and $65 for Non-Members. If you’re new to NCYGS, check out our website to learn more about this professional development event, now in it’s 28th year. If you are a staff member of a garden that participates in the AHS Reciprocal Admissions Program, a member discount link will be sent separately.

  • How To Replace Your Lawn Webinar

    Tower Hill Botanic Garden horticulture director Mark Richardson offers ideas during an hour-long webinar on How to Kill Your Lawn and replace it with something better for wildlife, the environment, and the eye. You may view it, free, at your leisure at https://www.towerhillbg.org/2020/05/06/video-webinar-alternatives-turf-grass-lawns/

  • Wednesday, June 24, 12:00 noon – 1:00 pm – GARDEN WAYS: Professional Tips on Design and Plant Selection Webinar

    Methods of design and ways of selecting appropriate plant material for a landscape vary. Karen Howard will share some techniques she uses to create a garden space, and structure a landscape design. This Ecological Landscape Alliance online presentation will take place June 24 at noon.

    Enclosing space, using specimen plants, and plants in drifts, will be explored.   Karen will also discuss the sequence she uses to choose plants, and how she locates them. Examples of many plants that she uses in designs will be shown, and she will discuss how and when she uses specific types of plants.

    Karen Howard comes from a long line of artists including painters, a ceiling muralist, a furniture maker and a garden designer. Karen followed in their footsteps.  Her company, Howard Designs, is a full service residential architectural and landscape design firm that combines Karen’s interest in houses and gardens.  She has lectured for the Ecological Landscape Alliance, the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, the Massachusetts Nursery and Landscape Association, the New England Spring Flower Show and many local garden clubs.

    Karen is a registered architect in New York and Massachusetts, a landscape designer, and a Massachusetts Certified Horticulturist.

    Free, but registration required at https://www.ecolandscaping.org/event/webinar-garden-ways-professional-tips-on-design-and-plant-selection/