Boston Flora

Month: December 2020

  • Wreath of the Day, From the Archives – Luxury Ribbon

    When we started our Holiday Wreath Project, we used a stiff artificial ribbon for our bows, wired (mostly) but made with a flocked faux velvet side backed by a shiny paper side. It was inexpensive, but wide enough to be showy from a distance. Creating lovely loops was a bit taxing when the paper was so uncooperative, but we had a variety of colors from which to choose which met our needs. At one point, a few better quality ribbons were acquired, on sale, from Jacobson’s, big box stores, and craft centers. These were so much more fun to work with, but in order to maximize our profits, we began to charge an extra $5 for “luxury ribbon.” Some customers were quick to add the cost on to their orders, but the problem was this – our decorators rebelled! They only wanted to design around the far more attractive bows, and were using them on orders which did not qualify for the upgrade. That was clearly unfair to those who paid extra, so the following year, we simply made an executive decision to use better ribbon on every order. We do try to find things on sale, and members who spot bargain materials during the course of the year grab them up, but the project became a lot more interesting once we opted for the silks and brocades, velvets and taffetas. Here is a pretty example from 2010.

    Today’s Wreath of the Day Sponsor is Francine Crawford, one of the project co-chairs, who really likes nice ribbon.

  • Thursday, December 17, 6:30 pm – A Green New Deal for Boston, Online

    Thursday, December 17, 6:30 pm – A Green New Deal for Boston, Online

    The Blue Hills Climate Action Coalition presents a virtual lecture series on the climate crisis, showcasing a diverse mix of perspectives from within the climate crisis movement. Speakers will include climate change researchers, activists, youth leaders, and social scientists covering a variety of issues related to climate change, community resilience, and grounds for action. The series will be held on Zoom; pre-registration is required to receive the link to join the video-conference. 

    On Thursday, December 3, at 6:30, hear about A Green New Deal for Boston. What could the Green New Deal look like at the municipal level? Boston City Councilor and mayoral candidate Michelle Wu will share her recently published 15-point plan to address climate change and the important role municipalities can play in the future of our planet. Register HERE

    The Blue Hills Climate Action Coalition is comprised of organizations from the communities surrounding the Blue Hills committed to working together to address the challenges of climate change in our communities.  

    The Our Climate Crisis lecture series is co-sponsored by Blue Hill Observatory, Brookwood Community Farm, Blue Hills Trailside Museum, Eleanor Cabot Bradley Estate, Friends of the Blue Hills, Mary May Binney Wakefield Arboretum, Mass Audubon, Milton Public Library, Neponset River Watershed Association, Quincy Climate Action Network, Sustainable Milton, The Trustees of Reservations.

  • Wreath of the Day, From the Archives – Disintegrating Pine Cones

    A staple of our wreath decorations is the pine cone, in all varieties. Some years we have bins and bins of them, collected over the late summer and fall by our members, and some years we are a little short and end up stretching the supply by cutting them in half into pine cone “flowers”. When we have extras at the end of Wreath Week, we pick through them and store the good ones in plastic bins in our rented storage facility. We’ve learned from experience that the term “sorting through” is key. One year, tired and worn out from marathon decorating days and nights, we threw lids on bins and hauled everything off, only to find the next year that some sort of bug had gotten into some of the bins and managed to reduce the pine cone supply to dust. After disposing and sanitizing, we swore not to do that ever again. The same principle applies to dried fruits, nuts, and berries. We do, however, save ribbon, mechanicals such as wire and picks, and artificial decorations mostly used in our “Glamorous Glitz” category. Below is a ten-year-old example of how pine cones, when fresh, are put to good use.

    Thanks today go to Francie Cramb, our Wreath of the Day Sponsor and Past President who travels from up from Florida to staff the Assignment Desk and all important Quality Control, along with Jolinda Taylor, each December.

  • Tuesday, December 15, 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm – Victorian Holiday Customs Webinar

    No one celebrated Christmas quite like the Victorians. The  festivities began with Thanksgiving and extended through New Year’s Day (and sometimes Twelfth Night). The Gibson House continues to embrace many customs the Victorians popularized–like the Christmas tree–although others, like the once-traditional gift of an orange, have fallen by the wayside.

    Etiquetteer Robert B. Dimmick delves into the food, gifts, entertaining, and superstitions involved in Victorian celebrations.

    This December 15 online event on Victorian Holiday Customs at 6 pm will take place via Zoom. Please be sure to download and acquaint yourself with the platform prior to the program. Access information will be sent to those who register. Registration is required and will close 15 minutes prior to the event. Tickets: $10. Register Here!

  • Wreath of the Day, From the Archives – Invasives

    In November, the Garden Club of the Back Bay enjoyed a very informative online lecture by Bud Sechler of Native Plant Trust on the topic of invasives. Member Kaye Vosburgh noted that the use of invasive plants in flower arrangements is now expressly forbidden by the Garden Club Federation and the Garden Club of America, and while still allowable in ikebana, seed disposal protocols are strictly followed. This brought to mind our own Wreath Week foraging and how often we may have been guilty of using inappropriate plants, berries, or grasses over the years. A case in point, from ten years ago, is the wreath below with Japanese wisteria pods attached as part of the decoration. Be assured that in the future we will be very careful in our choices of materials. We have, by the way, always been careful not to use anything that is on any endangered list.

    We thank Lois Kunian and Gibson/Sotheby’s for their generosity in sponsoring today’s Wreath of the Day post.

  • Wednesday, December 9, 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm – Boston Nature Center Virtual Annual Meeting

    Wednesday, December 9, 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm – Boston Nature Center Virtual Annual Meeting

    The Boston Nature Center of the Massachusetts Audubon Society will hold its Annual Meeting online on Wednesday, December 9 from 6:30 – 8. Visit http://massaudubon.org for details on registering.

  • Tuesday, December 8, 7:30 pm – From Cricket Songs to Swarming Locusts: Elucidating Patterns and Processes of Orthopteran Evolution, Online

    Hojun Song, Department of Entomology, Texas A & M University, will speak online at the Cambridge Entomological Club December meeting on December 8 at 7:30 pm.

    Orthoptera is the most diverse order within Polyneoptera with more than 28,000 species known worldwide, and includes familiar insects, such as grasshoppers, crickets, and katydids.  Throughout 350 million years of evolution, orthopteran insects have diversified into numerous lineages that occupy every conceivable terrestrial habitat outside the polar regions and play integral roles in their ecosystems. Such diversity in form and function has attracted researchers who use these insects as model systems for studying anatomy, bioacoustics, chemical ecology, evolutionary ecology, life‐history traits, neurobiology, physiology, and speciation.

    Hojun Song grew up in South Korea, wanting to become an entomologist since his childhood. He moved to the U.S. in 1994, and received his bachelor’s degree in entomology from Cornell University in 2000. He moved to the Ohio State University, and received his M.S. (2002) and Ph.D. (2006) in entomology. Dr. Song then moved to Brigham Young University for post doctorial work, and in 2010 Dr. Song joined the Department of Biology at the University of Central Florida as an assistant professo. In 2015, he relocated to the Department of Entomology at Texas A&M University, where he is currently an associate professor.

  • Wreath of the Day, From the Archives – Magnolia Leaves

    Continuing with our memories of popular materials, today we’ll focus on magnolia leaves. Clearly, these are not native to Massachusetts. In the early years, our gardens, both here and in the country, were our primary sources of additional greens. Interesting pines, junipers, holly, rose hips, blueberry twigs, all were brought in to augment the basic balsam wreaths. As years passed, we noticed that our annual supply began to dwindle both in bulk and in variety. Whether this was due to an aging demographic unwilling to climb on ladders, the relocation of New England weekend homes to homes in warmer climates, or some other reason, we did not discover. We did, however, find beautiful, glossy magnolia leaves with velvety brown on the reverse at the flower market. The minute these appeared, decorators began to use them with wild abandon. They are attached in a variety of ways – picks, or wired through the fleshy leaves, or incorporated into mini bouquets with flocked wired – but the effect is dramatic. While the extra expense of purchasing did cut into our profit, most customers not only like the look, but specify them to be included when ordering. The wreath below dates from 2010.

    Today’s Wreath of the Day post is sponsored by Elin Harris, a long time customer, who purchases wreaths for her cooperative building even though she is often in Florida over the holidays. That is public spirit!

  • Copley Square Survey – Your Two Cents

    The Boston Parks and Recreation Department is committed to a refreshing of Copley Square. Will it be a repair and restoration, an enhancement, or a total redesign? Your opinion matters, and one public meeting has been held, with more to come. We encourage to to take the short survey: https://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/6013401/Copley-Square-Community-Meeting-1

    You will be asked questions on your use of the Park, your memories of the space, and your thoughts on what it could become. Are you a devotee of the Farmer’s Market? Do you prefer a green, tree-canopied contemplative park or an active, more hardscaped space suitable to celebrations, protests, and Zumba classes? What about dogs? What about skateboards? Let your thoughts be known. We will publish notices of future meetings when we get them.

  • Wreath of the Day, From the Archives – Out of Fashion

    Wreath decorating, like flower arranging, follows trends. Some years we see customers favoring minimalism, some years they favor glitz and glam. Special theme requests often reflect current cultural phenomena – we’ve had our Downton Abbey years and our Martha Stewart years. For a while, past President Anita Bucknum sent up round, flat sea grape leaves from Florida, which we used with abandon, although they were a bit brittle and difficult to manipulate. The plants grow profusely in tropical climates and gathering by the roadside was simple. When Anita moved to Delaware, our supply dwindled, and we haven’t used them in years. Below is an example of them, painted a cool gold and peeking out behind the bow, behind the pheasant feathers. They not only framed our bows, making them more substantial, but covered up bare spots in the greenery.

    Our thanks today go to Wreath of the Day Sponsor Jane Gnazzo, another Member who has moved out of state but remains active in many capacities.