Boston Flora

Month: April 2021

  • Saturday, April 10, 9:30 am – 11:30 am – Sketching Spring First Flowers, Online

    Snowdrops, crocus, pansies, chionodoxa (Luciles Glory of the Snow); sketching these beautiful flowers are an introduction to more spring blooms to come. Enjoy drawing one or more flower shapes and learning inking techniques that will visually describe their textures and values. This virtual workshop will begin with an inking technique demo, then try your skills drawing spring’s first flowers with the instructor. Carol Schwartz.

    Materials (Supply your own–not included with registration)
    1. Mixed media paper pad, 9? x 12?, such as Canson XL or Strathmore
    2. Higgins Black Magic waterproof ink and Speedball pen set, either Cartooning Pen and Nib Project Set or Number 20 General Purpose Set or a #01 or 02 Micron pen
    3. No. 2 pencil and an eraser

    Carol Schwartz graduated from the Kansas City Art Institute, attending her senior year at Rhode Island School of Design. She earned her MFA in Illustration from the University of Hartford, Connecticut in 2014. Her education equipped her to be diverse and adaptable, with work appearing in 60 picture books and countless magazines, newspapers and advertisements.

    The Tower Hill Botanic Garden course on April 10 at 9:30 am is $30 for Tower Hill members, $40 for nonmembers. This program will be held virtually. Once you register HERE you will receive a Zoom link in the confirmation. This webinar will only be available LIVE.

  • Tuesday, April 6, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Dive into Composting, Online

    There is a biology to composting, and understanding it will lead to healthy compost. The speaker for this Massachusetts Horticultural Society online session on April 6 at 7 pm will review the different types of compost systems you can set at home and offer guidelines for compost maintenance.

    This class is part of our spring Introduction to Gardening series, register for all six sessions and save $$$! Click here to learn more about the full series.  This session is $20 for Mass Hort members, $30 general admission. Register at www.masshort.org.

    Instructor: Gretel Anspach is a Lifetime Master Gardener with the Massachusetts Master Gardener Association, a Trustee of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, and a recently-retired systems engineer for Raytheon. Gretel helped to establish and maintain two food production gardens that have provided fresh produce to the Marlboro Food Pantry for the last eight years. 

  • Monday, April 12, 1:00 pm – 12:30 pm – Other Voices in Garden History: Guns and Roses: Humphrey Repton at Warley Park, Online

    The landscape gardener Humphry Repton’s working life witnessed great social change. He disliked the new money men connected with trade and commerce, but reluctantly benefited greatly from these bankers, industrialist and merchants who profited from war and colonial contracts. The profits of empire percolated through the whole of the British economy and funded the creation of many gardens and landscapes of aspiration. This online lecture sponsored by The Gardens Trust on April 12 at 1 pm Eastern looks at Humphry Repton’s work for the Quaker gun manufacturer Samuel Galton Junior at his estate at Warley Woods, Birmingham.

    This is the first in a ten part series celebrating the voices beginning to be heard. This series of illustrated lectures will explore the impact and legacy of empire, colonialism and enslavement on western garden and landscape history. The aim is to bring back some of the voices usually absent from this history, to identify and fill gaps in our collective knowledge, and to explore new ways of engaging with the whole history of gardens, landscapes and horticulture.

    The diverse range of topics and speakers will offer a new range of perspectives on the history of gardens and landscapes and suggest more inclusive ways of presenting and interpreting their stories. The series does not aim to point fingers or to encourage hand-wringing but is more a celebration of voices starting to be heard.

    Garden, Plant and Social Historian Advolly Richmond is an independent researcher based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK. She is a trustee of the Welsh Historic Gardens Trust and she sits on the Gardens Trust Events and Education Committee. Through her Royal Horticultural Society training and qualifications she went on to achieve an MA in Garden History from the University of Bristol. A member of the Garden Media Guild, she is a television presenter on BBC Gardener’s World and a contributor to BBC Gardener’s Question Time. She lectures on a variety of 16th to 20th century subjects and is currently researching the life and achievements of the Anglo-African Victorian botanist the Reverend Thomas Birch Freeman (1809 – 1890).

    Tickets are five pounds (approximately $7), payable through Eventbrite by clicking HERE.

  • Through April, 2021 – Over Time: Through Art, The Impact of Change in the Arboretum Landscape, Monotype Paintings by Ginny Zanger

    Five decades of weekly walks in the Arnold Arboretum find expression in Ginny Zanger’s art. “Rambling” gives her time to sketch and paint. Using the unique possibilities of her favorite medium—watercolor—and printmaking, Zanger explores, with articulate interpretations, the Arboretum’s rich botanical display. In this online show, most of her work is on Yupo, a silky, polypropylene paper that enhances the flow of the watercolor.

    After her undergraduate time at Harvard, Zanger moved from Cambridge to Jamaica Plain. On this side of the river, she has spent years thoroughly immersed in the education of the Arboretum.

    Part of that education revolved around a concern for the effect of global warming on plants. Inspired by climate change research conducted by Arboretum Fellow Catherine Chamberlain, Zanger brought an additional and ongoing focus to her work. She made the exception to her monotype paintings in her dramatic charcoal drawing, False Spring/Fatal Budburst, based on a photograph provided by researchers.

    Ginny Zanger is an award-winning painter and printmaker whose work can be seen at the Cove Gallery, Wellfleet, the Copley Society of Art, JP Open Studios, on her website, and on Instagram @ginnyzanger and @artgirlzboston. Zanger has been a strong presence in the Boston Art community through teaching, participating in an extensive number of solo and juried group exhibitions, and attending numerous artist’s residencies.

    To provide opportunities for Boston children to learn here, 50 percent of any sales from this exhibition will go to support the Arnold Arboretum’s important, ongoing educational programming with Boston Public Schools.                      

    All rights of the images reside with the artist. For more information on making a copy, or reusing an image, please send your request to arbweb@arnarb.harvard.edu. For information on the work itself, or to inquire about purchasing art, please also send your request to arbweb@arnarb.harvard.edu. We will put you in touch with the artist. To view, click HERE

  • Sunday, April 11, 10:30 am – 12:30 pm – Beginning Bonsai: Juniper

    Junipers are one of the most common species used in traditional bonsai. In this April 11 Tower Hill class you’ll learn all of the basic skills needed to grow and maintain a juniper bonsai. We will transform a piece of nursery material into a piece of living art for you to go home with. These plants are cold hardy and will need to be kept in a location that is below 42 degrees and protected from wind during the winter. Proper winter care will be covered in the class as well as repotting, pruning, and design. All material will be provided.

    Instructor Joel Mullen is the President of the Kaikou Bonsai Study Group. He has been growing bonsai trees for over 10 years and has trained with artists all over New England. Joel is the Lead Tropical Grower and the Education Coordinator at New England Bonsai Gardens in Bellingham, MA.

    $80 for Tower Hill members, $95 for nonmembers. Register at www.towerhillbg.org

  • Wednesday, April 7, 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm – Ecological Landscape Design, Online

    As you get ready to garden this spring, learn how to design a garden that’s not only beautiful but also promotes biodiversity. Learn about the principles and processes of ecological landscape design with Polly Hill Arboretum Horticulturist Oliver Osnoss. We will cover methods of studying and analyzing the landscape to inform design decisions, including tips for avoiding common and costly mistakes.

    $10; FREE for PHA members. Proceeds benefit Polly Hill Arboretum and help make it possible for us to hold future affordable and free educational programs for our community. Thank you for your support! Register here: Ecological-Design-Webinar-2021