Boston Flora

Month: May 2021

  • Wednesday, May 12, 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm – Climate Talk: What Alpine Plants in New England are Telling Us about Climate Change, Online

    Tower Hill Botanic Garden is dedicated to understanding the ways climate change impacts our world and exploring methods we can use to combat its effects and improve our climate outlook. “Climate Talks” are an opportunity to connect with experts in the field to learn and understand the current effects of climate change and explore ways we can make a difference.

    This May 12 climate talk beginning at 6:30 pm will explore the current global biodiversity crisis caused by environmental change. The effects of this change make it critical for our communities to determine what our conservation priorities will be, especially when we understand which plants are the most vulnerable to extinction. This talk will discuss one study of alpine plants of the mountains of the Northeast (rare alpine rattlesnake-root plants -Nabalus spp., Syn: Prenanthes spp.-) to understand how they will respond to ongoing environmental change. Through this study we can develop and use a framework for understanding the climate change vulnerability of certain plant species and develop plans for managing those species during climate change.

    Kristen Haynes, PHD is an ecologist and plant biologist whose work focuses on climate change conservation. Kristen’s interest in environmental issues began with early experiences in the Adirondack Mountains in northern New York State, and grew through involvement with her high school’s Envirothon team. Kristen studied Natural Resources at Cornell University and then pursued a PhD at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. Currently, as the Assistant Director of SUNY Oswego’s Rice Creek Field Station, Kristen is co-leading a project aiming to restore native tree species to New York State’s canal region for ecosystem, climate, and cultural benefits.

    This program will be held virtually. Once you register you will receive a Zoom link in the confirmation. This webinar will also be RECORDED and available for 2 months to all registrants. $10 Tower Hill members, $15 nonmembers. Register at www,towerhillbg.org


  • Saturday, May 8, 10:30 am – 12:30 pm – Wildflowers in the Woods: Techniques with Colored Pencils

    Take a short walk in the Tower Hill Botanic Garden woods and snap a few photos of the beauty and color of forest wildflowers at the time of year when the woods are bursting with blooms. Then at the comfort of a table, use your colored pencils to draw and color your favorite flowers. You will be taught some techniques for using colored pencils to make your drawing come alive. All levels are welcome.

    Materials (Supply your own–not included with registration)
    1. Mixed media paper pad, 9″ x 12″, such as Canson XL or Strathmore or Canson Mi-Tentes Drawing Paper Pad, assorted colors
    2. Colored pencils, assorted colors, brands such as Prismacolor, Caran d’Ache, Derwent, Faber-Castell Polychromos
    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. This program will be held indoors in one of our well-ventilated classrooms. Group size will not exceed current state restrictions. $30 for Tower Hill members, $40 for nonmembers. Register at www.towerhillbg.org

    Photo by Kevin Harkens

  • Thursdays and Saturdays, May 6 – May 22 – City Natives Plant Sale

    Pre-order vegetable seedlings and native plants sustainably grown in Boston. All purchases directly benefit our 56 community gardens in Boston. Members of The Trustees save 10% on all orders. Choose from items at https://shopthetrustees.org/pages/city-natives-plant-sale and add to cart. Select in person pickup at checkout, and City Natives (30 Edgewater Drive, Mattapan) as your pick-up location. Select a corresponding pick up time on Thursdays and Saturdays, May 6 – 22, 9:00 am – 3:00 pm.

  • Monday, May 10, 7:00 pm – Ms. Adventure: My Wild Explorations in Science, Lava, and Life, Online

    Join Porter Square Books in welcoming volcanologist, extreme explorer and field scientist Jess Phoenix on May 10 at 7 pm for a free virtual talk about her new memoir, Ms. Adventure: My Wild Explorations in Science, Lava, and Life! This event is free and open to all, hosted on Crowdcast.

    As a volcanologist, natural hazards expert, and founder of Blueprint Earth, Jess Phoenix has dedicated her life to scientific exploration. Her career path—hard earned in the male-dominated world of science—has led her into still-flowing Hawaiian lava fields, congressional races, glittering cocktail parties at Manhattan’s elite Explorers Club, and numerous pairs of Caterpillar work boots. It has also inspired her to devote her life to making science more inclusive and accessible.
     
    Ms. Adventure skillfully blends personal memoir, daring adventure, and scientific exploration, following Phoenix’s journey from reality television sites deep in Ecuadorian jungles to Andean glaciers, university classrooms to Death Valley in summer. She has even chased down members of a Mexican cartel to retrieve a stolen favorite rock hammer. Readers will delight in her unbelievable adventures, all embarked on for the love of science.

    Jess Phoenix is executive director and co-founder of the environmental scientific research organization Blueprint Earth. Since 2008, she has been a volcanologist, an extreme explorer, and a professional field scientist. She works with universities and major research institutions to study lava flows and natural hazards, perform climate research on glaciers, and more. Jess is a fellow in the Explorers Club and the Royal Geographical Society; a featured scientist on the Discovery and Science channels; and her writing has appeared on websites such as BBC Online, DailyKos, and Medium, as well as in Face the Current magazine and local print publications. Register for the event on Crowdcast here: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/MsAdventure

  • Wednesday, May 5, 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm – Soil Testing for the Home Gardener, Online

    Getting the desired results in your gardens and landscapes all starts with having healthy soil to meet your needs. Things like PH, organic matter, and nutrient levels all play a role in the quality of the soil you have. You cannot always just guess if the soil you have is healthy though. That is where soil testing comes in. However, soil testing results can be a lot of information to absorb. During this online live Tower Hill Botanic Garden presentation on May 5 with Philip Bourele, you will learn how to take a good composite soil test and then interpret the test results.

    Philip studied Biology at the College of Wooster (Ohio, not Mass.). Philip became a Penn State Master Gardener in 2012 and then Master Gardener Coordinator in 2013. After 5 years with the Master Gardeners Philip went to private industry as a plant health care technician. $10 for Tower Hill members, $15 for nonmembers. Register at www.towerhillbg.org

  • Tuesdays, May 6 & 11, 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm (Online), and Saturday, May 8, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon (at Elm Bank)- Taking Better Pictures with Your Digital Camera

    Join Massachusetts Horticultural Society for this blended workshop, featuring two virtual classes (May 6 & 11, 5 – 8) and one onsite practice day (May 8, 10 – noon) shooting at The Gardens at Elm Bank. Are you still getting to know your digital camera and its features> Here’s an opportunity to learn from the experts in this course for beginers. Bring your camera and learn when and how to use its special features, such as program mode, manual mode, aperture priority, and shutter priority. Also covered will be basic composition and best use of light for different situations, such as plant, people, macro, and landscape photography, instructed by Steve McGrath. $70 for Mass Hort members, $95 for nonmembers. For more information and to register visit www.masshort.org.

  • Wednesdays, May 5 – 26, 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm – Massachusetts Master Gardener Association’s Home Gardening Webinar Series

    Whether you’re looking for a refresher course or are brand new to gardening, this four-lecture series is sure to up your self-confidence as you plan for that all-important first shopping trip to the garden center.

    ONLINE CLASSES are 1-1/2 hrs. each and include How-To presentations and plenty of time for live Q&A:

    • Vegetable Gardening: Planning, preparing and planting a vegetable garden is easier if you start early, think ahead, and always keep in mind the goal of having warm-from-the-sun tomatoes, peppers, and other favorites. We’ll talk about what is involved in growing healthy vegetables and how to start and/or maintain your very own vegetable garden.
    • Perennial Gardening: Perennials are the backbone of the garden. We will explore perennials for sun and shade and look at the importance of natives in the garden. With a little knowhow you will be able to keep your perennial garden in bloom from early spring to late autumn. 
    • Landscaping Basics: Do you have the feeling that you should be planning your property, rather than just mowing it or buying whatever is in bloom? Now is the time to get started! Learn about your plants’ basic needs and how you can easily meet them for years of happy botanical companionship in your garden. 
    • Container Gardening: Whether you choose to plant vegetables, ornamentals or even houseplants, container gardening is an adventure all to itself. Let your creative juices flow and come ready to learn! The presentation is packed with information and tricks of the trade for both beginners and advanced gardeners. The talk includes a PowerPoint presentation with plenty of pictures, followed by a “how to” demonstration. 

    INSTRUCTORS are senior Master Gardeners who are experts in their topics:

    • Gretel Anspach – A Master Gardener since 1998, Gretel is a retired engineer with a passion for both the art and the science of gardening. A sought-after MMGA Speakers Bureau presenter, her repertoire includes a wide range of practical topics. She is also the volunteer manager of a food pantry garden in Marlborough. 
    • Kathi Gariepy – A Lifetime Master Gardener since 2000 with over 10,000 MMGA volunteer hours under her belt, Kathi is a founding member of the MMGA Speakers Bureau and has presented to hundreds of organizations. Her talks are known for their eye-popping photographs. 
    • Jodi Frank – A Master Gardener since 2012, Jodi is a lifelong in-ground gardener and container designer/gardener with many wonderful memories of working in the garden with both her grandfather and father. Also known as “Dr. Frank,” Jodi holds a PhD in Kinesiology from UCONN. Her understanding of the natural world combines her love of nature and knowledge of how the body moves within it. 

    COST: The cost of the four-lecture Home Garden Webinar Series ‒ Spring is $60, payable by credit/debit card or PayPal. Classes are not available individually. Registration closes Friday, April 30, 2021. Refunds not available after April 30, 2021 or for individual classes.

    FAQ: answers to frequently asked questions. Click HERE to register.

  • Tuesdays, May 4 – May 25, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm, Online, and Sunday, June 6, 10:30 am – 12:30 pm, Live – Foundations of Vegetable Gardening

    The Tower Hill Botanic Garden immersive Foundations of Vegetable Gardening will give you all the needed information to get your vegetable garden off to a good start this spring. Four virtual workshop sessions will provide information for planning and preparing garden beds, sowing seeds, transplanting seedlings, and raising healthy vegetable plants. The fifth session will be a guided visit to the Tower Hill vegetable garden. The goal of this multi-week workshop is the help you have a successful vegetable garden this year!

    Session I. May 4, Planning the Garden
    A. Choosing a site and selecting crops.
    B. Rotation, succession sowing and inter-planting.
    C. Design options: beds, rows, blocks.
    D. Garden Calendar: When to sow and transplant. Days to maturity

    Session II. May 11, Groundwork
    A. Bed preparation
    B. Fertilizer, lime and compost
    C. Crop spacing and support

    Session III. May 18, Planting
    A. Sowing and transplanting
    B. Row covers
    C. Irrigation
    D. Mulch

    Session IV. May 25, Culture
    A. Summer crop maintenance
    B. Nutrition
    C. Insect and disease control

    Session V. June 6, A Visit to the Tower Hill Vegetable Garden
    A. An opportunity to see a vegetable garden in progress
    B. Follow-up questions and in-person discussion

    Christie Higginbottom has worked as a costumed interpreter at Old Sturbridge Village since 1981. From 1984 to 2004 she coordinated the historic horticulture program researching, planning and planting the re-created kitchen and flower gardens at the museum’s historic households. She also supervised the Village’s Herb Garden collection, a garden exhibiting over 300 varieties of historic herbs. From 2004 to 2006 she researched and developed a series of self-guided walking trails interpreting people and the environment in the early 1800s. She researched and designed the 2007-2009 exhibit “Taking Root: Gardening in Pots in the early 1800s.” Now retired from full-time work at OSV, she continues to work in costume part-time and to present garden programs for the Village.

    Tower Hill members – $150, nonmembers – $175. Register at www.towerhillbg.org

  • Wednesday, May 5, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – A Collector’s Guide to Hostas, Online

    Wednesday, May 5, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – A Collector’s Guide to Hostas, Online

    With more than 7,000 named varieties, there is a hosta to suit every taste and garden. With photos from award-winning gardens and Joan’s collection of 300 cultivars, The Massachusetts Horticultural Society will show you how to design a beautiful garden based on the interplays of color, texture and placement of incredible hostas and companion plants. This virtual class takes place May 5th at 7 pm, and is $18 for Mass Hort membes, $25 for the general public. Register at www.masshort.org.
    Joan Butler has been an enthusiastic gardener and plant collector for over 35 years, and believes gardens should invite you to linger in the world outside your door. The gardens on her half-acre suburban property have been included on several garden tours and feature exciting plant combinations, dramatic horticultural specimens, and extensive collections of native plants, hosta and epimedium. Joan has a deep and fundamental interest in the natural world. She holds a BA in Geology from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and a Certificate in Landscape Management from UMass Extension Green School. She is a Master Gardener, a horticulturist at Weston Nurseries, and is a past Chairman of the Massachusetts Landscape Design Council. She is a member of the Garden Consultants Council, the New England Hosta Society and is an accredited Flower Show Judge. Joan has presented programs at flower shows in Massachusetts and Connecticut, and at numerous garden clubs, horticultural societies and professional organizations.
  • Saturday, May 1 – Thursday, September 30 – Plants 102: Deeper into the Green World

    Saturday, May 1 – Thursday, September 30 – Plants 102: Deeper into the Green World

    Delve deeper into the New England flora in another Native Plant Trust online course. Learn how plants change as they grow; how they interact with other species; and how geology, soils, land-use history, hydrology, and climate shape the plant communities of the region.  Plants 101 is a complement to Plants 102, but is not a prerequisite. You can complete the course at your own pace. View the syllabus here. Class access begins Saturday, May 1, 2021 and continues through Thursday, September 30. $80 for NPT members, $98 for nonmembers. Register at http://www.nativeplanttrust.org/events/plants-102/