Boston Flora

Month: December 2021

  • Wreath of the Day – Individual Efforts

    While we aren’t able to decorate wreaths for our customers in 2021, we do have talented members who, on their kitchen counters or porches, take what items they can gather and proceed to decorate a few wreaths for themselves and for their friends. Sometimes bows are recycled from past seasons – savvy members always store their bows after their wreaths are taken down. Wired ribbon can be fluffed and resuscitated, even taken apart, ironed, and reformed, to look good as new. Dried sturdy materials like pine cones and lotus pods last a long time, and artificial items basically are good for the next hundred years. By purchasing a plain wreath at the garden center or grocery store, beautiful results are possible, like the one below. Our vast displays of materials and mechanics like picks and wires are missing, making this process more difficult and much less fun. Nevertheless, we persist.

  • Wednesdays, January 5 – February 9, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm – Fundamentals of Gardening, Online

    Explore the basic principles underlying successful, environmentally friendly gardening, including the structure and physiological processes of plants and their relationships to the settings in which they grow. Students learn not only what to do, but why. Topics include soils and their improvement, seed sowing, vegetative propagation, planting, pruning, watering, weeding, mulching, and disease and pest control. This online New York Botanical Garden class takes place January 5 – February 9 from 6 – 8, and is taught by Daryl Beyers. NYBG members $295, nonmembers $325. Register at www.nybg.org. Recommended text: The New Gardener’s Handbook: Everything You Need to Know to Grow a Beautiful and Bountiful Garden, Daryl Beyers.

  • Saturday, December 18, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm – Winter Table Arrangements with Township Four

    The tradition of bringing in evergreens during the shortest days of the year is ancient. Join Township Four in creating a low winter arrangement for your home. On December 18 at Berkshire Botanical Garden, learn how to create beautiful and long-lasting compositions using seasonal greens, fresh and dried flowers, cones, and other plant materials. Participants will be able to bring home their arrangements; all material fees are included in the price of the class. A wonderful way to welcome winter! 

    Township Four Floristry and Home was created by Nathan Hanford and Jed Thompson in 2017 as the place for the Berkshires to get unique and high quality flowers and gifts. They are an independent floral studio and enjoy being able to offer seasonal classes and experiences for all abilities. Nathan Hanford, a native of Becket, is a classically trained hand embroiderer who has shown in galleries around the world. Jed Thompson grew up with gardens and learned floristry with Jephry Floral Studio in Providence, RI.

    Right now the class is full but names are being accepted for the wait list by clicking HERE. Your expression of interest may inspire a second session.

  • Wreath of the Day – History, Part II

    We began with paper ribbon – wide, rather stiff, backed with metallic gold, prone to wrinkling. It was sturdy, weatherproof, hard to work with, and limited in color choices. It did come in big, fat rolls and wasn’t especially expensive. We pre-made a lot of them in November, at a bow making meeting. In truth, many bows made in those meetings were destined to be taken apart and re-made. Staples came out, loops were uneven, tails were bedraggled, sizes varied from one to another, especially unfortunate if you ordered a matched pair. Bow making sessions were later abandoned. Finally we began to use better quality ribbon. It cut our profit but was much more fun to work with. The first year, we tried charging an extra $5 for “premium ribbon” but soon had to abandon the idea. The decorators didn’t want to use the paper ribbon anymore and rarely checked the order to be sure the buyer had requested the upgrade. From then on, fancy ribbon was the norm. We still tried to buy on sale, at the end of season, or at going out of business or Christmas in July sales, but you can’t keep them down on the farm once they’ve seen Paris. Below is a wreath from 2006, fifteen years ago. We would be trimming down that middle opening if quality control got their hands on it today.

  • Wednesday, December 15, 12:00 noon – 1:00 pm – Sharing the Adventure: Design Communications for Ecological Landscapes, Online

    When a designed landscape succeeds, it’s a sign that there’s been strong communication across the project team. It means that the designers understand the clients’ goals and resources, and that the clients understand how their new landscape will look, how it will change, and how it will be managed over time.

    In this Ecological Landscape Alliance online December 15 presentation, Toby Wolf will explore strategies for making the design process a shared adventure. Toby Wolf is a landscape architect whose designs connect people with the natural world. His work includes planning and design for Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Wellesley College, the Native Plant Trust, Cornell Botanic Gardens, Boston’s Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy, Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery, and for homeowners throughout the Boston area. Mr. Wolf is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Cornell University and has taught at Cornell, RISD, SUNY ESF, and the Landscape Institute. He serves on the Horticulture Committee of the Friends of the Public Garden and on the board of the Ecological Landscape Alliance. Free for ELA members, $10 for nonmembers. Register at https://www.ecolandscaping.org/event/sharing-the-adventure-design-communications-for-ecological-landscapes/

  • Wreath of the Day – History

    In a “normal” year we would be beginning our Wreath of the Day features, highlighting our creations from the holiday Wreath Week project just wrapping up. For the second year in a row, that project has been put on hiatus due to COVID concerns. Celebrating our past achievements, however, is still possible. Hard to believe that the picture below was taken thirty years ago, in 1991, in Margaret Pokorny’s basement on Marlborough Street. It wasn’t even the first year of the project, either. Photos from that era are hard to come by. We had no sense of preserving an archive of what was at the time considered a hands-on craft project with a minor fundraising component. Starting out, we worked for two days, taking orders by telephone, and buyers picked up their purchases at Margaret’s. Over the next few decades we moved to a larger venue, The First Lutheran Church of Boston, organized purchasing by mail, newsletters, and ultimately online, maintained extensive databases, and set up a delivery system. Numbers of volunteers grew, and the project expanded from two days to four and one half days of active work, with preparation tasks beginning in October. The essence of the project, however, remained the same – friendship and neighborhood beautification.

  • Saturday, December 18 – Christmas Bird Count, Live and Online

    Join the Christmas Bird Count on December 18, the longest continuously running bird data event in the area. Contact Dave Small for additional information and to participate in this nationwide annual event: 978-413-1772 or Dave@atholbirdclub.org  Covid-19 rules are in effect National Audubon has issued guidelines which ABNC will use.  Then, enjoy the Christmas Bird Count Wrap-up and Party, online. Join us as we find out the preliminary results of the Annual Christmas Bird Count. An informal group discussion and meeting. Find out what unusual birds were seen during the days’ count. 

    You are invited to a Zoom meeting. When: Dec 18, 2021 05:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
    Register in advance for this meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEkd-iorj8sE9wnkJnlGODdr5O6n1tsjP-D  After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

    up party

  • National Capital Dahlia Society 2022 Calendar

    National Capital Dahlia Society is now offering its third annual dahlia calendar, with more than 20 beautiful photos of dahlias and additional dahlia related photos – available for individual orders and for group sales for groups wishing to offer them to members.

    A team of dahlia photographers, artists, and computer photo specialists reviewed thousands of photos to select beautiful dahlia photos and present them in pleasing ways.  A top layout specialist and printing group in Europe put the package together to develop a stunning calendar.  The initiative for this project was to raise funds to help support the 2022 ADS National Show, which NCDS will host in Reston, Virginia.

    Pricing for the calendar sent to a U.S. address is as follows:

    • Individual sales (minimum purchase of two calendars to nine calendars) are $10 each plus $8 for priority mail postage.  (Minimum of 2 calendars to ship.) 
    • Small group orders are $8 each for 10 to 24 calendars, plus $15.50 for priority mail shipping. 
    • For 25 or more calendars, the price is $7 each plus $15.50 shipping for up to 50 calendars, or $22 shipping for larger orders that require a large priority mail fixed price carton. 

    To order the NCDS calendar, send an E-mail to Alan Fisher.  Please put “2022 Dahlia Calendar” in the subject box.  Do not send money until you receive a confirmation/reply. To see sample photos from the calendar, follow the link here or go to nationalcapitaldahlia.org.  

    Photo by Margaret Roper

  • Saturday, December 18, 10:30 am – 12:00 noon – Make Your Own Aromatherapy Heat Pad

    Join The Trustees in the heated greenhouse at the City Natives plant nursery in Mattapan on December 18 from 10:30 – noon for a hands-on herbalism class, learning how to make your own aromatherapy heat pad. Charline Xu, a local herbalist, grower, and educator will walk through the sensory benefits of different herbs and essential oils, and how to best incorporate them into your heat pad. All of the materials for making your heat pad will be provided – you only need to microwave at home for therapeutic use! Homemade heat pads, or the class it self make a great holiday gift.

    Candles, tea blends, salves and other products from Charline’s mobile apothecary, @rootsaboveground will be available for sale onsite. Participants will be invited to explore the grounds of City Natives with a cup of hot herbal tea.

    Masks will be required inside the greenhouse and proof of vaccination is required for all attendees over age 12. $28 for Trustees members, $35 for nonmembers. Register at https://thetrustees.org/event/70341/

  • Wednesday, December 15, 9:30 am – 11:30 am – Botanicals in Colored Pencil, Online

    Explore the beauty and variety of plant forms using pencil and colored pencil. This Harvard Museum of Natural History online course on December 15 from 9:30 – 11:30 will introduce botanical drawing techniques beginning with close observation, and follow with techniques for achieving greater accuracy, capturing depth, volume, texture, and color. We will look at examples, discuss techniques, and have plenty of time for drawing and individual feedback. All skill levels are welcome.

    Members $30/Nonmembers $35.

    Advance registration required.

    Class will be held over Zoom. To join the program, you will need to download the free Zoom app in advance. If you already have Zoom, you do not need to download it again. For details on how to improve your Zoom experience, visit the How to Attend an HMSC Program webpage.