Daily Archives: October 26, 2022


Wednesday, November 2 & Thursday, November 3, 10:00 am – 3:00 pm – Need for Seed: A Strategy for the Northeast, Online

This two-day Native Plants Trust symposium on November 2 and 3 focuses on establishing a groundbreaking network of native seed users and producers in New England, including government agencies and non-governmental organizations. Speakers (to be announced) from other parts of the country will share success factors in establishing a native seed network and discuss strategy, logistics, and tasks, from seed collection and storage to the uses of seed in restoration and nursery cultivation. NPT members $120, $144 nonmembers. Register and learn more details at http://www.nativeplanttrust.org/events/symposium-need-seed-strategy-northeast/


Saturday, November 5, 7:00 pm – Plant Diversity Shows its True Colors

The next New England Botanical Club meting will be held November 5 at 7 pm Eastern at Harvard University in Haller Lecture Hall, Room 102, Geological Museum, 24 Oxford Street in Cambridge. The door is to the right of Harvard Museum of Natural History entrance. Dr. José Eduardo Meireles, Assistant Professor of Plant Evolution and Systematics, School of Biology and Ecology at University of Maine, will speak on Plant Diversity Shows its True Colors. There is an urgent need to understand the phylogenetic and functional dimensions of plant diversity at global scales. Reflectance spectral data — how leaves reflect light across different wavelengths — is emerging as a phenomenal tool for characterizing plant traits and physiology as well as identifying lineages at different evolutionary scales. He will discuss applications of spectral data in plant biodiversity science, including monitoring biodiversity, estimating traits, and identifying lineages using spectral data. He will also demonstrate how to integrate phylogenetic models and spectra as well as leverage herbarium specimens to rapidly advance our knowledge of phenotypic evolution in plants. Free and open to the public.


Thursday, November 3, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm – Cold-Hardy Fruit and Nuts, Online

Cold-Hardy Fruits and Nuts is a one-stop compendium of the most productive, edible fruit-and nut-bearing crops that push the boundaries of what can survive winters in cold-temperate growing regions. While most nurseries and guidebooks feature plants that are riddled with pest problems (such as apples and peaches), veteran growers and founders of the Hortus Arboretum and Botanical Gardens, Allyson Levy and Scott Serrano, focus on both common and unfamiliar fruits that have few, if any, pest or disease problems and an overall higher level of resilience. With beautiful and instructive color photographs throughout, the book is also full of concise, clearly written botanical and cultural information based on the authors’ years of growing experience. The fifty fruits and nuts featured provide a nice balance of the familiar and the exotic: from almonds and pecans to more unexpected fruits like maypop and Himalayan chocolate berry. Cold-Hardy Fruits and Nuts gives adventurous gardeners all they need to get growing.

Allyson Levy and Scott Serrano are both visual artists and codirectors of Hortus Arboretum and Botanical Gardens in New York’s Hudson Valley. Their garden began as a source of inspiration and raw materials for their art. Over time, their interest in growing a wider selection of plants expanded until the garden encompassed eleven acres and became their primary passion. Along the way, they began planting a vast diversity of plants, both edible and ornamental. This grew into an extensive collection of cold-hardy cactus, magnolia trees, viburnums, and grafted fruit trees, with a focus on rare, underutilized plants. The arboretum is a nonprofit organization and level II arboretum. Levy and Serrano have been opening Hortus Arboretum for Open Days for many years.

The webinar with the authors, sponsored by The Garden Conservancy, takes place November 3 beginning at 2 pm. Conservancy Members $5 per person; General admission $15 A recording of this webinar will be sent to all registrants a few days after the event. We encourage you to register, even if you cannot attend the live webinar. Register at www.gardenconservancy.org