Boston Flora

Month: June 2023

  • Wednesday, July 19, 6:45 pm – 8:15 pm Eastern – Food from the Forest: Shopping at Nature’s Grocery, Online

    Our native forests, meadows, and wetlands are nature’s grocery store, chock-full of enticing raw ingredients just ready for the picking. Join naturalist and educator at Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary Liana Vitali and Anne Arundel County Park Ranger Victor Jones as they explore the makings of foraged feasts that can be found in the mid-Atlantic region. From fresh, cucumber-like cattail shoots to spicy garlic-mustard pesto (Yes, eat the invasive plants!), Vitali and Jones lead an evening that serves up video vignettes that include cooking demonstrations of their favorite natural edible treats as well as go-to recipes for noshing on nature—ethically and sustainably of course. This Smithsonian Associates Zoom presentation will take place July 19 from 6:45 – 8:15, and is $20 for Smithsonian Associates members, $25 for nonmembers. Register at https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/food-from-forest

    Maryland’s Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary, operated by the Anne Arundel County Department of Recreation and Parks, lies just 12 miles outside Washington, D.C. and is the jewel of the Patuxent River. Its 1,700 acres of open water, tidal freshwater marshes, forested wetlands, upland and riparian forest, creeks, meadows, pine and sand barrens, and fields along the eastern shore of the Patuxent River contain multitudes of welcoming habitats for a true diversity of wildlife.

  • Wednesday, July 12, 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm Eastern – Native Plant Trust at 125: A Talk with Debbi Edelstein, Live and Online

    Join us for a conversation about the strategic vision for the organization as it approaches its 125th anniversary. Presented by Debbi Edelstein, Executive Director, Native Plant Trust.

    To attend this free program at Garden in the Woods in Framingham in-person, please register here. 

    To attend this free program virtually, please use the register link at http://www.nativeplanttrust.org/events/native-plant-trust-125/

    Please note: NPT does not make video or audio recordings of classes or programs available after the fact, because it believes education is interactive, with instructors and students building a community and culture of learning. Some programs may be recorded strictly for instructor-training purposes. Please visit this page to review this and other FAQs about our policies.

  • Saturday, July 15, 12:30 pm – 4:30 pm – Orchids of New England

    Curious about Lady’s-slipper orchids or the rose pogonia, made famous by Robert Frost’s poem? Orchidaceae is one of the largest plant families in the world, and there are 50 orchid species native to New England, from showy lady’s slipper (Cypripedium reginae) to rose pogonia (Pogonia ophioglossoides). While some species are common, many are of conservation concern. This session provides context for understanding native orchid habitats, diversity, and conservation issues. You will learn identification techniques, pollination strategies, and life-cycle stages for native orchids. Learn about the members of this highly evolved plant family and their specialized pollination strategies and interesting life cycles. Botanist Neela de Zoysa will conduct a class on Orchids of New England on Saturday, July 23 at 12:30 pm at Garden in the Woods in Framingham. $60 for Native Plant Trust members, $72 for nonmembers. Register at http://www.nativeplanttrust.org/events/orchids-new-england-2/

    Image result for rose pogonia orchid

  • Sunday, January 28 – Monday, February 5, 2024 – Natural Wonders of the Caribbean

    Explore the exquisite beauty of the Caribbean on an intimate, luxurious cruise aboard Le Bellot, one of Ponant’s beautiful new Explorer Class yachts that combines elegant design with innovative, environmentally friendly equipment. The nine-day getaway from January 28 to February 5, 2024 features thoughtfully planned excursions focused on Caribbean gardens and the natural world. This American Horticultural Society travel study trip is with AHS Expert and Host Holly H. Shimizu.  

    Highlights: 

    • A voyage specially-tailored for English-speaking travelers including discussions with experts, transfers before and after your cruise, and an included excursion or activity in each port of call. 
    • UNESCO World Heritage sites: The Pitons of St. Lucia and Historic Bridgetown in Barbados. 
    • A true picture-perfect sampling of the West Indies: endless white-sand beaches, colorful reefs, idyllic turquoise waters, and the laid-back island way of life. 
    • A discovery of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, considered one of the world’s most stunning archipelagos. 
    • A barbecue lunch on your private beach on the island of Mayreau. 
    • Opportunities to sample local specialties, such as chocolate, spices, and rum. 
    • Exceptional seabeds and reefs with the possibility to observe turtles, barracudas, spiny lobsters, and parrotfish. 
    • Myriad opportunities to swim and snorkel in crystal-clear waters. 
    • Possibility of diving (PADI Open Water Diver or equivalent) with an experienced instructor on board (additional cost). To confirm your interest and request the detailed brochure, please contact us at travel@ahsgardening.org or (703) 768-5700, ext 117.
    Terre-de-Haut Island, Les Saintes, Guadeloupe archipelago

  • Sundays, July 9 & July 16, 1:00 pm – 3:30 pm – Native Woody Plant Materials

    Explore the huge variety of native trees, shrubs, and woody vines. You will learn which species grow well in shade, which support local wildlife, and how to stagger plantings for continual bloom, fruit production, and fall color. The two-part Native Plant Trust course on July 9 and 16 at Garden in the Woods in Framingham addresses growth characteristics, cultural requirements, and best horticultural uses. Trevor Smith instructs. $108 for NPT members, $132 for nonmembers. Register at http://www.nativeplanttrust.org/events/native-woody-plant-materials/

  • Friday, July 7, 8:30 am – 12:30 pm – Hydrangea University 2023

    Heritage Museums & Gardens and the Cape Cod Hydrangea Society CCHS are pleased to again partner and present the eighth edition of our annual Hydrangea University – the premier opening event of the annual Cape Cod Hydrangea Festival. During this symposium-style event, expert guest speakers will inspire and entertain while increasing participants’ knowledge of hydrangeas. This year’s speakers include:

    • Mal Condon, Curator of Hydrangeas, Heritage Museums & Gardens
    • Ryan McEnaney, Marketing and Communications Manager, Bailey Innovations
    • David Roberts, Director of Plant Breeding, Bailey Innovations
    • Andi Ross, Garden Speaker

    Admission to all of Heritage Museums & Gardens will also be included with registration, and each participant will receive a goodie bag and a hydrangea plant to take home. After the program, participants will have the opportunity to tour the Cape Cod Hydrangea Society Display Garden and the North American Hydrangea Test Garden. Advance registration is required, as space is limited. Register at www.heritagemuseumandgardens.org

  • Thursday, September 28 – Saturday, September 30 – America in Bloom Symposium and Awards Program

    Greenwood and Spartanburg, South Carolina will host the 2023 America in Bloom Symposium and Awards Program September 28 – 30. Thursday activities will include a tour of the Biltmore Estate & Gardens. Nestled within 8,000 acres of pristine Blue Ridge Mountain beauty, the Biltmore Estate is a one-of-a-kind destination. You will discover the estate’s origin and its evolution from the country home of the Vanderbilt family to beloved national treasure. This audio-guided tour spans three floors and the basement of the luxurious home, and then you can explore the historic gardens designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, the father of American landscape design. You will be in horticultural paradise experiencing the indoor and outdoor gardens! This tour includes transportation and admission to the house and gardens. Lunch options are available at the Biltmore for all budgets and styles. This tour requires walking. The cost for this tour is $149. Seating is limited so register early.  Later, catch up with old friends and make new ones at the Opening Night Reception followed by dinner, awards presentations, and silent auction.

    Friday morning’s Keynote Presentation is Protecting the Life that Sustains Us – Conserving Pollinators, with Ann Barlow, Clemson University Master Gardener. Research has shown significant global declines in native pollinator population sizes and ranges. Fortunately, correct landscape practices can help to build thriving, diverse native pollinator populations. In this presentation, you will learn how to galvanize your community to sustain pollinators by increasing the abundance of native plants, providing nest sites, and more. Ann will show how volunteers can be involved, mosquito prevention programs and pest control practices to implement, how to educate the residents, and more. More talks and a networking lunch will be followed by a community tour of Greenwood, which will present a look at Greenwood’s rich history with tours of the Railroad Historical Center and the Benjamin E. Mays Historic Preservation Site. Your learning tour will continue as you walk through the city center and explore pollinator gardens, recent commercial and residential development, and the vibrant Arts and Cultural District. You will learn about Greenwood’s renowned SC Festival of Flowers’ Signature Topiary Display, including where they live and how they are created. The showstopping topiaries will be displayed throughout the walking tour, so make sure you’re prepared for numerous photo opportunities. In the evening A Taste of the South dinner is hosted by the City of Greenwood. Dinner will be served in the City’s Uptown Farmers’ Market that architecturally continues the rich railroad tradition in its “depot” design. Enjoy an ultimate Southern buffet complete with all the “fixins.” Dessert will be provided by the Career Center’s Culinary Arts Department, all in a true Southern setting complete with Southern flora and fauna. The fun won’t stop there, as the Greenwood in Bloom Committee has prepared a special and fun end to the evening.

    Saturday is filled with optional sessions and showcases, ending with the Evening in Bloom America in Bloom Awards Banquet. For complete information, registration, and discounted hotel information visit https://americainbloom.org/about/

  • Saturday, July 22 – Sunday, July 23, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm – York County Open Day

    The Garden Conservancy will sponsor an open day tour of Braveboat Harbor Farm, 110 Raynes Neck Road in York, Maine, and a Cape Neddick Garden on Saturday, July 22 and Sunday, July 23, from 10 – 4.

    This Braveboat Harbor Farm garden has been evolving over the last seventy-five years. It surrounds and complements a Georgian-style stone house. There are formal and informal borders, a vegetable garden, orchards, and collections of various flowering trees and shrubs. Apples and pears are espaliered on the house and along the walls of the formal front garden. Water features include a newly expanded pond in the woodland garden, a farm pond with rustic bridge, and the Atlantic Ocean. This treasure is protected by a sculpted arborvitae hedge on the northwest, a mature stand of hickory on the northeast, and an extensive screen of old lilacs on the south. New projects include expanding the collection of magnolias and rhododendrons, introducing hydrangeas, an espaliered pear fence, a woodland walk, and a summerhouse with views to the pond and the sea.

    Directions: Located off Route 103 South and Braveboat Harbor Road to end of Raynes Neck Road. Please park in field below house.

    In the Cape Neddick Garden, stroll down a curving, sylvan drive with wooded hills on the right and ferns or lower plants as an offset to the woods and a vernal pond area on the left. Take one of the foot trails to find a path along a marsh and the pond. Return to the drive and find rolling lawns and gardens. Then pass between the house and a lily pond on the way to a rocky Maine coast. Walk along the rocks or stay on the lawn in front of the house to pass through a gate onto a grassy walkway bordered by a stone wall, flowers, and shrubs. Ahead and on your right, you will discover a rock-rimmed swimming pool nestled in a grotto below a rocky promontory. Walk around the pool to climb some stairs, or meander up a grassy promenade toward the house, to find the drive once again. Leave the property the way you entered. (NOTE: this property is only open Saturday, July 22)

    For tickets ($5 Garden Conservancy members, $10 nonmembers) and more information, visit www.gardenconservancy.org. Prior registration is required – tickets will not be sold at the properties.

  • Tuesday, July 11 – Thursday, July 13 – Nantucket Garden Festival

    The 14th Annual Nantucket Garden Festival highlights the unique and beautiful garden ecosystems on Nantucket and focuses on the importance of sustainability, conservation and gardening ethics for the long-term health of the island. Scheduled for July 11th-13th, the festival celebrates gardening through creative lectures and workshops, exquisite garden tours, and children’s activities.

    Presenters this year include New England based event designer and floral artist Tori Samuel. Also speaking are Nick and Allison McCullough. Based in Ohio, he and his team at McCullough’s Landscape & Nursery create and maintain plant-centric gardens in and around the Midwest that are both ecologically sensitive and family-forward. The Keynote Speaker is Roy Diblik. Inspired by the diversity of plants and their relationships in remnant prairies and woodlands, his design practice is placing plants together encouraging tight plant communities that live well with each other while pursuing compatible and thoughtful stewardship practices. Roy is co-owner of Northwind Perennial Farm located in Burlington, Wisconsin. He has been growing traditional and native perennials since 1978. His garden designs emphasize plant relationships to maintenance strategies and costs. Roy’s design and planting projects include the Louis Sullivan Arch for the Modern Wing at the Art Institute of Chicago and the lakeside plantings for the Oceanarium at the Shedd Aquarium and recently the perennial plantings for Scott Byron’s new garden design for the Chicago History Museum. His book The Know Maintenance Perennial Garden highlights his perennial gardening practice.

    Tickets are on sale now at https://www.ackgardenfestival.org/tickets

    PRODUCED BY AND SUPPORTING

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  • Saturday, July 8, 12:30 pm – 3:30 pm Eastern – Milkweeds and Dogbanes, Online

    Milkweeds (Asclepias) are some of the most attractive and fragrant wildflowers, in addition to being magnets for butterflies and pollinators. Learn about their special relationship with monarch butterflies and their complex flower structure, ingenious pollination strategy, and protective chemical arsenal. This class will help you identify the common and rare species and recognize their surprising range of habitats. You will also learn tips for milkweed cultivation and discuss the dangers that threaten this native plant. The Native Plant Trust webinar on July 8 from 12:30 – 3:30 will be led by Neela de Zoysa. $45 for NPT members, $54 for nonmembers. Register HERE.

    Please note: We do not make video or audio recordings of classes or programs available after the fact, because NPT believes education is interactive, with instructors and students building a community and culture of learning. Some programs may be recorded strictly for instructor-training purposes. Please visit this page to review this and other FAQs about our policies.