Boston Flora

Month: August 2023

  • Friday, September 8, 10:30 am – 1:00 pm – Botanical Prints with Gelli Plates

    Create beautiful, original monotype artwork with the Gelli Plate Printing method. No experience necessary. Learn simple techniques to create beautiful nature prints without a press. Explore using flowers, leaves, and other natural elements to make unique impressions and explore additional techniques such as layering, stenciling, and masking. Once prints have dried, enhance prints with drawing, collages, and other media. The possibilities are endless with this fun and simple printmaking method.

    In this playful workshop you will:

    • Learn the basics of Gelli Plate Printing.
    • Techniques to enhance the artwork will be introduced.
    • Leave with several pieces of artwork/papers to be used in endless creative ways!

    Instructor: Linda Snay

    Linda Snay was born in Connecticut and has always been drawn to the world of art.  She discovered watercolors at a young age and was encouraged by art teachers.  She studied art in college and went on to graduate from Eastern Connecticut State University with a BA, double major in Studio Art and Art History.  After moving to Massachusetts, her career led to positions in education in museums and art centers, and she is currently a teaching artist leading engaging art classes for both children and adults.  She works in various media, including watercolor, acrylic, oil, and pastel.  She is a member of Arts Worcester and participates regularly in exhibitions in Central MA.

    This class is sponsored by New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill on September 8 from 10:30 – 1. $50 Member Adult; $65 Adult (includes admission to the Garden) Register HERE.

  • Saturdays, September 9, 16, & 23, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm – Plant Systemics, Online

    This Native Plant Trust online three part program builds on your cumulative vocabulary, knowledge, and skills in plant identification and classification based on vegetative and reproductive structures. This program builds on your cumulative vocabulary, knowledge, and skills in plant identification and classification based on vegetative and reproductive structures. From there, we delve into the breadth and complexity of plant identification. We will discuss hybridization and phylogeny to develop a deeper appreciation for the role of evolutionary history in understanding organismal relationships. The three session program will be held online September 9, 16, & 23 from 1 – 4. $108 for NPT members, $132 for nonmembers. Register at www.nativeplanttrust.org Dr. Jessamine Finch (below) is the instructor. Please note: NPT does not make video or audio recordings of classes or programs available after the fact, because they believe education is interactive, with instructors and students building a community and culture of learning. Some programs may be recorded strictly for instructor-training purposes.

  • Wednesdays, September 6 through October 25, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm Eastern – Introduction to Plant Science, Online

    This New York Botanical Garden user-friendly online introductory course surveys the major plant groups-flowering plants, conifers, ferns, and bryophytes – focusing on their form and structure. Become botanically literate and gain practical experience in dissecting and analyzing plant structures. Class meets every week from on Wednesday, starting September 6 and ending October 25. The instructor is Martha Bucuvalas, and the required text is Brian Capon’s Botany for Gardeners, 3rd Edition. NYBG members $420, nonmembers $470. Register at http://nybg.org

  • Saturday, September 16, 2:00 pm – 4:30 pm – By the Seaside: A Literary Walking Tour of Nahant

    Poets and writers have long been inspired by the beauty of the Nahant coastline. Join The Gibson House Museum on September 16 as we celebrate Nahant’s literary past with a special walking tour led by Ken Turino of Historic New England and Chris Mathias, past president of the Nahant Historical Society and coauthor of Nahant Revisited. The tour will stop at scenic places associated with such literary luminaries as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sylvia Plath–and, of course, summer resident Charlie Gibson. Excerpts from their work will be highlighted.

    Expect a leisurely stroll lasting approximately 2½ hours. Be sure to wear comfortable walking shoes! 

    Directions will be sent with confirmation. Register HERE.

  • Friday, September 8 – Sunday, September 10 – The Sterling Fair

    The Sterling Garden Club presents “The Sterling Fair” September 9 – 10 at Sterling Airport. The Fair is a three day family oriented, community agricultural celebration with an emphasis on agriculture and education.

    Admission and parking at the Sterling Fair is FREE. However, the fair relies on the sale of buttons, T-shirts, and ads to keep it free. Support your fair with a purchase or donation!  We like to keep admission and parking free so you can enjoy spending the day with your family having fun at the fair.

    The fair is run completely by volunteers, and with an annual attendance of around 40,000 people, it takes a lot of work to keep the fair going.  These volunteers include 20 members of the Sterling Fair committee and over 50 additional people who help setup, run, and clean up after the fair.

    The Exhibitor rules and categories booklet for the baking, craft, vegetable and flower competitions, along with exhibit card entry forms, may be accessed at https://sterlingfair.org/exhibits/ There are 33 separate categories for flowers, herbs, and arrangements – all entrants are welcome.

  • Saturday, August 26, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon – Topiary Demonstration

    To topiary or not to topiary? While letting plants flourish au naturel can yield breathtaking results, there’s no denying the charm of a carefully manicured piece of greenery.

    Learn the art of training, trimming, and guiding a plant into a shape that is different from its natural form with landscape architect Anthony Bellomo, proprietor of  Orangerie Garden and Home in Millbrook.

    In this August 26 Hollister House Garden illustrated lecture, Anthony will talk about the history of decorative topiary and the type of plants most suited to this form. He will demonstrate how to care for your topiary and how to maintain (or even change) the shape.

    Topiaries and garden accessories will be sold following the lecture. HHG Members $25 Non-Members $35 https://hollisterhousegarden.org/event/topiary-demonstration-with-anthony-bellomo/

  • Wednesday, August 30, 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm – End of Summer Cheese and Wine

    Get ready for those end-of-summer cookouts with an informative workshop at Wright-Locke Farm on August 30 from 6:30 – 8. Learn to pair wine and cheese. Join Kimi from Life. Love. Cheese. to sample the best local cheeses and delicious wines while putting together a show-stopping appetizer. While noshing and sipping, participants will arrange their own 10″ charcuterie platter to take home. The best part: everyone will leave with a few ideas for making a Labor Day celebration memorable. $85. Register through Eventbrite HERE.

  • Monday, September 18, 7:00 pm – Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay Annual Meeting

    The Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay Annual Meeting will take place Monday, September 18 at 7 pm at Fisher College. A reception will follow the business part of the meeting. For complete information visit https://nabbonline.org/

  • Monday, April 29 – Tuesday, May 7, 2024 – Holland & Belgium on Magnifique III

    During tulip season in the Low Countries, follow meandering rivers and canals through storybook villages, idyllic green countryside, and multicolored fields of spring flowers. Witness the spellbinding art of Dutch and Flemish masters, explore stunning medieval architecture, and savor the local cuisine, all while cruising aboard the delightful, intimate riverboat Magnifique III. Begin in Amsterdam with a walking tour and see timeless works by Dutch masters such as Rembrandt at the Rijksmuseum. Then embark Magnifique III, stopping in towns like Kinderdijk, Holland, with its perfectly aligned, UNESCO-recognized windmills. Call at Antwerp, Belgium, to see Rubens’s Descent From the Cross and visit the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp. Explore Ghent, including the magnificent Saint Bavo’s Cathedral housing the 15th-century Adoration of the Mystic Lamb (Ghent Altarpiece) by the Van Eyck brothers. Conclude in Bruges, the “Venice of the North,” where a highlight will be a behind-the-scenes look at an authentic ancestral medieval estate. Full details on this exclusive Harvard Alumni travel experience (open to all, Harvard connection not required) at https://alumni.harvard.edu/travel/trips/holland-belgium-2024

  • Thursday, October 5 – Saturday, October 7 – Robinsonian Gardening: A Living Legacy

    Sometimes called “the father of the English flower garden”, William Robinson (1838 – 1935), an Irish gardener, journalist, and publisher, had a profound impact on late Victorian taste and ideas through promoting a new movement in garden aesthetics. As editor of many popular and influential weekly garden magazines and journals, and as author of best-selling books, notably The English Flower Garden and The Wild Garden, he challenged the formality of High Victorian patterned gardening and popularized more natural planting of hardy perennials, shrubs, and climbers, in line with the honest simplicity and vernacular styles of the Arts and Crafts movement.

    Join the Northern Ireland Heritage Gardens Trust for a three day annual conference in Letterkenny, County Donegal, October 5 – 7. Online booking is now open, with an early booking incentive extended to Thursday, August 31. For more information visit www.nihgt.org