Boston Flora

Month: October 2023

  • Thursday, November 9, 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm Eastern – Horticultural Approaches in the Southwest US, Online

    The American Horticultural Society will present an online event on November 9 at 2 Eastern. Native plants offer beauty and critical habitat for wildlife while solving landscape problems and promoting regional charm. We’ll explore their benefits and how to use them effectively by understanding garden ecology. Considerations for plant selection, as well as design and stewardship tips using examples from Texas, will fortify you with knowledge to successfully cultivate these plants in traditional or unexpected ways. $30 AHS members, $36 nonmembers. Register at www.ahsgardening.org

    Andrea DeLong-Amaya is the Director of Horticulture for the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center’s gardens and nursery programs. With nearly 30 years of experience with native plants in horticulture, ecology, and garden design, she also teaches classes and writes for numerous gardening publications including Taunton’s Fine Gardening, American Public Gardens Association’s Public Garden, and Texas Gardener and Wildflower (the Center’s member magazine). DeLong-Amaya was featured in Jennifer Jewell’s podcast, Cultivating Place, and in her book, The Earth in Her Hands: 75 Extraordinary Women Working in the World of Plants.

  • Thursday, November 9, 10:00 am – 11:30 am – Color, Using it Well

    The Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts presents a Designing Workshop on November 9 from 10 – 11:30 at St. Susanna Church, 262 Needham Street in Dedham, entitled Color – Using it Well. What is the first thing that catches your eye in a floral arrangement? Color, of course. This workshop will explore different color schemes—analogous, complementary, and triadic–to
    illustrate how to combine colors to create harmonious combinations. The teacher is Ruth Evans, flower show judge and winner of numerous flower show awards. The class includes instruction and floral materials to create your arrangement. $55 until October 20, and thereafter $60 to register. Sign up with a friend. Bring your floral scissors and a way to stabilize your arrangement enroute home (box, cardboard, foam or towels). To register, please mail a check made out to The Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts, Inc., along with your name, garden club if you are a member, and email address, to Margo Yie, 6 Dancer Farm Drive, Dover, MA 02030. You will receive an acknowledgement and a reminder will be sent near the date. Supplies and flowers are ordered in advance, and refunds are not possible. If at the last minute you can’t attend you may arrange to have a friend pick up your materials, or send another person in your place.

  • Sunday, November 19, 4:00 pm – 6:30 pm – Film and Wine at the Garden

    Join Berkshire International Film Festival and Berkshire Botanical Garden for an afternoon of film and wine on November 19, 4 to 6:30 p.m. We will present a screening of Living Wine, directed by Lori Miller, followed by a wine tasting of organic and biodynamic wines. Ticket sales will help support both Berkshire International Film Festival and Berkshire Botanical Garden.

    Merging sweeping wine country footage with insightful interviews, filmmaker Lori Miller’s film showcases the dynamic natural wine movement that is transforming a growing number of northern California vineyards. BBG members $35, nonmembers $40. Register at https://www.berkshirebotanical.org/events/film-wine-garden

  • Friday, November 17, 12:00 noon – 1:00 pm Eastern – Ask the Expert: Birding Migration, Online

    Do you know how many flyway patterns there are in the U.S. or what triggers birds to migrate? David Allen Sibley, author and illustrator of The Sibley Guide to Birds, will share his insights about our winged friends and the unique pathways they use to find their new seasonal  homes.

    This GBH virtual event takes place at 12pm EST on November 17. Register at www.wgbh.org 

  • Thursday, November 9, 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm Eastern – Seeds of Resilience: The Cultural Dimension of Plant Biodiversity, Online

    Explore stories from the Indigenous Land and Seed Sovereignty movement, which embodies the vision of sustainable relational agriculture and shares the depth of the cultural dimension of plant biodiversity in North America.

    Mohawk Seedkeeper Rowen White will share insight into the collective vision of intercultural healing that emerges when we center Indigenous leadership, ecological knowledge, cultural memory, and sovereignty of living in relationship with the inheritance of land, seeds, and other non-human kin. She’ll share her personal experience at the Native American Food Sovereignty Alliance to paint an uplifting picture of cultural and climate sanity for the regenerative land stewardship movement in these times of great transformation.

    This lecture on November 9 at 6 pm, online, is part of NYBG’s celebration of Native American Heritage Month. $35 for NYBG members, $39 for nonmembers. Register HERE

  • Thursday, November 2 – Monday, November 6 – Fleur de Villes Voyage

    Visit the Prudential Center for the Boston premiere of Fleurs de Villes VOYAGE – a floral celebration of global destinations, created by Boston‘s talented florists.

    From November 2nd to 6th, pick up a map at the Concierge Desk (located adjacent to Club Monaco)and embark on a floral journey of discovery to countries around the world with 16 stunning fresh floral mannequins inspired by the cultures, people and heritage of these iconic destinations. Join us for free floral demonstrations from Cass School of Floral Design on Saturday November 4th, and vote for your favorite mannequin for a chance to win an incredible vacation package from Tourism Bermuda: 3 night stay at Newstead Belmont Hills Golf Resort & Spa, with round trip airfare included.

    Don’t miss the opportunity to snap a selfie on our floral swing at View Boston while enjoying a Hendrick’s Gin cocktail and the breathtaking views top one of the tallest buildings in New England. Remember to show your Fleurs de Villes VOYAGE map at View Boston to receive a 15% discount on standard admission!
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    Fleurs de Villes VOYAGE will be free and open to the public, so don’t miss this feast of cultural storytelling – bringing the world together through flowers like never before!

    Follow @fleursdevilles and check out the video below to be inspired by the incredible floral artistry on display at our one-of-a-kind floral shows across Canada, Australia, England, Scotland and the United States.

    The Garden Club of the Back Bay plans a walk through the exhibit on November 3 – for more information visit https://bostonflora.com/

  • Garden Club of the Back Bay Holiday Wreath Season – Canadian Fires

    Now is the time to place your order for a 2023 custom holiday wreath from The Garden Club of the Back Bay. One good reason among many – you are assured of a beautiful wreath at 2022 prices. As anyone in Massachusetts can attest, the summer of 2023 brought massive smoke and haze from the blazing fires in Canada, which burned among other things – trees. Trees used for wreaths, for garlands, for Christmas trees. Prices of raw materials will of necessity rise due to limited availability – a classic “supply chain” issue we’ve learned to deal with over the past three years. The Garden Club discussed the potential cost rises, as yet undetermined by suppliers, and made the decision to hold the line on prices charged. Past customers exhibited such patience waiting for a return to full capacity that they deserve a break. New customers will benefit from the decision as well. So visit https://bostonflora.com/store and place your order.

  • Island Grown Initiative Winter 2023 CSA Sign Up Now Open

    Make winter a little brighter with a subscription of produce from the Island Grown Initiative Farm. The Martha’s Vineyard Winter CSA starts early November, and will run until mid March. Your CSA membership supports a number of IGI initiatives from the regenerative growing techniques in our fields all the way to feeding the 4,200 registered clients at the Food Pantry and many other islanders in need. The produce only share is $650. When available, farm eggs and local goods can be purchased at pickup. The Winter CSA is split into two groups: Group A and Group B. Group A pickup begins Thursday, November 2 and will be available for pickup every other Thursday until March 14. Group B pickup begins Thursday, November 9 and runs every other Thursday until March 21. Each group has a total of ten pickups, from 1 pm – 5 pm at Island Groun Farm, 80 Stoney Hill Road in Vineyard Haven. Questions, comments, concerns: feel free to reach out to your friendly CSA Manager, Lizzie, at lizzie@igimv.org. For immediate assistance, call the office at 508-687-9062. To sign up, visit https://islandgrown.localfoodmarketplace.com/Subscriptions

  • Wednesday, November 8, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm Eastern – Plant Humanities Initiative, Online

    Join the American Horticultural Society and Yota Batsaki, PhD, Executive Director of Dumbarton Oaks, online on November 8 to learn about Plant Humanities, a new, interdisciplinary field that explores and communicates the unparalleled significance of plants to human culture. The Plant Humanities Initiative collaborates to produce a digital platform of rare historic materials that document plants, building an accessible resource for well-researched, widespread horticultural storytelling. Batsaki will suggest how plant history from a spectrum of fields relates to contemporary topics of climate change, environmental degradation, and cross-cultural exchange. This virtual program will include a presentation, conversation with facilitator, and opportunities for participants’ questions.    

    Yota Batsaki, PhD, is the Executive Director of Dumbarton Oaks, a Harvard University research institute, library, museum, and garden located in Washington, DC. As principal investigator for the institute’s Plant Humanities Initiative, Batsaki applies her expertise in comparative literature to the interdisciplinary study of plants and their significance to human culture. She has published essays and co-edited volumes on the intersection of history, literature, and culture, including The Botany of Empire in the Long Eighteenth Century.

    $10 for AHS members, $15 for nonmembers. Register at www.ahsgardening.org

  • Monday, November 13, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm Eastern – Highgate Cemetery: Rethinking a Historic Cemetery for the 21st Century, Online

    The effects of climate change are wreaking havoc with Highgate Cemetery’s self-seeded trees and crumbling paths. The Friends of Highgate Cemetery Trust, its owners and operators, want to make the Cemetery more resilient, enhance its biodiversity and respond to the needs and demands of new generations of users. Gustafson Porter + Bowman are working on a landscape plan, and Hopkins Architects looking at conservation of historic architecture and opportunities for the sensitive provision of much needed new facilities. Overall the project aims to unlock the potential of the Cemetery and enhance its role in the community.  

    Ian Dungavell is CEO, Friends of Highgate Cemetery Trust and former Director, The Victorian Society which campaigns to save Victorian and Edwardian architecture.  He is a former Lecturer at Sotheby’s Institute of Art on 19th and 20th Century Decorative Art and currently sits as the Scientific Representative on the Association of Significant Cemeteries of Europe. Join him online on November 13 for an examination of the forward thinking plans. Register (£5.00) with London Parks & Gardens HERE.