In this info-packed and fun-filled presentation, Rick Sammon, author of 43 books and host of 45 online classes, will share with you his tips, tricks and techniques for getting pro-quality photographs – from close-ups to super wide-angle photographs – with your smartphone. To demonstrate his talking points, Rick, an iPhone photographer, will share his photographs from Morocco, Tanzania, Florida, and from some of our national parks. Rick will also talk about why you should have your smartphone with you all the time, as he does when exploring in and around his home in Croton on Hudson, NY. The program is sponsored by the NEGC Photography Group. $10. For registration links, email the New England Garden Clubs Photography Group.
The art and nature of planting design will be shared through a February 24 online presentation of ideas and examples by LA-based Landscape Architect and certified arborist Michelle Sullivan. Topics will include theme(s), site specificity, ecological factors, cultural context, experiential place making, plant characteristics, form, scale, texture, color, movement and seasonality. We will also review what goes into implementing a planting design for the built environment and the continued care and nurturing of the landscape over time. The presentation will be followed by a robust open discussion – so come with questions! The event is free and open to all. RSVP now to secure your spot for this exciting discussion! Register at www.eventbrite.com
Michelle Sullivan has focused on ecologically and culturally sensitive design in her over thirty years of landscape architecture practice. Her strength is a broad understanding of design with specific knowledge in natural systems, site integration, design development, and construction. She is principal of Michelle Sullivan – LA. Prior she was a principal at Studio-MLA in the role of an ever-present leader in the firm and mentor to the project teams; in addition, she managed large visitor-oriented projects such as Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, Dodger Stadium’s improvements as well as biodiverse projects such as the Nature Gardens at Los Angeles County Natural History Museum, and UCLA’s Mildred Matthias Botanical Garden. Michelle’s work focuses on connecting the public to the natural environment, and on making nature’s restorative and beautiful qualities tangible through design. Earlier in her career, she worked for Walt Disney Imagineering on domestic and international resort and theme park design. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Botany from University of California Santa Barbara and her Professional Designation Certificate in Landscape Architecture from UCLA Extension, where she currently is Chair of the Guidance Committee. Michelle is both a landscape architect and certified arborist. She is based in Los Angeles.
Kentaro Hoshiba is a fourth generation blacksmith whose family has been supporting fishing and farming villages in Noto, Ishikawa, Japan since the Meiji period by polishing and selling knives. Their company, Fukube Kaji Corp. began in 1901 as traveling knife peddlers, selling and maintaining the vital everyday tools of housewives, farmers, and fishermen. Today they keep the tradition of knife polishing services alive through “Pochisupa,” their unique mail-in knife sharpening service, now with the help of online shipping. They are also currently working to expand business to the U.S., and launch their own knives, the Shinbu and Tafu.
Fukube Kaji and other companies are supported by Bunkei Corp., a consulting firm that aims to continue the culture of traditional Japanese craftsmanship into the 22nd century by providing guidance and resources to aid the transition into the modern age.
Our speakers will not only teach us about the precise art of Japanese knife making, but will also share about their traditions, companies, and current activities in Japan. This is a free, hour-long presentation with Q&A hosted on Zoom. Register at www.japansocietyboston.org
Everything you need to know about starting up and maintaining a worm bin compost system, also known as vermicomposting. Perfect for small space composting and apartment living, or in addition to other composting systems you already have started at your home. Vermicompost is every gardener’s dream as a finished soil amendment, and serves as a fast, easy food waste diversion tool. Free attendance to this workshop is generously subsidized by CRD.
This workshop will be hosted live online via Microsoft Teams, integrated with Eventbrite. You will get a link to the meeting link upon registering for the event. Please pre-register for this event by clicking HERE.
You can also register for the event by calling our office at 250 386 9676 or via email by contacting office@compost.bc.ca.
VERY IMPORTANT: Please be in touch if you are no longer able to attend but hold a ticket so we can make your space available to someone else.
The Compost Education Centre is located on unceded and occupied Indigenous territories, specifically the land of the Lekwungen people— specifically the Esquimalt and Songhees Nations. These nations are two of many, made up of individuals who have lived within the porous boundaries of what is considered Coast Salish, Nuu-Chah-Nulth and Kwakwa’wakw Territory (Vancouver Island) since time immemorial. At the CEC we seek to respect, honour and continually grow our own understandings of Indigenous rights and history, and to fulfill our responsibilities as settlers, who live and work directly with the land and its complex, vital ecologies and our diverse, evolving communities.
Compost Education Centre memberships get you free workshops, discounts at garden centres and around town and more great perks! Sign up or learn more on our website here!
Join the Quincy Tree Alliance on Saturday, February 24 at 10 am in the Shea Rink parking lot, at the Blue Hills entrance at 651 Willard Street, Quincy. We will walk the trails and learn about trees from Ben Houston, a local horticulturalist. Wear comfortable and mud-proof shoes! Free.
If you want to attract and support pollinators, a succession of blooms is an absolute imperative in any landscape. From early spring through late fall, different species of pollinators look for different types of plants at different times of year. And, some plants are much more useful to pollinators than others. Is your garden ready? Learn what you need to know to make your garden beautiful and ecologically supportive throughout the growing season with great choices of natives.
This Massachusetts Horticultural Society online class is recommended for those who have a base knowledge of native plants in the Northeast. The fee is $25 for Mass Hort members, $33 for nonmembers. Register at www.masshort.org
Kim Eierman is the Founder of EcoBeneficial LLC. She is an environmental horticulturist and ecological landscape designer specializing in native plants. Based in New York, Kim teaches at the New York Botanical Garden, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, The Native Plant Center, Rutgers Home Gardeners School, and several other institutions.
Kim is an active speaker nationwide on many ecological landscape topics, presenting for industry conferences, sustainability events, corporate events, environmental organizations, and other groups interested in environmental improvements. Kim also provides horticultural consulting and native landscape design to homeowners and commercial clients, including landscape architects and engineers.
In addition to being a Certified Horticulturist through the American Society for Horticultural Science, Kim is an Accredited Organic Landcare Professional, a Steering Committee member of The Native Plant Center, and a member of The Ecological Landscape Alliance and Garden Communicators International.
Kim is the author of the book The Pollinator Victory Garden: Win the War on Pollinator Decline with Ecological Gardening.
Join Etiquetteer Robert B. Dimmick for an exploration of wedding customs in the United States from the Civil War to Prohibition. Aside from familiar customs like the white wedding dress and tossing the bouquet, Etiquetteer will look at fads like the floral bell, wedding breakfast, and home wedding. Two of the most celebrated weddings of this period include President Cleveland’s White House wedding to Frances Folsom and that of Consuelo Vanderbilt to the Duke of Marlborough in New York. Stories of Gibson family weddings will also be shared, especially those of sisters Mary Ethel, in Nahant, and Rosamond, held in the Gibson House Music Room six months after her father’s death. This program will be presented live from the Music Room of the Gibson House.
Light refreshments will be served. The program takes place February 27 at 6 pm at The Gibson House, 137 Beacon Street in Boston. $15 Gibson House members, $20 nonmembers. Register HERE
Join The Gardens Trust and Gillian Hovell and discover how the ancient Romans set the seeds of the shape and uses of our modern gardens. Explore the truly ancient, vibrant and fascinating origins of our personal garden spaces and of the grandeur of public gardens. Find out why, if the Romans could have had ‘House and Garden’ magazines, they would have reveled in them! See gardens anew through ancient kitchen gardens, mythological stories, attitudes to wildlife and public parks that all still flourish in our green spaces. Then stroll through the gardens of Roman Pompeii, now blossoming with new insights. This third session on February 27 will follow the storytelling element in Roman gardens.
We travel back, over 2,000 years to see the plants in our own gardens in the way the ancients did – as a wealth of stories. It seems that almost every plant in the Roman gardens had a story, myth or divine connection that added depth and atmosphere to their use in a garden. Join Gillian as she digs deep into our gardens and plants so that we discover and enjoy colorful and fantastical tales of myths, legends and gods and heroes that determined what plant you put where. It also created a hunger for outdoor works of art that were talking points and prompts to fill your gardens’ social spaces with remarkable stories.
This is a session full of story-telling, rich with magical transformations, tragic tales and romance that will delight and entertain. Join Gillian and add a wealth of stories, colour and new connections to the plants in your garden today; you will see your trees and flowers in a whole new light!
After graduating with 2-1 (Hons) in Latin and Ancient History from Exeter University, Gillian Hovell worked in BBC Television and became an award-winning freelance writer, author, public speaker & broadcaster in the media and online. As an independent expert in the ancient world she specializes in archaeology, prehistory and in the Greek and Roman eras. She is a lecturer at York University and can be seen and heard on TV & Radio.
Gillian has excavated at major sites in the UK and Europe (hence ‘The Muddy Archaeologist’) and she shares her expertise and her passion with diverse audiences in the UK and internationally. For history and archaeology are everywhere, and they add colour, depth and meaning to every aspect our lives today.
Her series of The Muddy Archaeologist Online Courses enables you to explore ancient history, archaeology and Latin with her at any time. An ever-growing collection is available, and they can also be found on Gillian’s website here.
This ticket (REGISTER HERE) is for this individual session and costs £8, and you may purchase tickets for o the entire course of 6 sessions at a cost of £42 via the link here. [Gardens Trust members may purchase tickets at £31.50 for the series or £6 each talk]. Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days prior to the start of the talk, and again a few hours before the talk. A link to the recorded session (available for 1 week) will be sent shortly afterwards.
This February 24 online illuminating, updated lecture will put the spotlight on gorgeous, rugged plants (shrubs & trees, evergreens, perennials, vines, annuals, and bulbs) that shine in lower light. Many of these stars also work great in containers. Topics include assessing shade; modifying shade to allow more light; key design tips for maximizing color; solutions for dry shade; and gardening under trees.
Lecture (12 – 5) will be recorded & CEU’s available. $13.95. Registration information is found at www.masshort.org
Kerry Ann Mendez is an award-winning garden educator, author, and design consultant based in southern Maine. In recent years she has presented over 500 lectures to more than 40,000 gardeners in 23 states and Canada. As a popular educator and communicator, she has received over 450 five-star reviews from her lecture audiences, which are available for review on the independent national website GreatGardenSpeakers.com. In 2014 she received the Gold Medal award from Massachusetts Horticultural Society for “Exceptional teaching and writing that increases public enjoyment and appreciation of horticulture.” Her gardens have been featured in numerous magazines including Better Homes and Gardens, Fine Gardening, Country Gardens, Garden Gate, and Horticulture.
Join the Charles River Watershed Association, City of Newton for an initial public meeting on a grant from the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management looking at keeping pollution out of Cheesecake Brook, evaluate fish and wildlife passage and helping green the Albemarle corridor. The virtual meeting will take place Thursday, February 22 at 7 pm Eastern. Free. To register, visit https://www.crwa.org/events/whats-happening-with-cheesecake-brook
