Visit New Hampshire for an extra-special edition of this beloved annual family-friendly outdoor event. Come see hundreds of enchanting fairy houses on display on the grounds of the Strawbery Banke Museum, Governor John Langdon House, Prescott Park and the Gundalow waterfront. Plus, enjoy fairy-inspired performances by the Southern New Hampshire Dance Theater, The Players’ Ring and New Hampshire Theatre Project throughout the weekend of September 21 and 22. More fun, food and family activities than you ever imagined! Don’t miss the 2024 edition of the Fairy House Tour this fall which will feature an opening day fairy parade, 20th Anniversary fairy book and photo display and LIVE creation of a fairy house sculpture for permanent display in downtown Portsmouth. The benefit is presented by the Friends of the South End for the benefit of local schools and non-profits. Tickets available at https://fairyhousetour.com/
Join Polly Hill Arboretum Research Associates Gregory Palermo and Margaret Curtin as they guide participants through the Arboretum’s meadows on Friday, September 20 at 10 am. Learn how to identify the many native species that coexist in this important habitat. $10; $5 for PHA members. Please pre-register or pay prior to the event.
Please join the Department of Public Works and Brookline Recreation to celebrate the newly renovated John E. Murphy Playground on Saturday, September 21 from 1 – 3.
Join the Friends of Holly Hill Farm, a farm for teaching and learning, on Saturday, September 21 at 6 pm. This is Holly Hill’s biggest and most important fundraiser of the year. Established in 2002, Friends of Holly Hill Farm is a 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable organization. Proceeds will help grow food organically, sustainably and responsibly for our community, and to deliver it to local food pantries so that everyone has access to healthy food.
Your participation will protect and care for the land, our native meadow, and our birds, wildlife, and at-risk pollinators. Educate 20,000 students this year – on the farm and in schools – about sustainable agriculture, climate change, and caring for the natural world and operate Cohasset’s only working farm, maintain its historic farm buildings, care for its beloved barnyard animals, and provide our community with access to precious natural space. Tickets are $150, and available at https://hollyhillfarm.org/farmfest2024
This popular Massachusetts Association of Landscape Professionals event on September 25 from 1 – 6 combines specialized education with powerful networking. Hundreds of green industry pros attend to find the latest trends, technology, and equipment to improve productivity and increase profitability. There’s something for everyone.
The industry’s leading suppliers will be out in force, showcasing today’s hottest equipment, new climbing gear, and state-of-the-art tech tools. You’ll come away with innovative ideas, great deals, and new connections. The location is The German Club, 8 County Street in Walpole, Massachusetts. $79 for nonmembers. Register at https://massarbor.org/event-5701403
John James Audubon—naturalist, artist, and creator of the celebrated The Birds of America—is widely regarded as America’s first great watercolorist, but his artistic journey has never been examined.
Roberta J. M. Olson, curator of drawings emerita at the New-York Historical Society, professor of art history emeritus at Wheaton College in Massachusetts, and author of Audubon as Artist: A New Look at The Birds of America, explores how Audubon studied both past and concurrent artists to forge innovative, dazzling works of fine art. Olson delves into the contemporary controversies surrounding this legendary figure, who, for the first time in history, accurately represented all avian species life-size and was an early advocate for conservation of the environment and wildlife.
The Arnold Arboretum is full of plants that can be used to make alcohol. We have the classics like grapes, hops, and juniper, as well as ingredients for more obscure liquors and liqueurs like sweet birch, spruce, and bamboo. Join Manager of Adult Programming and Events Sarah Nechamen in front of the Hunnewell Building on September 14 at 2 pm for a free walk to explore these plants and the spirits they create. This program unfortunately does not involve sampling alcoholic beverages. The group is limited to 24, so sign up now at https://arboretum.harvard.edu/events/
Accessibility: This walk will include paved roads, mulch paths, and mowed grass. We will ascend and descend some gradual hills. Participants will be notified via email at least 24 hours in advance if a program needs to be cancelled due to inclement weather, and will be notified by phone if a program must be cancelled with less than 24 hours’ notice. Click here to view our full inclement weather policy. If you have questions about the status of a program, please email publicprograms@arnarb.harvard.edu or call the Visitor Center desk between 10:00am and 4:00pm at (617) 384-5209.
Four unique gardens will be on view with the Garden Conservancy on September 14 from 10 – 4.
The Garden at Power Street in Providence (below) is a new garden: the borders were built in 2017 and planting began in the fall of 2018. A city lot 70 × 70 feet, the garden is mostly filled with flowering perennials and features a summer house folly. Previously there was no garden, just a worn-out lawn. Laura Wilson designed the structure, and Kevin Bacon built the stone wall. The design pays homage to Colonial Revival gardens of 100 years ago.
Also in Providence is Sycamore Farm Community Garden. Sycamore Farm is an urban agriculture oasis in Providence’s historic West End neighborhood. Visitors will delight in touring a whimsical mix of organically grown vegetables, berries, herbs, and flowers in raised beds tended by nine neighboring families and the garden owner who lives on the property in a newly constructed home. A beehive dwells under the boughs of an old beech tree that takes up a full third of the farm. The perimeter fence and deck are made of tamarack that was hewn and milled in Rhode Island. A water feature wends through the garden, from downspouts to a little pond. This rock river solves two problems: drainage from the new house’s roof and what to do with the piles of newly excavated foundation stones and pebbles—the remains of two buildings that were buried decades ago on this double lot. Decades ago, a community garden grew up on the then vacant lot. The present owner, an urban agriculture advocate, purchased the lot when it fell into neglect. Still a work in progress, Sycamore Farm is once again happily flourishing and providing joy to all who garden within or who walk and drive by it.
The third Providence garden is a College Hill Urban Oasis. Designed by Andrew Grossman, this urban garden in the heart of College Hill near Brown University is a miniature paradise. Located at the intersection of two quiet streets in the Stimson Avenue historic district, it is enclosed by a tall board fence with lattice insets. The garden features a boisterous arrangement of hydrangea bushes and hydrangea trees accented by a contemporary fountain amid pots of tall grasses and flowers.
Finally, back in Seekonk, Massachusetts, is Andrew Grossman’s own garden. As he says “My 1-acre property, which borders the Martin Wildlife Refuge and the Runnins River, is home to a wide variety of perennials, grasses, shrubs, and flowering trees. In the spring of 2021 we completed work on a swimming pool garden, which is planted with a low maintenance assortment of predominantly summer-blooming favorites. The remainder of the property includes a blue-and-white garden with a rectangular lily pond, a hot-colored garden with a checkerboard thyme patio, a cottage garden planted with roses and other old-fashioned cultivars, and a rustic pond surrounded by bog plantings. There is also a cutting garden currently planted with David Austin roses, dinner plate dahlias, and sun flowers. The house and property has been featured in numerous national publications, including Design New England, Old House Journal, Garden Gate, Flower, Country Living Gardener, Country Home, and Fine Gardening. In 2016 the gardens were awarded first place in HGTV’s Gorgeous Gardens competition.”
Each garden entry is $5 for Conservancy members, $10 for nonmembers. Register in advance at www.gardenconservancy.org
Glaciers are melting. Oceans are rising. Surface temperatures worldwide are rising. It’s enough to drive us all into eco-despair. But despair not. We have solved planet-threatening problems before, atmospheric scientist Susan Solomon argues, and we can do it again. The path to success begins when an environmental problem becomes both personal and perceptible to the general public, Solomon says. Healing the planet is a long game won not by fear and panic, she explains, but by the union of public, political, and regulatory pressure. Smithsonian Associates presents the author on September 12 at 6:45 pm Eastern for a Zoom discussion.
Solomon knows firsthand what those solutions entail. She led an expedition to Antarctica in 1986 that made discoveries key to healing the damaged ozone layer. Solomon connects this career-defining triumph to the stories of environmental victories against ozone depletion, smog, pesticides, and lead to extract the essential elements of what makes change possible. The heroes in these stories range from angry mothers to gang members turned social activists to upset Long Island birdwatchers to iconoclastic scientists (often women) to crafters of brilliant legislation.
Solomon’s new book, Solvable: How We Healed the Earth, and How We Can Do It Again (Chicago University Press), is available for purchase when registering. $20 for Smithsonian Associates members, $25 for nonmembers. Register at https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/programs/how-we-healed-earth This program is part of Smithsonian’s Earth Optimism initiative.
Buzz into autumn on September 14 at 9:30 am with New England Botanic Garden as we guide you in planning a bee-utiful garden full of the best pollinator plants. Peek inside our resident honeybee hive and sweeten your experience with a honey tasting featuring local varieties and honey straight from the source. It is beekeeping with no “stings’ attached.
Buzz into autumn with New England Botanic Garden as we guide you to planning a bee-utiful garden, a visit to our hives, and a honey tasting.
Instructor Hunter Blanchard is a horticulturist at New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill in Boylston, MA. He has been with the organization since 2018, serving in roles that allow him to share his passion for making plants accessible to people and for nurturing growing things. Today, Hunter leads a three-person team responsible for 10 acres of naturalistic garden spaces that foster plant biodiversity and support pollinator populations through a focus on North American native plant species. He enjoys interpreting these garden spaces for visitors through tours and talks, hoping that these learning opportunities inspire people to engage more with plants at home or in other areas of their lives. A community builder, Hunter serves on the board of directors for F.E.R.N., a nonprofit that supports conservation by promoting synergy between individuals, communities, and organizations, and on the Conference Planning and Education Committees for the Ecological Landscape Alliance. Hunter holds an A.S. in sustainable horticulture from the Stockbridge School of Agriculture and a B.S. in plant soil science from Umass Amherst.
Alyson Prokop serves as the Manager of Adult Education at New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill in Boylton, MA. She joined NEBG in May 2024 after a decade at the Royal Botanical Gardens Canada, where she worked as a botanical horticulturist overseeing the Teaching and Community Food Gardens, in addition to her roles as Public Programs Coordinator and Horticultural Societies Liaison. She is passionate about leading and expanding garden programs, with a particular interest in initiatives that connect people with plants. Alyson is especially interested in food security and strives to make programming accessible to diverse audiences.
Alyson’s background as an educator, field botanist, horticulturist, and market gardener informs her dedication to promoting biodiversity and sustainable practices. She prioritizes integrating community engagement and botanical stewardship in program development. Guided by her values of continuous learning, collaborative leadership, and sustainability, Alyson aims to contribute to plant conservation and educational projects in a managerial or curatorial role within botanical gardens.
$35 member adult, $45 nonmembers. Register at www.nebg.org
