Boston Flora

Category: Class

  • Saturday, February 28, 9:30 am – 3:30 pm – Garden Design Perspective Drawing: From Concept to Sketch

    Learn to bring your design ideas to life through clear, compelling perspective sketches at Berkshire Botanical Garden on Saturday, February 28, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Taught by Tom Smith of Springfield Technical Community College, this workshop introduces the fundamentals of freehand one-point and two-point perspective drawing, essential skills for communicating spatial concepts in garden and landscape design. Begin by sketching simple objects and small garden scenes, then build your skills to illustrate larger, more complex spaces, such as front yards, patios, and planting designs. Emphasis will be placed on accurate proportion, depth and clarity, ensuring your drawings effectively convey your vision in ways that flat plan or bird’s-eye views cannot. Perfect for designers, students and gardeners looking to strengthen their visual communication and present ideas with confidence.

    Tom Smith teaches at Springfield Technical Community College. His past career experiences include precision machining, HVAC ductwork fabrication, installation, and service technician roles, as well as a stint in the U.S. Navy. He also wore many ‘hats’ within a small landscape company as a designer, estimator, salesperson, horticulturist, and construction crew leader.

    $130 for BBG members, $150 for nonmembers. Register at https://www.berkshirebotanical.org/events/garden-design-perspective-drawing-concept-sketch

  • Tuesdays, March 3 – April 14, 5:30 pm – 8:00 pm – Landscape Design I

    This seven-part in-person Berkshire Botanical Garden course will introduce students to the design process—the systematic way designers approach a site and client. Taught by Tyler Horsley, this course will include a series of simple projects, ending with a garden designed by the students. Learn design principles such as form, balance, repetition, line, texture, color and spatial relationships. Additionally, students will be introduced to history and how it helps the designer resolve and inspire garden design. As the adage goes, we cannot escape our history, so we have to understand where we came from. Classes start March 3 and continue through April 14, from 5:30 – 8.

    A New York City resident for 30 years, Tyler Horsley was a member of the Green Guerrillas and the 6th Street and Avenue B Community Garden in the East Village. He holds a Master of Architecture degree from the University of Virginia and a Certificate in Horticulture from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. He created Tyler Horsley Garden Design, LLC in 2005 and has since moved to Hudson, NY, where he joined Wagner Hodgson Landscape Architecture. $215 for BBG members, $240 for nonmembers. Register at https://www.berkshirebotanical.org/events/landscape-design-i

  • Wednesdays, February 11 – March 18, 10:00 am – 1:00 pm – Winter Watercolors

    Join Berkshire Botanical Garden and artist/instructor Pat Hogan for winter’s magic in watercolor. Stay snug and dry in the classroom while capturing the quiet, snow-covered story unfolding around us. Views from the Center House classroom are spectacular, plus there will be plenty of reference photos on hand. The classes will be held at the Garden on Wednesdays, February 11 – March 18, from 10 – 1.

    Pat Hogan’s work is inspired by nature, particularly the Berkshires, the Maine coast and the vanishing islands of the Chesapeake Bay. Each unique landscape provides a stunning connection with the beauty of our earth and wildlife, and the chaos associated with climate change and human disregard for sustaining a healthy planet.

    $285 for BBG members, $310 for nonmembers. Register at www.berkshirebotanical.org.

    copyright Pat Hogan

  • Thursday, February 12, 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm Eastern – Botany Basics: Discover the Science of Plants, Online

    Take the mystery out of plant science with this fun, beginner-friendly New England Botanic Garden online class on February 12. Explore how plants are built, why names matter, and what’s really happening inside leaves, roots, and flowers—so you can talk about your houseplants and garden like a pro. $10 NEBG members, $12 nonmembers. Register at www.nebg.org

    Instructor Alyson Prokop is a horticulturist and the Manager of Adult Education at New England Botanic Garden, bringing a strong foundation in plant research, collections management, and hands-on garden work to her role. With more than a decade of experience across botanical institutions, she specializes in developing inclusive programs that deepen public engagement with plant sciences, ecology, and biodiversity.

    Before joining NEBG, Alyson worked at Royal Botanical Gardens Canada, where she supported living collections, led community programming, and coordinated workshops and tours with a focus on food security and botanical literacy. She holds a BSc in Plant Biology and pursued graduate studies in Plant Pathology at the University of Guelph.

    Originally from Toronto, Canada, Alyson is also a botanical artist and printmaker whose work blends retro futurism with her lifelong love of plants

  • Sunday, February 8, 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm – Houseplant Propagation Workshop

    In this fun, hands-on New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill workshop on February 8 at 2 pm, you will explore several ways to propagate popular plants.

    Discover the joy of creating new life from the houseplants you already have. Through guided demonstrations and plenty of hands-on practice, you’ll learn multiple propagation techniques and the horticultural principles behind them. Instructor Betsy Szymczak is an avid vegetable and flower gardener who enjoys growing begonias, primarily as houseplants. As a longtime member of the American Begonia Society, she served as a certified judge and former ABS Judging Co-Chair. She has judged the begonia sections at the Philadelphia, Boston, and Newport RI flower shows. She is also a Gesneriad Society judge, and she grows about 75 dahlia varieties in a relatively small suburban garden in Natick.

    Betsy is a Principle Certified MA Master Gardener and volunteers at Elm Bank in Wellesley and the Longfellow House in Cambridge, MA.

    Participants will head home with a curated assortment of propagated plants ready to grow on their own. $55 for NEBG members, $66 for nonmembers. Register at www.nebg.org

  • Saturday, February 7, 12:00 noon – 2:00 pm – Winter Houseplant Care

    The Urban Farming Institute will hold a Grow Series Workshop on Saturday, February 7 at noon at the Urban Farming Institute , 487 Norfolk Street in Mattapan, with guest speaker Cassandra Desroches. Registration encouraged at info@urbanfarminginstitute.org or call 617-989-9920.

  • Sunday, February 8, 10:30 am – 12:30 pm – Honey Medicine: Make Herb Infused Honeys and More

    Discover the healing synergy of honey and herbs in this hands-on workshop with herbalist Jade Alicandro. The workshop will take place on February 8 at 10:30 am at the New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill in Boylston, and is $40 for NEBG members, $63 for nonmembers. Register at www.nebg.org

    Learn the medicinal properties of honey, create a Winter Immune Honey, and explore traditional folk medicine-making techniques. Instructor Jade Alicandro weaves a love of bio-regionally abundant herbs and kitchen medicine into her work as a community and clinical herbalist. When she’s is not teaching bioregional herbalism to students and apprentices, you can find her roaming the hedges with her harvest basket in hand or at home in the kitchen brewing-up some potent food as medicine.

    From 2012-2019 she ran the Greenfield Community Herbal Clinic, a clinic dedicated to affordable herbal care, and currently maintains a long-distance clinical practice. She offers in-person, seasonally based, bioregional herbalism classes, teaches monthly online classes through her Patreon community, and offers a 6-week kitchen as medicine online course each winter.

  • Saturday, February 28, 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm – Dine, Drink & Decorate Cookies

    Learn step-by-step techniques of cookie decorating on Saturday, February 28 at 6 pm at Good Pickin’ Farm in Westford. Topics include outlining, flooding, detail work, and more with class leader Stephanie Cate. Each guest will decorated woodland themed cookies and take home recipes, a scribe tool, and extra supplies. $90 per person, $85 per person if you bring a friend. BYOB (21+). All sales are final but reservations are transferable. Visit https://www.goodpickinfarm.com/events-2 to register.

  • Saturday, February 21, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon – Winter Tree Identification

    Break up the winter doldrums by getting outside and learning winter tree identification from Polly Hill Arboretum Director of Grounds & Facilities, Ian Jochems. Participants will learn how to use the characteristics of bark, twigs, buds, and more to identify common deciduous and evergreen trees.

    Registration Required. $20 for members, $30 for nonmembers. Register at https://www.pollyhillarboretum.org/event/winter-tree-identification/?instance_id=2634 Please meet at the Polly Hill Arboretum Visitor Center.

    This class will be indoors and outdoors, please dress appropriately for the weather.

    The dogwood allée in January 2017.

  • Saturday, February 7, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm – Crafting Wellness from Nature: Fire Cider and Elderberry Syrup Make-and-Take Workshop

    Join herbalist, artist and ritualist Nicole Irene for a delightful, hands-on workshop featuring the enchanting world of herbal medicine on Saturday, February 7, from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Berkshire Botanical Garden. Embark on a journey to create two powerful plant remedies, fire cider and elderberry syrup, time-honored elixirs celebrated for their immune-boosting properties. This immersive experience combines traditional herbal medicine’s rich lore and wisdom with the joy of creative expression.

    In this make-and-take class, you will:

    • Discover the history, medicinal properties, and health benefits of both fire cider and elderberry syrup;
    • Participate in detailed step-by-step demonstrations on how to make these recipes from scratch;
    • Enjoy a collaborative, fun, and creative environment while crafting your own bottles of fire cider and elderberry syrup;
    • Take home a bottle each of Elderberry Syrup and Fire Cider, along with the knowledge and confidence to recreate them on your own.

    This workshop welcomes all who share a passion for the power of plants. Be prepared to roll up your sleeves, get a little messy, immerse yourself in the magic of herbal medicine, and leave with two traditional folk remedies that will support your health and well-being naturally.

    Nicole Irene holds a master’s degree in fine art, two herbal certifications from Dandelion Herbal Center and Sage Mountain Botanical Sanctuary, and is a Reiki-trained ordained minister. Nicole has a love for local farms and sustainable, organic agriculture, and enjoys cooking nourishing meals and experimenting with her own herbal preparations at her home in Stockbridge. She has a deep passion for helping to grow the relationships we hold with our food, the earth and the cosmos. Learn more about Nicole at NicoleIreneArt.com and TheEnchantedAltar.com.

    BBG members $50, non-members $70. Register at https://www.berkshirebotanical.org/events/crafting-wellness-nature-fire-cider-and-elderberry-syrup-make-and-take-workshop-0