Boston Flora

Category: Field Trip

  • Thursday, June 24, 5:30 pm – Roxbury Bike Tour

    The Forest Hills Trust, in collaboration with Discover Roxbury and the Franklin Park Coalition, are planning a Roxbury Bike Tour on Thursday, June 24, beginning at 5:30 pm at the main gate at Forest Hills, 95 Forest Hills Avenue in Boston.  Ride to the southern reaches of Roxbury and tour historic green spaces: Forest Hills Cemetery and Franklin Park.  The cemetery was originally founded as a public burial ground in 1848 by the Mayor of Roxbury and is the final resting place for prominent Roxburyites such as abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, surgeon Susan Dimock, entrepreneur Joseph “Wally” Walcott, and arts leader Elma Lewis. After touring the cemetery, ride through Franklin Park alongside the 200-acre forest and catch the view from Schoolmaster Hill where Ralph Waldo Emerson once lived. At the end of the ride, purchase a light meal at the Golf Clubhouse and watch the setting sun on the terrace. Helmets are required. The tour has a 20 person limit, and will be held weather permitting.  Tickets are $5, and may be purchased on line at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/111407.  For more information, log on to www.discoverroxbury.org or www.foresthillstrust.org.

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  • Thursday, June 24 – Sunday, June 27 – Portuguese Festival and Blessing of the Fleet

    Provincetown is the place to be Thursday, June 24 – Sunday, June 27, for the Annual Portuguese Festival and Blessing of the Fleet.  For a complete schedule of activities, log on to www.provincetownportuguesefestival.com.

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  • Tuesday, June 23, 10:00 am – 12:00 pm – Edgartown: The Tree Tour

    Enough about the distinguished Federal and Greek Revival homes of Edgartown— have you experienced the tree tour?!  Join Polly Hill Arboretum collections and grounds manager Tom Clark for this informative and fun walking tour of the many glorious mature trees of Edgartown on Tuesday, June 23, beginning at 10 am. In the midst of the mantle of green that envelops downtown Edgartown, the hydrangeas and picket fences, many unique and fine specimen trees await discovery. Inspect the famous Pagoda Tree and so much more. Call 508-693-9426 to pre-register and for carpool and meeting location.  $15 for PHA members, $18 non-members.  Log on to www.pollyhillarboretum.org for more information.

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  • Saturday, July 10 – 10:00 am – 4:00 pm – Hidden Treasures of the Berkshires Garden Tour

    Six private Stockbridge gardens, as well as several houses,  will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, July 10 for the 20th Annual Hidden Treasures of the Berkshires tour.

    Advance ticket purchase, $35, is recommended, by check and a self-addressed, stamped envelope to the Lenox Garden Club, Box 552, Lenox, Mass., 01240. Box lunches cost $20 and must be pre-ordered. Tickets will also be available at Mary Stuart Collections, 69 Church Street, Lenox,  Campo de ‘Fiori, 1815 N. Main Street, Sheffield, and Hammertown Barn, 325 Stockbridge Road, Great Barrington.  Tickets, if available on the day of the tour, will be $40 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Congregational Church.  Information: (413) 298-3089 and lenoxgardenclub.net.

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  • Saturday, June 12 – Sunday, June 13 – Emily Dickinson’s Garden: The Poetry of Flowers

    The final weekend of The New York Botanical Garden’s exhibit Emily Dickinson’s Garden: The Poetry of Flowers will take place Saturday and Sunday, June 12 and 13.  On Saturday, from 10:00 am – 6:00 pm, in the Perennial Garden, there will be an all day program entitled Death, Bees, and Roses. Participate in a thematic reading of Emily Dickinson’s poems.  Select some of your favorite Dickinson poems relating to death, bees, or roses and join in celebrating the life and works of this great American poet.  Or, also in the Perennial Garden on Sunday from 10 – 6, the same program will be held, but with the title and topics Flowers, Birds, and Trees.

    Then, on Sunday, from 4 – 5 in the Ross Lecture Hall, Judith Farr, professor of English Emerita at Georgetown University and author of The Gardens of Emily Dickinson, presents a lecture and slide show that delves into the topic of Dickinson’s habit of referring to her own two acre garden as “my Eden” or “Eden in Amherst” and how this image of Eden that prevails in her poems and letters corresponds to the images of Eden that appear in the works of the American Hudson River School and Impressionist painters.

    For complete information, log on to www.nybg.org.  $20 adult ticket price, $18 seniors and students with valid ID, and $8 children 2 – 12.  Co-presented with The Poetry Society of America.

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  • Saturday, June 12, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm – The Essentials of Garden Maintenance

    The Berkshire Botanical Garden, 5 West Stockbridge Road, West Stockbridge, Massachusetts, will hold a lecture and field study afternoon on Saturday, June 12, from 1 – 3 with Elisabeth Cary. After the first bloom of spring, as summer advances, the perennial border can often lose its lovely appearance. Learn how to keep the perennial border looking its best all season long by shaping perennials to produce more flowers, encouraging new growth, staggering bloom times, discouraging pests and encouraging vigorous plant health. Simple techniques for pruning, shaping, pinching, thinning, deadheading and staking perennials will be discussed and demonstrated. Weed control and mulching will be covered.

    Elisabeth Cary is the Director of Education at the Berkshire Botanical Garden and has been gardening for over twenty years. She specializes in perennial, vegetable and mixed border gardens. She teaches woody plant identification for the horticulture certificate program and perennial and vegetable gardening for beginners.  The class is $18  for BBG members and $24 for non members.  You may register on line at www.berkshirebotanical.org, or by calling 413-298-3926.  Image below from www.thegardenerseden.com.

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  • Friday, June 4, 7:00 am – Early Risers’ Horticultural Club

    For those that appreciate the early morning or who are looking for a quick walk before work, visit Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge on Friday, June 4, at 7 am.  This brief excursion will highlight what’s in bloom throughout the spring, from early bulbs to magnificent trees.  Walks begin promptly and last approximately one hour.  No preregistration required.  Free.  For more information and directions, log on to www.mountauburn.org.  Richard Cheek photograph.

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  • Sunday, June 20 – Thursday, June 24 – 2010 Joint Field Meeting of the Northeast Section of the Botanical Society of America, the Torrey Botanical Society, and the Philadelphia Botanical Club

    The 2010 Field Meeting of the Northeast Section of the Botanical Society of America, the Torrey Botanical Society and the Philadelphia Botanical Club, to be held Sunday, June 20 – Thursday, June 24 will explore the Botany of Berkshire County, Massachusetts. Participants will stay at Buxton School in the heart of Williamstown, down the street from the famous Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute and Williams College. This is a lovely country setting with hiking trails close by.

    Accommodations are in the school dormitory rooms in the main building and two other buildings on campus. Men and women will have separate facilities either by building or by floor. Most rooms will have two, three or four occupants and bathrooms are shared. Private rooms for singles or couples will be hard to come by, but we may be able to arrange something depending on the registration number. Also, if anyone would prefer a private room with bath, the Williams Inn is just down the street and will have rooms available for $125 single and $145 double (plus tax) per night. For this, you make your own arrangements. All your meals would be at Buxton.

    Buxton has the reputation of having very good meals using local produce when available. The price of the field meeting will be $350 including four nights lodging and meals from Sunday night thru Thursday breakfast. Linens are included. Without room, price is $225.

    Field trips, by bus, will include Mt. Greylock (below), the highest mountain in Massachusetts with its own unique sub-alpine boreal forest and rare plants, and Bartholomew’s Cobble, National Natural Landmark, where “you’ll find one of North America’s greatest diversity of fern species” and many interesting plants amid the unusual geology of the cobbles. Other trips will depend on the best botanical locations at the time. There will be a variety of evening lectures. For further information, contact Chairperson Nan Williams at nnwrowe@gmail.com, (413) 339-5598, or download the invitation at www.ct-botanical-society.org.

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  • Friday, September 10 – Sunday, September 12 – New England Botanical Club Field Trip to Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens and Boothbay Region

    Reserve a space now (no later than July 1) for the NEBC Field Trip to the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens and Boothbay Region, Friday, September 10 – Sunday, September 12.

    Highlights of this fabulous trip include a visit to the Kate Furbish “Flora of Maine” art collection at Bowdoin College with Special Collections Curator Richard Lindemann, a trip to the scenic salt marsh at Popham Beach with Arthur Haines, a lobster picnic at Robinson’s Wharf on Southport Island, a ferry ride for an all day excursion to botanize the beaches and coastal headlands of Monhegan Island with Melissa Dow Cullina, a catered pool-side barbeque (with vegetarian option), an evening workshop on digital macrophotography with Bill Cullina, and early bird hike along stunning Ocean Point in Boothbay, and a guided tour of the new Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens (pictured below – photograph copyright Karl Gercens).  The first scheduled activity is at Bowdoin College, Brunswick, at 10 am on Friday September 10.  The final scheduled activity will be lunch on Sunday, September 12 at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, though participants may stay at the Gardens as long as they wish until closing.  Participants may choose to stay with the group at the Coburn House Inn in Boothbay at a reasonable group rate.

    Registration fee is $75, to be sent to the trip coordinator Melissa Dow Cullina, 250 Hendricks Hill Road, Southport Island, ME 04576.  Please make check out to Melissa, who will be coordinating all aspects of the trip.  The fee includes one bag lunch, ferry ticket, barbeque, CMBG ticket, and all scheduled events.  For more information, email Melissa at mcullina@gmail.com, or call 207-633-4546.  You may also find links to lodging options, and may download a pdf file with registration form, at www.rhodora.org.

  • Saturday, May 22, 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm – Wild Harvest: Foraging Food from Fields and Forests

    Enjoy nature’s harvest without fussing with plant pots, grow lamps and watering. Join plant enthusiast and past Garden Club of the Back Bay speaker Russ Cohen for a workshop including how to identify, collect and prepare food from the wild. His Berkshire Botanical Garden program focuses on plants that people are “likely to encounter”, highlighting edible natives, but also yummy weeds and invasive species. Following the presentation, take a field trip in search of wild edible plants. Learn where and when to find tasty plants in the wild as well as native edible species you might want to plant in your yard. Finally learn how to prepare the wild harvest and nibble on some wild treats.

    Russ Cohen is a professional environmentalist and wild food enthusiast. He leads classes for the Trustees of Reservations, Appalachian Mountain Club, and the Massachusetts Audubon Society. He is the author of the popular book Wild Plants I Have Known…..and Eaten.

    This May 22 workshop and field study program will begin at 1 pm at Berkshire Botanical Garden, 5 West Stockbridge Road, West Stockbridge, and from there you will carpool to selected sites.  $35 for BBG members, $45 for non members.  You may register on line at www.berkshirebotanical.org, or call 413-298-3926, or email info@berkshirebotanical.org.

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