Boston Flora

Category: garden tour

  • Saturday, October 10, 10 am – 2 pm – Double Drumlin with Fire

    Join the New England Wild Flower Society on a hike botanizing two different communities formed by two dramatic glacial features:  a double drumlin and a kettlehole, owned by The Trustees of Reservations. We visit Weir Hill Reservation with Frances Clark and walk through 80 acres of field and woodland under fire management.  Oaks, hickories, blueberries, grasses, and sedges, with a variety of fall wildflowers of various colors highlight the mosaic formed by different burning regimes.  Descending from these dry slopes, we enter a wet meadow and visit the Ward Reservation to investigate the classic kettlehole bog, one of the best examples in eastern Massachusetts.   The colors should be spectacular, with many end-of-season fruits and flowers.   This botany hike emphasizes the different ecologies of these very different sites. Walking is on a wide but steep path over the drumlin, moist in the meadow, and easy along the board walk through the bog.  Bring Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide, Peterson’s Fern Guide, and a hand lens, as well as water and lunch.  Limit 15 participants, fee is $32 for NEWFS or Trustees of Reservations members, $36 for non members.  To register, log on to http://www.newfs.org, or call 508-877-7630.

    http://www.townofnorthandover.com/Pages/NAndoverMA_Conservation/StevensPd1.jpg

  • Saturday, October 3, 9:30 – 12 noon – Autumn Beauties: Habitat Gardens in Acton

    Fall can be one of the most beautiful seasons in the garden. On Saturday, October 3, from 9:30 – noon, Dori Smith, landscape designer of Gardens for Life in Acton, leads this tour of several gardens designed primarily with native plants to please birds and butterflies, as well as her clients. Native shrubs such as fothergilla and cranberry viburnum glow with autumn color. Winterberries are ripening, and twigs of dogwood are turning crimson. Many of the fall flowers are still blooming. The designer shows you “before” photos of these landscapes, as well as photos taken in different seasons. She discusses the unique challenges, goals and methods of each project. Learn ways to use stone and water to enhance the effects of the plantings. You are welcome to tour the Acton Arboretum  before or after the garden tour. The tour is sponsored by The New England Wild Flower Society, and costs $25 if a NEWFS member, and $30 if a nonmember.  Limited to 20 participants.  To register, log on to www.newfs.org, or call 508-877-7630.

    http://www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org/potd/fothergilla_major.jpg

  • Saturday, October 3, 10 – 2 – Ecology of a Barrier Beach

    Explore one of the Cape’s largest and most spectacular barrier beach ecosystems, Sandy Neck Beach in Barnstable, with an emphasis on identifying common plants and many species of wildlife that live here. The hike, led by C. Diane Boretos, will take you through heather-covered secondary dunes, along the 4,000 year-old Great Barnstable Marsh, and into a mature maritime forest. As you investigate the fall flora, you’ll look for track and sign of fox, osprey, deer, coyote, and northern diamondback terrapin. This program is sponsored by the New England Wild Flower Society, and is limited to 15 participants.  Cost is $32 for members of NEWFS, $36 for nonmembers.  To register, log on to www.newfs.org, or call 508-877-7639.

    Barrier Beach HDR-Pano by elventear.

  • Wednesday, October 7, 10 a.m. – 12 noon – Secret Garden in Sudbury

    Through a white picket fence, discover an enchanting series of spaces, each with a different theme and focus, on this garden tour sponsored by The New England Wild Flower Society on Wednesday, October 7, from 10 – noon.  Landscape architect Karen Sebastian describes the collaborative design process working with clients and contractors and then leads a tour through this recently completed project. The woodland-themed entry garden thrives under mature trees with shade tolerant shrubs and perennials.  The Secret Garden is a quiet shady retreat with a focus on foliage and texture, planted with a mix of native and non-natives, including ferns, viburnums, hydrangeas and boxwoods. The terrace garden is a hub of family activity with an out door kitchen and dining area. The wide joints between the irregular bluestone paving stones are planted with a variety of thymes, sagina, and sedums.  Stone seating walls surround a raised central bed planted with a Cornus kousa and the raised stone vegetable garden with a pergola.  The Children’s Play Area is a “woodland adventure trail” with a stepping stone path, swings, a slide, and even a tree house.  Fee is $20 for NEWFS members, $24 for non-members, and is limited to 20 participants.  For more information, log on to www.newfs.org, or call 508-877-7630.

    http://fineartamerica.com/images-medium/autumn-fence-jim-bachmeier.jpg

  • Saturday, September 19, 2:00 – 3:30 pm – Modest Spaces: Mount Auburn’s Beautiful Public Lots

    Join Dee Morris, Social Historian, on a walking tour of Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts on Saturday, September 19, from 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm.  As Mount Auburn developed, it set aside four public lots containing single graves. Victorians of  modest means were then able to afford a final resting place in pleasant proximity to generous family lots. Named after Saints, these lots embraced such notables as Peter Banner, the architect of Boston’s Park St Church, Thomas Grundy, a hardworking brass finisher from Stoneham, and the genteel Austin sisters of Garden Street in Cambridge.  Join Dee on this late summer stroll to learn more about some of the fascinating individuals buried in these public lots. Meet at the Entrance Gate.  $5 charge for Friends of Mount Auburn, $10 for non-members.  For more information, you may call 617-547-7105, or email friends@mountauburn.org. You may register in advance at www.mountauburn.org by clicking on to Calendar of Events.

  • Sunday, September 27, 11 am – 3 pm – Hop Brook Floodplain Walk

    The secluded Tyringham Valley is one of the most scenic areas in the southern Berkshires.  This field trip will take us through a variety of natural and pastoral landscapes, climaxing with a panoramic view of the surrounding countryside from the top of the Tyringham Cobble, a natural area owned by the Trustees of Reservations.  We will look closely at the flora of the Hop Brook floodplain, a calcareous wetland community with a remarkable variety of grasses, sedges, and wildflowers, including several rare species.  As we hike towards Tyringham Cobble, we will explore successional old fields and mixed hardwoods-hemlock slopes.  Songbirds and butterflies, as well as wildflowers, grace the meadows of this special area.  The hike is about 4 miles long and moderately strenuous.  Wear suitable foot gear (feet may get wet in the floodplain) and bring a lunch.  The walk on Sunday, September 27, will begin at 11 a.m., will be led by Ted Elliman, is limited to 15 participants, and is co-sponsored by The Trustees of Reservations. $40 fee for members of NEWFS and The Trustees of Reservations, $45 for non-members.  To register, log on to www.newfs.org, or call 508-877-7630.

    http://www.newfs.org/visit/picture-gallery/Fall/Fall%20Foliage%20GITW%20S.Ziglar%2010.14.08%20011.jpg/image_preview

  • Saturday, September 26, 10 am – 2 pm – Fall Harvest Festival and Perennial Swap

    Bring plants to swap and share, get gardening advice, or bring your over-sized produce to enter in the Incredible Crop Olympics, at Boston Natural Areas Network’s Fall Harvest Festival and Perennial Divide, Saturday, September 26, from 10 in the morning to 2 in the afternoon, at BNAN’s City Natives Nursery, 30 Edgewater Drive in Mattapan.  Admission is free.   Divide your crowded perennials and bring pre-divided plants to the free plant swap.  Bring your own containers. Volunteers will answer plant care questions, and you may purchase fresh, local produce and native plants.  Tour the vegetable display beds and visit the woodland garden.

    Boston Natural Areas Network (BNAN), organized in 1977, works to preserve, expand and improve urban open space through community organizing, acquisition, ownership, programming, development and management of special kinds of urban land –

    In all of its endeavors, BNAN is guided by local citizens advocating for their open spaces and assisting them to preserve and shape their communities.

    For more information, call 617-542-7696, or email info@bostonnatural.org.

  • Monday, September 21, 6:00 – 9:00 pm – Island Farm Tour and Dinner

    Enjoy a culinary adventure at a Martha’s Vineyard farm on Monday, September 21 .  Beginning at 6:00 pm, take a private tour of North Tabor Farms in Chilmark with the farmers , who will share their knowledge of the land and crops.  At 7, a delicious seasonal dinner will be made with fresh produce from the farm, paired with organic wines.  Enjoy the sunset and delicious food, in a quiet setting now that the President has departed!  $150 per person, including recipes.  For directions, registration, and more information, contact Jan Buhrman at 508-645-5000, or email info@culinary-experiences.com.  Check out their website as well, www.culinary-experiences.com.

    http://www.wrightangle.com/food/blog//srv/htdocs/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/mg-9425.jpg

  • Thursday, September 17, 1:00 – 2:00 pm – Butterflies Abound

    Butterflies abound in Felix Neck’s garden and fields.  Join the staff of the Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary in Edgartown, Massachusetts on Thursday, September 17, from 1:00 – 2:00 pm for a guided walk to discover the butterflies of Martha’s Vineyard and the habitats that they need to survive.  Admission is free with Sanctuary admission. Felix Neck’s four miles of trails provide spectacular views of the surrounding woodlands, meadows, ponds, salt marsh, and barrier beach. In the summer and fall, enjoy watching a nesting pair of ospreys and a tree swallow colony. From the observation building, look for waterfowl in the pond during the fall and winter. Year-round, visit the Nature Center and Discovery Room to see barn owls nesting in the barn dormer through their owl cam.  For more information, email felixneck@massaudubon.org.

  • Saturday, September 26 – Sunday, September 27 – 7th Annual Fall Carnivorous Plant Show

    The award winning New England Carnivorous Plant Society (NECPS) will again be hosting the Fall Carnivorous Plant Show at the Roger Williams Park Botanical Center in Providence, Rhode Island.  Plant lovers and all those who enjoy something different will be able to get up close to hundreds of carnivorous plants exhibited by members of the NECPS.

    Featured plants will include pitcher plants from Malaysia with traps the size of softballs that are capable of eating lizards and mice.  There will be sundews from Australia ranging from the size of a dime to 12+ inches high, and the ever-popular Venus Fly Trap.  For you native plant lovers, NECPS will also display carnivorous plants that grow locally throughout New England.  This is the largest collection of carnivorous plants displayed yearly on the East Coast and the most popular show at the Botanical Center.  Over 300 plants are scheduled to be on display.

    Free seminars on growing and feeding carnivorous plants will be offered, and there are lots of opportunities for photographers.  Visit the Venus Fly Trap feeding area where you can observe up close how these plants devour insects.  Plants and growing accessories will be available for purchase for both novice and experienced growers from carnivorous plant vendors and the NECPS.  The permanent carnivorous plant bog exhibit will also be available for viewing.  Society members will be present both days to explain how the plants feed, what they eat, where they live, and how they can be grown and enjoyed at home.  Admission to the show is free with the purchase of regular admission to the Roger Williams Park Botanical Center : $3 adults, $1 children 6 – 12, under 6 free.  The show will run on Saturday September 26 from 11:00 am until 4:00 pm, and on Sunday September 27 from 10:00 am until 3:00 pm.  The address is 1000 Elmwood Avenue in Providence.  For additional information, please visit www.NECPS.org, or email johnatthebeach@cox.net.

    http://www.moplants.com/gallery2/d/85-2/Highland+Tropical+Pitcher+Plant.jpg