Boston Flora

Category: Author Book Signing

  • May 9 – May 16, 2011 – Gardens of New York City, the Hudson River Valley, & the Hamptons

    Join Pacific Horticulture Board member Greg Graves on a fabulous trip visiting riverside estates in New York, May 9 – 16, 2011. In New York City, see the Metropolitan Museum’s exquisite Cloister Garden, innovative community and pocket gardens, exciting new developments along the harbor, and attend a theater evening. Enjoy private guided visits to Wave Hill’s 28 acres of exuberant plantings overlooking the Hudson River, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Vanderbilt Mansion with spectacular views of Newport Harbor, Rockefeller’s lovely Kykuit Estate, and attend a special luncheon at the Culinary Institute. We have coveted invitations to private gardens designed by Richard Hartlage, and two artists’ gardens in the Hamptons; Madoo, Robert Dash’s ever-changing masterpiece, subject of his book, and Jack Larsen’s Longhouse Reserve, housing great sculpture and ethnic art.

    For more information please contact:
    Sterling Tours – New York
    (619) 299-3010
    http://sterlingtoursltd.com/NewYork2011.html

  • Friday, January 21, 9:30 am – 4:30 pm – Walls and Steps, Garden Structures and Decks

    The Arnold Arboretum, in conjunction with the Landscape Institute of the Boston Architectural College, will hold a morning and an afternoon class on Friday, January 21, with Landscape Architect Scott Scarfone, principal and founder of Oasis Design Group, a landscape and architectural design firm in Baltimore, Maryland.  He is the author of Professional Planting Design – An Architectural and Horticultural Approach for Creating Mixed Bed Plantings, published by John Wiley & Sons.

    In the first session, held from 9:30 am – 12:30 pm, you will learn about Walls and Steps – Design and Construction. In this class you will consider the various design opportunities that walls and steps provide and the proper construction techniques that ensure that the resulting structures are safe, secure, and built to withstand the effects of time. Structural issues and consideration for safety as it relates to wall foundations, earth retention, risers, treads, and landings will be discussed. The fee for this session is $45.

    In the second session, Garden Structures and Decks – Design and Construction, beginning at 1:30 pm – 4:30 pm, more construction issues will be addressed.  Building principles for trellises, pergolas, arbors, small buildings, and decks are fundamentally similar. You will learn about basic and detailed construction techniques for footings, post and beam construction, treillage and roofs, as well as railings as applied to decks and garden pavilions. Scott will show a variety of examples and lead discussion of design and construction techniques. The fee for this session is also $45.  You may sign up for either or both sessions.  The classes will be held at Boston Architectural College, and you may sign up on line at www.arboretum.harvard.edu, or by calling 617-384-5277.

  • Saturday, December 11, 2:00 pm – Eden on the Charles

    The Harvard Museum of Natural History, 26 Oxford Street in Cambridge, will host author Michael Rawson, whose book Eden on the Charles, The Making of Boston, will be available for purchase and signing on Saturday, December 11 at 2 pm following his speech. The cost of the lecture is free with museum admission. For more information, call 617-495-3045, or log on to www.hmnh.harvard.edu.

    In his latest book, Eden on the Charles (Harvard University Press), author Michael Rawson provides a new environmental perspective on the creation of one of America’s first cities. Rawson will explore how early Bostonians led the nation in urbanization, and how various class and ethnic groups brought rival ideas of nature and competing visions of a “city upon a hill” to the process—and were forced to conform their goals to the realities of Boston’s distinctive natural setting.

  • Wednesday, December 1, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Amy Cotler

    Slow Food BU is hosting author Amy Cotler at the George Sherman Union Building, Boston University Central, 775 Commonwealth Avenue, On Wednesday, December 1,  from 7 – 8:30 pm.  Amy writes:

    “I have been a chef, culinary educator, farm to table and school advocate for almost 3 decades. I have a Farm to School book that has been distributed free to every district in the state and is free on my website. I began my career with my colleague Robyn Van En, the founder of the CSA movement in North America and have been working towards a better food system ever since, founding the non-profit Berkshire Grown, coordinating farm to restaurant work for the Chefs Collaborative and much more.  I will be doing a speaking and book signing from my book, The Locavore Way, which is a comprehensive guide for everyone to seeking out and savoring local food, as well as becoming an advocate in your community. To find out more, visit my website and local food recipes blog at : http://www.amycotler.com.”

  • Thursday, December 9, 10:30 am – 12:00 noon – Energy-Wise Landscape Design

    Design your landscape so it saves energy and contributes to a healthier environment.  Instructor Sue Reed helps you discover tips to lower your home’s heating and cooling costs, minimize fuel used in landscape construction, maintenance and everyday living, and choose products and materials with lower embedded energy costs.  This lecture, Energy-Wise Landscape Design, will take place at Garden in the Woods, 180 Hemenway Road in Framingham, on Thursday, December 9, from 10:30 – 12 noon.

    Our landscapes are full of opportunities to reduce energy consumption–most of them involve little or no cost, and some will actually save money. Find out how to shrink your energy footprint while enhancing your property and adding value to your home. Sue Reed will sell and sign her widely acclaimed new book on the topic following the program. Pre-registration is necessary; contact the registrar at 508-877-7630, ext. 3303, or email registrar@newenglandwild.org.  $15 for NEWFS members, $18 for non-members.

  • Wednesday, December 1, 12:00 noon – Soft Infrastructure

    The final lecture for the Fall season of The Environmental Institute will be presented Wednesday, December 1, at noon at 105 HLLS North, Procopio Room at University of Massachusetts, Amherst.  Catherine Seavitt, Principal, Catherine Seavitt Studio, and member of the faculty at Princeton University School of Architecture, will discuss the Palisade Bay Project, a proposed adaptive transformation of the Upper Bay of New York Harbor in the face of climate change and global sea level rise. This collaborative research imagines a “soft infrastructure” for the Upper Bay, rethinking thresholds of water, land, and city, and challenging the “hard” infrastructure of storm surge barrier solutions to flooding. “Soft infrastructure” strategies work to alternatively buffer or absorb flooding, while also creating a new destination on the water. The work, published in the book On the Water: Palisade Bay (Hatje Cantz, 2010) is the result of a two-year research project funded by The Latrobe Prize, a biennial research grant awarded by the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects for collaborative research. This work served as the inspiration for the workshop and exhibition “Rising Currents: Projects for New York’s Waterfront,” which opened at the Museum of Modern Art in March 2010, and is currently on exhibit as part of the U. S. Pavilion exhibition Workshopping: An American Model of Architectural Practice at the 2010 Biennale di Architettura in Venice, Italy.

    For directions and more information, log on to www.umass.edu/tei/TEI/LectureSeriesFall2010.html

  • Saturday, November 20, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm – Cultivation and Propagation of Cold-hardy Cacti

    This month the Cactus and Succulent Society of Massachusetts is very lucky to welcome John Spain, one of the most respected growers of cold hardy Cacti in the country. This is a program not to be missed. Mr. Spain has been cultivating and propagating cacti outdoors in the cold, wet climate of central Connecticut since 1966. Over the years he has become acquainted with over 200 species and varieties of cold hardy cacti.

    In his program Mr. Spain will present everything you need to know to cultivate and propagate cold hardy cacti on your own. He will share many color slides of these beautiful plants. Please bring pen and pad, notebook and writing implement so you can take notes and keep track of any questions you want to ask at the end of the program.

    Mr. Spain’s classic book, Growing Winter Hardy Cacti in Cold/Wet Conditions, includes all of the information he will discuss in this month’s program and more. It will be for sale by the author at the meeting for $13.50 per copy. The program will take place at Tower Hill Botanic Garden, 11 French Drive, Boylston, Massachusetts, on Saturday, November 20, from 1 – 4. For directions, log on to www.towerhillbg.org. For information on the Cactus and Succulent Society, log on to www.cssma.org.

  • Saturday, November 13, 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm – Fruits of the Land Harvest Dinner & Book Launch

    Fruitlands Museum, 102 Prospect Hill Road in Harvard, Massachusetts, will hold a Fruits of the Land Harvest Dinner on Saturday, November 13, from 6 – 9, with a delicious menu of Black Bean Soup with Caesar Salad, Cornmeal Dusted Rainbow Trout OR Garlic Rubbed Prime Rib with Horseradish Cream Sauce, and Apple Crumble, followed by readings from Fruitlands: The Alcott Family and Their Search for Utopia by British author Richard Francis, and a book signing.  The talk begins at 7:30 and is free and open to the public.  The dinner is $55 for Fruitlands members, $75 for non-members, and you may rsvp by emailing mdelaney@fruitlands.org, or by calling 978-456-3924 x 292.

    Author Richard Francis is a British academic who has written about the Fruitlands Transcendental Experiment, the most thorough account in decades.  It is the first definitive account of Fruitlands, one of history’s most unsuccessful efforts at communal living, yet one of the most significant in its drama and intrigue.

  • Saturday, November 20, 10 am – 3 pm – Wrapping Stones Japanese Style

    Participate in a hands on workshop at the Berkshire Botanical Garden in West Stockbridge, Massachusetts on Saturday, November 20 from 10:00 am – 3:00 pm. It is mysterious, but basket makers and gardeners alike love and collect beautiful stones! We keep them in our studios, gardens and touch them often. Now you can learn to “wrap stones” and further that connection between stones and people. Using raffia, waxed line and cane, each participant will weave an open pattern over each stone. Start collecting! Put them on your windowsills, line your garden paths or give them as gifts. Nancy Moore Bess is a master basket maker and exhibits her baskets worldwide. She has championed Japanese basketry in the west and is the author of Bamboo in Japan. Her popular workshops always sell out. Bring a bagged lunch. BBG members $75, non-members $85, plus a $15 materials fee paid directly to the instructor.  For more information, log on to www.berkshirebotanical.org.

  • Tuesday, November 9, 7:30 pm – Insect Signs

    Most of the signs insects leave are either overlooked or, when they are observed, seem difficult to decipher. Noah Charney and Charles Eiseman spent two years researching signs left by insects and how to read their tracks. The knowledge they gained is presented in their new book Tracks and Sign of Insects and Other Invertebrates. The authors will join the Cambridge Entomological Club for a presentation about insect signs and share interesting stories about their adventures gathering material for their unique book. Copies of the book will be available for purchase,
    and signing, after the talk.

    The meeting, on Tuesday, November 9 beginning at 7:30 in Room 101 of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, 26 Oxford Street,  is free and open to the public. Snacks will be provided and you are also welcome to join us at 6:15 PM for an informal dinner meeting at Harkness Commons, in the law school cafeteria on the  second floor.