Boston Flora

Category: Author Book Signing

  • Wednesday, September 22, 8:00 am – 5:00 pm – MassHort and the Perennial Plant Association Seminar

    On Wednesday, September 22, MassHort and the Perennial Plant Association are teaming up to offer a day-long seminar titled, Exploring Design, Plant Selection, and Maintenance of the Mixed Border. Some of the best writers and creative plantsmen in the business will be here, and you’re invited to listen, learn and ask questions.

    The speakers include Adrian Bloom (of Blooms of Bressingham); Kirk Brown, national director for the Garden Writers Association; Kerry Mendez, author of The Ultimate Gardener’s Top Ten Lists; Laura Deeter, professor at the Agricultural Technical Institute (ATI), The Ohio State University; Roy Diblik, co-owner of Northwind Perennial Farm located in Burlington, Wisconsin; and Brent Heath, co-owner with his wife, Becky, of Brent and Becky’s Bulbs.

    The Program Schedule:

    8:00 am – 8:45 am – Registration

    9:00 am – 10:00 am – Sustainability and the American Dream, Kirk Brown, Joanne Kostecky Garden Design of Allentown, Pennsylvania

    The United States is currently the single largest user of energy on the planet. Since GIs returned from WWII, we have been a nation of extremely successful consumers. When the oil spigots run dry, the bright lights of retailing dim, and the bank account’s empty, will we be able to adapt our search for the biggest and best? Kirk Brownwill disucss how we can we prepare our children and grandchildren for a world that should leave us naturally richer and ecologically healthier.

    10:00 am – 10:30 am -  Break and Visit to the Elm Bank Gardens

    10:30 am – 11:30 am – Designing for Four Seasons of Color – Hit the Easy Button,  Kerry Mendez, Perennially Yours, Ballston Spa, New York

    Kerry Mendez will show you the tricks of the trade for having the WOW factor in your garden month after month with smart plant selection, design tips, and surefire maintenance shortcuts. And because it will be low maintenance, you will finally be able to ‘ease’ back in the ‘easy’ chair. Kerry is a “passionate perennialist” with more than 20 years of hands-on experience. As a garden consultant, designer, writer, teacher and lecturer, Kerry specializes in low-maintenance garden and landscape design that includes perennials, ornamental grasses, flowering shrubs, bulbs, and no-fuss annuals.

    11:30 am – 12:30 pm – Bulbs as Companion Plants,  Brent Heath, Brent & Becky’s Bulbs, Gloucester, Virginia

    Brent Heath will illustrate the best of the best – the right bulbs for the right spots. He will show how to combine bulbs, perennials, annuals, ground covers and flowering shrubs to create just the feeling you want to generate four seasons of color in your garden.

    12:30 pm – 1:30 pm – Lunch

    1:30 pm – 2:30 pm – Bloom’s Best Perennials and Grasses: Expert Plant Choices and Dramatic Combinations for Year-Round Gardens
    Adrian Bloom, Bloom’s Nurseries Ltd,  Norfolk, England

    From his long experience on both sides of the Atlantic in using hardy perennials and grasses together and with other plants for year round effect, Adrian Bloom will highlight some plants of great value for gardeners. He particularly believes there is much in the phrase less is more which can apply to the early or beginner gardener, and will develop his theme through 12 specially selected perennials and grasses for year-round interest.

    2:30 pm – 3:00 pm – Break and Visit to the Elm Bank Gardens

    3:00 pm – 4:00 pm – Perennial Plant Communities: The Know Maintenance Approach™,  Roy Diblik, Northwind Perennial Farm, Burlington, Wisconsin

    Roy Diblik’s thoughtful way to design perennial plantings welcomes fresh contemporary styles and plant diversity integrated with responsible maintenance concerns. Using a selection of regionally dependable perennials, endless natural plant patterns can be constructed, each relating to time and cost to maintain. Roy has been growing plants for more than 25 years. Recently, Roy was the plant purchasing coordinator for the Lurie Garden in Chicago’s Millenium Park, growing 11,000 of the plants at Northwind. He was also very involved in the installation of the garden. He also installed the Sullivan Arch Garden for the modern wing of the Art Institute in Chicago.

    4:00 pm – 5:00 pm – Bringing Your Perennials Up Right,  Dr. Laura Deeter, ATI Ohio State University, Wooster, Ohio

    The day’s final speaker will be Dr. Laura Deeter,  whose lecture is entitled Bringing Your Perennials Up Right. Are you the parents of unruly toddlers, aggressive or lazy teenagers, or are your babies closer to middle age and just aren’t the same anymore? Perhaps they simply aren’t living up to their full potential. Learn how to make your perennial babies work for you! Laura will provide a fun and lively romp through perennial maintenance!

    Registration Fee: $95/person before September 14. $110/person after September 14.  This price includes lunch.  You may register on line at www.masshort.org, or call 614-771-8431.

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  • Thursday, September 23, 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm – An Evening with Adrian Bloom

    An extraordinary ‘two-fer’ for a great cause. Adrian Bloom is in America with a new book, Bloom’s Best Perennials and Grasses: Expert Plant Choices and Dramatic Combinations for Year Round Gardens. On the evening of September 23, you can meet and talk with Adrian in the extraordinary Cape Cod garden of Paul Miskovsky. Paul’s garden was recently the subject of a cover article in the Boston Globe’s Sunday magazine and is rarely open to the public.

    Tickets are $150 per person for an evening of cocktails, hors d’oeuvre and conversation. To register, contact the Massachusetts Horticultural Society’s  reservation line at 617-933-4995.

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  • Friday, August 27, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm – The Art of Water in the Garden

    Spend the evening with Anthony Archer Wills on Friday, August 27, beginning at 7 pm, for an illustrated lecture entitled “The Art of Water in the Garden,” sponsored by Garden Design School.  The event will take place at Elm Bank, home of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society in Wellesley, and will be a terrific “prequel” to The Garden Club of the Back Bay’s “Water” themed lecture series for 2010/2011.   Mr. Wills is a world-renowned water garden designer, true artisan, and pioneer.  Anthony Archer-Wills works earth and water to create environments that indulge the imagination, and delight the senses.

    Inspired as a schoolchild watching water well up from the ground in the woods, and influenced by Roberto Burle Marx of Brazil, who used architectural materials, curving water shapes and mass plantings on a large scale to “paint the landscape,” Anthony began designing water gardens in the 1960s.

    A true pioneer and artisan, he developed new water gardening techniques while completing his first large-scale projects for Safari Parks in England, and Bear Park in Scotland. By the mid-1970s, his techniques were adopted worldwide as the industry standard for building water gardens.

    Anthony has gone on to create more than 2,000 water features in Great Britain, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Switzerland, South America, Argentina and Turkey, as well as the United States.

    He is the author of The Water Gardener, Water Power and Designing Water Gardens, which have been published in five languages. Pre-registration is required.  Admission is $75.  For more information, or to register, call 513-867-0437, email info@gardendesignschool.com, or log on to www.gardendesignschool.com.

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  • Friday, August 27 – Sunday, August 29 – Hollister House Garden Study Weekend

    A gardener’s dream: seminar, rare plant sale, gala reception, and tour of exceptional gardens.  Speakers at the Hollister House Garden Weekend, August 27 – 29  include Peter Wirtz, Page Dickey, Margaret Roach, Jill Nokes, Dick Button, Hitch Lyman, and Adam Wheeler. Pre-registration is required.

    The art of gardening as a channel of personal as well as cultural expression will be explored in depth in a program of stimulating lectures. The keynote speaker is Peter Wirtz, scion of the renowned Belgian architectural landscape firm Wirtz International, who will speak on Personal Expressions in the Garden, and be joined by other outstanding horticulturists. The weekend gets underway with a gala cocktail supper Friday evening where participants may informally mingle with the speakers and fellow garden enthusiasts in the gardens at historic Hollister House in Litchfield County, Connecticut.

    Saturday’s symposium takes place at the nearby Montessori School in comfortable, air-conditioned spaces with up to date lecture facilities. A delicious buffet luncheon, a sale of beautifully written and illustrated garden books and a plant sale featuring a select group of New England’s finest specialty plant growers, plus a ‘show & tell’ plant colloquy are included in Saturday’s all-day agenda.

    Other thought-provoking speakers on the roster are:
    • Page Dickey, a popular lecturer and prolific garden writer of, among other books, Gardens in the Spirit of Place, the award-winning Breaking Ground: Portraits of Ten Garden Designers, and to be published in the fall of 2010, Embroidered Ground;
    • Margaret Roach, a journalist who became a major force at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia and is now a garden blogger with a devoted following;
    • Jill Nokes, a landscape designer and author whose latest book Yard Art and Handmade Places is about 20 Texans who have been astonishingly creative in transforming and decorating their yards and gardens;
    • Dick Button, a former Olympian and figure skating commentator whose North Salem, NY garden is an explosion of color, self-described as “an anything-I-like garden.”

    In the afternoon – two outstanding plantsmen – garden designer Hitch Lyman and nurseryman Adam Wheeler of Broken Arrow will debate the merits of the best plants for late season gardens during the “Plant Show and Tell.”

    There will also be a Rare Plant Sale with opportunities to purchase choice plants for the late season garden from Broken Arrow Nursery (Hamden, CT), Loomis Creek Nursery (Hudson, NY), Falls Village Flower Farm (Falls Village, CT), O’Brien Nurserymen (Granby, CT), Pergola (New Preston, CT), Opus (Little Compton, RI), Rocky Dale Gardens (Bristol, VT), and Sunny Border Nurseries (Berlin, CT).

    Garden books, selected by Washington Depot’s treasured independent bookseller The Hickory Stick, will also be for sale, many authored by the symposium speakers and available for signing.

    The weekend’s grand finale is on Sunday when the Garden Conservancy opens six exceptional private gardens in New Preston, Roxbury and Washington as part of its Open Days Program. Four of them — Stiteler Meadow, Muddy Rugs, the garden of Norman Sunshine & Alan Shayne, and the garden of Mrs. Michael Wiener — are on the Open Days circuit for the first time. The two others are the esteemed gardens of Martine and Richard Copeland and Georgia Middlebrook.
    Hollister House Garden is also featured on the Sunday tour.

    The weekend package includes the Friday, August 27 Gala Cocktail Supper, Saturday, August 28 Continental Breakfast, Seminar, Lunch, Plant & Book Sale.  $230 for members of Garden Conservancy or Hollister House Garden, $240 for non-member.  You may register online at www.hollisterhousegarden.org, or call 860-868-2200.

  • Friday, September 10 – Monday, September 13 – Garden Writers Association 62nd Annual Symposium

    You are invited to the Hyatt Regency in Dallas, Texas on September 10 – 13 to celebrate the 62nd Garden Writers Association Annual Symposium. The objectives of this year’s meeting are to provide information on trends and current issues important to garden communicators, to address professional development subject matter covered in the core competency schedule, to provide as many opportunities as possible for the development of new story ideas, and to promote an active information exchange between members through networking. There is a vibrant and informative schedule of activities to highlight the Dallas/Fort Worth area, such as a trip to the Dallas Arboretum & Botanical Garden (below), and to Highland Park and East Dallas private gardens,  and those of you interested in even more story tours and private garden photo opportunities are invited to attend the special optional tours on Tuesday, September 14, which will include Oak Cliff  private gardens or the Fort Worth Botanical Garden.

    This year’s Symposium will explore beautiful Dallas. Dallas’ new slogan “Live Large. Think Big” describes the essence and vitality of a city built on big dreams. Make a donation to the GWA Foundation and have your name entered to win a great prize – drawing will take place at the Annual Awards Banquet, and attendance is not necessary to win.  The keynote speaker is Kierstin De West, the CEO, co-founder and key strategic and research mind at Conscientious Innovation, a Vancouver, BC  consultancy.  Her topic is Social Responsibility with Substance and Style.  For a complete schedule of speakers and events, log on to www.gardenwriters.org.

  • Tuesday, August 3, 7:00 pm – Empires of Food: Feast, Famine and the Rise and Fall of Civilization

    Porter Square Books in Cambridge hosts author Andrew Rimas on Tuesday, August 3, beginning at 7 pm.  Andrew will speak on his most recent book, Empires of Food: Feast, Famine and the Rise and Fall of Civilization. The book vividly chronicles the fate of people and societies for the past twelve thousand years through the foods they grew, hunted, traded, and ate-and gives us fascinating, and devastating, insights into what to expect in years to come. The narrative takes the reader to places as disparate as ancient Mesopotamia and imperial Britain. Discussed are the history of cyclic consumption and also of the future and the impact of food availability and distribution on world events. Rimas is a journalist and the managing editor at the Improper Bostonian magazine; previously he was an associate editor and staff writer at Boston Magazine. His work has frequently appeared in those publications, and in the Boston Globe Magazine and the Boston Globe. For more information, email ellen@portersquarebooks.com, or call 617-491-2220.

  • Saturday, September 11, 8:00 am – 4:00 pm – A Gathering of Gardeners 2010: A Garden of Glamour

    The Master Gardeners of Monroe County and the Rochester Museum and Science Center in Rochester, NY will present a Gathering of Gardeners 2010: A Garden of Glamour on Saturday, September 11, from 8 – 4.  The programs feature nurseryman Bill Hendricks and garden consultant (and past Garden Club of the Back Bay speaker) CL Fornari.  All presentations take place in the Eisenhart Auditorium of the Rochester Museum & Science Center.

    Bill Hendricks will speak about Shrubs for the Mixed Border – Great Complement to Perennials, and Dwarf Conifers, an Investment in Garden Treasures. CL Fornari’s topics are The Top 25 and Myths, Lies, and the Latest Dirt.  There will also be a raffle, book signings and sales, and a parking lot sale.

    Bill Hendricks has been president of Klyn Nurseries in Perry, Ohio since 1987. He is a member of the American Nursery & Landscape Association and International Plant Propagator’s Society. Bill taught a plant material course at Cleveland State for 20 years, and provided review for publications including Handbook of Landscape Tree Cultivars and Landscape Plants for Ohio. He demonstrated his horticultural interest as early as age 9, starting a cactus & succulent collection ultimately including over 3,000 species as an ongoing hobby.

    Bill has received several professional awards for his extensive contributions to the green industry, and is the source of numerous photos featured in professional horticultural publications. Klyn Nurseries has more than 430 acres of fieldstock and container plants, listing more than 1,600 varieties in its catalog.

    CL Fornari is a Massachusetts free-lance garden consultant providing help with garden design, plant selection, and insect/disease concerns while concentrating on low-maintenance landscaping and least-toxic solutions to problems. A life-long grower of flowers, vegetables, shrubs and trees, she is a popular speaker at events like the New England Flower Show and Philadelphia Flower Show and has taught at the New York Horticultural Society.

    She is the author of works including Your Garden Shouldn’t Make You Crazy, A Garden Lover’s Martha’s Vineyard, A Garden Lover’s Cape Cod, and Gardening in Sandy Soils, many illustrated with her photos. CL has served as a volunteer Master Gardener with the Barnstable Cooperative Extension Service and as a seasonal employee at Hyannis Country Garden working with annuals and propagation of perennials. She believes that the lessons learned in the garden are relevant to work, relationships, spirituality and personal growth. CL shares her plant and garden experiences at her website, gardenlady.com, authors the Whole Life Gardening blog, and hosts the “GardenLine” – call-in program on WXTK radio.

    Tickets are $48, with a $5 discount if registration is postmarked by August 1.  You may download a registration form by logging on to www.gatheringofgardeners.com.  An optional box lunch is available for $11 (specify veggie wrap, tuna or turkey.)  All proceeds from this event will be used by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Monroe County to support future horticultural education programs.

  • Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, August 10, 11 and 12, 7:00 pm – Plenty

    If vegetarian cooking conjures up images of tofu and paltry meat substitutions, Plenty will change those thoughts. Written by Yotam Ottolenghi, one of the UK’s most celebrated chefs, Plenty is based upon Ottolenghi’s weekly Guardian newspaper column “The New Vegetarian” and offers inspired, modern, flavorful and satisfying recipes.  While not a vegetarian (something that shocked many readers), Ottolenghi is the chef of an enormously popular restaurant in north London and is revered for his Mediterranean flavors and skillful, inventive way with ingredients.  Stir, at 102 Waltham Street in Boston, will hold three separate cookbook class sessions on August 10 – 12, beginning at 7 pm, and each participant will receive a copy of the book.  $155.  To reserve, call 617-423-STIR, or log on to www.stirboston.com.

  • Thursday, July 29, 7:00 pm – Boston’s Gardens & Green Spaces

    Join local author Meg Muckenhoupt as she travels through the verdant world of her new book, Boston’s Gardens & Green Spaces. This exciting lecture at the Westborough Public Library, 55 West Main Street in Westborough on Thursday, July 29, beginning at 7 pm,  examines the role of public spaces throughout Greater Boston’s historic and contemporary landscape.  Rediscover Greater Boston’s most revered historic parks and explore the city’s ever-expanding  network of public spaces. How has the philosophy behind public spaces shifted over the years? How significant is the native flora and green space to the city’s overall health?  This is a fascinating journey through green Boston, past to present—and all nature lovers, gardening enthusiasts, and history buffs should be sure to come along for the ride.  For more information, log on to www.westboroughlib.org.

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  • Thursday, August 4, 4:00 pm – The Role of the Landscape Architect

    On Thursday, August 4, beginning at 4 pm, come hear Stephen Stimson of Stephen Stimson Associates speak at Highfield Hall, 56 Highfield Drive in Falmouth on The Role of the Landscape Architect and Ten Landcapes. Since founding his firm in 1992, Stephen has won over 30 national and regional awards for design excellence.  He has a degree in Environmental Design from University of  Massachusetts, a Masters Degree from Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, and has been elected a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects.  His work ranges from a 300 acre park in San Antonio, Texas and a park at the St. Louis Arch, to numerous private gardens in the northeast.  Stephen focuses on creation of culturally and environmentally responsive modern designs.  His book, Ten Landscapes, is a classic in his field.  $5 suggested donation.  For information, log on to www.highfieldhall.org.

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