Join the New England Botanical Society on Friday, April 5 for its monthly meeting. Ted Elliman, MA botany/ecology instructor, retired, Native Plant Trust, and Lauren Brown, Connecticut author, VP Connecticut Botanical Society, will speak on Unlocking the Grasses, Sedges, and Rushes: Fresh Approaches to Identifying These Challenging Plants. Non-members may register for the meeting access link here.
You are cordially invited to the 54th Annual Meeting of the Friends of the Public Garden on Thursday, April 9 at 6 pm at the UMass Club, Amherst/Boston Room, 32nd Floor, 1 Beacon Street in Boston. Reception to follow. Please RSVP by April 2 by signing up HERE or calling 617-723-8144.
Deborah Trickett, owner of The Captured Garden, will show members of The Garden Club of the Back Bay how to create lush container gardens that will be the envy of the neighborhood. Join Deborah for a Powerpoint demonstration as she shows how to take our container gardens from “blah” to “aaah”. She’ll start with the basics, including appropriate containers, soil mixes, and plant choices for different site conditions, then proceed to new and unusual plant material and uncommon, container choices for exceptionally beautiful results. The program will take place March 21 at The Chilton Club in Boston. Members have received notification and instructions on registering on Eventbrite. Email info@bostonflora.com with questions.
Deborah is an award-winning container garden designer whose work has been featured in The Boston Globe, Garden Gate Magazine, New England Home Magazine and on the TV show New England Dream Home. She is a Massachusetts Certified Horticulturist and a frequent lecturer on container gardening at the Boston Flower and Garden Show, as well as the Philadelphia International Flower Show. She also teaches classes and workshops at the Arnold Arboretum in Boston.
If you are interested in joining The Garden Club of the Back Bay to participate in programs such as this, visit https://bostonflora.com
Join the Charles River Watershed Association, City of Newton for an initial public meeting on a grant from the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management looking at keeping pollution out of Cheesecake Brook, evaluate fish and wildlife passage and helping green the Albemarle corridor. The virtual meeting will take place Thursday, February 22 at 7 pm Eastern. Free. To register, visit https://www.crwa.org/events/whats-happening-with-cheesecake-brook
The Garden Club of the Back Bay is offering a February Zoom meeting on February 22 at 4 pm Eastern with Dee Salomon. Although her outdoor landscape was designed by the renowned Miranda Brooks, Dee Salomon prefers spending her days ‘ungardening’ in the woods where she is rehabilitating the 15 acres of woodland she and her partner live on. The story of her journey starting as a NY executive to becoming an advocate for the restoration of native woodland habitats – from backyards to land trusts – contains a message we all need to hear. Dee will deliver that message and share her experience, in word and image, of transforming an invasive-filled woodland into a place for human joy and animal survival. If you are interested in attending (registration required before February 20) email HERE or join the Club at https://bostonflora.com.
The Garden Club of the Back Bay’s February meeting will take place at The Chilton Club, 152 Commonwealth Avenue, at 10 am. The Club welcomes James Brayton Hall, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Garden Conservancy.
Gardening has been an important part of American history since even before the country’s founding. In this illustrated talk, Garden Conservancy President and CEO James Brayton Hall will look at both 18th and 19th century high points in American Garden design and theory, and discuss why he believes that in the post-pandemic age we are entering a third golden age of gardening in the United States.
James joined the Garden Conservancy as president and CEO on June 1, 2017. For the previous four years, he was deputy director of the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, Florida, where he worked on the planning and design of the Norman Foster-designed museum expansion and sculpture gardens. From 2010 to 2013, he was executive director of the Providence Preservation Society in Rhode Island, overseeing all programming, fundraising, and relations with the board, donors, and community. From 2006 to 2010, James served as assistant director of the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, after holding various other management and curatorial positions at the school since 1985. James earned a bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University of Virginia and a master’s in landscape architecture from Rhode Island School of Design. In addition, he was awarded a Royal Oak Scholarship to attend the Attingham Trust Summer School in Architectural and Landscape History in London, and, separately, participated in the Victorian Society’s summer program in architectural history, also in London. In 2016, he completed Attingham’s Royal Collections Course. He has spoken widely on architectural and landscape design and has been a member of the graduate program faculty at the Rhode Island School of Design.
This is a members only event but membership is a click away at https://bostonflora.com
Join the Massachusetts Pollinator Network for a free online Brown Bag Lunch meeting on the first Wednesday of the month, from February 7 through May 1. Speak with the experts and learn what’s happening on the conservation front. Register at masspollinatornetwork.org
The Banff Centre for Arts & Creativity in Banff, Alberta, Canada, will host the 2024 Slow Flowers Summit on June 23 – 25. Our Slow Flowers Summit 2024 theme is “Sustainable Success,” highlighting the commitments that our Slow Flowers member growers and designers are making to build our community — from seed to bouquet — while supporting a marketplace centered around safe, seasonal, and sustainable flowers. Through our presentations and the connections you’ll make with fellow attendees, you will gain inspiration and develop a deeper relationship with flowers in your own growing and design practice.
Eleven Canadian floral experts will speak, including Hitomi Gilliam, a Japanese Canadian Flower Artist. She has guest-designed and taught extensively throughout North America and around the world – England, Northern Ireland, Belgium, Italy, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, India, Australia, New Zealand, Oman, Colombia, Costa Rica and Mexico. Hitomi began her career in the Green Profession as a farmer-florist. She currently works with her son, Colin Gilliam, in an Education-based business, DESIGN358, founded in 2008. They currently host design workshops and educational events, and video education through Hitomi’s YouTube channel and her Patreon page.
Cynthia Zamaria will discuss Flowers for the Home and Table. With an infectious, optimistic spirit and a belief that we all need more beautiful in our lives, Cynthia shares home and garden inspiration as a writer, photographer, stylist and presenter. Cynthia is known for her accessible approach to character-filled spaces, carefree flower displays, and an appreciation for antique and artisanal objects. Recognized as a Country Home Magazine Style Maker, Cynthia is regularly featured in leading international lifestyle media and is the author of House + Flower: Reviving Forgotten Homes and Gardens published by Bloom Imprint.
In a Meet the Farmer-Florist presentation, Melanie Harrington will speak. She is the owner of Dahlia May Flower Farm, founded in 2014. From beginning eight years ago selling her flowers off a single pallet in her driveway, Dahlia May Flower Farm has gone on to be featured in Chatelaine magazine, Better Homes and Gardens, Canadian Florist Magazine, The Toronto Star; on CBC television and radio; and by PayPal, Google, and more. Melanie was awarded “Young Entrepreneur of the Year” in 2018 by the Quinte Business Achievement Awards, and Dahlia May was named “Agri-Business of the Year” by the same in 2019. Dahlia May specializes in growing and providing cut flowers on Melanie’s family’s third generation farmstead. She combines her background in horticulture with her willingness to share her own story into her hard work; through her ability to persist and to risk, Melanie continues to build community while making her rural property a destination for flower-lovers and a hub for those seeking locally grown blooms.
Janis Harris of Harris Flower Farm is embarking on her 16th growing season. Janis continues to cultivate not just flowers but a legacy of natural beauty at Harris Flower Farm in St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada. Janis grew up around flowers and vegetable farming, first pursuing a career as an optician until flowers and a desire to grow them called her back. Janis is now a full-time flower farmer with help from her husband, parents, children and flower farm team. As a farmer-florist, Janis approaches each season with a blend of experience and an ever-renewed sense of wonder. Harris Flower Farm markets its flowers at various local farmer’s markets, via on-farm retail and delivery services, and provides wedding design and event design. In the fertile fields of South Western Ontario, Harris Flower Farm stands as a living testament to Janis and her family’s commitment to excellence, dedication to growing and sharing the seasonal beauty of local flowers.
Dive into Native Plants with an optional early morning wildflower walk. Speaker Latifa Pelletier-Ahmed is a botanist, herbalist, educator, and artist, and is co-owner of ALCLA Native Plants a native plant nursery based in Treaty 7 Territory, near Calgary, Alberta, Canada. She holds a BSc in Botany from the University of Calgary and an MSc in Herbal Medicine from Middlesex University, London, UK. She has been working with native plants for 15 years and her expertise includes identification, sustainable collection, cultivation, and ethnobotany. In 2016 she founded Latifa’s Herbs, which primarily serves to educate the public on the edible and medicinal uses of wild plant species in both Alberta and British Columbia. She is a former faculty member at Pacific Rim College in Victoria, BC where she taught Botany and Horticulture in addition to Wild Plant Nutrition.
Floral Immersion: Growing & Designing with Dried Flowers is another offering. Heather Henson is a floral artist who grows specialty cut flowers, designs for weddings, and sells retail bouquets as owner/operator of Boreal Blooms, based in Cold Lake, Alberta. Established in 2013, Boreal Blooms specializes in direct-to-consumer bouquets through local markets and a long-running bouquet share program. “Dried flowers are my passion, and I love creating dried flower weddings for brides who want local flowers that last,” she says. Heather is a wife and mother to four mostly-grown children. She also works as a doula and is the co-host of The Sustainable Flowers Podcast.
Lourdes Still will present Floral Immersion: Plant-based Pigments for Textiles. Growing joy and creating magic is right at our fingertips: a mantra Lourdes keeps close to her heart. She hopes to inspire others with her work at Masagana Flower Farm & Studio by interacting with plants and flowers as natural dye sources. She juggles the roles of a flower grower, a natural dyer, and an experiential tourism guide at her farm in southeast Manitoba. In her flagship offering, the Tinta Experience,
Lourdes started as a self-taught flower grower, natural dyer, and tourism operator but has since learned and trained from industry leaders. Her curiosity continues to lead her entrepreneurial journey. It has expanded her work outside the farming community to explore ways to diversify her farm operations in the short growing season of Manitoba. Her farm may be seasonal, but her floral-dyed projects are year-round. She is in the first year of having a new studio-in-the-woods at the farm. She is currently exploring all the programming possibilities she can implement in her dream space to show others that growing joy through flowers and creating magic through plant dyes are right at our fingertips!
There will also be panels and opportunities to connect with top flower people. For registration and complete details visit https://www.slowflowerssummit.com
It’s that time of the year again when we all come together to celebrate the members, volunteers, and successes that make our BE+ community amazing! We’re ringing in the new year with board elections and an award ceremony for our members. The Annual General Meeting is when we conclude the 2024 Board of Directors elections. The Built Environment Plus community drives sustainable and regenerative design, construction, and operation of the built environment. The Annual Meeting will be held January 25 at 5 pm at Atlantic Wharf, 290 Congress Street. Sign up HERE.
Built Environment Plus, formerly known as the USGBC Massachusetts Chapter, is a membership-based community advocating for green buildings at the state and local level. Built Environment Plus provides green building education, networking, advocacy, and leadership opportunities for the sustainable building practitioner community and beyond. Our events and programming are supported and enhanced by the volunteer efforts of our community members.
Over 600 people participate as members & active volunteers, and over 15,000 people subscribe to our various communication lists. Through our many committees, we address all aspects of the greening of the real estate sector: planning, design & engineering, construction, management & operation, and beyond. We help all practitioners by promoting market transformation.
Outcomes of our activities are better buildings and corresponding environmental and social benefits. We know buildings are better when they are certified through the LEED system, the WELL system, and when they achieve the Living Building Challenge and associated petal challenges. Utilization of the EPA’s Energy Star system and other similar tools combine to improve building operations and management. Using various components of the broad matrix of building assessment processes lead to reduced energy use and corresponding greenhouse gas reductions, reduced water consumption, reduced toxicity, and improved indoor environments for occupants.
These environmental and social benefits are shared by many of our peer organizations, professional associations, and municipal and state jurisdictions, leading to sustainability for our communities.
New Members: We encourage you to sign up early to ensure you can cast your vote in the board election! USGBC National Firm member employees, Government or Non-Profit employees, Emerging Professionals, and Students should sign up for membership here for discounted rates.
The benefits of membership – show your support of the Back Bay neighborhood by joining The Garden Club of the Back Bay and be eligible to participate in festive events like the Annual Winter Tea at the Courtyard Restaurant at the Boston Public Library on Boylston Street. The tea is a Members’ Only event, so act now. For information visit https://bostonflora.com/
