Boston Flora

Category: Meeting

  • Wednesday, October 28, 9:30 am – 4:30 pm – 2020 Season’s End Summit: Online

    As The Ecological Landscape Alliance approaches the end of the 2020 landscape season, we reflect upon many highs and lows. The intense weather events of record heat/drought/floods, a worldwide pandemic, and the long-overdue scrutiny of social injustice could not deter the one dependable constant, the tenacity of nature to carry on. While quarantining and isolating this spring, it was the re-greening of the landscape around us that brightened our days and gave us reason to hope. As the growing season progressed and plants and wildlife went through their life cycles, landscape professionals and home owners focused on the landscape with a greater sense of purpose than any prior season.

    As landcare professionals, we may not have the tools to heal our medical or societal ills, but we can focus on healing the earth that we are stewarding, one landscape at a time. Join us for this year’s Season’s End Summit for refreshing perspectives and inspiring discussions of the healing landscape tools that empower us to find  solutions as we look ahead to future seasons of stewardship.

    Neil Diboll will discuss Genetic Diversity: Critical in a Changing Climate, as well as The American Garden – A Life or Death Situation. Uli Lorimer speaks on More than Pollinator Friendly, and Heather Heimark’s topic is Retooling the Role of the Landscape Designer. Complete descriptions and biographies of the speakers can be found at https://www.ecolandscaping.org/event/2020-seasons-end-summit/

    Early registration discount through 9/28/20.
    Use coupon code: early-summit at checkout.

  • Wednesday, September 23, 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm – GCBB Fall Flower Arranging Workshop on Zoom

    Wednesday, September 23, 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm – GCBB Fall Flower Arranging Workshop on Zoom

    The first meeting of The Garden Club of the Back Bay’s 2020/2021 program year will be a virtual flower arranging workshop on Wednesday, September 23 from 4 – 6 pm. Join Garden Club members for a late afternoon session led by GCBB member, Nancy Cyr.  Nancy is a Senior Flower Associate at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.  She studied flower design with a number of teachers including Francoise Weeks.  She believes that flower arranging is for everyone and that, while it is fun to have access to special and unusual flowers, you can achieve beautiful effects with flowers from the grocery store and weeds picked on your walks.  At the end of the workshop, Nancy will take questions from participants.

    There will be a $40 fee for flowers and vase.  To pay your $40.00 fee through the Garden Club’s website, click here:   https://bostonflora.com/shop/

    Or if you prefer, pay by check (made out to the Garden Club of the Back Bay) and mail to Jolinda Taylor, 276 Marlborough Street, Boston, MA  02116. Responses and payment must be received by September 18.

    Flowers/vase can be picked up on Wednesday morning, September 23 between 10 and 11 am at the parking lot of the First Lutheran Church, 299 Berkeley Street. These will be the same flowers/vase that Nancy will use for her demonstration. There is a limit of 20 people for this option. NOTE: Please wear a mask when you arrive to pick up your flowers/vase.

    Floral supplies limited to 20 attendees.  Others may join the call with their own flowers and vase. There will be no charge if you are participating with your own materials, but in order to receive the Zoom link and list of recommended materials, you must email Jolinda by clicking HERE.

  • Friday, September 18, 9:00 am – 5:00 pm – Courageous by Design: Landscape Architects Confronting the Climate Crisis in New York City

    The future for landscape architecture is immense. And if landscape architects don’t take the opportunity at this point, while our governments are waffling on climate change, if they don’t learn this climate change inside-out, namely storm-water management, limiting footprints, using plants that don’t need much maintenance or water, if they don’t seize that opportunity, then the landscape architects are asleep under the ground. -Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, TCLF Oral History (2008)

    Cornelia Hahn Oberlander’s declaration—a challenge to her fellow landscape architects—is the impetus for a June 2020 symposium about the role of the profession of landscape architecture in addressing climate change. Oberlander is the namesake of the new Cornelia Hahn Oberlander International Landscape Architecture Prize, which was conceived by The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) to honor designers who, like Oberlander, are “exceptionally talented, creative, courageous, and visionary.” Addressing climate change has been a core focus of Oberlander’s practice for more than 30 years, and the symposium will serve as the inaugural Oberlander Prize Forum, the first of many fora to be developed in association with the newly established Oberlander Prize.

    Martha Schwartz, an outspoken, iconoclastic, and inventive landscape architect, will deliver the opening keynote. Panels of speakers will address the theoretical – understanding the scope and scale of the climate crisis, especially in New York City – and the practical – including how to navigate bureaucracies to get projects built with environmentally/ecologically sound practices – along with pathways to civic engagement. Ultimately, this is a shared responsibility that will require courage and creativity from the design community, elected officials, governmental agencies, corporations, non-profits, and the public, if we are to confront this problem at a macro and micro scale. This symposium aims to support and inspire those undertaking the challenge.

    This event is currently rescheduled for September 18 from 9 – 5 at Highline Stages, 440 West 15th Street in NYC. A reception on the evening prior to the symposium will offer speakers and attendees a chance to mingle and initiate conversations about the day ahead. As with all events planned during the Covid-19 pandemic, please check with TCLF in case a rescheduling is necessary. Early bird conference ticket $245 ($75 students), and reception ticket is $75. Register at www.tclf.org.

    Governor’s Island

  • Thursday, August 6, 6:00 pm – Friends of the Public Garden Virtual Annual Meeting

    Please join us for The Friends of the Public Garden’s 50th Annual Meeting, held virtually this year on August 6 at 6 pm on Zoom. The meeting will feature welcoming remarks by Board Chair Leslie Adam, reports from Governance chair Kate Enroth and Treasurer Bill Clendaniel, and a presentation on 2019 Friends activities in the parks from Executive Director Liz Vizza. We will have a Q&A segment to answer questions you might have about our recent work and life in the parks this year.

    Please RSVP using the form found at https://friendsofthepublicgarden.org/2020/07/17/august-6-2020-virtual-annual-meeting/ by August 5. Link will be sent after registration.

  • Thursday, July 16, 12:00 noon – Charles River Watershed Association Virtual Annual Meeting

    It feels like the decision to postpone the Charles River Watershed Association Annual Meeting in March was both just yesterday and years ago. But it’s now the start of summer. Here is the press release:

    We hope you’ll join us Thursday, July 16 at 12:00 PM (EST) on Zoom for our virtual Annual Meeting from the comfort of your home. We are fortunate to have Energy & Environmental Affairs Secretary Katie Theoharides with us as we award her the Rita Barron Public Official Award for her work advancing climate resilience solutions at the municipal level with an emphasis on nature-based solutions.  As EEA Secretary, Theoharides oversees the Commonwealth’s six environmental, natural resource and energy regulatory agencies, which include the Departments of Environmental Protection, Public Utilities, Energy Resources, Conservation & Recreation, Agricultural Resources, and Fish & Game. Secretary Theoharides also serves as Chair of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, the Energy Facilities Siting Board, and the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center.

    We’ve learned a lot with our Virtual Event Series and we cannot wait to connect with you in this new way. The Annual Meeting will be held virtually under the state’s emergency COVID-19 provisions (chapter 53, section 16 of the Acts of 2020), which allow for virtual member meetings during the pandemic and for 60 days thereafter.

    Register at https://www.crwa.org/annual-meeting.html

  • May, 2021 – International Carnivorous Plant Society World Conference

    The 13th International Carnivorous Plant Society Conference was to have been held in Himeji, Japan, on May 22-24, 2020. The Conference is sponsored by by the Japanese Carnivorous Plant Society (JCPS) with the cooperation of the Kansai Carnivorous Plant Society (KCPS), the Tokai Carnivorous Plant Society (TCPS) and the Hiroshima Carnivorous Plant Society (HCPS). The conference has been postponed one year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the date may still be further reconsidered depending on future world-wide medical advice.

    If the conference can be held in May 2021, the location will be Himeji, Japan, and the program, including the botanic garden tour and the field trips, will be almost the same as originally planned. The sponsors will try to change the venue to the Himeji Civic Hall, within walking distance of Himeji station. Alternately, the “I-Messae” Auditorium in front of Himeji Castle, may be used. For updated information visit https://www.carnivorousplants.org/about/conferences

  • Wednesday, June 17, 6:00 pm – Emerald Necklace Virtual Annual Meeting

    You are invited to the Emerald Necklace Conservancy’s Virtual 2020 Annual Meeting: Charlesgate Park Revitalization, Rebuilding Connections and a Community Park in the Emerald Necklace.

    Join the Conservancy for a virtual celebration of a successful year protecting, maintaining and improving the Emerald Necklace and find out more about the exciting projects to come. Discover plans for the revitalization of Charlesgate Park, the first piece of the Necklace and the critical connection between Boston’s primary park systems, with presentations and discussion from Conservancy President Karen Mauney-Brodek, project architects Dan and Marie Adams of Landing Studio, and Garrett Dash Nelson, Curator of Maps at the Norman B. Leventhal Map and Education Center.

    The meeting will be online via Zoom. Register at https://www.emeraldnecklace.org/events/annualmeeting/

  • Tuesday, May 19, 7:30 pm – Swallowtails: A Kaleidoscope of Natural and Laboratory Hybrids Online Lecture

    The May meeting of the Cambridge Entomological Club will take place Tuesday, May 19 at 7:30 pm on Zoom. Click HERE to join meeting – password nabakov.

    Closely related species are prone to hybridization. The effect of natural hybrids on the evolutionary trajectory of parental species is manifold. On the other hand, laboratory hybrids are useful genetic techniques to study the divergence between incipient species. Historically, swallowtail butterflies are among the best studied insects in terms of both natural and lab hybrids, and are continuing to present challenging problems in insect speciation. In this talk, Tianzhu Xiong will present his recent study on the hybridization within the Asian peacock swallowtails. Specifically, 1) natural hybrids: the debatable relationship between Papilio syfanius and Papilio maackii near a zone of environmental shift; 2) laboratory hybrids: genetic incompatibilities within the Papilio bianor species complex. 

    Tianzhu Xiong is a 4th year graduate student from the Mallet Lab at Harvard Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and is the current president of the Cambridge Entomological Club. His research interests are theoretical population genetics and divergence in swallowtail butterflies from the oriental region.

  • Saturday, September 12 – Sunday, September 13 – What’s Out There Weekend in Boston

    Saturday, September 12 – Sunday, September 13 – What’s Out There Weekend in Boston

    The Cultural Landscape Foundation is pleased to announce that What’s Out There Weekend Boston will take place on September 12 and 13, 2020. Boston’s landscape legacy includes myriad parks and plazas, cultural institutions, historic sites and neighborhoods, and the world-renowned Emerald Necklace. Join TCLF for a weekend of free, expert-led tours that will reveal the long history and intricate cultural heritage behind this “City on a Hill.”

    Please visit https://tclf.org/whats-out-there-weekend-boston for more information in the coming months. Tour details and registration information will be available in summer 2020. An online city guide highlighting Boston’s significant cultural landscapes and their designers is also forthcoming. Fingers crossed, people, that by September this opportunity will be available.

  • Charlesgate Alliance Dog Park Meeting and Map

    The Charlesgate Alliance was very happy with the turnout on April 7th for its Zoom Dog Park Design Meeting. 38 people came. A link to the presentation, first presented to the Dog Park Design subcommittee in September, is here. Regardless of whether you joined us or not for the Zoom meeting, you can give feedback for this element of the project design here.