The Wisconsin Daylily Society proudly invites you to the 2019 AHS National Convention in Madison, Wisconsin. The dates will be July 11-13, 2019.
Hotel: Marriott, Madison West. 1313 John Q Hammons Dr., Middleton WI 53562. 608-831-2000. There will be 7 tour gardens. Please mark your calendars and plan to enjoy. For complete information and registration material, visit http://oldsite.daylilies.org/AHSconv.html
Please join President Suzanne McCance along with the Board of Directors of
THE GARDEN CLUB FEDERATION OF MASSACHUSETTS, INC.
Wednesday, June 5th, 2019 at The Hilton Boston Dedham , 25 Allied Drive, Dedham MA 02026
9:00 – Registration, Coffee, Boutique Shopping, and Design Specialty Flower Show
9:30 – Credentials & Call to Order. Welcome, Announcements, and Business Meeting
10:30 – Keynote Speaker Professor Doug Tallamy: Professor of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware. Author of the award-winning book ‘Bringing Nature Home’
11:45 – Awards Presentation
12:15 – Installation of new officers – Barbara May, former GCFM & NGC president
12:45 – Credentials and Announcements
12:50 – Boutique Shopping, Flower Show, and Social Hour
1:30 – Luncheon on the lawn
Please refer questions and inquiries to Nancy D’Ercole: nancy.m.dercole@gmail.com.
Register online at https://www.gcfm.org/annual-meeting
For almost two decades, pollinators have been declining in abundance, species richness, and geographic distribution at an unprecedented rate worldwide. These declines pose a significant threat to global biodiversity due to the keystone role that pollinators play in terrestrial ecosystems – more pollinator species means more plant species, and more plant species means more food, shelter, and nest sites for wildlife at other trophic levels. Yet, we presently lack the information on pollinator-plant connections or ‘networks’ at the species level needed to fully assess the impact of human activities on ecosystem health. Please join Dr. Robert J. Gegear for a discussion on how the concept of pollination networks can be used to develop effective ecosystem restoration strategies at different spatial scales. The May 8 program of the Athol Bird and Nature Club will begin at 7 pm at The Millers River Environmental Center, 100 Main Street, Athol. The program is free and open to the public. For more information visit http://atholbirdclub.org.
Sherley Smith, Co-President of the Garden Club of the Back Bay and Docent for the Friends of the Public Garden, and fellow Docent Sidney Kenyon, will lead a one-hour tour of the Garden, covering history, discussion of trees and flora, and commentary on the statues, at The Garden Club of the Back Bay’s April meeting/field trip.
The Public Garden is the first public garden in America – its form, plantings, and statuary evoke its Victorian heritage. The Garden is accessible to all. Boston citizens have always played an extraordinary role in protecting and preserving the Garden. Our Club is a longtime supporter of the Friends of the Public Garden. Members have received notice of this meeting – if you are not a member, but are interested in attending, please email info@bostonflora.com. Space is limited. Meet at the Make Way for Ducklings Sculpture, near the corner of Beacon and Charles Streets, inside the Public Garden.
Barbara Erickson. CEO of The Trustees, council member of the Land Trust Alliance, and frequent speaker on topics of community and conservation, will address the Boston Committee of the GCA Spring Membership Meeting, Lecture, and Luncheon.
Thursday, April 25, 2019
Brae Burn Country Club
326 Fuller Street, West Newton, MA 02465
10:00 a.m. | Registration and Coffee
10:30 a.m. | Welcome, Business Meeting, and Award Presentation
11:00 a.m. | Lecture and Luncheon to follow
Barbara Erickson has been the president and CEO of The Trustees since 2012. She recently expanded The Trustees leadership role in Boston proper, establishing headquarters where the organization was originally founded in 1891. She is the 2017 recipient of the Garden Club of America’s Elizabeth Craig Weaver Proctor Medal. Barbara will speak to the committee about the challenges to Boston’s waterfront and The Trustees’ One Waterfront Initiative, a multi-year effort to create an iconic, resilient open space on the waterfront.
The Beautification Award of 2019 for Lifetime Achievement in Civic Improvement will be presented to Marion Pressley, FASLA, Principal at Pressley Associates Landscape Architects (and Garden Club of the Back Bay speaker.)
The meeting is open to Boston Committee member clubs and their guests. For more information visit http://www.bostoncommitteegca.org/events.html
The Cambridge Entomological Club’s April meeting will take place Tuesday, April 9 at 7:30 pm in Room 101 of the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology on Oxford Street in Cambridge.
Why do fireflies flash? Because they want to be seen! But their unique bioluminescent courtship signals can be obscured by street lamps, house lights, and other sources of nighttime light pollution — and if we’re not careful, our lights might extinguish theirs forever. Learn more about the total impact of light pollution on firefly reproduction, and methods whereby fireflies, moths, and other essential members of the nocturnal ecosystem can continue to coexist with humans on this increasingly urbanized planet.
Avalon Owens is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Biology at Tufts University, where she studies the impact of light pollution on North American fireflies. She earned her Masters degree in Entomology from National Taiwan University, and hosts a bilingual educational YouTube channel called INSECT [昆蟲島] ISLAND.
The talk is free and open to the public. The meeting is readily accessible via public transportation. Parking is available in the Oxford Street Garage with advance arrangement, as described here, or (usually but not always) at spaces on nearby streets. Everyone is also welcome to join us for dinner before the talk (beginning at 5:45 PM) at the Cambridge Common, 1667 Mass Ave., Cambridge.
We love attending the Conifer Society national meetings and we know their format: establish a headquarters in a hotel conveniently located near worthy conifer viewing, be it private, public or park. Board buses, visit conifers, repair to the hotel for dinner, rinse and repeat. It’s a great way to enjoy Coneheads and conifers. But what if our hotel was located in one of the most comprehensive and beautiful conifer gardens in the country? What if we could view choice specimens simply by walking out the doors of our rooms and into a conifer wonderland? That’s what you’ll be doing June 6 – 8, 2019 when the Western Region hosts the national meeting at The Oregon Garden Resort.
The Oregon Garden, an ACS Reference Garden, was established in the 1990s by the Oregon Association of Nurserymen to showcase the products of Oregon’s #1 industry, horticulture. In partnership with the ACS, largely through the efforts of our own Doug Wilson, TOG’s conifer collection has grown into one of the best places in the country for viewing choice cultivars, meticulously labeled, in beautiful combination with companion plants. Early June in Oregon is still very spring-like, with lingering blossoms, fresh new growth on conifers and the possibility of showers. The moist air, abundant rainfall and cool nights produce healthy, vigorous plants that often show themselves to be stellar specimens of their species.
Because TOG is so lovely (and because there is much, much more to see than the conifer collection), we are designing this meeting with ample time at the Resort. In fact, Saturday’s agenda is entirely at the Resort! No buses, flexible scheduling and a wide variety of activities should make for a relaxing, informative and fun day. We will not only have space in the schedule for viewing the conifers, we will have aesthetic pruning demonstrations, workshops and lectures, and free time for strolling, loafing or spa treatments. We will also provide suggestions for nearby attractions, such as Conifer Kingdom/Rare Tree Nursery (3 miles from TOG), Silver Falls State Park (11 miles from TOG) and Western Evergreen (14 miles from TOG). As there is no public transportation from the airport to the Garden, we expect that most of you will have rental cars. For those that don’t, we will have a group of volunteers who will happily provide transport and we plan to use TOG’s shuttle to get to and from Conifer Kingdom. We are still finalizing the schedule, but will release it with plenty of time for you to make any bookings you wish.
Our dinners, our breakfasts and one of our lunches will be onsite at the Resort or the Garden. Guests at the Resort can enter the Garden at any time, even when it is closed to the public. In June the days are long and the weather mild. You can stroll the conifers with coffee or cocktail in hand, and your room is close by if you need a wrap or an umbrella.
For the full itinerary and speaker list, and details of a post meeting tour on Sunday, June 9, visit http://conifersociety.org/events/event/2019-national-meeting/
Image copyright Janice M. LeCocq for the American Conifer Society.
Join the Emerald Necklace Conservancy at our 2019 Annual Meeting as we explore the intersection of parks and health with several engaging short presentations. Also hear from President Karen Mauney-Brodek as we recap the success of our 20th Anniversary and share plans for 2019 and beyond. Presentations will be followed by a Q&A session with our speakers and a reception. The event takes place Monday, April 8 from 6 – 8:30 at the Linda K. Paresky Conference Center, Simmons University, 300 The Fenway, Boston.
Speakers Include:
…with more to be announced!
Registration is FREE, but strongly recommended.
To celebrate National Bat Appreciation Day (April 17th), MassWildlife’s Bat Conservation Program Coordinator, Jennifer Longsdorf, will share her knowledge and experience regarding the most underappreciated and misunderstood mammal on Earth. During her seven years with MassWildlife’s Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program, Jennifer has been involved with a variety of conservation and restoration projects aiding red-bellied cooters, bald eagles, peregrine falcons, coastal waterbirds, salamanders, and, more recently, bats. Bats are fascinating and unique creatures that play a critical role in many environments around the world. However, dramatic population declines have put bats in the spotlight recently. Come to discover how human activity and White-nose Syndrome have decimated bat populations. Learn the general facts and help dispel common myths and fears about these shy, gentle, and intelligent creatures. Join us for some tips on how to help conserve and protect these ecosystem superheroes. The April 10 program of the Athol Bird and Nature Club will begin at 7 pm at The Millers River Environmental Center, 100 Main Street, Athol. The program is free and open to the public. For more information visit http://atholbirdclub.org.
Celebrate the start of the gardening season on March 23 from 10 – 5 at Shillman Hall, Northeastern University, 115 Forsyth Street in Boston. The 44th Annual Gardeners’ Gathering brings Boston-area gardeners together for a free day full of informative workshops, engaging exhibitors, networking, and inspiration. Held at Northeastern University, the Gathering features more than two dozen workshops on everything from Healthy Soil to Urban Foraging. Urban homesteaders can learn about keeping bees or chickens, making fermented pickles, and growing gourmet mushrooms. Gardeners can hone their skills with workshops on garden planning, managing pests and diseases, and more.
This year’s Gathering will feature special guest speaker Aziz Dehkan, Executive Director of the New York City Community Garden Coalition. Aziz is an activist, community organizer, former organic farmer, and a tireless member of #Resist. He has worked for many social and environmental organizations including Mother Jones, The Coalition for the Homeless, The Fortune Society, and Peace Action Network of NY. Aziz will address the history, current state, and future of community gardens in NYC, looking at them through the lens of social justice and climate change protection. He’ll speak to gentrification and racial inequality and delve into how community gardens can be in the vanguard of climate change monitoring, adaption, and mitigation.
Mayor Walsh will deliver a keynote address and present the annual Community Garden Awards to an outstanding Rookie Garden of the Year, Most Valuable Gardener, and Hall of Fame garden.
A diverse array of local environmental and urban agriculture organizations will share their work in the exhibitors’ gallery. Register in advance at http://www.thetrustees.org/things-to-do/metro-boston/event-43119.html
