You hear the terms climate change, global warming, and going green in the daily news, but what does it all mean? This workshop with Cristin Ashmankas, currently completing her Ph.D. in Oceanography, will explore the science of climate change and its causes and effects. Topics of discussion include the main controls on global climate and how those controls change, the science about which there’s agreement, and the implications of the current climate changes on both the regional and global scale. Readings will accompany lectures and discussions.  Tuesday evenings, 6:45 – 8:45 pm at Lesley University Hall, 1815 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge (the old Sears Building next to Porter Square T stop).  $130 for the series, parking behind the building for $2. For more information, go to www.lesley.edu/ce/spring, email jwadling@lesley.edu, or call Joyce Wadlington at 617-349-8609.

You are invited to join James Hunt, Chief of Environmental and Energy Services for the City of Boston as he discusses innovative programs and policies that the City of Boston is implementing to protect the environment, reduce energy use and control greenhouse gas emissions. The program will take place at the Arlington Street Church, 351 Boylston Street, and is free and open to the public. The mission of the City of Boston’s Environmental and Energy Services Department is to preserve and enhance the resources of the city’s built and natural environment; and to promote safe, reliable, affordable and efficient energy systems. Finding solutions to environmental issues, energy issues, and climate change are of the highest priority to Mayor Menino.

Lyman Estate Greenhouses, Waltham, Mass.; $10 for up to three orchids.
Bring up to three orchid plants for evaluation by experienced horticulturists. Get advice on maintaining healthy blooming plants. Other services offered include repotting and educational hand-outs about orchids. Books, pots, and growing supplies are for sale. For more information, call 781-891-4882, ext. 244;

The Ellis South End Neighborhood Association’s Green Committee hosts a panel from Boston’s Urban Forest Coalition to discuss “Urban Forests: The Future of Boston’s Trees” on Monday, October 20th from 6 – 8:00 pm at the Lyric Stage located at 140 Clarendon St. in the South End. Thanks to the generosity of the Lyric Stage Company of Boston, admission is free.

Panelists include representatives from the Urban Ecology Institute, the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, and the City of Boston Park’s Department. Topics to be discussed are: the results of the Urban Ecology Institute’s Street Tree Inventory, particularly what it reveals about the South End, Back Bay, and Beacon Hill; the impending threat posed to maple trees by the introduced pest, the Asian Longhorn Beetle, which has been discovered as close as Worcester; and Grow Boston Greener Campaign, a collaboration between the City of Boston and its partner Boston’s Urban Forest Coalition to plant 100,000 trees in Boston by the year 2020.

The Ellis South End Neighborhood Association, founded over 50 years ago, is a non-profit membership organization dedicated to preserving the historic South End as well as ensuring that it remains a diverse, vibrant and safe community for residents and visitors. For more information, please visit www.ellisneighborhood.org.

Revisiting Paradise: Landscape Journeys from South Asia to the Mediterranean. Persian literary and graphic sources in combination with historic accounts of European travelers provide new insights into Safavid gardens and garden cities. The diversity of private, public, and royal spaces is revealed in the vibrant illustrations created by guest speaker, architect Mahvash Alemi. Alemi is a Garden and Landscape Studies Fellow for 2008-2009, Dumbarton Oaks Washington DC. Tickets $15, $12 Seniors, $5 Members of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. For more information call 617-566-1401, or log on to www.gardnermuseum.org.

Join members of the Wollaston Garden Club at Quincy House in Quincy, Massachusetts for a hands-on workshop on how to identify and prune plantings. After the workshop, enjoy free tours of the house and discover how the landscape has changed since 1770. Free admission. For more information, call 617-227-3957, ext. 256.

Follow farm routines and traditions passed down for generations, from helping put the animals to bed to listening to stories by the fire. Visitors get a sound sleep in the upper chamber of the manor house, sleeping in a bedrool (sleeping bags will do), as children did for centuries. Adults may bring air mattresses or pads. Spencer-Peirce-Little Farm, Newbury, MA. Registration required, $19 for Historic New England members, $26 for non members. For more information, call 978-462-2634.

Celebrate the arrival of fall at Cogswell’s Grant in Essex, Massachusetts. Families will enjoy horse-drawn wagon rides, choose pumpkins to decorate, compete in a pumpkin pie-eating contest, do craft activities, play games, and try cider pressing. Enjoy hot mulled apple cider and homemade pumpkin pie. The historic house is open for tours. Free to members of Historic New England, $6 for non members, $4 for children. For more information, call 978-768-3632.