Boston Flora

Saturday, January 18, 9:30 am – 4:00 pm – Houseplant & Begonia Sale

Come to the Lyman Estate Greenhouses, 185 Lyman Street in Waltham on January 18 from 9:30 to 4 for a great retail experience. This new exotic houseplant sale features begonias and gesneriads. This diverse group of flowering plants includes lipstick plants (Aeschynanthus), goldfish plants (Nemantanthus), flame violets (Episcia), along with Columnea, Streptocarpus, Sinningia, and Kohleria. Our fantastic selection of begonias can give you fall color all winter long. Many other plant varieties will be for sale including orchids, succulents and cacti, citrus, ferns, and terrarium plants.

Historic New England’s Garden and Landscape members receive a 10% discount on purchases and individual and household members receive a 10% discount. Please call 617-994-5913 for more information. Online information: www.historicnewengland.org

Saturday, January 25, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm – Nature Journaling with Nanci Worthington

Join New Marlborough artist and NEGSI member, Nanci Worthington on January 25 from 1 – 3 as she guides you through nature journaling sessions at Bartholomew’s Cobble. Bartholomew’s Cobble is located at 105 Weatogue Road in Ashley Falls, Sheffield, Massachusetts. Nanci will teach you how to observe nature and your surroundings and capture what you see, hear and feel on paper.

This group is for everyone– self proclaimed naturalists, bird watchers, kids, adults, teens, advanced artists and beginners- no experience necessary. Just a love of the outdoors!

Space is limited and registration is required. The group will meet outside the visitor’s center at Bartholomew’s Cobble the last Saturday of each month and run for approximately 2 hours. Materials will not be provided for you. A confirmation email will be sent when you sign up with a materials list.

Please email aduquette@thetrustees.org for more information. You may register at https://thetrustees.org/event/419504/ Member $5, nonmember $10.

Wednesdays, January 29 – February 19, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon – Writing the Garden of Your Life

Join veteran teacher, award-winning memoirist, and avid gardener Jennifer Browdy for a series of four Berkshire Botanical Garden wintertime workshops (Wednesdays, Jan. 29 to Feb. 19, from 10 a.m. to noon) using gardening as a theme for personal writing. You can write about your gardening experiences, and/or write about your life using gardening as a metaphor.

Sessions will be organized around the following themes, with writing prompts that can be taken literally or metaphorically:
1. Designing with vision and intention
2. Composting, pruning and deadheading, and preparing new beds
3. Planting seeds and bulbs, and welcoming the sap and new shoots
4. Cultivating, weeding and fertilizing

Along the way, you’ll learn about Jennifer’s unique “elemental journey” framework for writing memoirs, and benefit from her decades of experience as a writing professor, author coach, editor, and publisher.
Come meet other writer-gardeners and brighten up the winter season with the creative bloom of memoir writing in good company!

Jennifer Browdy, PhD, is a professor of literature, writing and media arts at Bard College at Simon’s Rock and the online global Bard Open Society University Network. Her latest book, Purposeful Memoir as a Quest for a Thriving Future, was a 2022 Nautilus Gold Award winner and a 2022 Gold Award winner in the Independent Press Awards. Her writer’s guide, The Elemental Journey of Purposeful Memoir, won a 2017 Nautilus Silver Award, and her memoir, What I Forgot …And Why I Remembered, was a finalist for the 2018 International Book Awards. Offering writing workshops, author coaching and manuscript review, Jennifer is the publisher of Green Fire Press and co-host of the Birth Your Truest Story online writers’ community. She has led writing workshops at many venues locally, nationally and internationally, including Bioneers, Kripalu, Mount Holyoke, the Mount, the Writers Federation of Nova Scotia, and many more. She publishes two Substack newsletters, Writing to Right the World & The Spirit of Education, and leads an annual memoir retreat in Tuscany as well as Riding and Writing trips to Portugal and Iceland.

Register for the series ($200 for BBG members, $220 for nonmembers) at https://www.berkshirebotanical.org/events/writing-garden-your-life

Brookline Department of Public Works Division of Sustainability & Natural Resources

Did you know that in 2024, the Brookline Department of Public Works welcomed a new division – The Division of Sustainability and Natural Resources? The Division’s mission is to develop and execute policies, programs, and projects to combat and mitigate the effects of climate change and sustainably manage and protect Brookline’s natural resources to build ecological and climate resilience. Brookline has a long history of local climate action, and now an eager team of staff ready to implement the Town’s sustainability and conservation policies and initiatives.

As they look into the New Year, keep an eye out for more information or the new Division, including:
Staff Introductions
Volunteer Opportunities
Public meetings related to sustainability

Saturday, January 11, 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm – Winter Sowing

Join Worcester Native Plant Initiative for its first Winter Sow of the year on January 11. Bring 3 translucent milk/water type jugs and they will provide the rest. Each participant will choose two types of seeds and build a mini greenhouse to germinate them. The times are from 1 to 5pm at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester, 140 Shore Drive Worcester Massachusetts. If possible register with EventBrite HERE. This is a free event. The program is offered with REC and Mass Audubon.

Tuesday, January 14, 8:00 pm – 9:00 pm Eastern – Winter Houseplant Care, Online

The hardest time of year to take care of indoor plants doesn’t have to be hard. Discover tips and tricks to care for your beloved houseplants during the colder, darker, and drier parts of the year.

This Chicago Botanic Garden class will be taught online via Zoom on January 14 at 8 pm Eastern. All registrations must be submitted online two days before your class starts. Registered students will receive login instructions one day in advance.

Julia Zoltwosky, horticulture educator, is the instructor. $19 for CBG members, $24 for nonmembers. Register at www.chicagobotanic.org

2025 Flower of the Year – Ranunculus

The commercial flower delivery company 1-800-FLOWERS announced its 2025 Flower of the Year – Ranunculus, and Plant of the Year – Snake Plant, and as the director of marketing explains, “The ranunculus, with its vibrant petals, reflects enthusiasm, love, admiration, and happiness, while the snake plant represents longevity, health, and growth,” he said. “Beyond their striking beauty, these choices offer a meaningful gift that nurtures relationships and promotes well-being—exactly what we’re all wishing for in the year ahead.” You may wish to purchase some seeds for your garden this year.

Sunday, January 19, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm – Plants for the Winter Garden with Warren Leach

If you missed Warren Leach at the Arnold Arboretum, you have a second chance at New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill on January 19 at 2 pm. The winter garden is truly a low maintenance affair and a time to enjoy – no weeding, no watering and no dead-heading! The winter landscape may be quiescent, but the garden need not be bleak. Plants with brightly colored berries, twigs, stems, foliage and even winter-blooming flowers shrug off the snow and cold. They bring cheer, even as the sun enters Capricorn. Landscape horticulturist Warren Leach, and author of the new book from Timber Press Plants for the Winter Garden, will showcase gardens he has designed that celebrate the winter season as well as planting design ideas for your own garden.

Warren will be available for book signings after the lecture. Free for NEBG members, $10 for nonmembers. If you wish to purchase a book, $38.25 for members and $52.50 for nonmembers. Register HERE.

Saturday, January 18 – February 8, 10:30 am – 4:30 pm GMT – Looking at Historic Landscapes and Gardens: An Introduction to Garden History 2025, Online

Hosted in partnership with The Gardens Trust, this Garden Museum livestreamed course provides an introduction to the history of gardens and garden design through the ages. This course offers students with little or no previous knowledge a chronological panorama of the development of garden history from medieval and Tudor gardens through to the twentieth century, and will end with the 21st century, tomorrow’s history in the making!

The sixteen lectures will run over four Saturdays, January 18 – February 8, and be delivered by well-known speakers and experts in their fields.

Week One: Saturday January 18 2025

What is garden history with Tim Richardson
Overview of the early modern era with Jill Francis
John Tradescant naturalist, gardener, collector with speaker TBA
Looking at surviving 17^th century gardens with Jill Francis

Week Two: Saturday 25 January 2025

Setting the scene of the Georgian era with Dr. Twigs Way
Looking at landscape parks with Dr .Twigs Way
Looking follies and grottoes with Peter Cooke
Understanding picturesque landscapes with Dr. Deborah Evans

Week Three: Saturday 1 February 2025

Setting the scene on the Victorian era with Francesca Murray
High Victorian design with Ben Dark
Working class gardening with Ben Dark
Looking at the arts and crafts garden with Cherrill Sands

Week Four: Saturday 8 February 2025

Modern women gardeners with Caroline Holmes

Overview of the 20th & 21st Century with Tim Richardson

Post industrial landscapes with John Little

Planting styles in the 20^th century flower garden with Andrew Wilson

Livestream 4-week course: £100. Livestream single day: £30. Register at www.gardenmuseum.org.uk

Wednesday, January 15, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm – Watercolors in the Conservatory with Linda

Painting outdoors can be lovely and wonderful but that’s not always possible when the weather gets cooler. Fortunately for us, New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill has beautiful indoor conservatories with an array of plants to enjoy year-round! Walk together through the Orangery and sit with a watercolor journal, water brushes, and watercolor paints to create your own depiction of the amazing flora NEBG has to share.

Learn the basics of watercolor painting by experimenting with different brushes and water amounts. Discover how watercolors mix with materials like salt and ink, and see how these techniques affect your artwork. Create your own piece in the subtropical conservatory while exploring how watercolors behave and how to control their flow.

All materials are included in this January 15 class. No experience needed.

Meet Your Instructor: Linda Snay

Linda Snay was born in Connecticut and has always been drawn to the world of art. She discovered watercolors at a young age and was encouraged by art teachers. She studied art in college and went on to graduate from Eastern Connecticut State University with a BA, double major in Studio Art and Art History. After moving to Massachusetts, her career led to positions in education in museums and art centers, and she is currently a teaching artist leading engaging art classes for both children and adults. She works in various media, including watercolor, acrylic, oil, and pastel. She is a member of Arts Worcester and participates regularly in exhibitions in Central Massachusetts.

$55 Member Adult | $66 Adult (includes admission to the Garden on the same day of the event) Register HERE.