Boston Flora

Saturday, October 22, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon – Make It and Take It: Basic Floral Design 101

Learn the secrets of the pros! Using a step-by-step method, you will learn how to choose and process your flowers and what tools and containers work best to create arrangements that boast a distinctive visual flair. Weâ€™ll explore the color, texture, and variety of fall flowers, and discuss the myriad styles of floral design, such as the English garden, ikebana, symmetrical and asymmetrical design. This Boston Center for Adult Education one day class will take place Saturday, October 22, and is taught by Laurie Marino right at the BCAE on Arlington Street. $30 for BCAE members, $35 for non-members, and there is a materials cost of $18. To register, visit www.bcae.org.

Saturday, October 22, 11:00 am – 12:00 noon – Putting Your Landscape to Bed

Mahoney’s Garden Center in Concord will conduct a free seminar entitled Putting Your Landscape to Bed on Saturday, October 22, from 11 – noon.Â Do you know how to prepare your roses, dahlias, delphiniums or azaleas for the cold weather?Â Mahoney’s in-house expert will show you how to prepare your beds and containers for the long wintr months.Â Topics covered include annuals, perennials, trees, and shrubs, and the best way to winterize pottery, statuary, and fountains.Â Sign up at www.mahoneysgarden.com.Â In keeping with our “Japan Year” garden club program theme, below is a picture of cycads wrapped for winter in Kyoto, Japan, from Tokyo Moe, a blog about Nakano, Tokyo and public space, found at www.jaredinnakano.wordpress.com.

Thursday, November 10, 2:00 pm – The Gardens of Kyoto

The November meeting of The Garden Club of the Back Bay will take place Thursday, November 10, at 2 pm, at The College Club, 44 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston. Rita Bond will speak on The Gardens of Kyoto. Originally from Brooklyn, New York, and New Jersey, Rita W. Bond is a longtime resident of Simsbury, Connecticut. She holds a Masterâ€™s Degree from Teachers College, Columbia University in the teaching of English. Rita studied landscape design at the New York Botanical Garden, and has had her own business as a residential landscape designer. Rita resumed her studies in art, and particularly color, in order to refine her skill as a landscape designer. As she has progressed in her art studies, she has found a new love and a new voice for expressing her creativity and love of the New England landscape. Ritaâ€™s illustrated lecture will provide a short history of, and an examination of, the cultural and religious significance of the gardens of Japan, in particular those of Kyoto. She will discuss design principles and plants that can be used here as well. The program will be followed by tea. Members will receive written notice of this meeting in the mail. Non members who may wish to attend ($20 fee) may email info@gardenclubbackbay.org.

Saturday, October 29 and Saturday, November 5, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm – Propagating Trees and Shrubs from Cuttings and Seeds

Need to nurture? Then join longtime Arnold Arboretum propagator Jack Alexander at the Dana Greenhouse at the Arboretum on two Saturdays, October 29 and November 5, from 9 – 4, to learn basic information and techniques for propagating most woody plants. Session One includes a lecture and workshop on seed propagation and construction of a propagation case. Session Two will be a lecture and workshop on hardwood cuttings. You will leave class with numerous cuttings and seeds to care for. To participate, you must sign an Assumption of Risk and Release in order to practice the techniques taught in class. Bring a lunch and beverage. If you own hand pruners, bring them to class. A sharp knife and an apron may also be helpful. You will be collecting propagules from the Arboretum grounds on both afternoons regardless of weather, so dress accordingly and wear comfortable shoes. Fee $180 member, $240 nonmember. Register at www.arboretum.harvard.edu.

Friday, November 4 – Sunday, November 6, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm – Fall Orchid Sale

Celebrate orchid blooming season on Friday, November 4 – Sunday, November 6, from 10 – 4 at the Lyman Estate Greenhouses, 185 Lyman Street in Waltham, sponsored by Historic New England. Hundreds of orchid plants are for sale, including many hard-to-find varieties. Visit the greenhouses and enjoy gorgeous floral colors, shapes, and scents. Among the many varieties on display and for sale are cattleyas, laelias, oncidiums, Paphiopedilum, and Phalaenopsis. Their long-lasting and showy blooms make orchids a dramatic addition to any indoor environment and this adaptable species can be grown in a variety of home conditions. Free admission. For more information, call 781-891-1985, or visit www.historicnewengland.org.

Sunday, October 23, 12:30 pm – 2:30 pm – Wicked Plants

Linda Russell of Scentsibilities will speak at Tower Hill Botanic Garden, 11 French Drive in Boylston, on Sunday October 23, from 12:30 – 2:30, on Wicked Plants: The Scandalous, the Deadly, the Ill-Mannered, and the Intoxicating.Â This combination of lore, stories and facts will increase your knowledge of the silent dangers in the plants around us, many in our own gardens and back yards.Â The program is fun and informative, and best of all, no cauldron required! THBG members $10, non-members $12.Â Register at www.towerhillbg.org, or call 508-869-6111.

Sunday, October 23, 1:00 pm – 3:30 pm – Squash Floral Arrangement

Julie Lapham of Julie Lapham Designs will conduct a Tower Hill Botanic Garden workshop on Sunday, October 23, from 1 – 3:30.Â Fill a large squash with the vibrant colors of fall, using fresh and dried plant material.Â All materials and mechanics will be provided, but please bring scissors and an apron.Â THBG members $60, non-members $65.Â Register at www.towerhillbg.org, or call 508-869-6111.

Saturday, October 22, 10:00 am – 1:00 pm – Apples, Apples, Apples

Apples, one of our most ancient and useful fruits, have played an important role in fall and winter celebrations for many centuries.Â Learn apple history and traditions while you make an apple candle to decorate your seasonal table, a spicy apple pomander for gift giving, fragrant old-fashioned mast balls, and ornaments with apple-cinnamon dough.Â You’ll also create a winter apple potpourri to take home.Â Please bring floral scissors and an apron to this class, which will take place at Tower Hill Botanic Garden, 11 French Drive, Boylston, Massachusetts on Saturday, October 22 from 10 – 1.Â Betsy Williams of The Proper Season will instruct.Â This is a messy class, she says, so be sure to wear old clothes.Â THBG members $60, non-members $65.Â Register at www.towerhillbg.org, or call 508-869-6111.

Saturday, October 15, 9:00 am – 12:00 noon – Putting the Youth Gardens to Bed

Help the staff at Tower Hill Botanic Garden prepare the Youth Gardens for the next year’s season and learn more about the Youth Gardening Program,Â Scouts and other volunteer groups are welcome – admission to the graden is free when you volunteer.Â Snacks will be provided and everyone will go home with a pumpkin, gourd, or winter squash, and maybe more.Â For more information, call 508-869-6111 x 120, or visit www.towerhillbg.org.

Saturday, October 22, 10:00 am – 3:00 pm – Introduction to Shiitake Mushroom Growing

This Berkshire Botanical Garden program, co-sponsored with Berkshire Grown, is a practical hands-on workshop on the natural, forest cultivation of shiitake mushrooms. This introductory workshop to be held Saturday, October 22 from 10 – 3, aims to teach participants about log-based sustainable shiitake mushroom cultivation, harvesting, and marketing. Through the hands-on workshop and pictorial â€œvisitsâ€ to actual shiitake farms in the Northeast, participants will learn about tree species selection and sustainability, spawn types, inoculations, predictable fruiting, and enterprise management. The workshop is both for homeowners and aspiring mushroom farmers. Participants will practice inoculating and will take home logs to cultivate throughout the season.

Allen Matthews has been the Farm Enterprise Program coordinator at the University of Vermont Center for Sustainable Agriculture since 2002. In this role he has worked with a wide range of diversified farms across Vermont in on-farm research projects, marketing value-added products and in farm business planning. Past SARE (Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education) research projects have included developing sustainable indicators for dairy farms and developing forest-grown shiitakes as a farm and forest enterprise.Â All materials will be provided, and participants are asked to dress for outdoors and to bring a bagged lunch.Â $65 for BBG members, $75 for non-members.Â Register at www.berkshirebotanical.org.