Boston Flora

Monday, December 9, 6:30 pm – Curated Cuisine: Historian Jessica B. Harris on the Culinary & Cultural Traditions of Kwanzaa

Curated Cuisine is a monthly series at CitySpace at the Lavine Broadcast Center in Brookline hosted by WBUR and Boston University examining all things edible, from the chefs cooking the food to the writers reviewing the recipes. Meet the people shaping the food industry, both local and national and enjoy a post-show bite inspired by the conversation.

James Beard Award-winning culinary historian Jessica B. Harris joins Tamika R. Francis, founder of Food & Folklore, for a conversation about the updated edition of her book, A Kwanzaa Keepsake and Cookbook: Celebrating the Holiday with Family, Community and Tradition. The event takes place December 9 at 6:30 pm. Harris is the author of 12 critically acclaimed books documenting the foods and foodways of the African Diaspora including High on the Hog: A Culinary Journey from Africa to America, which inspired the Netflix docuseries of the same name.

A Kwanzaa Keepsake and Cookbook explores African American culture, food and family, featuring recipes and stories to help this generation create unique holiday traditions. Copies of the book will be available for purchase from our bookstore partner Frugal Books. Harris will sign and guests will enjoy a bite from the book following the conversation. Reserved tickets $30, General Admission $20, BU faculty and staff $15. Register HERE

Saturday, December 14, 9:30 am – 3:30 pm – Winter Botany

On Saturday, December 14 at Garden in the Woods in Framingham, from 9:30 – 3:30, William E. Kuriger will help you investigate the taxonomic characteristics of deciduous, evergreen, and some herbaceous plants in winter. Students learn to use a dichotomous key and then identify a large inventory of twig and plant specimens before heading outdoors to practice these skills in the Garden’s living collection. Bring a bag lunch, a hand lens, and a copy of Fruit Key and Twig Key to Trees and Shrubs by William M. Harlow. Take home plant specimens. $102for Native Plant Trust members, $120 for nonmembers. Register at www.nativeplanttrust.org

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Sunday, December 8, 4:45 pm – Candlelit Labyrinth Walk: In Peace & Harmony

Meet and greet your neighbors at the Armenian Heritage Park on Sunday, December 8 at 4:45 pm. Enjoy hot chocolate and holiday cookies. For complete information visit https://www.armenianheritagepark.org/events

Thursday, January 9 – Saturday, January 11 – Slow Flowers Worldwide Summit, Online

The Slow Flowers WORLDWIDE Summit on January 9 – 11, 2025 is a conference for creative professionals, thought leaders and pioneering voices in the progressive Slow Flowers community. Designed to stimulate curiosity, examine conventional assumptions and explore conscious and ethical practices in the floral industry, the Summit agenda asks speakers and audience members alike to inquire, inform, include, instigate and inspire.

This year’s online Worldwide Summit is our first ever, inviting attendees to join us from across the international Slow Flowers Movement. Inspired by the great success of the previous seven live, in-person conferences, Slow Flowers Society is staging an expansive and inclusive Slow Flowers Summit for attendees across the globe!

This event will take place over three days early in the New Year – perfectly timed for floral professionals and flower lovers to fill their toolboxes with skills and techniques, and to uplift their goals and ambitions for the coming season. For registration and more information visit https://www.slowflowerssummit.com/

Join Slow Flowers’ doers and thinkers for three days of progressive ideas, connections and inspiration – online! – January 9-11, 2025.

Friday, January 9th

Holly Heider Chapple, Hope Flower Farm
Kristen Griffith-VanderYacht, Wild Bloom Floral
Pilar Zuniga, Gorgeous & Green
Hannah Morgan, Fortunate Orchard
Toni Reale, Roadside Blooms

Saturday, January 10th

Sarah Statham, Simply by Arrangement
Kirsten McMahon, Ardrie Park Floral Studio
Briana Bosch, Blossom & Branch Farm
Mara Tyler, The Farm at Oxford
Melissa Feveyear, Terra Bella Flowers

Sunday, January 11th

Shanda Zelaya, Flor de Casa Designs
Natasa Harper, Toronto Flower Market
Becky Feasby, Prairie Girl Flowers
Eileen Tongson, Farmgal Flowers

December, 2024 – Solstice: Reflections on Winter Light

SOLSTICE: Reflections on Winter Light is an annual event at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge that includes an outdoor journey through large-scale light and sound artworks, and an indoor experience with live music and candle lighting. Guests are invited to walk through the light-filled landscape and explore the Winter Solstice atmosphere, and to reflect on moments of change as the year ends and a new cycle begins. Connect to a landscape of exceptional beauty, consider an intention for the new year, or commemorate the memory of a loved one. Let the Solstice light your way as you encounter the unique spirit of Mount Auburn.

Presented by the Friends of Mount Auburn Cemetery | Created by MASARY. Purchase tickets at https://www.mountauburnsolstice.org/tickets-2024

EVENT DATES

Dec 7–8
Dec 10–11
Dec 13–15
Dec 17–18
Dec 20–21

Wednesday, December 11, 2:30 pm – 4:00 pm Eastern – Queen Caroline and the Invention of the Landscape Garden

Join The Gardens Trust in partnership with Kent Gardens Trust on December 11 for a special online lecture. Conventional ideas of the invention of the landscape garden in 1730s England attribute the creation of this new form of naturalistic garden design to male gardeners (William Kent, Charles Bridgeman) and/or landowners (the Earl of Carlisle, the Prince of Wales, Lord Cobham, General Dormer, etc.).

This talk will consider the activities of Caroline of Ansbach, Queen Caroline 1727-37 (wife of George II), and debates within her intellectual circle. The focus will be on underlying religio-scientific concepts crucial to developing views of the natural world that were taking place in Caroline’s lifetime (1683-1737). Such views were a pre-condition of the new form of garden that took shape in the 1730s. We will also focus on the intellectual ramifications of her transition from Ansbach to England, as Princess of Wales, in 1714. For particular reasons she was responsible for the design of a garden building that the talk will represent as seminal to the landscape garden.

The gardens involved are those at Richmond, Kensington Palace, and Stowe.

Michael Charlesworth gained his PhD in History and Theory of Art from the University of Kent at Canterbury. He is currently a professor of art history at the University of Texas at Austin teaching 19th century European painting and photography. He has written the first full length biography of Reginald Farrer, a critical life of Derek Jarman, as well as major articles on early photography, the picturesque, and 18th century panoramic drawing. His book Landscape and Vision in Nineteenth-Century Britain and France (Routledge) was published in 2008

This ticket is for this special session and costs £8. Gardens Trust and Kent Gardens Trust Members may purchase tickets at £6, through the Eventbrite link HERE. Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days prior to the start of the talk, and again a few hours before the talk (If you do not receive this link, please contact us). A link to the recorded session will be sent shortly after each session and will be available for 2 weeks .

Friday, February 7 – Urban Tree Symposium Save the Date

Save the date, February 7, 2025 for the New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill’s Urban Tree Symposium. Details will be available soon at https://nebg.org/urbantreesymposium.

Saturday, December 7, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm – Native Seed Sowing Workshop

Join Erin Hammes, Plant Records and Production Horticulturist at Native Plant Trust on December 7 from 1 – 2:30 for this native seed sowing workshop. Learn about our native seeds and then get your hands in the soil to sow some seeds that you can take home. The class will be held at Long Hill in Beverly, a Trustees of Reservations property. $26 for NPT members, $30 for nonmembers. Register at https://www.nativeplanttrust.org/events/native-seed-sowing-workshop-12072024/

Friday, December 6, 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm, and Saturday & Sunday, December 7 & 8, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm – Holiday Marketplace

An eagerly awaited tradition continues at Berkshire Botanical Garden on Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday, December 6 – 8, with Holiday Marketplace featuring the legendary Gallery of Wreaths.

The festivities begin Friday evening, December 6, with the Holiday Wreath Preview Party 5 to 7 p.m. The party includes early wreath-buying opportunities, live music, hors d’oeuvres, libations, and merriment! This is a pre-registered event. Members: $75/Non-Members: $100. The Marketplace runs Saturday and Sunday, December 7 and 8, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Register at www.berkshirebotanical.org

Select from a collection of 100 unique, one-of-a-kind designer wreaths as well as an assortment of holiday-blooming amaryllis and paperwhites in decorative and clay containers, succulent arrangements, garlands, hanging terrariums and gift items presented by regional artisan vendors. Picture courtesy of the Berkshire Edge.

Through Monday, December 2 – 90 Years Young: Berkshire Botanical Garden 1934 – 2024

Berkshire Botanical Garden’s 2024 Art/Garden series continues with “90 Years Young: Berkshire Botanical Garden 1934-2024,” an exhibition featuring historical photos, film and other artifacts that trace the garden’s growth and elevation.

The exhibition continues through December 2, in the Leonhardt Galleries in West Stockbridge.

From its auspicious founding (as the Berkshire Garden Center) by a large group of civic-minded local organizations, Berkshire Botanical Garden has remained a community resource like no other. The Harvest Festival, begun in 1935 to raise much-needed funds, quickly became the quintessential Berkshire marker of fall. Our display and trial gardens, along with dedicated educators, have inspired generations of gardeners and garden lovers. And over the decades, our buildings and grounds have changed to meet the needs of our community. In this exhibit, we honor our long history and the people who made BBG what it is today.

Berkshire Botanical Garden’s Leonhardt Galleries are open seven days a week, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. until Oct. 31. From Nov. 1 to Dec. 2, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information visit https://www.berkshirebotanical.org/90-years-young-berkshire-botanical-garden-1934-2024