Boston Flora

Monday, February 10 – Wednesday, February 12, 2025 – MYCC Lobby Day

Join the Massachusetts Youth Climate Coalition as we sit down directly with our legislators to fight for state-level climate justice policy during our Youth Climate Lobby Week (week of 2/10/25). This is a great way to represent your community, have fun, and make a difference!

The Lobby Week schedule:

Monday 2/10: afternoon and evening virtual trainings on how to lobby
Tuesday 2/11 IN-PERSON LOBBY DAY: Rally & legislator meetings at the MA Statehouse
Wednesday (2/12) – Friday (2/14): virtual legislator meetings for those unable to make it on 2/11

The short link to this form is: bit.ly/mycc2025lobbyweek

This event is designed to center the voices of people ages 14-24. If you’re 25+ we still welcome your support but we will ask you to indicate that below and prepare to take on more supportive roles, like note-taker, practice legislator, moral support in meetings, help navigating the statehouse, securing in-kind donations, etc.

As always, we are advocating for policies aligned with our coalition Policy Principles. The list of actual priority bills will need to be refined once they have been filed in mid-January. Regardless we know already we’ll be asking for:

Inclusive & Transparent Governance
Environmental Justice
Renewable Energy
Equitable Funding
Intersectional Climate Justice & Civics Education
Nature, Land & Food-based Health

Northeast Regional Seed Club

Join the Northeast Regional Seed Club with Cape Ann Gardens using the link HERE and be a part of the local seed movement! You’ll receive 6 months of seeds (up to five packets every two months) featuring regionally grown flowers, herbs, vegetables, and fruits adapted for the northeastern U.S. $85 cost.

Your membership will provide critical start-up funds to support grower contributions to the 2025 list of offerings and seed contracts for the 2026 catalog. Your support is invaluable for developing this network of small-scale seed producers and launching a seed company rooted in ethical, regional seed stewardship.

Each seed variety has been grown and tested by experienced seed savers committed to ethical, regionally focused seed production. Our club members play a crucial role in this process—not just as recipients of seeds, but as active participants in the ongoing adaptation of plants to the Northeast’s evolving climate. This initiative strengthens a regional seed network, sustains small-scale producers, and advances a future where seed sovereignty is the norm, not the exception.

Monday, February 3, 6:30 pm – Curated Cuisine: Easy Weeknight Dinners

WBUR and CitySpace host an edition of Curated Cuisine on February 3 with New York Times Cooking’s Emily Weinstein, Melissa Clark, and Eric Kim. Inspired by one of The New York Times’s most popular newsletters, Weinstein’s “Five Weeknight Dishes,” the new book Easy Weeknight Dinners offers 100 fast and flavorful meals that will satisfy whether you’re seeking a standout dinner for one, crowd pleasers for picky kids or something special for company. Just because you’re busy doesn’t mean that you can’t have something excellent to eat.

Weinstein will be joined by popular Cooking columnists Melissa Clark and Eric Kim, who will discuss recipe writing, go-to meals and tips for easy excellence in the kitchen. Copies of the book will be available for purchase, the chefs will sign and guests will enjoy a bite from the book following the conversation. $10 (students) – $30. Register HERE.

Wednesday, January 22, 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm Eastern – How Animals Overwinter, Online

Join Leah Brooks as she highlights the strategies and adaptations that native animals use to survive the winter. Unlock the secrets of frogs that freeze, mammals that hunker in hollows, butterflies that bunk under bark, and more! This Mt. Cuba Center program takes place online on Wednesday, January 22, 2025. $25. Register at https://mtcubacenter.org/event/how-animals-overwinter-online/

Leah Brooks is the Public Programs Coordinator at Mt. Cuba Center. She has dual bachelor’s degrees from the University of Delaware in Environmental Science and Wildlife Ecology. She is a Delaware Master Naturalist and Vice Chair of the Delaware Invasive Species Council. She’s an avid contributor to the Delaware Native Plant Identification and Exchange group on Facebook. Her passion is sharing the joy of nature and native gardening with ot

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