Boston Flora

Thursday, November 14, 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm – Harvest Festival and Auction

Join the Women’s Lunch Place and the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay on Thursday, November 14 at 6 pm for a festive benefit for Women’s Lunch Place and NABB. The event takes place at 67 Newbury Street in Boston. Mingle with your neighbors during this fun event while supporting two worthwhile causes! Enjoy a delicious harvest of culinary selections, wine, and craft beers.

Get some early holiday shopping done during our Silent Auction, which features sports tickets, restaurant gift cards, and more. We will also have an art gallery full of beautiful creations from WLP guests, all available for purchase. Sponsorship opportunities may be found at https://womenslunchplace.org/nabb You will also find information on donating silent auction items and purchasing tickets.

Saturday, October 26 & Sunday, October 27, 10:00 am – 3:00 pm – Halloween Zoo Howl: Franklin Park Zoo

Join us for this spooktacular celebration, where wild creatures and Halloween fun come together, at the Franklin Park Zoo on October 26 & 27. Wander through our animal habitats and collect terrifyingly tasty treats on our trick-or-treat trail, and get creative at our arts and craft stations. Be sure to bring your own treat bags. Keep an eye out—some of our animals might be getting into the spirit too! And don’t forget to show off your Halloween style in our kids’ costume contest!

SUSTAINABLE SWEETS

This Halloween (and every day) look for candy made with certified sustainable palm oil. Palm oil plantations are wiping out animal habitats, and from snacks to soap, palm oil is the most widely consumed vegetable oil on the planet. Check out Cheyenne Mountain Zoo’s palm-oil friendly candy guide(opens as a PDF) for some sustainably sweet treats for your tricksters.

For more information visit www.zoonewengland.org/engage/zoo-howl/

Wednesday, October 30, 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm Eastern – The Tree Collectors: Tales of Arboreal Obsession, Online

If you missed Amy Stewart speak on her latest book with the Arnold Arboretum this August, you have another chance on October 30 at 7 pm Eastern to hear her, with the American Horticultural Society. When Amy Stewart discovered a community of tree collectors, she expected to meet horticultural fanatics driven to plant every species of oak or maple. But she also discovered that the urge to collect trees springs from something deeper and more profound: a longing for community, a vision for the future, or a path to healing and reconciliation. In this talk, Stewart introduces audiences to several of the remarkable people she met from around the world whose lives were transformed by their relationships to trees. Accompanied by her own hand-drawn illustrations of people and their trees, this talk inspires audiences to reconsider their own connections to trees–and maybe start a collection! $15 for AHS members, $20 for nonmembers. Register at www.ahsgardening.org

Amy Stewart is the New York Times best-selling author of The Tree Collectors, The Drunken Botanist, Wicked Plants, and several other popular nonfiction titles about the natural world. Her books have sold over a million copies worldwide and have been translated into 18 languages. She has been featured in NPR’s Morning Edition of Fresh Air, the New York Times, CBS Sunday Morning, Good Morning America, and the PBS documentary The Botany of Desire. Her book Wicked Plants was adapted into a national traveling exhibit at science museums nationwide for over a decade. Stewart is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, the American Horticulture Society’s Book Award, and an International Association of Culinary Professionals Food Writing Award. Stewart is based in Portland, Oregon.

Monday, November 4, 12:00 pm – 1:15 pm Eastern – The World of Carnivorous Plants, Online

Smithsonian Associates presents an online lecture on carnivorous plants on November 4 with Steve Nicholls. Be careful when you next go into your garden: It’s full of killers. You may be familiar with carnivorous plants such as the Venus flytrap, sundew, or pitcher plant, but a surprising number of plants could be classified as carnivorous—including your geraniums and potentillas.

Many true carnivorous plants have surprisingly good relationships with insects. Some pitcher plants feed ants and give them a secure home, others are complete miniature ecosystems, homes for creatures ranging from mosquitoes to frogs. A few have even turned vegetarian and eat leaves or, even stranger, serve as rest rooms for tree shrews and subsist on their droppings. Once you delve deep enough, nothing in the world of carnivorous plants is quite what it seems.

Steve Nicholls, a wildlife filmmaker with a lifelong interest in botany and horticulture who has produced and directed several films on carnivorous plants, examines this amazing natural world in intimate detail. $20 for Smithsonian members, $25 for nonmembers. Register at https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/programs/world-of-carnivorous-plants

Friday, November 1, 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm – Introduction to Pruning, Online

This New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill webinar on November 1 from 6:00 – 7:30 pm is for people who are new to gardening or are looking to build a solid base of knowledge to confidently and properly prune shrubs and ornamental trees. The presentation will cover tools and their care, how to properly make cuts, structural, aesthetic and renovative pruning, the importance of timing for specific shrubs and ornamental trees, the theory of pruning, and utilize specific plants to answer the questions: why we prune plants, what tools do we use, how do we actually decide what branches and stems to prune, and when do we prune? This webinar will help with the most common question heard with pruning, “Where do I start,” and give you the confidence to keep going!

Instructor Reed Pugh’s first career was in Advertising in NYC, but after moving to San Francisco 25 years ago, he made a life-altering change and went back to school for Ornamental Horticulture. Over the years in San Francisco and Boston he has worked in multiple nurseries, had his own design, installation and maintenance businesses on both coasts, managed a 30 acre historic private estate in Brookline, and managed one of the top fine-gardening companies in New England. Reed has been a Massachusetts Certified Horticulturist (MCH).

This program will be held virtually. Once you register you will receive a zoom link in the confirmation. This webinar will also be RECORDED and available for three months to all registrants. $10 for Tower Hill members, $15 for nonmembers. Register at www.nebg.org

Wednesday, October 30, 6:00 pm – Massachusetts Horticultural Society Honorary Medals Dinner

The Board of Trustees of Massachusetts Horticultural Society (MHS) has announced its 2024 Honorary Medals recipients. The 7 winners will be celebrated at the 121st Honorary Medals Dinner at the Garden at Elm Bank in Wellesley, MA on October 30, 2024. This year, MHS will continue a 193-year tradition of awarding medals to individuals and organizations for their contributions to excellence in horticulture for the public good.

Douglas W. Tallamy will be awarded the George Robert White Medal of Honor, MHS’s highest honor, for eminent
service in the field of horticulture, and will deliver the keynote speech during the ceremony. A New York Times bestselling
author, his books, including Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation that Starts in Your Yard (2020) and The
Nature of Oaks: The Rich Ecology of Our Most Essential Native Trees (2021), have delivered the importance of horticultural
conservation to homes across the world. As a professor in University of Delaware’s Department of Entomology and
Wildlife Ecology, he advocates for smaller lawns, native plants, and habitats for native species. His advocacy work is echoed
through his founding of Homegrown National Park, a grassroots organization that encourages everyone to grow native
plants.

Matthew Cunningham will receive the Thomas Roland Medal for exceptional skill in horticulture and lectures.
Founding Principal of Matthew Cunningham Landscape Design LLC, he is an award-winning and nationally recognized
landscape architect.

Gold Medals for eminent horticultural accomplishments will be awarded to David Barnett (President and CEO
Emeritus, Mount Auburn Cemetery) and Tom Ryan (Senior Principal and Owner, Ryan Associates Landscape Architecture
and Planning). Patrick Chassé (landscape architect), Dr. Barbara E. Millen (Board Chair, Center for Plant Conservation;
Trustee, Massachusetts Horticultural Society and a long time Board Member of The Boston Committee of the GCA), and Murphy Westwood, PhD (Vice President of Science and Conservation, The Morton Arboretum) will receive Silver Medals for their noteworthy service in horticulture. More details about each awardee and their recognition will become available at https://www.masshort.org/honorary-medals/.

The 121st Honorary Medals Dinner will take place Wednesday, October 30, 2024 at 6 pm at Massachusetts
Horticultural Society’s Garden at Elm Bank. The dinner will be preceded by a day-long symposium, featuring lectures by
medal winners Doug Tallamy, Matt Cunningham, Tom Ryan, and Murphy Westwood. Tickets for the awards ceremony
including dinner and drinks are $180; symposium tickets are $250 for General Admission and $200 for Boston Society of
Landscape Architects and MHS members. Proceeds benefit excellence in horticulture at MHS. For event information and
to purchase tickets when they are released, please visit https://www.masshort.org/honorary-medals/

Saturday, November 2, 10:30 am – 1:00 pm – Pricey Spices

We only buy tiny amounts of spices, so we don’t usually notice that per pound they are the most expensive items in the supermarket. This Springfield Museums class on November 2 at 10:30 am with instructor Claire Hopley explains why they are so costly and explores the three most expensive: saffron (at over $2,000 a pound), vanilla, and green cardamom. Tastes are provided. $42 for Museum members, $48 for nonmembers. Register at https://springfieldmuseums.org/program/pricey-spices/

Friday, October 25, 10:00 am – 3:00 pm – Autumn Wildflowers in Soft Pastel

The Springfield Museums presents an adult art class on Friday, October 25 from 10 – 3 with instructor Lisa Regopoulos on Autumn Wildflowers in Soft Pastel. The change occurs quietly along the side of the road in August. Queen Anne’s Lace, Joe Pye Weed, and Goldenrod signal the change in season. This workshop focus will be on capturing the essence of these roadside wildflowers utilizing composition, attention to value, and simplification of background. The workshop will begin with a one-hour demo, followed by uninterrupted time at your easel with lots of individual instruction. Everyone will leave with a finished pastel. All levels welcome. Springfield Museums members $85, nonmembers $100. Register at https://springfieldmuseums.org/program/autumn-wildflowers-in-soft-pastel/

Tuesday, October 29, 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm Eastern – Shane Coen: Context, Form, and Equity, Online

Founder and CEO of Coen+Partners, Shane Coen aims to redefine how we interact with people and place. His firm’s ethos was founded on the commitment to always help define and push the boundaries of landscape architecture to bring earth and cultural equity to the forefront. The firm continues that journey today, leading and collaborating on some of the most complex urban and ex-urban landscapes in the world.

Coen will illustrate Coen+Partners’ design evolution through different project scales, highlighting works including—Heart of the City in Rochester, Minnesota, a car-centric thoroughfare reimagined into a vibrant streetscape; Peavey Plaza in the City of Minneapolis; an iconic center revitalized to provide tranquility and accessibility for the community; and Sports Boulevard, a transformed transit corridor that promotes wellness and social exchange in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

He will also share insight into an equity-based urban planning project, Healing Landscapes, which proposes a new lens and method for planning open space systems in our cities. This NYBG webinar takes place October 29 at 6:30 pm Eastern, and is $35 for NYBG members, $39 for nonmembers. Register at www.nybg.org

Friday, October 18, 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm – ‘Fall-o-Ween’ Children’s Festival at Boston Common

The Fall-o-Ween Festival invites you find your way out of the Haunted Fun House Maze, hop on the train, and make your way over to our glow in the dark play space for some nighttime fun featuring LED illuminated swings, seesaws, cornhole and lots more, on October 18 starting at 5 pm at the Boston Common Parade Ground at the corner of Beacon and Charles Streets on the Boston Common.

Adults and children are encouraged to wear Halloween costumes and participate in a wide range of free, fun, and spooky family-friendly activities. Free. The Fall-o-Ween Children’s Festival is presented by the Boston Parks and Recreation Department in partnership with the Skating Club of Boston. Key sponsors are HP Hood LLC and more to be announced. Additional support is provided by LEGO® Discovery Center Boston and more to be announced.

For more information, please call the Boston Parks and Recreation Department at (617) 635-4505 or visit www.facebook.com/bostonparksdepartment or www.boston.gov/parks.