Boston Flora

Now Through Summer, 2022 – Meaningful Beauty: The Vibrant Vocabulary of Honeysuckles

The exhibition, Meaningful Beauty: The Vibrant Vocabulary of Honeysuckles, celebrates the diversity of honeysuckles, and explores how differences in form allow various species of the plant to effectively communicate with their environment. Through a blend of artistic and scientific imagery—including illustration, animation, photography, maps, and diagrams—the exhibition conveys key concepts in evolution and plant form. The exhibition further engages visitors of all ages through digital and interactive technology, including projection, kiosks, as well as extensive use of augmented reality to blend art with science and personalize the experience for each visitor. Arnold Arboretum art shows are offered in-person at the Hunnewell Building at 125 Arborway (open noon–4pm, Friday through Monday) and virtually by clicking HERE.

Sunday, July 17, 10:30 am – 2:00 pm – Knotty Smartweeds

Smartweeds (Persicaria spp.) are ubiquitous in our summer landscapes, but individually they can be challenging to identify. Through this July 17 Native Plants Trust classroom presentation from 10:30 – 2 with Ted Elliman, a close look at herbarium specimens, and field observation at Garden in the Woods, you will learn the identification features that distinguish each of the 22 smartweed species in New England. $53 NPT members, $63 non-members. Register at http://www.nativeplanttrust.org/events/knotty-smartweeds/

Tuesday, July 12, 12:00 noon – 1:00 pm Eastern – Birds in Your Own Backyard, Online

Join Bryan Prather of Wild Birds Unlimited in Warson Woods for a virtual presentation on the birds living in Missouri’s backyards and how to co-exist with them and provide sustainability for years to come. This event is sponsored by the Missouri Botanical Garden.

Bryan will speak about the elements of creating a yard to encourage the entire family to enjoy the birds while helping create a sustainable environment for them. Bryan will elaborate on the work of Doug Tallamy and the National Wildlife Federation with a discussion on just how impactful one corner of your yard. Small changes like introducing native plants, providing a water source and place to nest, and offering quality bird food to supplement birds’ natural diets can bring a wide variety of regional and migrating birds to a backyard refuge.

Bryan will introduce a few Missouri birds, including American Robins, Carolina Chickadees, Downy Woodpeckers, Hairy Woodpeckers, the Tufted Titmouse, and the Missouri state bird, the Eastern Bluebird. Learn more about the correlation between native plants and native birds and how one cannot exist without the other. Registrants will receive a Wild Birds Unlimited Warson Woods coupon, valid July 12-16.

FREE for MBG members; registration required. To become a member, or for more information, call (314) 577-5118.

Click here to register.

Through Wednesday, December 28 – More or Less in Common: Environmental Justice in the Human Landscape

The Leventhal Map & Education Center at the Boston Public Library’s free exhibition “More or Less in Common: Environment and Justice in the Human Landscape” looks at how environmental issues and social issues have been intertwined in the past, present, and future. See both historic and original maps and visualizations, including Olmsted plans for Boston, and learn more about struggles for environmental justice at the local and global levels. Features programs and events as well as opportunities for teachers, students, and families. Located at the main branch at 700 Boylston Street, explore the details at https://www.leventhalmap.org/digital-exhibitions/more-or-less-in-common/

Happy Fourth from The Garden Club of the Back Bay

We wish you all a Happy Fourth of July – stay safe, and dare we recommend, avoid crowds?

Sunday, July 17, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm – Sakonnet Garden

Sakonnet Garden is a hidden exotic garden embedded within a native coastal fields landscape, a long-term project of John Gwynne and Mikel Folcarelli. This ongoing experiment in design, scale, and plantings began as an acre-sized spring woodland garden and is subdivided into spaces separated by high windbreak hedges and stone walls that enable growing of many Zone 7 plants. Each space has its own mood and horticultural objective. These woodland areas are very different in summer-mostly shady and green, but with the “subtropical quadrant” at peak of exuberance. A new “pollinator plus” summer garden is a colorful walk-through perennial border conceived as a biodiversity maze. Thousands of flowers produce nectar for butterflies, bees, especially native bees, and other insects important for pollination. Clipped topiary ilex begins to mimic the Nupé house posts from Ghana.

Please note that Open Days tickets are not accepted during this Garden Conservancy Open Day. Sakonnet Garden will be managing their own ticketing for this event. Tickets can be purchased on Sakonnet’s website. $20 per person, $25 if parking a car.

Monday, July 11 – Friday, July 15, 10:00 am – 1:00 pm – Capturing the Light in Botanicals, Online

Go beyond flat botanical drawings with Susan Fisher at the Wellesley College Botanic Gardens for five days in July, July 11 – 15 from 10 – 1. Exercises in both graphite and watercolor will give you the opportunity to shift your work from blah to bright. Work with all the skills necessary to create the three-dimensional appearance so necessary to botanical art. Make better choices at the beginning of a piece to avoid a big “fix” at the end. Students should have completed at least two Foundation classes, or be otherwise qualified. Wellesley College Botanic Gardens members $375, non-members $475. Email wcbgfriends@wellesley.edu

Saturday, July 9, 12:00 noon – 4:30 pm – Parks as Platform: Fenway Porchfest in the Back Bay Fens

Presented with Fenway Porchfest

Fenway Porchfest is a collaborative partnership among three Fenway organizations —Fenway Community Development Organization, Fenway Civic Association, and the Fenway Alliance. It is a free music festival that takes place in a wide range of diverse outdoor spaces in the Fenway, ranging from the Verb Hotel and 401 Park to Massachusetts Historical Society to the Emerald Necklace and the MFA! For complete details visit https://www.fenwayporchfest.org/

Thursday, July 7 or Thursday, July 21, 8:00 pm – Sunny State of Mind, Online

Alice’s Table has created an online flower arranging workshop on two dates, July 7 and July 21. Join in the fun and creativity of an Alice’s Table exclusive floral workshop experience. Transform a space and transform your mood with the power of flowers, as our passionate instructor teaches you step-by-step how to make this impressive, photo-worthy floral arrangement using farm-fresh flowers delivered to your doorstep. You’ll learn design basics such as color, scale, and combination and gain the confidence to design more stunning arrangements for your home or event. Join your friends and join live. You are sure to be inspired, laugh along the way, and be eager to show off your new floral design skills. You’ll be amazed at what you can do. There’s always a seat at our table for you.

Each ticket includes an abundance of fresh flowers and a vase delivered to your doorstep 1-2 days before the event. All you need to bring is a pair of floral clippers or scissors. To ensure you receive the best quality flowers, this arrangement may slightly change due to our farm’s availability.

Prior to the event, each guest will receive tracking details and live streaming instructions. Pour a beverage of your choice and log on to experience a one-of-a-kind Alice’s Table floral workshop.

Products for this arrangement are perishable, all purchases are final and will not be eligible for refunds or transfers.

Host Alice Lewis is on a mission to reinvent experiential retail. A lifelong lover of art, business, and creativity of all sorts, Alice began to dream up Alice’s Table back in college. Looking at Pinterest she thought what if lifestyle could be delivered to your door? Using her floral design talents, she developed as a floral apprentice, she designed beautiful bouquets everyone could create along with a business model that could scale skill sharing and entertainment tricks. In 2020, she pivoted the lifestyle event business to fully digital and highly curated live streaming experiences to spark joy in people’s homes.

When not shaking up the experiential space, Alice is a sought-after speaker on startups, entrepreneurship, and the experience economy. She’s a wife, mom, and entrepreneur…and never met a Dahlia she didn’t like.

$72. Register at https://alicestable.com/workshops/floral/sunny-state-of-mind?variantId=1689271

Wednesdays, July 13 – 27, 10:30 am – 2:30 pm – Field Identification Techniques

Equip yourself with the skills and confidence you need to identify native plants in the field. Learn how to use field guides and professional keys, observe floral structures, recognize reliable family characteristics, and become familiar with botanical Latin. This three session course on Wednesdays, July 13 – 27 from 10:30 – 2:30, is designed for students who have taken the Native Plant Trust’s Wildflowers of New England course or have some previous experience identifying wildflowers. Bring a hand lens and a bag lunch. The class takes place at Garden in the Woods in Framingham. $216 for NPT members, $264 for nonmembers. Register at www.nativeplanttrust.org