Boston Flora

Saturdays, May 21 and June 18, 9:00 am – 2:00 pm – Boston Hazardous Waste Drop Off

The City of Boston sponsors five Household Hazardous Waste drop-off days for Boston residents. Paper shredding (limited to 10 copy paper size boxes) and household electronics recycling is also available. The next two days are May 21, 2022, 9:00 am to 2:00 pm at Central DPW Facility – 400 Frontage Road – South Boston and June 18, 2022, 9:00 am to 2:00 pm at Central DPW Facility – 400 Frontage Road – South Boston For more information on what can be dropped off and what to expect: click here

New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill – New Name, New Garden

You probably know this by now, but Tower Hill Botanic Garden is now New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill. The press release says :

“Our new name is not about redefining who we are as a horticultural society and a Garden but embracing who we have become and opening up the possibilities to be more. Our members, visitors, and supporters have long cherished us as a beautiful place, a horticultural resource, and a place for recreation and rejuvenation. Now it is time to extend those opportunities to the whole region. In honor of our history and the fact that our Garden opened in 1986 on Tower Hill Farm in Boylston, we have kept “Tower Hill” as part of the name. As New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill, we want to keep delivering our mission: to create experiences with plants that inspire people and improve the world.” The new logo, an apple blossom in an arch, represents the historic apple orchard, a signature plant collection at the Garden. And the arch in the logo celebrates the beautiful arches that you can find around our Garden throughout its architectural features.

Friday, May 20 – Monday, May 30 – Heritage Museums & Gardens Rhododendron Festival

Thousands of world-famous rhododendrons in over 100 varieties offer an explosion of spectacular blooms throughout Heritage Museums & Gardens, 67 Grove Street, Sandwich. Photograph yourself surrounded by walls of flowers, immerse yourself in the story of Heritage’s fascinating rhododendron legacy on a self-guided walking tour, learn proper plant care and pruning techniques at our hands-on Garden Discovery Cart, and take home one of these signature plants from the special plant sale. There’s even a fun activity guide highlighting these amazing plants designed just for kids and families. General admission tickets are date-specific. Tickets are valid for entry anytime between 10 am-4:30 pm.

Along with our Rhododendron-themed activities, visitors are welcome to enjoy the entire grounds including our indoor and outdoor exhibits.

Tickets include admission to:

The gardens (All gardens including the Treasured Trash exhibit)
Hidden Hollow
The Special Exhibitions Gallery, featuring the Creating Cape Cod exhibit
The J.K. Lilly III Automobile Gallery, featuring the From Carriage to Classic: How Automobiles Transformed America with highlights from the Creating Cape Cod exhibit
The American Art & Carousel Gallery, featuring Heritage Highlights exhibit
Wampanoag Wetu & Garden
Lilly’s Café
The Shop at Heritage

Tickets can be pre-purchased online or on the day of at the ticket window. Heritage members free, nonmembers $21 ($11 Youth)

Friday, May 20, 12:00 noon – 1:00 pm – Ask the Expert: Honeybees, Online

Honeybees are threatened. How can we protect them?

Did you know that George Washington was a fan of the honeybee? Travel back to the 18^th century with our expert Dr. Christopher White as we dive into the history of liquid gold (better known as honey). We’ll also talk about how to protect honeybees, who face myriad threats today. Bring all of your questions!

Dr. Christopher White leads multidisciplinary teams focused on sustainability, climate change impact, enterprise risk management and community resilience. He currently serves as a member of the United Nations Environment Program.

In his spare time, Dr. White is a beekeeper with an apiary along the banks of the Potomac River in Maryland. Along with his wife and three children, Dr. White founded an artisanal honey company, Bee America, in 2011. From its earliest beginnings, Bee America has been committed to sweetening its customers’ lives with the goodness of pure American honey. The company is passionate about preserving the future of honey bees and their place in our world.

Dr. White founded an artisanal honey company, Bee America, in 2011, committed to sweetening its customers’ lives by preserving the future of honeybees and their special place in our world. Join us on World Bee Day, May 20, at 12pm EDT as Dr. White discusses all of the ways that we can help save the lives of honeybees, despite their extreme daily challenges. Get your tickets NOW and join the buzz about these busy workers. Free.

Tree Sponsorship Opportunity in The Grove

The Charlesgate Alliance is planting fifteen new trees this spring. After clearing the Boston Conservation Commission hearing on April 6th, they are now working with the Department of Conservation and Recreation and Cambridge Landscape to plant 15 new trees, mainly in The Grove area of the park where they will not be disturbed by construction in the coming years. These trees were chosen by Landing Studio with an eye both toward the location near the river as well as our larger plan for the park, where we hope to plant roughly 150 more. This will be a significant improvement: the first new trees planted in Charlesgate in many years. The Alliance in conjunction with the Emerald Necklace Conservancy will maintain the trees in perpetuity. So far we have 9 trees sponsored at $3,000 a tree. You can therefore sponsor a tree for $3,000 or just make a contribution toward the tree project. Only 6 trees are left for funding, although a contribution can be allocated to the next planting cycle if response is overwhelming. If you would like to help with this exciting program, click here and note that it is for the tree planting. You can also mail a check to Charlesgate Alliance c/o Emerald Necklace Conservancy, 350 Jamaicaway, Boston, MA 02130

Monday, May 23, 1:00 pm – The Rose: Hinton Ampner’s Exceptional Garden, Online

The Gardens Trust, in association with the Historic Roses Group, will sponsor a Zoom lecture on May 23 at 1 pm Eastern time with John Wood. This ticket is for this individual session and costs £5. Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days prior to the start of the talk, and again a few hours before the talk. A link to the recorded session (available for 1 week) will be sent shortly afterwards.

Hinton Ampner is a National Trust property with a 14-acre garden set amid the rolling Hampshire countryside. The garden has an exceptional framework with wonderful vistas complemented by topiary and a great variety of plants including dahlias, roses and salvias, as well as woodland areas. Roses are grown at Hinton Ampner in many varied locations and styles: in formal beds, long borders, mixed with other plants or trained on walls, and clambering high into trees. In his talk John Wood, head gardener, will cover how he deals with restoring rose borders and what to consider when planting your roses. He will share some of his favourite roses and talk about the situations in which he uses them.

John Wood has worked for the National Trust for 25 Years. Having started at Mottisfont to assist the head gardener, David Stone, with the restoration of the renowned Walled Rose Garden, it was there that he developed his love of roses. In 2000 John moved to Hinton Ampner. Here John and his team have restored the Walled Garden and continue restoring many of the large beds and borders. In his spare time John tends to his own collection of roses. He is a member of the committee of the Historic Rose Group, has helped build and staff the HRG’s award-winning stands at the Hampton Court Flower Show, also providing the spectacular bouquets of roses for display there and at RHS Wisley’s Plant Society weekend show. John is also an expert photographer and his images feature in HRG publicity.

Wednesday, June 1, 11:00 am – National Rededication Ceremony of the Shaw 54th Regiment Memorial, Live and Online

The Partnership to Renew the Shaw 54th Regiment Memorial invites you to celebrate the successful completion of the restoration of the Memorial on June 1. The Partnership to Renew the Memorial has created a model for the nation for the use of a preservation and restoration project to be a catalyst for a broad conversation on race, equity, and social justice. The heroes of the glorious 54th inspired us to move forward, just as they proclaimed as they headed into battle: Forward 54th Forward.

This free event is open to all. View the live event via Jumbotron on Boston Common. Enter lawn seating area via Tremont Street entrance (by Park Street T station). Feel free to bring your chairs & blankets. Masks and social distancing encouraged. The event will be available for viewing via livestream on Facebook and YouTube.

Please sign the digital Witness to History book to commemorate the unveiling of the completed Robert Gould Shaw and
Massachusetts 54th Regiment restoration project. The National Park Service has compiled an online database of the 54th Regiment soldiers and officers as part of their “Faces of the 54th” project. View the database here. If you are a descendant of the Shaw Mass. 54th Regiment, fill out the form here. Read the Bay State Banner article about the project.

The work began in the summer of 2020, and was initially planned to take 5-6 months. Due to a combination of factors, including the COVID pandemic, the restoration project ended up taking over a year and a half to complete. All of the bronze and stone was removed from the plaza level up, taken offsite to two different conservation studios, with the bronze bas-relief meticulously restored locally. New waterproofing was installed under the plaza’s brick, and a new concrete foundation has been built under the bronze, and everything replaced, pinning the bronze to the marble structure that surrounds it. Also,the team installed a new stainless-steel frame between the bronze and the marble, designed to stabilize the entire monument.

The plaza substructure has been protected by installing a system called “cathodic protection” into the concrete under the plaza. This protects the steel support beams from corrosion by introducing another metal known as sacrificial. Through the use of an electrical current, the corrosion is drawn to the sacrificial metal instead of the steel beams. Read all about it at https://friendsofthepublicgarden.org/shaw54th/

Wednesday, May 18, 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm – Tasty Tomatoes Workshop, Online

Tomatoes are the diva/divo of the garden – they demand tons of attention, but it’s not a party without them! Join Boston Community Gardens and the Trustees on Zoom on May 18 at 6 pm for a deep dive into choosing and growing the most delicious tomato varieties. We’ll share some of our favorite varieties–from tasty heirlooms to compact patio tomatoes to disease resistant hybrids–and discuss planting, trellising, diseases, pests, and harvesting.

This workshop, like many others this season, is supported by TD Bank’s Ready Commitment. Free, but please consider supporting our educational programming through the optional program fee when you register. Register at https://thetrustees.org/event/71779/

The Trustees CSA Offers Now Available

Purchase Trustees Grown certified organic vegetables and pastured meat and poultry. In addition to being the largest private owner of farmland in Massachusetts, the Trustees operate multiple production farms where visitors can learn about the land and the natural cycles we depend on, share experiences, and enjoy farm fresh products. Partial payment options are available.
Please Note: Our CSAs are only open to Trustees members. If you are not yet a member sign-up here. There are options from Appleton Farms in Ipswich, including a fruit CSA share, Chestnut Hill Farm in Southborough, Powisset Farm in Dover, Weir River Farm in Hingham, and more. Read all about it at https://shopthetrustees.org/pages/trustees-farms

Tuesday, May 24, 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm – Sea to Soil: Using Kelp as a Soil Amendment, Online

Native to the East Coast, sugar kelp may become an important tool to sustainably maintain plant health, given it is rich in important micronutrients and powerful bio-stimulating compounds. Take a deep dive into the many ways kelp-based fertilizers can dramatically strengthen root zones and improve soil health while also removing carbon from the atmosphere and combating climate change. This New York Botanical Garden online lecture takes place May 24 at 6 pm Eastern time, and speakers are Don Gabel and Sean Barrett. NYBG members $35, nonmembers $39. Register HERE.