Boston Flora

Wednesday, December 1, 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm – Boston Nature Center’s Annual Meeting, Online

Join the Massachusetts Audubon Society and the Boston Nature Center for the Boston Nature Center’s Annual Meeting on Wednesday, December 1 from 6:30 – 7:30 via Zoom. Sanctuary Committee Chair Jim McGuinness and Anne & Peter Brooke Sanctuary Director Julie Brandlen warmly invite you to attend. Kindly RSVP by November 30
Please reply to Zaskya Perez at 617-983-8500 x6904 or by email. The featured speakers, on the topic of From Local to Global: Climate Change Mitigation, are Crane Ledge Woods Coalition facilitator Lokita Jackson, who discusses a broad-based effort to save a 24-acre unprotected urban wild in Boston, and Brookline science educator Mark Goldner, who presents Climate Change in the Arctic from his PolarTREC research.

December 7, 9, 12 & 15, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm – Holiday Tea at the Historic Oliver Estate

Oliver House is happy to announce that it will be having the teas again this year. “We are excited to be able to welcome you and your friends to the historical Oliver Estate House. We will have fun decorating the space for you to enjoy. So, gather your friends and family members and join us for Afternoon Tea. Enjoy a variety of tea sandwiches, scones, and sweets along with hot tea served in porcelain teacups! Each event is limited to 24 people so don’t delay in purchasing your tickets! Most tables will be for 4 people, so hopefully you can gather 4 friends to enjoy tea with. The dates are December 7, 9, 12 & 15, 2021. The tickets are $30.00 per person available through Oliverestate.eventbrite.com. There is a 48-hour cancellation with no refunds. Enjoy this fundraiser to help the Oliver Estate continue to grow and become an asset for the Town of Middleborough. Start your holiday season off with this fun event. Happy Holidays!

Massachusetts Audubon Society 2022 Ring-Standard Calendar

This is the 125th edition of the Massachusetts Audubon Society’s unique desktop calendar. It has been the perfect gift for generations, measuring 4.25 x 3.25 inches and designed to stand up in the gold box it comes in. This year’s motif was originally made for the 1948 edition by Mary Sage Shakespeare. It is printed on recycled paper and made in the USA. Ordering on ($16.95) helps the organization continue its mission protecting more than 40,000 acres of land throughout Massachusetts, saving birds and other wildlife, and making nature accessible to all. Order today at www.massaudubon.org

Wednesday, December 1, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm – Seeds: Wild versus Commercial, Online

We all know the importance of planting and promoting native plants, but what are the differences between wild seeds and those you can purchase from a commercial vendor? While seed farming is needed to meet the demand from restoration practitioners and homeowners, the end product can differ considerably from local wild material. Join Native Plant Trust’s Research Botanist, Dr. Jessamine Finch, on December 1 at 1 pm for this interactive online session to explore the impact of seed sourcing and cultivation techniques on commercial seed and to equip yourself with the information you need to be an informed purchaser of native seeds. $12 for NPT members, $15 for nonmembers. Register at http://www.nativeplanttrust.org/events/seeds-wild-versus-commercial/

Saturdays, December 4, January 8, and January 29, 10 am Eastern Time – Enchanted Ground, Humphry Repton, Online

Join John Phibbs online on Saturdays, December 4, January 8, and January 29 at 10 am Eastern time for Zoom talks from Great Britain. The three talks will center on the work of the landscape gardener Humphry Repton (1752 – 1816), and are free. The talks are arranged in conjunction with Mr. Phibbs’ new book published by Rizzoli, Humphry Repton Designing the Landscape Garden, which, one hopes, will be put on your list of holiday purchases.

The December 4 talk will be on The Work, not what he said he was going to do in his red books and publications, but what Repton actually did as a landscape gardener. On January 8, the topic is The Revolution – how Repton took the landscape tradition that he inherited from Capability Brown and turned it on its head. The final talk, on January 29, is entitled Why? This talk will begin with what Repton might have learned when he was in Ireland in 1783, and will consider the kind of man he was and will explore the social program that drove him, which contributed so much to the influence he had in the USA through the work of the great Frederick Law Olmsted, the founding father of American landscape architecture, whose bicentenary we are celebrating in 2022. For the links to the talks, email johnphibbs@hotmail.com and he will forward the links to you.

Thaddeus Thompson Named Interim Executive Director of Berkshire Botanical Garden

Mike Beck, BBG’s Executive Director, is taking a sabbatical to spend two years in England. He will accompany his husband, a corporate lawyer with strong expertise in the technology sector, who is pursuing a career opportunity ‘across the pond’ that will extend from this September through 2023.

During that time, Beck’s duties will be fulfilled by incoming Interim Executive Director Thaddeus Thompson., pictured below. Thompson served as the Director of Institutional Advancement at Tower Hill Botanic Garden in Boylston, Massachusetts, during a period of extraordinary growth and development. He is also a member of the Board of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, which oversees the Gardens at Elm Bank in Wellesley. Thompson was offered the position after a diligent candidate search conducted by members of BBG’s Board of Trustees. While Thompson will work independently, with full executive powers, he intends to communicate regularly with Beck, keeping him informed of developments and drawing from Beck’s extensive knowledge of the Garden, its staff, and its community.

That the Board was willing to consider a two-year sabbatical is testament to how much Mike Beck is respected and well-liked by the Garden’s staff and Trustees. His leadership, for close to eight years, has attracted a strong and talented staff with a great sense of teamwork. During his tenure, the Garden has expanded in many ways, including an arts program that has put BBG’s Leonhardt Galleries on the map as a significant cultural venue; a Music Mondays program that is attracting new audiences to the Garden; a new Tea Room offering refreshments; and exponential growth in attendance. He also successfully led the Garden through the pandemic, keeping the grounds open on a limited basis as a community service, and keeping the staff fully intact, with no layoffs.

Friday, December 3, 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm – Tenth Annual Repeal Day Celebration, Online

Join Etiquetteer Robert B. Dimmick for the Tenth Annual Celebration of the Repeal of Prohibition to benefit the Gibson House Museum. The coronavirus is not keeping us from celebrating! This year’s virtual Repeal Day will include some special aspects:

For the past ten years, Etiquetteer Robert B. Dimmick has led a celebration each December celebrating one of the more obscure aspects of the Gibson family’s residence at 137 Beacon Street: museum founder Charlie Gibson’s use of the third-floor bathroom for the production of Prohibition-era gin.

While the pandemic prevents us from hosting an in-person party, the party is still going on! Just as in 2020, please join us via Zoom, on Friday, December 3, for Prohibition-era merriment, including a cocktail-mixing demonstration, Prohibition trivia, and an exclusive video tour of the Gibson House Red Study—a space too small to visit during a typical Repeal celebration. The evening will include an informal panel discussion hosted by Etiquetteer on the evolution of cocktail culture in the twenty-first century with some beloved friends of Repeal: our own Kirsten “Miss Kitty” Amann, co-author of Drinking Like Ladies and Jeremy Cooper, co-author with Andrew Klausner of their three-volume series, Cocktail Hour Meets….

All proceeds from this event will benefit the preservation of the Gibson House Museum, the only historic house museum in Boston’s Back Bay. $60. Register by November 25 for the Zoom program HERE

Saturday, December 4, 11:30 am – 12:30 pm – Winter Holiday Wreaths

Wright-Locke Farm offers a fun opportunity to create your own decorative wreath from natural, compostable materials. We will use twine, vines, ribbons, paper, sticks, dried flowers, ribbons and berries. Wreaths are completely compostable if you remove the ribbon.

As long as it is safe to do so, this workshop will be in-person, at the farm in Winchester. All necessary supplies will be provided and participants will go home with their own creations.

Cost: $45 – Register HERE. Nostalgic moment – below is a Garden Club of the Back Bay wreath from 2016.

Wednesday, December 1, 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm – Eco-Answers: End of Season Maintenance, Online

At the end of a long landscape season, it’s tempting to drop the tools, ignore those remaining weeds, and head inside for a hot tea and a good book. But spending a little time to complete some important chores before winter will yield big benefits for your spring gardening.

For guidance on these late-season tasks, join ecological landscape designer, installer, and maintenance specialist, Kerry O’Kelly to ask your questions about wrapping up the gardening year like a professional. During this 90-minute live Zoom Q&A, Kerry will provide a quick overview of season’s-end gardening and then she will jump right into your questions for the bulk of the Q&A session.
Some topics that Kerry can address are:

What autumn soil management will yield beneficial results? Should new plantings have a protective winter mulch? What strategies should be considered for cages, trellises, and containers? Weeds, do the last few matter? How should hoses be stored? Can the “Leave the Leaves” strategy be too much of a good thing? What should be done with garden tools at the end of the season? What successes and failures can teach you for the next gardening year?

Please send your questions in advance to help guide Kerry’s remarks. Also send photos of any problems or question to provide some reference and to add interest to the discussion. Email photos along with your questions to: penny@ecolandscaping.org.
If you don’t submit questions in advance, no problem, we will also be taking questions throughout the event.

Once you are registered for Eco-Answers with the ELA Eco-Pros, you will receive an email with the Zoom Webinar link. Kerry O’Kelly is a landscape designer and owner of Garden Dance Landscape Design where she uses design techniques and sound ecological practices to design compelling landscapes that are organic, low maintenance, water wise, resilient, and support local ecosystems and wildlife . Kerry also works closely with other ecological landscape firms in both the design and maintenance capacities. Kerry became a Certified Master Gardener in 2009 and graduated with a Masters Certificate in Landscape Design from the Landscape Institute and the Boston Architectural College in 2013. She was certified as a NOFA Organic Land Care Professional in 2017. As part of her commitment to ecological practices, she has been involved for over 10 years with the Ecological Landscape Alliance and served on the ELA Board of Directors since 2012.

This is an Ecological Landscape Alliance member event, and is free. To join (memberships start at $50, $25 for students), and to register, click HERE.

Wednesday, December 1 – Deadline for Submission for Annual Botany Story Slam

Native Plant Trust, the nation’s first plant conservation organization and the only one solely focused on New England’s native plants, announces an open call for storytellers for its annual signature event, The Botany Story Slam, which will take place on Saturday, February 26, 2022, from 6 to 8 p.m. The event is currently planned as an in-person event at Garden in the Woods in Framingham, MA; however, storytellers from around the world are welcome to submit their tales for the chance to share their stories using video technology.

A story slam is a competition in which each storyteller has minutes to share an experience on a chosen theme, with the audience interacting and voting on their favorite tale. Winning stories may be aired on the radio. We are seeking exciting, well-presented stories 5-10 minutes in length about plant adventures. Storytellers may include botanists, horticulturists, farmers, land managers, plant researchers, environmental educators, rangers, or similar plant-related professionals. For submission instructions, please email education@NativePlantTrust.org by December 1, 2021, with the subject line “Story Slam Submission.” Storytellers will be selected and notified on a rolling basis and must be available to present at the event on February 26, 2022, either in person or virtually. In past years, storytellers have included:

Wambui Ippolito, horticulturist, landscape designer, international speaker, and founder of the BIPOC Hort Group, a multicultural professional horticulture community.

Ted Elliman, botanist and author of Wildflowers of New England and co-author of Grasses, Sedges, Rushes: An Identification Guide.

Kelly D. Norris, award-winning plantsman, author of New Naturalism: Designing and Planting a Resilient, Ecologically Vibrant Home Garden, and former Director of Horticulture and Education at Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden.

C.L. Fornari, host of GardenLine on WXTK FM radio, co-host of the award-winning podcast Plantrama and author of eight books, including Sand & Soil: Creating Beautiful Gardens on Cape Cod and the Islands.

Dwayne Estes, Executive Director of Southern Grasslands Initiative, Professor of Biology and Director of the Herbarium at Austin Peay State University, Principal Investigator for the Center of Excellence for Field Biology, and author of Guide to the Vascular Plants of Tennessee.