Boston Flora

Saturday, October 23, 10:30 am – 12:30 pm – The Art and Science of Frogs, Online

Explore the rich diversity of frogs by observing and sketching 3D models printed from Harvard’s research collections. Artist and educator Erica Beade will introduce techniques for achieving accurate shapes and capturing volume in your drawings, while herpetologist and researcher, Dr. Mara Laslo, will explain how evolution has generated their amazing diversity. Groups will be limited to twelve, allowing ample time for questions and discussion.

Members $40/Nonmembers $45.

Advance registration required.

Class, to take place on October 23 beginning at 10:30, will be held over Zoom. To join the program, you will need to download the free Zoom app in advance. If you already have Zoom, you do not need to download it again. For details on how to improve your Zoom experience, visit the How to Attend an HMSC Program webpage.

Saturday, October 16, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm – Right Tree, Right Place

Trees can define a garden, but their siting and placement can confound gardeners, particularly when smaller specimens are being planted. This October 16 Berkshire Botanical Garden class, taught by Lee Buttala in person at the garden in West Stockbridge, examines the root structures, growth habits, and the mature size of a range of species and varieties, large and small, for use in the residential landscape. Attendees will walk away with a new approach to selecting woody plants that will provide their gardens with desired structure and form throughout the years, while taking into consideration underplanting and the tree’s harmonious coexistence with other garden features and elements in the ever-evolving landscape. This class hopes to prevent gardeners from needing to remove maturing trees because they were planted in the wrong place, by demonstrating how better siting or selection (or regular pruning or training) can allow these coveted plants to mature in the garden.

In his life as a gardener, nonprofit leader and writer, Lee Buttala has explored the world of gardening from many angles. He is the former Executive Director of Seed Savers Exchange, a seed bank dedicated to the sharing and saving of seeds that define America’s food and garden heritage, and the only non-governmental organization storing seed at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. He previously served as Director of Marketing Communications for BBG and Preservation Manager for the Garden Conservancy, and currently serves as chair of the Historic Landscapes Committee of the APGA. Lee won an Emmy award for his role as a garden television producer for Martha Stewart Living and was the creator of PBS’s Cultivating Life. He is the editor of the award-winning book, The Seed Garden: The Art and Practice of Saving Seed, writes a weekly garden column for the Berkshire Edge and serves on the board of Hollister House Garden in Washington, CT. Lee studied garden design at the Chelsea Physic Garden, the New York Botanical Garden and the Kyoto School of Art and Design. He lives in Brooklyn and Ashley Falls, MA.

$20 for BBG members, $25 for nonmembers. Register at https://www.berkshirebotanical.org/events/right-tree-right-place

Monday, October 18, 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm – Enduring Landscapes, Online

The NYBG’s 23rd Annual Landscape Design Portfolios Lecture Series continues on October 18 at 6:30 with an online talk by Michael Boucher on Enduring Landscapes. From the office he founded in Freeport, Maine in 1994, Michael has led project teams in the planning and design of landscapes at a variety of scales and architectural approaches for public and private universities, schools, parks, museums, and churches. He is also recognized for his outstanding works of residential landscape architecture, and this presentation will focus on several of these projects, including a Hamptons beach house, a hilltop residence on a steep promontory in Massachusetts, two projects in Colorado, a home that required a forest restoration, and a Telluride residence on a 100-acre meadow, and a desert residence in Phoenix. In each of these challenging settings, Boucher created simple and restrained designs that exhibit a timeless quality and unite each building with its site. After receiving an A.S. in Plant & Soil Technology and a B.S. in Environmental Design from UMass, Amherst, Michael Boucher, FASL A, received
his ML A from Harvard. A lecturer, teacher, and studio critic, he is also actively engaged in the community, including the Portland Society for Architecture and Wolfe’s Neck Center for Agriculture and the Environment. Registration fee for each lecture: $15/$18. Register for the series and receive a discount: 222L AN801AO | $39/$49

Wednesday, October 20, 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm – The Other Darwin: Alfred Russel Wallace and the Origin of Species, Online

Against all odds — lacking wealth, formal education, social standing or connections, Alfred Russel Wallace became the pre-eminent tropical explorer of his day, founding one entirely new discipline — evolutionary biogeography — and, with Darwin, co-founding another: evolutionary biology.

With the 2023 centennial year of his birth approaching, join Harvard Alumni Travels online as we trace the epic trajectory of Wallace’s life and thinking, from his meteoric rise in the 19th century to his virtual eclipse in the 20th. Along the way we’ll explore the ups and downs of Wallace’s relationship with Darwin, and critically evaluate the ‘conspiracy theories’ that Wallace was wronged by Darwin and his circle over credit for the discovery of natural selection.

Jim Costa is a long-time Research Associate in Entomology in the Museum of Comparative Zoology and HAA Travel Program Study Leader. As Executive Director of the Highlands Biological Station in Highlands, NC and Professor of Biology at Western Carolina University, he teaches biogeography and the history of evolutionary thinking. Jim has held fellowships at Harvard’s Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study and the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin, and was awarded the Wallace Medal in 2017. His books include The Annotated Origin (Harvard), Darwin’s Backyard: How Small Experiments Led to a Big Theory (W.W. Norton) and, most recently, An Alfred Russel Wallace Companion (Chicago). He is currently working on books elating to Darwin and Wallace for Princeton University Press.

Space is limited and on a first come, first serve basis! Please note, this lecture will be recorded and shared with you. Register (free) HERE.

Friday, October 22, 12:30 pm – 4:30 pm – A Holistic Guide for the Modern Land Steward Webinar

Based on decades of landscape project experience, this online land care guide, cosponsored by the Ecological Landscape Alliance and the Native Plant Trust, will address regenerative design, green infrastructure, resilient landscapes, adaptive strategies, and building your own toolbox and rule book. You will reconnect with your land practices and their impact. Appropriate for both professional and personal development. The class is led by Trevor Smith and takes place on October 22 from 12:30 – 4:30 pm at Garden in the Woods in Framingham. $60 for ELA and NPT members, $72 for nonmembers. Register at http://www.nativeplanttrust.org/events/holistic-guide-modern-land-steward/

Thursday, October 21, 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm – Fall Wreath Workshop

Learn how to create your own fall wreath using a mix of dried hydrangea and seasonal flowers along with pods, berries, grasses and foliage for a luxurious looking design. The finished size of this wreath is approximately 20” wide. Anna Holmes will review where to source local materials, drying flowers for future wreaths/designs and keeping your wreath fresh looking. We encourage you to bring your favorite things to incorporate into your wreath for a combination of student’s own collection and materials provided by instructor.

Space is limited. Sign up by October 14^th. The program will take place at Highfield Hall & Gardens in Falmouth.
Register online today or give us a call at 508-495-1878, ext. 2 $45 for Highfield Hall members, $55 for nonmembers.

Highfield will adhere to social distancing protocols and space classmates out accordingly.

Click here for more information about Anna Holmes

Tuesday, October 19, 5:00 pm – 8:15 pm – A Seminar on Global Warming, Online

The Green Committee of The Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay presents a webinar on Tuesday, October 19 at 5 pm. Worried about climate change? Learn what you can do to help. The topic: Trees and Climate Change: Health, Equity, and Action. Speakers will be Professor Danielle Ignace, Department of forest and Conservation Services, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Nathan Phillips, Department of Earth and Environment, Boston University, and Lokita Jackson, Crane Ledge Woods Coalition and MassAudubon. Moderator is Michael McCord, Chair of NABB’s Green Committee. RSVP: With the link below to receive the Zoom link for the webinar: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0sf-qhrTopHt0QfhufGEvBApsBdxyDsOUs

Monday, October 18, 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm – Practical and Accessible Stretches for Your “Every” Day, Online

Learn how to prepare for your day in the landscape and recover at the end of the day with these practical and accessible stretches and recovery techniques. In this 60-minute participatory (optional) and interactive webinar, Diana will introduce you to stretches that landscape professionals can incorporate into their “every” day. They are practical because you will be able to perform these anywhere, sitting and/or standing. And, since every body is different, tips and tools will be introduced to make each stretch accessible to your abilities.

Muscle fatigue reacts positively to myofascial release techniques like foam rolling. Diana Kiesel will lead you through some techniques using a foam roller and surprisingly, a softball. Diana is a 200-hour registered Yoga Teacher, Certified Group Exercise Instructor, and Fitness Coach. As a Fitness Coach, Diana has worked with a wide range of professionals teaching them stretching, strengthening and recovery techniques that can be incorporated into their daily lives. Along with her husband, she co-owned a health club and martial arts studio for over 32 years in Andover, MA. Although her career path has changed since COVID, her passion for fitness and wellness remains.

This Ecological Landscape Alliance webinar takes place October 18 from 7 – 8 and is free for ELA members, $10 for nonmembers. Register at https://www.ecolandscaping.org/event/practical-and-accessible-stretches-for-your-every-day/

Wednesday, October 20, 12:00 noon – Rewild in 10 Action Steps, Online

Entomologist Douglas Tallamy identifies a minimum of 70% native plant biomass in our landscapes needed to safeguard wildlife habitat, support biodiversity, and mitigate the effects of climate change. Wild Seed Project recently launched an initiative that motivates people to meet this threshold through a holistic approach – it is called rewilding, and anyone can do it whether you have farmland, a yard in the suburbs, a hell strip in an urban neighborhood, or no land of your own.

Anna Fialkoff, in this Ecological Landscape Alliance webinar on October 20 at noon, will walk you through what it means to rewild in 10 action steps. As the new program manager, Anna Fialkoff is ready to help Wild Seed Project further its educational programming, deepen relationships with partner organizations, and catalyze a movement to rewild Maine. Anna was most recently Senior Horticulturist at Native Plant Trust’s Garden in the Woods in Framingham, MA, where she designed and installed native plant gardens, managed interns and volunteers, and taught the public ways to incorporate native plants in their own gardens. With a BA in Human Ecology from College of the Atlantic and an MS in Ecological Design from The Conway School, she brings with her a deep knowledge of native plant ecology, horticulture, conservation, and ecological landscape design.

Free for ELA members, $10 for nonmembers. Register at https://www.ecolandscaping.org/event/rewild-in-10-action-steps/

Thursday, October 14, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm – COG Annual Project Showcase, Online

Join Community Outreach Group on ZOOM next week for its ANNUAL PROJECT SHOWCASE with special guest speaker Representative Nika Elugardo, MA 15th, Thursday, October 14, 6-7pm.

Additionally, Cogdesign is accepting applications for new green space projects through October 31st. Do forward our Call for Projects to colleagues you think might be interested in this pro bono opportunity. Although the pandemic has slowed some of the work, it has not curtailed our commitment to our community partners and their projects.
Projects are accepted based on need. We hope to take on 4-5 new projects this Fall. Call or email Jennifer Kimball with any questions.