Boston Flora

Saturday, September 21, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm – Art Reception and Talk: Ghost Trees

Please join The Arnold Arboretum on September 21 for a reception celebrating the opening of Ghost Trees, a digital art show presented in augmented reality which celebrates the lives of five iconic Arboretum trees. Artist Sonia Ralston has skillfully recreated these beloved trees as 3-D digital models: visitors can scan a QR code and see these trees superimposed on the landscape behind them, experiencing them as they once stood.

Timeline for the reception:

1:00–2:00pm: Refreshments and rendering viewings in the lecture hall.
2:00–2:20pm: Artist talk
2:30–3:00pm: Half mile walk in landscape to view two Ghost Trees in their original settings.

Accessibility: The Hunnewell Lecture Hall is wheelchair accessible. The outdoor portion will be on paved, level roads. Free, but registration required at www.arboretum.harvard.edu

Wednesday, September 25, 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm Eastern – Ecotypes: Ecological Gardening with Nature’s Heirloom Seeds, Online

It all starts with a seed. Join Sefra Alexandra, The Seed Huntress, on a conservation safari into the world of ecotypes— native plants grown from locally wildcrafted seeds. Discover why seed provenance is essential for plant resilience and ecological restoration.Learn how planting the right plants in the right place restores the living seed banks of our soils and strengthens the growing national movement of ecoregional seed networks. Embark on a journey into nature’s heirlooms and transform your garden with ecotypic seeds, the locally adapted treasures of pollinators. This American Horticutural Society online talk takes place September 25 at 7 pm Eastern, and is $15 for AHS members, $20 for nonmembers. Register at www.ahsgardening.org

Sefra Alexandra – the Seed Huntress- is the Ecological Health Network Education Coordinator for the Northeast USA Bioregion. She leads The Ecotype Project, teaching smallholder farmers how to produce autochthonous plant material for ecological restoration. These efforts have led to the formation of the farmer-led Northeast Seed Collective, making ecotypic seed commercially available. In 2020 she began BOATanical.org where she guides ‘backyard’ expeditions to plant native plants by boat along riparian corridors, an experience that contributes to a culture of citizen science and ecological stewardship. Alexandra is on the board of the Freed Seed Federation and the steering committee of the Northeast Seed Network. She holds a MAT in agroecological education from Cornell University and is trained in the tradition of seed saving by the Rocky Mountain Seed Alliance. She is also a WINGS WorldQuest expedition flag carrier, member of the Explorers Club, former Genebank Impacts Fellow for the Global Crop Diversity Trust, and has helped to fortify community seed banks on island nations with Tactivate- the disaster response company she runs with her twin brother.

Saturday, September 28, 11:00 am – 3:00 pm – Urban Agriculture and Climate Justice Fair

Join The City of Boston, The Trustees, and Grow Boston on September 28 at Nightingale Park for a day of celebrating and learning about urban agriculture and climate justice work across Boston. This fair will have climate justice related activities and games and hands-on demos, like apple cider pressing and pickling. Enjoy food from Fresh Food Generation, music by Tjovi Ginen and fresh produce sold from local urban farms. Submit your most impressive harvests to our urban vegetable competition and win a prize! Fun and learning for all ages. Free & Welcome to all.

Co-hosted by a coalition of organizations including: Mothers out Front, Save the Harbor Save the Bay, The Food Project, Bowdoin St Health Center, Resonant Energy, Grow Boston, Extinction Rebellion, Codman Square Neighborhood Development Corp, ABCD, Dorchester Food Coop, Agriculture Hall, Boston Area Beekeepers, and more.

Harvest Competition Details:

Please bring your submissions by 10:30 a.m.

Bring produce from community gardens, urban home gardens, and urban farms to the fair this fall! Win prizes in each category listed below.

Fruits and Berries

Preserved Foods (canned, fermented and pickled foods)

Flowers and Herbs (bouquet)

Honey

Oddly Shaped Vegetable

General Produce

Junior Category

Registration Page: Urban Agriculture & Climate Fair – The Trustees of Reservations

Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/share/CukekH5Z5mEFykYW/

Wednesday, September 25, 9:30 am – 11:30 am Eastern – Sketching Plants and Flowers, Online

Learn how to capture the beauty and variety of plant forms with pencil and paper in this two-hour online workshop with the Harvard Museum of Natural History on September 25 at 9:30 am Eastern. With a focus on close observation, we’ll explore a range of techniques for achieving more accurate drawings and delve into contour, foreshortening, and shading to create volume and depth. The class will be limited to 12 participants, allowing ample time for individual feedback. All skill levels are welcome. $30 for Museum members, $35 for nonmembers. Register at https://hmnh.harvard.edu/event/sketching-plants-and-flowers-0

Image Credit: Erica Beade

Tuesday, September 24, 5:00 am – 6:30 am Eastern (but recorded) – A History of Gardens 2: Between Kings, Gardens of the Mid 17th Century, Online

What is a garden? Why were they created as they were? What influences were at play in garden making, and how have gardens evolved and developed over time? These are the questions we will explore as we traverse the history of gardens through the ages.

Following on from our opening talks on early gardens, this second series will examine how gardens developed during the 17th century. We will explore how exotic plants from around the world started to appear in European gardens, and were captured in botanical art, before the tumultuous impact of the English civil wars on gardens and gardening from the 1640s. The second part of the century saw the rise of extravagant, dramatic styles, now known as baroque gardens and exemplified by the work of André Le Nôtre for the Sun King at Versailles. We will explore these gardens through an analysis of the work of Le Nôtre and his contemporaries in France, and the series will end with a talk scrutinising how the European baroque style played out in England.

This ticket – purchase through Eventbrite HERE – is for this individual talk and costs £8, and you may purchase tickets for other individual sessions via the links below, or you may purchase a ticket for the entire [second] series of 5 talks in our History of Gardens Course at £35 via the link here. (Gardens Trust members £6 each or all 5 for £26.25) Ticket holders can join each session live and/or view a recording for up to 2 weeks afterwards.

After decades of relative peace and prosperity in Britain, the mid 17th century saw the country plunged into civil war, resulting in almost twenty years of turmoil, instability and uncertainty. This talk will examine the effect that this had on gardens as their owners returned – from the wars, from exile, from prison – and retreated to their neglected estates. With no role to play in the new Commonwealth regime, they turned to rebuilding, improving and in some cases, creating wonderful new gardens, such as the ones built by John Evelyn at Sayes Court and Wotton House. These gardens, and the fascinating stories behind them, will be the subject of this talk.

Dr Jill Francis is an early modern historian, specializing in gardens and gardening in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. She has taught history at the universities of Birmingham and Worcester, and still contributes to the programme of activities for both the Centre for Midlands History and Winterbourne House and Gardens. She is currently involved with delivering the online lecture programme for the Gardens Trust, and also works at the Shakespeare Institute Library in Stratford-upon-Avon. Her book, Gardens and Gardening in Early Modern England and Wales, was published by Yale University Press in June 2018.

Saturday, September 28, 12:00 noon – 3:00 pm – Rockin’ with Raptors

The Massachusetts Audubon Society’s Rockin’ with Raptors is a community event that’s fun for all ages. Get up-close with live raptors, learn about bees, and watch charming puppet shows. It all takes place at the Boston Nature Center and Wildlife Sanctuary in Mattapan on September 28 from 12 – 3. Register at https://www.massaudubon.org/programs/boston-nature-center/93578-rockin-with-raptors

The day will include programs for children and adults, entertainment, food (cookout, popcorn, & cake!), arts & crafts, and face painting. Explore tables and activities offered by our many collaborating cultural, community, and green organizations!

Fun for all age. Rain or shine. Free but registration required.

Saturday, October 26 – Saturday, December 21 – Becoming a Master Gardener

Now in its twenty-seventh year, MUG has long been a forum where both novice and experienced gardeners come to build their skills, sharing innovative and best practices for growing anywhere from the front porch to the community garden plot. MUG is an intensive, skill-building training for community and home gardeners from Greater Boston and beyond. Whether you’re just getting started or have been gardening for decades, MUG covers everything you need know to thrive in a community garden: soil science, botany for gardeners, organic pest and disease management, edible native perennials, garden planning, starting a community garden, preserving the harvest, composting, and more. MUG is not an official Master Gardener training—it requires fewer class and volunteer hours and focuses on small-space growing of edible crops. Master Urban Gardener is open to any community and residential gardeners who demonstrate a commitment to sharing skills with others. The program content is tailored to the climate and resources of Greater Boston but is open to gardeners from farther afield. We will have Spanish translation available upon request.

MUG consists of weekly in person and virtual sessions followed by at least 10 hours of volunteer service for the Trustees Boston Community Gardens–and/or another approved food access/open space project–over the course of the next year. The course will take place at our downtown Boston office 10-3 PM Saturdays with occasional Zoom lectures on weekday evenings. Apply at https://thetrustees.org/content/master-urban-gardener/ The course fee is on an income-based sliding scale, ranging from $0 – $350. Email arabiyah@thetrustees.org to learn more.

Saturday and Sunday, September 28 and 29, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm – 26th Annual North Quabbin Garlic & Arts Festival

The 26th Annual Garlic and Arts Festival will be held on September 28 and 29, from 10 – 5 each day, rain or shine, at Forster’s Farm, 60 Chestnut Hill Road in Orange, Massachusetts.

Here is what you will enjoy at the festival: Buy local, be local: support the bounty of over 100 booths featuring regional artists, farmers, and community organizations; strengthen communities by purchasing locally crafted and grown. Relax and celebrate life with great music, performance, spoken word, and dance on solar powered stages and throughout the rolling fields and forest. Learn and create through exhibitor demos, and new art and adventure activities for kids and families. Get silly with garlic games galore including the famous raw garlic-eating contest. Fill your belly with glorious, farm fresh and savory cuisine as you relax in the food courts overlooking the festivities. Energize your life with informative renewable energy and local living presentations, plus healing arts exhibitors. Orange is the New Green: trash free (well, only three bags for 10,000 people) with everything else recycled or transformed into fertile compost for gardens not garbage. Family friendly admission: $10.00 per day for adults, students $5.00, kids 12 and under free, free shuttle and parking too. We have joined Mass Cultural Council‘s EBT Card to Culture program along with over 175 institutions all across Massachusetts offering discounts for EBT cardholders.

We love them but…remember, absolutely NO DOGs (other than service dogs) are allowed at the festival. Dogs cannot be left in cars for their safety- and it will be a warm weekend. And, Garlic Lovers are Hot but… No Smoking or Vaping in the shuttle bus lines or on the festival site.

Mission Statement: The North Quabbin Garlic and Arts Festival is a celebration of the artistic, agricultural and cultural bounty of the region. The purpose of the festival is to unite North Quabbin people whose livelihoods are connected to the land and the arts, and to invite both local residents and those who do not live in the region to experience the richness of an area that is often overlooked.

The festival emphasizes what is homegrown, handmade and high quality, as well as what helps preserve and support the environment and the community. Everyone involved – organizers, exhibitors, volunteers, performers, attendees, a supportive community – makes the festival what it is: an engaging, fun and educational celebration for all ages.

An all-volunteer committee composed of neighbors, artists, farmers, and community members meets year-round to organize The North Quabbin Garlic and Arts Festival. The Forster/ Stewart Family graciously hosts the festival at their beautiful, historic farm, and the festival is a non-profit event under the umbrella of Seeds of Solidarity Education Center. Over 200 volunteers the weekend of the event park, welcome, recycle, and support exhibitors; and exhibitors contribute time to raise tents, feed work crews, and more to help bring the festival to fruition. The festival admission is kept affordable to families, and is used to cover the costs of the festival, as well as support local projects that promote a vibrant North Quabbin region. For more information visit www.garlicandarts.org.

Wednesday, September 25, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm – Revealing a Deeper History: Intervention at The Founders Monument

Join The Friends of the Public Garden at The Founders Monument on Boston Common on September 25, 6 pm – 8 pm – for the opening of Revealing a Deeper History, an engaging public art intervention. This free event will feature collaborative storytelling, movement, and film, revealing marginalized voices and hidden histories. There will be a special presentation that includes remarks from FOPG President Liz Vizza, and film producer and storyteller Shanda Foster, a choreographed translation of the deeper story of the Founders Monument by educator, dancer, and choreographer Jenny Oliver, and a talkback session where the audience will have a chance to engage with the artists. Register today, and please indicate on your registration if you require accessible seating. https://friendsofthepublicgarden.org/founders-register/

Sunday, September 22, 1:30 pm – Forest Stand Improvements in the Quabbin Watershed

In the winter of 2023 DCR Division of Water Supply Protection launched the Forest Stand Improvement pilot project. This project seeks to improve Forest Resiliency in young forests to increase native tree biodiversity, improve wildlife habitat, and climate resilience. Millers River Environmental Center 100 Main Street, Athol, at 1:30 pm on September 22, with speaker Austin Gelinas. Free and open to the public, sponsored by the Athol Bird & Nature Club.