Boston Flora

Tuesday, October 19, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm – Botanical Phenology, Online

Join Native Plant Trust’s Botanical Coordinator Micah Jasny on October 19 from 1 – 2 in this live webinar exploring phenology: the study of the timing of biological events in a plant’s life cycle. Understanding when plants will be in certain life stages, from leaf to flower to seed, plays a critical role in monitoring and protecting key plant species. We will also address how seasonal and annual variations in habitat and climate can impact phenology. $12 for NPT members, $15 for nonmembers. Register at http://www.nativeplanttrust.org/events/botanical-phenology/

Saturday, October 16, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon, and Thursday, October 21, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm – Learn to Create Dried Flower Arrangements

Dried flowers are dubbed the “Low-Maintenance Plant Trend” by Apartment Therapy and declared “Dried Flowers In Your Interior, The Interior Trend Of 2021.” by Residence Style. This Massachusetts Horticultural Society class is here to teach you all the how-to’s of drying flowers and plant materials to make arrangements for your home. We will explore hanging techniques, silica drying, along with other methods of creating beautiful, dried plant material for you to work with. After reviewing the basics of flower arranging, each participant will make their own table-top arrangement to bring home. A handout reviewing drying techniques and flower arranging guidelines will also be available to attendees.

Workshop will be led by Melissa Pace at the Gardens of Elm Bank on either October 16 from 10 – 12 or October 21 from 7 – 9. Melissa Pace is an award-winning horticulturalist who competes in numerous garden and flower shows, from Philadelphia Flower Show to the Bolton Fair. She has been a University of Rhode Island Master Gardener since 2003. Melissa has been a presenter for numerous garden clubs and civic organizations throughout New England since 1995. Melissa holds a master’s degree in teaching from Bridgewater University, is an artist and art teacher and is currently employed as a Garden Educator for the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. $55 for Mass Hort members, $73 for general public. Register for either session at www.masshort.org.

Saturdays, October 16 and October 23. 10:00 am – 2:00 pm – Mattapan Tree Giveaway

Join Speak for the Trees at City Natives in Mattapan to pick up a free tree to plant at home! We’ll have American Hophornbeam, Eastern Redbud, Sweetgum, and Trident Maple. Sign up in advance to reserve your tree. Walk ups welcome, but we can’t guarantee a tree for you.

These events are supported by Green Print and are in partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation.

To register for October 16, click HERE. To register for October 23, click HERE.

1) Trees are for private property planting only. Please call DigSafe at 811 before digging.

2) By signing up and picking up this tree, you agree that:

You have permission to plant the tree.
You will plant the tree and for care it.
Staff and volunteers from SFTT can call and reach out to you with follow up questions.

3) On average, trees are 4-6 feet tall and weight about 20 pounds. Please make sure that you are comfortable taking home, planting, and caring for a tree of this size.

Wednesdays, October 13 – November 17, 12:00 pm – 1:30 pm – The Art of Floral Design, Online

Join floral artist Arrin Sutliff and Smithsonian Associates online for six Wednesday sessions, October 13 – November 17, to explore the spectrum of floral design. Sourcing (with a focus on sustainability), making the most of seasonal flowers, creating centerpieces, wiring techniques, bouquet-making, and photographing your work are all among the practical areas covered.

Based in DC, Arrin Sutliff creates site-specific and time-based work using plants, flowers, and digital media. Her work spans from immersive installs to single stem expressions. Arrin is the owner of Tint Floral which focuses on using local flowers for weddings, art, and collaborations.

Designed for students of all levels, beginners can gain a full understanding of what floral design entails, while more experienced students can continue to advance their skills as they create their own work. A supply list of tools and flowers is available for participants who would like a hands-on experience, but all are welcome to relax and follow along as Sutliff creates some beautiful designs step by step.

Note: This streamed program will not be recorded. $135 for Smithsonian members, $165 for nonmembers. Register HERE.

Saturday, October 9, 9:30 am – 11:00 am – Essex Gardens Trust 25th Anniversary Talk: A Tale of Two Gardens, Online

This year, Essex Gardens Trust has been commemorating 25 years since it was founded and is delighted that Matthew Wilson, award-winning garden and landscape designer will be adding to the celebrations by giving the Trust’s ‘Unforgettable Gardens’ Anniversary Talk, “A Tale of Two Gardens”. Matthew has a strong connection with Essex, having worked in the county for several years, most notably as Curator of ‘Hyde Hall’, the fabulous, 360-acre RHS Garden near Chelmsford. Matthew also helped to transform the seriously neglected landscape around Castle Hedingham, a medieval Historic House in the north of the county, into a glorious, wedding-perfect setting while working on Channel 4’s TV series, ‘Landscape Man’.

Following on from RHS Hyde Hall, Matthew relocated to Yorkshire, still working for the Royal Horticultural Society, where he became Head of Site and Curator of RHS Harlow Carr. In “A Tale of Two Gardens”, Matthew will relive for us his experience of gardening in these two, very different locations. The contrast between the semi-arid conditions of Essex and the cooler, damper climes of Yorkshire could hardly present a greater challenge for a gardener. Matthew will describe how he adapted to the advantages and disadvantages of each site, creatively using a wide range of design and planting solutions to meet and overcome the challenges. We will learn how this led to iconic garden features such as the award-winning Dry Garden at Hyde Hall and the much-photographed Main Borders and Winter Walk at Harlow Carr.

Today, Matthew runs his own successful garden design and horticultural consultancy, with projects ranging from small urban gardens to master planning of estates, both in the UK and overseas. He has designed two show gardens at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. His first, for the Royal Bank of Canada in 2015, focused on living sustainably and won a Silver Gilt medal at the show. Its design included an arid, zero irrigation ‘dry garden’ and a water harvesting/storage zone. In 2016, Matthew’s second garden at the Chelsea Flower Show was sponsored by ‘Welcome to Yorkshire’ (the official Yorkshire tourism agency) and called ‘God’s Own County – A Garden for Yorkshire’. The design was inspired by the East Window at York Minster and won the highly regarded People’s Choice Award.

Matthew is also a popular broadcaster, both on TV and Radio, and widely known for his contribution to Radio 4’s ‘Gardeners’ Question Time’. He is a lecturer and writer, contributing to gardening publications such as BBC Gardeners World Magazine and Gardens Illustrated, as well as to The Financial Times. He is listed in House & Garden magazine, in 2021, as one of the top 50 garden designers in the UK.

Tickets are Five Pounds, available through Eventbrite by clicking HERE Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days prior to the start of the talk, and a link to the recorded session, available for one week, will be sent shortly afterwards.

Thursday, October 14, 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm – Climate Talk: New England Alpine Plants, Online

Tower Hill Botanic Garden is dedicated to understanding the ways climate change impacts our world and exploring methods we can use to combat its effects and improve our climate outlook. “Climate Talks” are an opportunity to connect with experts in the field to learn and understand the current effects of climate change and explore ways we can make a difference.

This October 14 online climate talk will explore the current global biodiversity crisis spurred by human-driven environmental change. This crisis make is critical for us to determine our current conservation priorities and the extinction vulnerability of rare taxa. This talk highlights a framework for understanding the climate change vulnerability of certain plant species, and a research study applying this framework to understand how rare alpine rattlesnake-root plants (Nabalus spp., Syn: Prenanthes spp.) endemic to mountains of the Northeast will respond to ongoing environmental change (pictured below). The results from this study have important implications for the management of these rare taxa. This research can give us insight into how the world is being effected from climate change and the ways our conservation plans can help us manage those effects.

Speaker Kristen Haynes, PHD is an ecologist and plant biologist whose work focuses on climate change conservation. Kristen’s interest in environmental issues began with early experiences in the Adirondack Mountains in northern New York State, and grew through involvement with her high school’s Envirothon team. Kristen studied Natural Resources at Cornell University and then pursued a PhD at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. Currently, as the Assistant Director of SUNY Oswego’s Rice Creek Field Station, Kristen is co-leading a project aiming to restore native tree species to New York State’s canal region for ecosystem, climate, and cultural benefits.

Free for Tower Hill members, $10 for nonmembers. Register at www.towerhillbg.org

Saturday, October 16, 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm – Macro/Close Up Photography

Spring, summer, winter, or fall, macro photography opens the door to a wonderful new world of photo opportunities. With instructor Steve McGrath as your guide, this Massachusetts Horticultural Society course at The Gardens at Elm Bank, 900 Washington Street in Wellesley on October 16 at 2 pm will show you ways to use your existing camera gear to make spectacular macro photographs. The close-up world is a magical place full of pattern, color, and abstract imagery. Flowers become abstract works of art; rusty doors become textured canvasses; stones become polished gems; butterflies and other insects can become sci-fi monsters. Instructed by Steve McGrath. $32 for Mass Hort members, $45 for nonmembers. Register at www.masshort.org

Steve McGrath is a professional freelance photographer and photography teacher who has been creating images for 20 years. Steve first began by shooting sports photography for local high schools, then weddings, and stock agencies. Then his love of the outdoors led him to focusing more on his true passion, “nature photography”. Steve was an active member of the Gateway Camera Club for many years, and has won many ribbons and awards at fairs and competitions through the group and on his own. Several of his images have been published in school textbooks. His favorite places to shoot are Acadia National Park in Maine, the Green Mountains of Vermont, and the Cape Cod National Seashore.

Sundays, October 17 & 24, and Tuesdays, October 19 & 26, 10:00 am – 1:00 pm – Plant Ecology

This comprehensive Native Plant Trust four session overview of plant ecology addresses the distribution and abundance of plants and their interactions with other organisms and the physical environment. You will explore ecological principles and their field applications; factors that affect plants as individuals, populations, and communities; and methods for investigating plant communities. Supporting topics covered include biogeochemistry, biogeography, disturbance and succession, and conservation for biodiversity. With diagrams, images, and further resources offered to reinforce the concepts, you will apply the new material through indoor and outdoor assignments and peer discussion. The sessions will take place at Garden in the Woods in Framingham and will be led by Jennifer McCarthy. $216 for NPT members, $264 for nonmembers. Register at http://www.nativeplanttrust.org/events/plant-ecology-person/

Thursday, October 14, 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm – Frederick Law Olmsted Lecture: Jamaica Kincaid

Jamaica Kincaid is a widely acclaimed and fiercely original writer known for her novels, short stories, and essays, including writings on her life as a gardener. She was also staff writer for the New Yorker from 1973 to 1996 and has been a contributor for the Village Voice.

She is beloved by generations of readers who discovered her fiction, including Annie John and “Girl,” in high school and is admired by critics for her daring and unorthodox body of work. Answering claims that her fiction and essays are characterized by anger, Kincaid says, “The important thing isn’t whether I’m angry. The more important thing is, is it true? Do these things really happen? I think I’m saying something true. I’m not angry … The way I think of it is that I’m telling the truth.”

In the New York Review of Books, Darryl Pinckney wrote, “Kincaid’s rhythms and the circularity of her thought patterns in language bring Gertrude Stein to mind. She is an eccentric and altogether impressive descendant.”

Kincaid is the recipient of a Guggenheim grant and has been nominated for the National Book Award. She was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2004 and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2009.

Kincaid was born in Antigua, British West Indies, in 1949, and arrived in the United States in 1965 to work as an au pair. In 1973, she changed her name from Elaine Cynthia Potter Richardson to Jamaica Kincaid, mostly to prevent her parents from finding out that she was writing. She’s now the mother of two grown children and is a professor in the African and African American Studies department at Harvard University.

This year’s Harvard Graduate School of Design Frederick Law Olmsted Lecture will take place October 14, online.

Click here to register for Frederick Law Olmsted Lecture: Jamaica Kincaid. The event will also be live streamed to the Harvard GSD YouTube page. Only viewers who are attending the lecture via Zoom will be able to submit questions for the Q+A. If you would like to submit questions for the speaker in advance of the event, please click here. Live captioning will be provided during this event.

Thursday, October 14, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm – Envisioning Landscapes: The Transformative Landscapes of OJB, Online

Join James Burnett, FASLA, founding partner of OJB Landscape Architecture, as he shares selected projects from the firm’s first monograph, published by Monacelli. Winner of the 2020 National Design Award for Landscape Architecture from the Cooper-Hewitt, Smithsonian National Design Museum, OJB is known for work that affirms the public realm and its power to transform. This online program on October 14 at 2 is sponsored by The Garden Conservancy, and is $40. including a copy of the book, for nonmembers. Register at https://www.gardenconservancy.org/store/virtual-talk-book-10-14-21-envisioning-landscapes-the-transformative-environments-of-ojb

With compelling imagery, Jim Burnett will share how seminal projects from the firm’s practice have transformed their communities and continue to surprise and delight visitors.

Featured projects include:

Sunnylands Center and Garden: A cultural destination in Southern California that celebrates its arid setting and expresses the surprising vibrancy of the California desert ecosystem.
Klyde Warren Park: Created over one of the busiest freeways in Dallas, this park has restored connections between city districts and established a new public-private partnership model for transforming cities.
Hall Winery: A blend of modern and traditional, the project transforms an industrial wine-making campus of outdated Butler buildings into a welcoming garden oasis.
Myriad Botanical Gardens: The renovation and expansion of this public park is part of a larger connected initiative to return open space to a revitalized, walkable downtown in Oklahoma City, OK.