Boston Flora

Saturday, April 6, 10:00 am – 2:00 pm – Spring Pruning of Woody Ornamentals

Spring is a great time to assess woody shrubs for shape, structure, and winter damage. This April 6 Berkshire Botanical Garden workshop will focus on learning by doing. Ron Yaple, owner of Race Mountain Tree Services in Sheffield, MA, will demonstrate how to renovate, rejuvenate, and shape shrubs and small ornamental trees for structure, health, and optimal growth. Plants covered will include viburnums, lilacs, witch hazels, deciduous azaleas, sweetshrubs, crab apples, and ornamental cherries. Participants should dress for the weather, bring pruners, work gloves, and a bag lunch. $25 for BBG members, $35 for nonmembers. Register at https://www.berkshirebotanical.org/events/spring-pruning-woody-ornamental-plants-0

Ron Yaple, owner of Race Mountain Tree Services in Sheffield, MA, has developed a regional reputation as a premier arborist. He is a dedicated and knowledgeable teacher of arboriculture.

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Monday, April 1, 12:00 noon – 1:30 pm – Kiley Fellow Lecture: Montserrat Bonvehi Rosich

The Harvard School of Graduate Design is pleased to announce a free public lecture, the Kiley Fellow Lecture, on Monday, April 1 at 12 noon at 48 Quincy Street in Cambridge, featuring Montserrat Bonvehi Rosich.

Montserrat Bonvehi Rosich is a Lecturer of Landscape Architecture at the Graduate School of Design. She teaches in the Master of Landscape Architecture core studio sequence, the Ecology, Technology and Techniques sequence as well as design research seminars. Her research currently focuses on the relation between landscape ecology and the culture of food production in Northern Spain and Southern France.

Montserrat is a licensed Spanish Architect, Urban designer, and founder of TBR Architects, an award winning office focusing on the challenges and opportunities of designing public space. She was the 2017-2018 Daniel Urban Kiley Fellow in Landscape Architecture at the GSD. Prior to joining the GSD, she was faculty at the University of Virginia where she taught urban design, core sequence, and research studios as well as research seminars in the Department of Landscape Architecture. She holds a Master in Architecture from the Barcelona Architecture School at Polytechnic University of Catalonia where she also taught in the urban design department.

Anyone requiring accessibility accommodations should contact the events office at (617) 496-2414 or events@gsd.harvard.edu.

Thursday, April 4, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm – Tory Burch Esplanade Association Benefit

We hope you will join The Esplanade Association on April 4 from 6:00pm to 8:00pm for an evening celebrating the Esplanade. This closed-door event at Tory Burch in Copley Place is hosted by Jessica Crimmins, an Esplanade Association Board Member. The evening will feature drinks, light bites, and exclusive in-store opportunities. 20% of the event’s proceeds will benefit the Esplanade Association. To attend, please RSVP to skazi@toryburch.com.

National Garden Bureau

“Inspire. Connect. Grow.” National Garden Bureau is a non-profit organization that exists to educate, inspire, and motivate people to increase the use of plants in homes, gardens, and workplaces by being the marketing arm of the gardening industry. Members are experts in the field of horticulture and the organization’s information comes directly from these sources. The inspiration of James H. Burdett, the National Garden Bureau was born in 1920 in the wake of World War I. He perceived the increasing need of suburbanites for basic instruction in backyard gardening. Because of his unique background as both a former newspaper journalist and an advertising manager of a seed company, he appreciated the role of the media in public education. He pioneered the idea of enlisting horticultural writers and broadcasters in the noble effort of mass education to create a population of gardeners. In the process, he improved the lives of citizens.

The Bureau came of age during World War II when the government encouraged homeowners to grow Victory Gardens. By means of annual posters promoting “Beauty and Abundance in Your Garden” and other materials, the Bureau promoted seeds and gardening on the home front. Then, the postwar years saw an emphasis on community beautification and the Bureau responded with a film, brochures, programs, and information sheets to help gardening communicators further this cause among the public. Incorporation as a not-for-profit organization soon followed.

Each year the NGB chooses categories of plants to highlight and 2019 is the Year of the Snapdragon, the Year of the Dahlia, the Year of the Pumpkin, and the Year of the Salvia nemorosa. To learn more about the National Garden Bureau visit http://ngb.org.

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Saturday, March 30, 9:00 am – 12:30 pm – The American Chestnut: When Will It Flourish Again?

The American chestnut could be the first tree ever restored to its native forest after suffering from a devastating airborne blight in the early 1900s that killed billions of trees.

Join The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University on Ssturday, March 30 from 9 – 12:30 for a thought-provoking gathering as experts share perspectives on the history of American chestnut (Castanea dentata), its significance as a forest species, and subsequent decimation by an invasive blight pathogen, Cryphonectria parasitica. Ongoing research in blight tolerance and the addition of blight-tolerant genes are the prognosis for this tree’s future.

Special speakers include:

• Dr. David Foster, Director of the Harvard Forest

• Ms. Sara Fitzsimmons, Director of Restoration at The American Chestnut Foundation

• Dr. William Powell, Professor and Director of Council on Biotechnology and Forestry at State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry

• Dr. Jared Westbrook, Director of Science at The American Chestnut Foundation

A panel discussion will follow the lectures:

Introduction by Ms. Lisa Thomson, President and CEO of The American Chestnut Foundation

Panel participants will include each speaker as well as Edward Faison, Senior Ecologist at Highstead Arboretum

Fee $20 per person (Free for students).Event takes place at the Arnold Arboretum’s WELD HILL RESEARCH BUILDING, 1300 Centre Street, Roslindale, MA

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Uli Lorimer Named Director of Horticulture by the New England Wild Flower Society

New England Wild Flower Society, a national leader in native plant conservation, horticulture, and education, has named Uli Lorimer as its new Director of Horticulture. Lorimer is currently curator of the Native Flora Garden at Brooklyn Botanic Garden and will begin his new role in March. He will oversee both Garden in the Woods, the Society’s botanic garden in Framingham, and Nasami Farm in western Massachusetts, a nursery focused on propagation of and research about New England native plants.

“We are excited to welcome Uli to the staff as we launch ambitious initiatives at the Garden and in horticultural research,” says Debbi Edelstein, Executive Director of the Society. “Uli’s passion for native plants and ecological landscaping, plus his commitment to outreach and education, make him an ideal person to lead our horticulture team.”
The Delaware native grew up with an interest in all things green, and since 2005 has held the position of curator of the Native Flora Garden at Brooklyn Botanic Garden. During his tenure at BBG, Lorimer not only tended the original 108-year- old Native Flora Garden but was also instrumental in the creation of a new extension of the garden, which features a native coastal plain meadow and pine barrens. He also worked closely with botanists throughout the region to collect seed from the wild, propagated new plants for the collection, and documented and studied the region’s biodiversity. Lorimer is a popular teacher and public speaker and is also a contributing author and photographer for several BBG publications, including Community Gardening, Healthy Soils for Sustainable Gardens, Tough Natives for Tough Places, A Native Plant Reader, Easy Compost, and Edible Gardens. Lorimer holds degrees from the University of Delaware in Landscape Horticulture and Foreign Languages and Literature. Fabulous photo below by the incomparable Ken Druse.

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Wednesday, March 27, 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm – Copley Square: History Through Architecture

Copley Square is one of Boston’s most architecturally significant and instantly recognizable public locations. This urban square is home to Trinity Church, the Boston Public Library, Old South Church and the Hancock Tower, among other important landmarks. The square defines the city, as well as the evolution of American architecture and urban design, from colony toward the sophistication of global European squares, moving creatively from Beaux-Arts style to International Style and Modernism. On March 27 at 6 pm in the First Floor Commonwealth Salon at the Boston Public Library, architectural historian Leslie Humm Cormier explores this contemporary place from its origins as an estuary to its vital significance as a stylistic link between old-world style and new-world design.

Leslie Humm Cormier, PhD, writes on the history and theory of art, architecture and urban design in Europe and America. She received her doctorate from Brown University as a Kress Fellow, affording her study in London and Paris. She is the author of a book on the Early Modern era in American architecture, as well as many articles on modern architecture and urban design in architectural encyclopedias. Previously a faculty member of Harvard University Extension and Radcliffe Seminars, Cormier is currently affiliated with the Boston Architectural College. For more information email ask@bpl.org

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Saturday, March 23, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm – 44th Annual Gardener’s Gathering

Celebrate the start of the gardening season on March 23 from 10 – 5 at Shillman Hall, Northeastern University, 115 Forsyth Street in Boston. The 44th Annual Gardeners’ Gathering brings Boston-area gardeners together for a free day full of informative workshops, engaging exhibitors, networking, and inspiration. Held at Northeastern University, the Gathering features more than two dozen workshops on everything from Healthy Soil to Urban Foraging. Urban homesteaders can learn about keeping bees or chickens, making fermented pickles, and growing gourmet mushrooms. Gardeners can hone their skills with workshops on garden planning, managing pests and diseases, and more.

This year’s Gathering will feature special guest speaker Aziz Dehkan, Executive Director of the New York City Community Garden Coalition. Aziz is an activist, community organizer, former organic farmer, and a tireless member of #Resist. He has worked for many social and environmental organizations including Mother Jones, The Coalition for the Homeless, The Fortune Society, and Peace Action Network of NY. Aziz will address the history, current state, and future of community gardens in NYC, looking at them through the lens of social justice and climate change protection. He’ll speak to gentrification and racial inequality and delve into how community gardens can be in the vanguard of climate change monitoring, adaption, and mitigation.

Mayor Walsh will deliver a keynote address and present the annual Community Garden Awards to an outstanding Rookie Garden of the Year, Most Valuable Gardener, and Hall of Fame garden.

A diverse array of local environmental and urban agriculture organizations will share their work in the exhibitors’ gallery. Register in advance at http://www.thetrustees.org/things-to-do/metro-boston/event-43119.html

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Thursdays, March 28 – May 16, 6:30 – 8:30 – Photographing the Landscape

Demand more from your landscape photographs than just a depiction of a beautiful sunset or seascape. Broaden your photographic vision and push your landscape photographs to be more creative and dynamic. Capture the landscape (both rural and urban) with new and refreshing perspectives by means of weekly class assignments. You will also view the work of some contemporary landscape photographers and discuss what makes them great. Bring your camera (any kind) to class and prepare to bring in 4″ x 6″ prints each week. This Arnold Arboretum weekly eight session class begins Thursday, March 28 from 6:30 – 8:30 at the Arboretum, 125 Arborway in Jamaica Plain, and is taught by Robin Radin. Fee $210. Offered with Eliot School of Fine & Applied Arts. Register at my.arboretum.harvard.edu or call 617-384-5277.

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Friday, March 29, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm – Fairy Garden Workshop

It must be Spring! Join The Trustees on March 29 from 6:30 – 8:30 at Stevens-Coolidge Place in North Andover for an evening workshop and create your very own fairy garden. We will provide everything you need, including a container, soil mix, a variety of suitable miniature plants, and a selection of miniature embellishments and natural materials to appease the garden fairies. Leave with a tiny world to enjoy inside or out!

“When the winds of March are wakening the crocuses and the crickets,
Did you ever find a fairy near some budding little thickets,…
And when she sees you creeping up to get a closer peek
She tumbles through the daffodils, a playing hide and seek.”
-Marjorie Barrows

Space is limited. Pre-registration is required. $28 for Trustees members, $35 for nonmembers. Intended for audiences 14+. One ticket reserves a space for one person. Register at www.thetrustees.org.

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