Friday, April 26, 3:00 pm – 10:00 pm, and Saturday, April 27 – Monday, April 29, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm – Art in Bloom

Celebrate the return of spring with Art in Bloom, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston’s annual festival of fine art and flowers.

Enjoy art from across the MFA’s collection paired with magnificent floral interpretations. Daily events include tours of arrangements throughout the galleries; flower-arranging demonstrations; informal dining among European paintings at the Art in Bloom Café; and outdoor walking tours.

Art in Bloom launches with a Preview of freshly installed arrangements on Friday, April 26 from 3 to 10 pm. The popular Member Night is Saturday, April 27, and Community Day with children’s activities is Sunday, April 28.

Browse the MFA Art in Bloom Market and Garden Cart for unique gifts and treasures.

Special guest speaker Remco van Vliet demonstrates creative techniques for designing spectacular arrangements from classic to contemporary. Tickets and reservations for lecture, classes, and group tours go on sale February 28, 2019.

Art in Bloom is sponsored by Wilmington Trust. Supporting Sponsor is Fitch Law Partners. Art in Bloom Community Day is sponsored by Arbella Insurance Foundation.

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Tuesday, March 12, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm – Winter Pruning

Proper pruning of trees and shrubs improves their health and structure while enhancing their appearance in the landscape. Gain hands-on experience and learn basic pruning principles, including how to make proper cuts, when to prune different species, and how to select and maintain tools. The New England Wild Flower Society class will take place March 12 from 1 – 3 at Garden in the Woods in Framingham, and is $26 for NEWFS members, $32 for nonmembers. Register at http://www.newenglandwild.org/learn/our-programs/winter-pruning

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Saturday, March 9, 9:30 am – 1:00 pm – Cultivating Legacies: New England Women in Horticulture and Landscape Design

Women are often overlooked when we discuss individuals who had great impact on botany and landscape design of the 20th century. The Arnold Arboretum was one of the few institutions in America that encouraged women to study with and be mentored by established botanical and landscape design professionals.

Mary (Polly) Wakefield, Eleanor Cabot Bradley, Martha Brooks Hutcheson, Marian Roby Case (below), and Marjorie Russell Sedgwick developed exceptional personal garden spaces and designed outstanding professional landscapes, and were also very active in the conservation and preservation of appreciable New England open space. This March 9 seminar highlights these women’s personal legacies: significant plant collections and garden design within beloved public spaces. Presentations illuminate these women and their roles in creating and protecting New England landscapes, the discernible role that the Arnold Arboretum played in these endeavors, and how we can continue to raise the visibility of these special places. Program includes an associated exhibition in the Arnold Arboretum’s historic Library Reading Room and light refreshments. Fee $50

Co-sponsored by The Trustees of Reservations, the Mary M.B. Wakefield Charitable Trust, and the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University

Register at my.arboretum.harvard.edu or call 617-384-5277.

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Thursday, March 7, 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm – Rain Garden Plants Webinar

Rain gardens can reduce groundwater pollution in urban landscapes by cleaning, cooling, and slowing stormwater. Learn how to maximize rain garden function by using the most durable native plants in some of the toughest spots. New England Wild Flower Society sponsors a March 7 webinar with Anna Fialkoff from 6 – 7 EST, for a fee of $10 for NEWFS members $13 for nonmembers. Register at http://www.newenglandwild.org/learn/our-programs/rain-garden-plants

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Sunday, March 3, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm – Heirloom Apple Grafting

Come join Broken Arrow Nurseries grafting guru, Adam Wheeler, on Sunday, March 3 from 1 – 4 at Berkshire Botanical Garden for this hands-on workshop that explores the world of grafting heirloom apples. Participants will be given a brief lecture that explores the methods and intricacies of this time-tested craft. Following the lecture, participants will put this newfound knowledge to work by grafting a few specimen apples of their own to take home.

Adam Wheeler started playing with plants at Broken Arrow in 2004 after completing his B.S. degree in Urban Forestry and Landscape Horticulture at the University of Vermont. His favorite responsibilities at Broken Arrow Nursery include plant propagation and the acquisition and development of new plants. He is a past recipient of the Young Nursery Professional Award from the New England Nursery Association and is the current Vice President of the North American Maple Society. He loves to share his passion for plants through photography and educational outreach. As a result, he lectures widely on a variety of subjects and is also an adjunct lecturer at Naugatuck Valley Community College and the Berkshire Botanical Garden. With his spare time he enjoys cultivating his eclectic collection of rare and unusual plants, rock climbing and competitive giant pumpkin growing! $35 for BBG members, $45 for nonmembers. Register at https://www.berkshirebotanical.org/events/heirloom-apple-grafting

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Tuesday, March 5, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm – Native Bees in the Hood

Perhaps surprisingly, urban environments support a high diversity of native bee species. But where are they living and what are they eating? In this March 5 Arnold Arboretum workshop, you will first learn about the biology and diversity of native bees and why they are important pollinators. We’ll dive into the city lifestyles of bees and the strategies they employ to be successful in these anthropogenic landscapes. In the second part of the workshop, we’ll focus on native bee decline and conservation, and learn answers to common questions such as: Why are bees dying? Do all bees need saving? What can I do to help bees at home? You’ll also learn the fundamentals of gardening for bees, and at the end of the workshop, have the opportunity to build and leave with a mason and leafcutter bee hotel. This workshop, taught by Nick Dorian, will extend your interest in native pollinators and equip you with the knowledge essential to supporting populations of native bees. Photo of Cuckoo Bee below from  http://nativebeesofnewengland.com.

Fee $15. Meets in Hunnewell Building, 125 Arborway, Boston, beginning at 6:30 pm.  Co-sponsored by Agricultural Hall and the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University Register at my.arboretum.harvard.edu or call 617-384-5277.

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Saturday, March 2, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon – Cultivating the Designer’s Mind

Long in production, Cultivating the Designers Mind — Principles and Process of Coherent Landscape Design, is a culmination of sixty years of studying, teaching and practicing landscape design. While the book is intended for all land-related professions, landscape architects, architects, planners and engineers, it is both accessible to and useful for all audiences. By personal experience, its principles and processes are widely applicable to much of common life. Highly illustrated with real world examples, this book includes Walter’s compelling watercolor landscape paintings, and focuses on the thinking process at the various stages of a design project. It concludes with ten of the most pervasive and widely applicable design principles. This Berkshire Botanical Garden talk on March 2 from 10 – noon will share some of the sources of personal inspiration, discovered principles, and insights made in capturing on paper the elusive task called designing. There will be ample time for planned audience engagement and questions and answers in the one hour talk.

Walter Cudnohufsky, M.L.A., is a long-time dedicated teacher. Having founded and for 20 years directed the nationally acclaimed Conway (MA) School of Landscape Design, he has honed a reasoned approach to planning design. Currently his firm is engaged in many diverse and stimulating planning/design projects throughout the region. BBG members $10, nonmembers $15. Register at https://www.berkshirebotanical.org/events/cultivating-designer%E2%80%99s-mind

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Wednesday, March 6, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Sugar, Sex, and Poison: Understanding the Vital Powers of Plants

Are we humans masters of our world, or are plants really the ones in charge? What they lack in locomotion, they compensate for in structure and chemistry. Celebrated author and botanist Bill Cullina, Executive Director, Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, will explain why plant life is at the center of a carefully balanced natural economy that is critical to the functioning of our ecosystems. Through photosynthesis, plants produce the energy that powers the food chain. And although eaten by others, they are far from helpless prey, having evolved a dizzying arsenal of relationships to create ecologically sound landscapes. The free Grow Native Massachusetts lecture will take place March 6 at 7 pm at the Cambridge Public Library,449 Broadway in Cambridge.

William Cullina is the author of many celebrated books about native plants, including the well-known trio: Growing and Propagating Wildflowers; Native Trees, Shrubs, and Vines; and Native Ferns, Moss & Grasses.

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Thursday & Friday, April 11 & 12 – Gardening Study School Course 2, Series 11

The Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts will present Gardening Study School Course 2, Series 11 on Thursday and Friday, April 11 and 12, at Tower Hill Botanic Garden, 11 French Drive in Boylston. On Thursday, Laura Eisner, landscape architect, will speak on Plant Diseases and Garden Pests, and horticulturist Joann Vieira will cover growing fruits and vegetables. On Friday, Betty Sanders, Master Gardener, will discuss Lawn Alternatives & Growing Grass along with Irrigation & Water. Nancy Hubert, gardening consultant, will speak on Plant Hunters. Suggested reading is Botany for Gardeners by Brian Capon. Registration deadline is March 16. For further information  contact Linda Jean Smith at lindajean.smith@comcast.net, or call 978-256-3101. Registration form may be printed by clicking here.

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Saturday, March 9 – Sunday, March 10, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm – Artists in Bloom

The Canton Garden Club, in conjunction with the Canton Public Schools, will hold their biennial ARTISTS IN BLOOM on March 9 and 10 from 10 – 5 at Pequitside Farm, 79 Pleasant St., Canton. This event features student’s artworks from grades 1-12 with 30 of the pieces will be interpreted in flowers by Canton Garden Club members. $5 entrance fee.
For more information contact Joan Marie Driscoll at cantongcmembership@gmail.com or call 781-821-5500.

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