Boston Flora

Friday, January 25, 5:30 pm – 8:00 pm – Water Lilies to Waterloo: An Evening of Monet and Flowers

Join supporters of the Worcester Art Museum for a sumptuous celebration of both Flora in Winter and the opening of the exhibition, Monet’s Waterloo Bridge: Vision and Process, with a fusion of color, light, flowers, and art. The festivities include entertainment, hearty hors d’oeuvre, and cash bar. Valet available at the Lancaster Street entrance for $5 per car. Early purchase (by January 15th) Members $20, Nonmembers $30, Students $15, Youth $8. After January 15 and at the door: Members $25, Nonmembers $37, Students $20, Youth $10. Salisbury Members have two free admissions to the Opening Party. Buy tickets at flora2019.brownpapertickets.com

Tuesday, January 22, 9:30 am – A “Bee” Program

The Needham Garden Club will host Susan Robinson on Tuesday, January 22 at 9:30 am at the Needham Public Library, 1139 Highland Street in needham Heights. Ms. Robinson will present a “Bee” program, open to the public. $5 for non-NGC attendees. Susan runs an organic honey business, Buzz 10 Honey, and teaches students at Norfolk County Agricultural High School. For more information visit http://www.needhamgardenclub.com/

Image result for Buzz 10 Honey

Monday, January 28 – Wednesday, January 30, 9:30 am – 3:30 am – Dried Leaves, Branches, and Seedpods

Make sure to collect your favorite specimens before snowfall to be the subjects of your winter composition of dried leaves, branches, and/or seedpods. Carrie Megan will conduct a three session class in the Putnam Classroom at The Gardens at Elm Bank, 900 Washington Street, Wellesley, and will show you how to use a range of different density pencil leads from 8H – 2B to create compelling compositions or studies and to render finely detailed drawings in graphite. This Wellesley College Botanic Garden class is for intermediate/advanced skill level. Classes will be held January 28 – 30 with a snow date of January 31. $275 for members of sponsoring organizations, $325 for nonmembers. Register at http://wellesley.edu/wcbgfriends.

Related image

Thursday, January 24, 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm – Living Art: Terrarium Workshop

Create a one-of-a-kind succulent-filled terrarium, guided by master florist Sally Jablonski, on Thursday, January 24 from 5 – 7 as part of Worcester Art Museum’s Flora in Winter. Learn about balancing this mini-ecosystem and take home your creation. Materials included. Cash bar. Register online at http://flora2019.brownpapertickets.com.

Image result for wine and terrariums

Thursday, January 24, 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm – Artists of New England and Their Gardens

Gardens are a space for creative rejuvenation, muse, and inspiration. New England is rich with historical artists, poets, and writers, and we are lucky to have not only their work but also the gardens that held a special place in their lives. The garden of sculptor William Chester French is pictured below.

Join The Massachusetts Horticultural Society on January 24 from 1:00 – 5:00 at The Gardens at Elm Bank, 900 Washington Street in Wellesley, for an afternoon of presentations exploring these truly inspired settings. $40 for Mass Hort members, $60 for the general public. Register at www.masshort.org.

Image result for Meander

Tuesday, January 15, 5:15 pm – 7:30 pm – Camp Benson and the “GAR” Camps: Recreational Landscape of Civil War Memory in Maine

The Massachusetts Historical Society will host C. Ian Stevenson, of Boston University, along with commentator Ian Delahanty of Springfield College, in an Environmental History Seminar on January 15 from 5:15 – 7:30 at the Massachusetts Historical Society headquarters, 1154 Boylston Street in Boston. The topic is Camp Benson and the “GAR” Camps: Recreational Landscapes of Civil War Memory in Maine, 1886 – 1910. This seminar examines sites where veterans transitioned the Civil War vacation toward a civilian audience: Camp Benson, where several Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) posts built a campground, and at the “GAR Camps” where a single veteran proprietor built rental cottages. The speakers ask why postwar civilians would want to mimic the veteran desire to associate healthful destinations with wartime memory. How do these outdoor landscapes explain the nation’s healing process from the Civil War? The seminar is free and open to the public.

To RSVP: email seminars@masshist.org or call (617) 646-0579.

Thursday, January 24 – Sunday, January 27 – Flora in Winter 2019

Leave the winter cold outside and treat yourself to color and fragrance during Worcester Art Museum’s annual floral extravaganza — when the entire Museum blooms with flower arrangements inspired by works of art. The region’s top floral designers interpret paintings, sculpture, and other works with imaginative arrangements that both dazzle and delight! Demonstrations, lectures, guided tours, and activities for children also take place throughout Flora in Winter, January 24 – January 27.

Flora in Winter 2019 Chairs: Kim Cutler, Kathy Michie, and Sarah Ribeiro. Flora in Winter is funded in part by The Spear Fund for Public Programs.
Sponsored by: United Bank Foundation Massachusetts. WAM Members enjoy free admission to all four days of Flora in Winter, except for the Flora/Monet Opening Party – special rates apply. Nonmembers: Adults $22, youth $6 during exhibition hours. For complete schedule visit http://worcesterart.org.

Saturday, January 26, 10:00 am – 2:00 pm – Greenhouse Growing and Maintenance

David Fiske, Massachusetts Horticultural Society Gardens Curator, will lead a workshop on Saturday, January 26 from 10 – 2 at The Gardens at Elm Bank, 900 Washington Street in Wellesley, that will show you ways to best utilize your greenhouse and indoor growing spaces.

He’ll discuss not only how to use these spaces to grow specific plants and starts, but also review maintenance needs that should be on your seasonal checklist. $25 for Mass Hort members, $40 general admission. Sign up at www.masshort.org.

Image result for Mass Hort David Fiske

Saturday, January 19, 5:00 am – 5:00 pm – Superbowl of Birding 2019

Winter is a wonderful time to bird in northeastern Massachusetts and southeastern New Hampshire. In celebration of this season, the Joppa Flats Education Center, 1 Plum Island Turnpike in Newburyport, is hosting the Superbowl of Birding XVI on January 19, 2019.

Superbowls I-XV were great successes with teams of all abilities participating. The challenge is renewed this year, with prizes awarded in ten categories!

This is a unique competition to find the greatest number of species and to earn the greatest number of points based on the rarity of the birds recorded. The Zeiss Joppa Cup is awarded to the team that collects the most points by the end of the specified 12-hour birding day. Strategy and planning are essential in order to win this competition.

Registration is $35 per person ($20 for participants 12 and under), and fees support refreshments and prizes for winning teams. Register by calling 978-462-9998. Complete information may be found at https://www.massaudubon.org/get-outdoors/wildlife-sanctuaries/joppa-flats/news-events/superbowl-of-birding

Image result for super bowl of birding 2019

Thursday, January 24, 7:00 pm – Going Up the Country: When the Hippies, Dreamers, Freaks, and Radicals Moved to Vermont

Going Up the Country is part oral history, part nostalgia-tinged narrative, and part clear-eyed analysis of the multifaceted phenomena collectively referred to as the counterculture movement in Vermont. This is the story of how young migrants, largely from the cities and suburbs of New York and Massachusetts, turned their backs on the establishment of the 1950s and moved to the backwoods of rural Vermont, spawning a revolution in lifestyle, politics, sexuality, and business practices that would have a profound impact on both the state and the nation. The movement brought hippies, back-to-the-landers, political radicals, sexual libertines, and utopians to a previously conservative state and led us to today’s farm to table way of life, environmental consciousness, and progressive politics as championed by Bernie Sanders.

Yvonne Daley is the author of five previous books and director of the Green Mountain Writers Conference. She will speak at Porter Square Books, 25 White Street in Cambridge, on January 24 beginning at 7 pm. If you ever dreamed of escaping to that farm in Vermont, be sure to hear Yvonne’s stories. More information may be found at https://www.portersquarebooks.com/event/yvonne-daley-going-country

Image result for going up the country yvonne daley