Boston Flora

Saturday, January 12, 9:00 am – 2:00 pm, and Wednesdays, January 16 – January 30, 3:00 pm – 7:00 pm – Nonvascular Herbarium Work Sessions

The New England Botanical Club welcomes volunteers to help with curatorial work in the nonvascular herbarium of the NEBC. Listed below are the scheduled work sessions. If you would like to join us or have questions, please email Elizabeth Kneiper (Ekneiper@aol.com) or call 781-801-2734. We look forward to hearing from you! Weather and various other circumstances can force the sessions to be canceled or rescheduled, but volunteers will be notified.

Wednesday, January 9, 2019 – 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, January 12, 2019 – 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Wednesday, January 16, 2019 – 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Wednesday, January 23, 2019 – 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Wednesday, January 30, 2019 – 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Type of work: Curatorial – replacing old packets, data basing, and inserting collections. A great chance to work with historic collections of New England lichens, bryophytes, algae, and fungi.

Location: Farlow Herbarium, 22 Divinity Ave, Cambridge, MA.

Sunday, January 20, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon – Fruits and Seeds Revealed

Plants need their seeds to move around so they can propagate the next generation. In this New England Wild Flower session on Sunday, January 20 from 10 – noon at Nasami Farm in Whately, participants learn how plants have adapted a variety of ways to disperse their seeds. After a lecture on seed and fruit structures, the class studies examples of some of the adaptations using hand lenses and microscopes. George LoCascio leads the session, which costs $26 for NEWFS members, $32 for nonmembers. Register at http://www.newenglandwild.org/learn/our-programs/fruits-and-seeds-revealed-1

Saturdays, January 26, February 9, and February 23, 8:30 am – 10:30 am – Smartphone Photography: Winter Landscapes Enhanced

Capture the essence of winter, when landscapes present a diluted palette of colors and contrasts are most striking. Professional photographer Nancy Katz will introduce fundamental concepts of landscape photography and then teach techniques for getting the best photographs from your smartphone camera. You will capture images in color and black and white, then learn to enhance them using a host of editing tools provided in the Snapseed App. (Note: Nancy Katz was selected by the Apple Store of Boston as a guest artist in March 2017 for her photography work with her iPhone and has taught her techniques there and most recently at Brandeis University’s Osher Life Long Learning Institute.) The three session, Arnold Arboretum class will take place Saturdays, January 26, February 9, and February 23 from 8:30 – 10:30. Fee Arboretum members $65, nonmembers $84. Register at my.arboretum.harvard.edu or call 617-384-5277.

Saturday, January 19, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm – Introduction to Botanical Art and Illustration

Botanical artist Bobbi Angell will lead a class in botanical art and illustration on Saturday, January 19 from 9 – 4 at the Lyman Conservatory at the Smith College Botanic Garden, 16 College Lane in Northampton. Free parking passes will be provided. Registration deadline is January 7. Learning to draw while learning to observe increases one’s knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of the world of plants. Botanical artist Bobbi Angell will guide participants through the process of creating an illustration that defines and depicts a particular species. Using pressed herbarium specimens and preserved flowers, participants will design a composition with a plant habit and dissected flowers and enlarged details, with a layout intended for publication or framing. Sketches can be inked or colored afterwards. Bring your hand lens, pencils and erasers; plant material and paper will be provided. The only prerequisites are curiosity and expandable interest in plants.

Instructor Bobbi Angell draws plants for scientists at The New York Botanical Garden, Harvard University, and other institutions for floras and monographs. Ongoing work features illustrations of neotropical species new to science. To view her work, visit http://www.bobbiangell.com. She is co-author of A Botanist’s Vocabulary (Timber Press).

Bobbi is the artist for the current logo for the New England Botanical Club. NEBC member price $30, nonmembers $60. Register at http://www.rhodora.org/whatsnew.html

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Friday, January 11, 5:30 pm – Nineteenth Narrative and Notes on Nature with Nutritious Nibbles

Mark your calendar for the next New England Botanical Club Meeting on January 11, 2019 at the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife Cronin building, 1 Rabbit Hill Road, Westborough, MA (Room 108 – Southeast Conference Room) Potluck dinner begins at 5:30 pm. Bring a potluck dish to share with other members and guests. Botanical labeling of dishes is encouraged. Dinner will be followed by a raffle of books and botanical items. A number of books and special botanical items have already been donated. Bring cash! Members and guests may share anything of botanical or club interest. Limit of about 10 slides or 5 minutes narration.

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Tuesdays, February 5 – March 19, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm – Residential Landscape Design

This New England Wild Flower Society multisession course on Tuesdays, February 5 – March 19 from 6:30 – 8:30 at Garden in the Woods in Framingham, tackles the different aspects of the landscape design process. Workshop sessions focus on design methods using site analysis techniques and schematic design tools. Participants consult with the instructor and work on projects of their own choosing. Discussions about plants and habitats are interspersed with lectures on design principles, including criteria for making plant choices and determining placement in the landscape. Karen Sebastian is the instructor, and the fee is $231 for NEWFS member, $272 for nonmembers. Image from www.terrascapeslandscapedesign.com. Register at http://www.newenglandwild.org/learn/our-programs/residential-landscape-design-1

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Wednesday, May 1, 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm – An Evening with Hamish Bowles

Join the Museum of Fine Arts Boston on Wednesday, May 1 at 7 pm for an exciting evening of fashion stories with Vogue’s international editor-at-large Hamish Bowles in conversation with Michelle Finamore, Penny Vinik Curator of Fashion Arts. Bowles’s deep knowledge of fashion, art, and history has informed his writing, collecting, and acclaimed curatorial projects, which have included “Jacqueline Kennedy: The White House Years,” “Balenciaga and Spain”, “House Style: Five Centuries of Fashion at Chatsworth,” and most recently, the fashion exhibition on royal dress featured in the film Ocean’s 8. Tickets are required, (MFA member price $35, nonmembers $44) and we are featuring this rather early since the Remis Auditorium is sure to sell out. To order tickets by phone or to put your name on a wait list, call 1-800-440-6975 ($6 processing fee applies); to order in person, visit any MFA ticket desk.

Wednesday, January 9, 12:30 pm – 2:00 pm and 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm – Travel with Japan Society of Boston Information Sessions

Japan Society of Boston invites you to travel to Hyogo Prefecture, June 24 – July 1, 2019. Our eight-day trip will include a three-night homestay and insider tours of famous landmarks and local gems including Himeji, and Awaji-shima. The cost is around $2,700, all-inclusive, with airfare, lodging, and most meals included. Children and seniors are encouraged to attend. Join us for the Japan trip you have been pining for, alongside your fellow JSB members.

This Open House and Information Session on Wednesday, January 9 will introduce the Japan/America Grassroots Summit – the program with which we travel – a decades-old tour and homestay program that celebrates the legacy of friendships that uphold the peace between our nations. It gives travelers many memorable experiences organized by local volunteers in Japan. This includes the rare privilege of staying with a Japanese host family. More than 100 people from across America will participate with us in Hyogo.

We hope this information session with Ms. Chika Aoki will be a nice opportunity for us to meet you and make sure the trip is organized in an ideal way for each member. Feel free to bring food and eat while we talk. Two time options are available, 12:30 pm or 5:30 pm. The sessions take place at 50 Milk St., 18th Floor “Hemingway” Room in Boston.

Registration for the trip is handled by our partner organization: The Manjiro-Whitfield Commemorative Center for International Exchange. Registration is open now at http://manjiro.or.jp/e/summit/hyogo/.

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Tuesday, January 22, 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm – Garden Club of the Back Bay Winter Tea – SOLD OUT

The 2019 Garden Club of the Back Bay Winter Tea will take place Tuesday, January 22 from 3 – 5 at The Courtyard Restaurant at the Boston Public Library at 700 Boylston Street. Garden Club member price $45, non-members $55. Names will be held at the door.

Thursday, January 10, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm – Miles of Portraits: Alaska

Join the Massachusetts Audubon Society at the Boston Nature Center, 500 Walk Hill Street in Boston on Thursday, January 10, from 6:30-8:30 pm for a special event hosted by REI Boston.

Come watch two episodes of the film Miles of Portraits: Alaska and hear about the many ways the bicycle brings people together. FREE general admission, or $49/ticket package. The ticket package includes: one general admission ticket, two signed magazines, and a poster.

Registration is managed by REI Boston. While tickets are free, registration is required to attend this event. Register at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/miles-of-portraits-alaska-boston-nature-center-tickets-53228125757

When Annalisa and Erik ride their nearly 100-pound loaded bicycles, people ask them questions. A lot of questions. Across America and around Alaska, their bicycles have become the ultimate conversation starter and have introduced them to hundreds of people. Miles of Portraits is a magazine and film that captures their stories.

Come watch episodes of the film and hear Annalisa and Erik, both Type 1 diabetics, talk about these kind souls they met on their 1,000-mile bike trip around Alaska as well as their own story managing the disease out in the middle of nowhere.