Boston Flora

  • Sunday, February 16, 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm – What’s My Orchid Telling Me Now?

    Orchids are the largest family in the plant kingdom and grow all over the world! Some grow in soil and others grow on rocks and trees. Learn orchid anatomy and plant structure, as well as the difference between terrestrial and epiphytic orchids, so you can understand what your orchid is telling you. Matt Tetreault, Tower Hill Botanic Garden’s conservatory horticulturalist, is an orchid expert and develops orchid displays for Tower Hill’s annual shows. Matt will teach you how to assess an orchid’s health and what steps you can take to bring an orchid back to good health. The session will take place February 16 from 1:30 – 3, and is $15 for Tower Hill members, $29 for nonmembers. Register at www.towerhillbg.org.

    Matt Tetreault graduated from Worcester State with degrees in biology and chemistry. His diverse experience includes studying mangroves and other subtropical plants in the Dominican Republic, sequencing tropical spider DNA, and working on a salamander population study. After working as an intern at Tower Hill, he was brought on as a conservatory gardener in January 2018 and was promoted to conservatory horticulturist in December 2018. Matt was responsible for all the beautiful forced bulb displays at Tower Hill in the early months of 2019.

  • Tuesday, January 28, 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm – Botany Blast: What Is Biodiversity and Why Does It Matter?

    Jake Grossman, PhD, Putnam Postdoctoral Fellow, Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, will speak in the Hunnewell Building of the Arnold Arboretum on January 28 at 6:30 pm.

    Most of us have an intuitive sense of what counts as “biodiversity” and why it is important to live in a biodiverse world, but these questions have also powered decades of revelatory and complex ecological research.

    Join Putnam Postdoctoral Fellow Jake Grossman for an exploration of the world of biodiversity research. Our focus will be on how scientists define and quantify biodiversity and how biodiversity loss affects the way that ecosystems work. Jake will share highlights from his dissertation research, which entailed the use of experimentally planted “forests” to study the role of biodiversity in supporting tree growth, health, and nutrient use.

    Free, but registration requested. Register at my.arboretum.harvard.edu or call 617-384-5277.

  • Thursday, February 6, 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm – A Rose is a Rose: The Art of Botanical Prose

    Attention gardeners, readers, and writers! Come in from the cold on Thursday, February 6 from 2 – 3:30 at the Hunnewell Building at the Arnold Arboretum for an afternoon as delightful as a spring garden. Jonathan Damery, the associate editor for Arnoldia, will provide an enlivening and breathtaking tour of the artistry found in horticultural and botanical reference books. Bask in the profound eloquence of even the most exhaustive of botanical descriptions. Often cloaked in scholarly tomes, these compositions boast opinion, passion, simply gorgeous wordsmithing, and even intrigue, in some cases. Fee $5 Arboretum member, $10 nonmember Register at my.arboretum.harvard.edu or call 617-384-5277.

  • Tuesday, January 28, 6:45 pm – Ikebana Demonstration

    Ikebana is the art of Japanese flower arranging. The Norwood Evening Garden Club will host Joanne Caccavale, Ikebana instructor and President of Ikebana International Boston Chapter. The public is invited to attend for a small $5 donation. Refreshments will be served and a drawing for the finished arrangements will be held. The program begtins at 6:45 pm in the Carriage House behind the First Baptist Church, 71 Bond Street in Norwood.

    Caccavale will give a brief history of Ikebana and talk about the different schools, their concepts and styles. She will also demonstrate the basic styles of the Sogetsu School, within which she holds the rank of Komon, its second highest rank.

    Raised in Singapore, Caccavale was educated and trained as an attorney in the US but prefers teaching Ikebana to practicing law. She is a perennial exhibitor in the New England/Boston Flower and Garden Show and was an invited participant in Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts ‘Art in Bloom’ event for many years.

  • Thursday, January 23 – Sunday, January 26 – Flora in Winter

    Get a welcome taste of spring during Worcester Art Museum’s 18th-annual Flora in Winter. One of our most highly anticipated events, this four-day extravaganza features captivating and imaginative flower arrangements inspired by works of art and created by the region’s top floral designers.

    Flora in Winter is supported in part by the Bernard G. and Louise B. Palitz Fund and the Spear Fund for Public Programs. Sponsored by Unibank. General admission to the event is at the door only – WAM members free, nonmembers $25. There are ticketed events that may be reserved online. For complete information visit www.worcesterart.org.

    Thursday, January 23 from 11 – 1, join Thelma Shoneman for a Workshop on Leaf Manipulation ($50). From 1:30 – 3:30, Ellen Donaldson will take you back to the 1960’s with a Workshop on Groovy Felt Flower Pins ($15.)

    Friday, January 24 from 8 – 10 am brings a Flora Live Interpretation in the Gallery: Two Impressions, One Renoir, with floral designers Julie Lapham and Sarah Ribeiro ($20 WAM members, $40 nonmembers.) At 10:30, Kim Cutler, Flora in Winter co-chair, reveals how floral designers look for clues such as color, line, and texture, in works of art when creating interpretive flower arrangements. In the evening, from 5:30 – 8, don’t miss the exclusive evening celebration of Flora in Winter, inspired by the exhibition Photo Revolution: Andy Warhol to Cindy Sherman! The festivities include entertainment, live music, hearty hors d’oeuvres, and cash bar. Valet available at Lancaster Street entrance for $5 per car. Tickets ($25 members, $40 nonmembers) sold online and at the door.

    Saturday, there will be Flower Power Art Carts, with face painting in Lancaster Lobby and Chenille Stem Flower Making in Salisbury Hall. At 9:30 am, Sally Jablonski, of Herbert E. Berg Florist and World Cup of Flower Arranging finalist, shows how to create centerpieces for your dining room table or entertaining spaces—using her award-winning design techniques. Program includes refreshments and a docent-led tour of Flora. (WAM members $20, nonmembers $40). At 2 pm there will be a concert in Renaissance Court by Post Road Chorus.

    Sunday, attend a lecture at 1 pm on Artificial Flowers in the Age of Aquarius, with Nancy Burns, Stoddard Associate Curator of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs ($10, limited seating), followed by a concert at 2 by the Seele Musicale Chamber Ensemble, performing selections from the 17th and 18th centuries.

  • Thursday, February 6, 10:30 am – The Making of Long Hill Gardens

    A lecture of The Making of Long Hill Gardens will take place February 6 at 10:30 at the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, 900 Washington Street in Wellesley. Free, but registration required at https://www.gcfm.org/events-1/ldc-presents-lecture-on-the-making-of-the-long-hill-gardens/form

  • Sunday, January 26, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm – Cheese Making at Home

    Learn how to make a simple, delicious cheese in your own kitchen. Berkshire Botanical Garden’s own Chris Wellens will cover equipment, supplies, and basic techniques used in making nearly all types of cheese. While making 3 types of cheese, fresh from start to finish, an emphasis will be on making a unique cheese unlike any at your local grocery store. After enjoying the fresh-made cheeses, each person will take home instructions and a set of ingredients to make a batch or two at home. This workshop is for beginners, and participants will learn by doing.

    Chris Wellens is the Director of Education at BBG and is an avid cheesemaker at home. He has taught the art of cheesemaking to adults, children, and educators throughout New England. He also teaches on a wide variety of other topics involving the environment, gardening, beekeeping, and agriculture.

    Sponsored by Guido’s Fresh Marketplace. To place your name on a wait list visit https://www.berkshirebotanical.org/events/cheese-making-home-0

     

  • Saturday, February 1, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm – Savory and Sweet Hand Pies

    Making hand pies is fun! Let’s roll up our sleeves and get messy. In this class led by food educator, Anna Gershenson, participants will learn how to make an easy cream cheese dough that is perfect for making hand pies. The fillings will be mushroom, spiced pumpkin apple butter and cranberry maple cream cheese. There is nothing like popping a hot hand pie into your mouth!

    Families and Individuals are encouraged to attend this class. One child free with each adult registration. BBG members $55, nonmembers $65. Additional children: $25/each . Register at https://www.berkshirebotanical.org/events/savory-and-sweet-hand-pies

    Anna Gershenson is a professional cook and television personality. She has run a successful catering business since 1980, and has coined her own style of cooking “healthy gourmet”, which focuses on creating delicious meals using seasonal ingredients and healthy preparations. Anna has developed a strong connection with local farms in the Berkshires, where she lives, and where she hosts The Natural Cook with Anna Gershenson on Pittsfield Community Television, often featuring local farmers and food producers on her show.

    Her recipes have been published in the Boston Globe and on Food52. You can watch her show on YouTube channel The Natural Cook with Anna Gershenson. Sponsored by Guido’s Fresh Marketplace

  • Saturday, May 16 – Friday, May 22 – Landscape Architecture Workshop at Château de La Napoule

    With the seaside Château de La Napoule near Cannes, France, as your home base, spend a week immersed in exceptional gardens during a provocative and informative workshop sponsored by The Cultural Landscape Foundation on design and stewardship. The Château de La Napoule is an historic museum and vibrant arts center perched on the Côte d’Azur and set within a majestic compound that was restored more than a century ago by a pair of American artists; it is now the serene setting for residencies, workshops, and exhibitions. It’s also your home base for excursions to such famous destinations as Cannes, Antibes, and Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat.

    Course leaders Charles A. Birnbaum, president & CEO of The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF), and Eric Groft, principal at Oehme, van Sweden, both recognized experts in the field of landscape architecture, will provide an in-depth look at landscape heritage through a combination of richly illustrated lectures, tours of iconic gardens, and opportunities to accomplish first-hand documentation of cultural landscapes in the La Napoule/Cannes region.

    The curriculum, patterned after the class first organized nearly 30 years ago by Noele Clews, featuring John Brookes and James van Sweden, includes:

    Excursions to nearby gardens, parks, museums, and cultural landscapes, where you will learn how to read and interpret landscapes;

    Talks and Lectures on landscape architecture, garden design, planting design, and seeing, reading, and interpreting cultural landscapes;

    A Collaborative Design Session for a garden at the Château, which will be a culmination of the immersive experience. 

    Registration includes lodging, daily breakfast, and ’round-trip transportation to each of the gardens. The cost to register includes tour leadership.

    For pricing, registration, and additional information contact Tonya Quinn: Tonya@clews.org.

  • Friday, February 7, 7:00 pm – A Planet to Win: Why We Need a Green New Deal

    In the twenty-first century, all politics are climate politics. The age of climate gradualism is over, as unprecedented disasters are exacerbated by inequalities of race and class. We need profound, radical change. A Green New Deal can tackle the climate emergency and rampant inequality at the same time. Cutting carbon emissions while winning immediate gains for the many is the only way to build a movement strong enough to defeat big oil, big business, and the super-rich—starting right now.

    A Planet to Win explores the political potential and concrete first steps of a Green New Deal. It calls for dismantling the fossil fuel industry and building beautiful landscapes of renewable energy, guaranteeing climate-friendly work and no-carbon housing and free public transit. And it shows how a Green New Deal in the United States can strengthen climate justice movements worldwide. We don’t make politics under conditions of our own choosing, and no one would choose this crisis. But crises also present opportunities. We stand on the brink of disaster—but also at the cusp of wondrous, transformative change.

    Alyssa Battistoni is a Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard University and an Editor at Jacobin. Her writing has appeared in the Guardian, n+1, the Nation, Jacobin, In These Times, Dissent, and the Chronicle of Higher Education. 

    Thea Riofrancos is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Providence College and the author of Resource Radicals. Her writing has appeared in the Guardian, n+1, Jacobin, the Los Angeles Review of Books, Dissent, and In These Times. She serves on the steering committee of DSA’s Ecosocialist Working Group.

    The authors will speak and sign copies of their book on February 7 at 7 pm at Porter Square Books, 25 White Street in Cambridge. For more information visit www.portersquarebooks.com