Boston Flora

  • Wednesday, February 12, 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm – Five Seasons with Piet Oudolf

    After completing a feature documentary on New York’s High Line, award-winning filmmaker Thomas Piper met the inspirational designer and plantsman, Piet Oudolf, and the idea for a new project was born. Five Seasons: The Gardens of Piet Oudolf immerses viewers in Oudolf’s work and takes us inside his creative process, from his beautifully abstract sketches, to theories on beauty, to the ecological implications of his ideas. Intimate discussions take place through all four seasons in Piet’s own gardens at Hummelo, and on visits to his signature public works in New York, Chicago, and the Netherlands, as well as to the far-flung locations that inspire his genius, including desert wildflowers in West Texas and post-industrial forests in Pennsylvania. As a narrative thread, the film also follows Oudolf as he designs and installs a major new garden at Hauser & Wirth Somerset, a gallery and arts center in Southwest England, a garden he considers his best work yet. Piet Oudolf has radically redefined what gardens can be. As Rick Darke, the famous botanist, says to Piet in the film, “your work teaches us to see what what we have been unable to see.” Through poetic cinematography and unique access, Five Seasons reveals all that Piet sees, and celebrate all that we as viewers have been unable to see.

    “For me, garden design isn’t just about plants, it is about emotion, atmosphere, a sense of contemplation. You try to move people with what you do. You look at this, and it goes deeper than what you see. It reminds you of something in the genes – nature, or the longing for nature.”
    – Piet Oudolf

    A free screening on Wednesday, February 12 will take place at The Umbrella, 40 Stow Street in Concord, and is sponsored by The Garden Club of Concord. A brief business meeting for the GCC will begin at 6 pm at the theater. The doors open to the public at 6:30.

     

  • Thursday, February 13, 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm – Japanese Floral Arranging: An Ikebana Workshop

    Thursday, February 13, 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm – Japanese Floral Arranging: An Ikebana Workshop

    Inspired by the plants in Blossfeldt’s photographs, come experience a new way of arranging flowers with The Trustee’s ikebana workshop at the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum in Lincoln, Massachusetts on February 13 at 6:30 pm. Led by Joanna Callavello, President of the Ikebana International Boston Chapter, you will learn the history, styles, and concepts of ikebana arranging. The program fee covers all necessary materials, allowing you to take your new creations home. Trustees members $35, nonmembers $40. Register at www.thetrustees.org.

  • Thursday, February 6, 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm – The Imprint of the Landscape

    Please join The Harvard Graduate School of Design on February 6 at 6:30 pm in the Piper Auditorium at Gund Hall in Cambridge for the Frederick Law Olmsted Lecture delivered by landscape architect Günther Vogt. Vogt’s lecture will also mark the opening of the exhibition Günther Vogt: First the Forests, which is on view in the Druker Design Gallery from January 21 – March 8, 2020. A reception in the gallery will take place immediately following the lecture.

    What is the relevant scale for operating with the landscape of the city?

    Since the Industrial Revolution at the latest, humans have become the determining factor for global ecosystems. This fact becomes apparent when we look at sediment displacement influenced by human activity, for example. There is thirty times more of it today than what natural processes cause. Due to our massive intervention in the Earth system, not just new landscapes are formed, however, but the conditions for cohabitation in our cities are also fundamentally changed.

    Against this backdrop, solutions proposed by the current ‘green movement’ seem to have little viability. Green facades, vertical gardens or planted bridges deal primarily with esthetic aspects and are neither sustainable nor do they work as part of a network of lived public space. Vegetation is applied onto a construction framework, demoted to the ‘new ornament’ of landscape architecture.

    Set against these neatly composed images, Günther Vogt applies a systematic design approach with his projects. Their success is measured not just by their design qualities, but primarily by their consequences for the environment. In the spirit of Friedrick Law Olmsted, who met the changing environmental conditions of his time with a holistic view of space, thinking in systems like this requires incorporating highly diverse scale levels and leads us from the miniature to the panorama of the city landscape.

    Günther Vogt’s training at Gartenbauschule Oeschberg provided the practical basis for his intensive landscape work. His knowledge of vegetation and his skills in cultivation continue to be the very cornerstones of his work. His studies with Peter Erni, Jürg Altherr, and Dieter Kienast at Interkantonales Technikum Rapperswil, combined the disciplines of culture, design, and natural sciences. VOGT Landschaftsarchitekten emerged from the office partnership with Dieter Kienast in 2000. With projects such as the Tate Modern in London, Allianz Arena in Munich, or the Masoala Rainforest Hall at the Zurich Zoo, the firm has achieved international recognition. Its work is characterized by the dialogue established between the various disciplines and its close cooperation with artists. Since 2005, Günther Vogt has been pursuing a combination of teaching, practice, and research with his chair at the Institute of Landscape Architecture at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich. In 2012 he was a visiting professor at Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD). As a passionate collector and keen traveler, he is looking for ways to read, interpret, and describe landscapes, and finding answers to questions about future forms of urban coexistence.

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

  • Monday, February 10, 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm, or Tuesday, February 11, 6:15 pm – 7:45 pm – Flower Dissection

    Have you really looked at a flower lately? After sketching and dissecting flowers, we will use stereo microscopes to look at the floral structures hidden within, learning to recognize them across a variety of flower forms. This Arnold Arboretum session is led by Ana Maria Caballero McGuire, a Nature Education Specialist at the Arboretum. Limited to 16 per session.
    Free, but registration requested. Register at www.arboretum.harvard.edu

  • Monday, February 24, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Food Waste Policy: Using Systems Change to Stop Squandering One of Our Greatest Resources

    More than enough food is produced to feed every person, yet nearly 40% of food is wasted in the United States. This waste squanders our natural resources and has negative impacts on the environment and the economy. The Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic has been at the forefront nationally in terms of educating about the relevant laws, supporting innovative models to increase food recovery, and driving policy change at the federal, state, and local levels to align incentives to reduce food waste. Emily Broad Leib will share the key knowledge developed by FLPC, providing an overview of the causes of food waste, the key legal and policy opportunities, and a snapshot of current trends in federal and state government approaches to the issue. on February 24 at 7 pm as part of the Directors Lecture Series at the Arboretum.

    Emily Broad Leib founded Harvard’s Food Law and Policy Clinic and is recognized as a national leader in Food Law and Policy. She was named by Fortune and Food & Wine to their list of 2016’s Most Innovative Women in Food and Drink. The list highlights women who had the most transformative impact on what the public eats and drinks. Broad Leib was one of the inaugural recipients of Harvard President Drew Faust’s Change Solutions Fund in 2015.

    Fee Free. Members only. Registration required as seating is limited. The Director’s Lecture Series is a benefit of membership. Become a member of the Friends of the Arnold Arboretum.

  • Saturday, February 15, 9:30 am – 11:00 am – Foundations in Gardening: Native Trees and Shrubs

    Your backyard and Blithewold have much more in common than you think. Director of horticulture Fred Perry and horticulturist Joe Verstandig dive into the details of New England’s native woody plants on February 15 from 9:30 – 11. The lecture will discuss the criteria for being a native plant, the role natives play in the ecosystem, and some of the best-cultivated species to add in your garden. Blithewold is located at 101 Ferry Road in Bristol. Rhode Island, and you may register at https://www.blithewold.org/event/foundations-in-gardening-native-trees-and-shrubs/

    $25 Members | $30 Non-Members

  • Sunday, February 9, 4:30 pm – 6:00 pm – Wine & Succulents in the Woods

    Beat the winter doldrums with a glass of wine and an indoor garden you’ll create to brighten your home. Join The Trustees on February 9 from 4:30 – 6 for an evening at Rocky Woods in Medfield to design your own magical indoor garden.  In our succulent workshop, you’ll learn how to create & decorate a precious greenspace for your home — dreams of spring are sure to follow. Pretty Planted will be guiding us in this adults only workshop. 21+ event

    This class will include a glass of wine, light snacks, indoor garden container, soil, rocks, succulent plants and garden accessories.  Trustees members $48, nonmembers $60. Register at www.thetrustees.org.

  • Friday, February 7, 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm – Adults Only Full Moon Owl Prowl

    With the full moon as our guide, The Trustees are taking to the trails of Fruitlands Museum to see who-who-who might be out and about in the dark winter woods, on February 7 from 7 – 10.

    Join local naturalist and educator Laurie Nehring on this adults-only guided Owl Prowl. We will begin at the Wayside Gallery to learn about winter-time nocturnal animals and how to call in the owls. Then we will venture out to see if we can call any owls to us.

    This program involves winter night-time hiking on a ¾ mile long moderate hiking trail. If we have snow, feel free to bring snowshoes for the trek!

    After the hike, warm up around the outdoor fire for cocoa, s’mores, wine, and beer.

    This program is adult only (21+). We are offering two Family Full Moon Owl Prowls monthly January-March as well which are recommended for ages 7 and up. Please note that space is limited and this program is likely to sell out quickly. Pre-registration is required. $12 for Trustees members, $20 for nonmembers. Register at www.thetrustees.org.

    Snow Date: In the event of inclement weather this program will be held the following Sunday from 7-10pm. Any schedule changes due to weather will be communicated to registered participants via email.

  • Sunday, February 9, 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm – Authentic, Immediate, and Alive: Design Lessons from Wild Landscapes

    This February 9 program at The Groton Center, 163 West Main Street, Groton, is free and open to the public; made possible by a grant from the Groton Trust Funds’ Lecture Fund. It is co-sponsored by the Groton Garden Club and the Nashua River Watershed Association.

    What if our back yards could inspire, challenge, and delight us in the same ways that wild places do? For this year’s topic, join Groton’s own landscape architect Toby Wolf as he presents Authentic. Immediate, and Alive: Design Lessons from Wild Landscapes.

    Toby will explore ways that designed landscapes can draw from the ecology and the human experience of fields and forests. He will describe design strategies that not only support biodiversity and protect waterways, but also foster meaningful encounters with the natural world. Along the way, Toby will highlight some native plant species that can bring life and resilience to any New England garden Snow Date: February 16 –  Check NRWA@NashuaRiverWatershed.org for weather cancellation.

  • Monday, February 10, 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm – Conservation, Education, and Community Building through Prairie Restoration

    The mission of the Dyck Arboretum of the Plains in Hesston, KS is to cultivate transformative relationships between people and the land. Since the Arboretum’s establishment in 1981, a major outlet of its mission has been to display horticultural landscaping with examples of small prairie pocket gardens, using native plants that the public can see and emulate in their own home landscapes. In 2004, Dyck Arboretum expanded its educational outreach and started the process of developing a large seeded prairie reconstruction, the “Prairie Window Project,” for visitors to experience a living example of the ecosystem that once dominated Kansas. This species-rich eight-acre prairie reconstruction was implemented with four plantings over a six-year period on a former agricultural field. Plant species inventories and Floristic Quality Assessments were conducted on 75 remnant prairies within a 60-mile radius of Hesston.

    With the help of many volunteers from college students to retirees, Arboretum staff collected, cleaned, mixed, and planted the seed to form the Prairie Window Project. In addition to producing a diverse prairie reconstruction that attracts wildlife and people, this project has produced other valuable benefits related to seed ecotype and prairie remnant conservation, science education, and community building.

    Join Brad Guhr on February 10 at noon for this informative Ecological Landscape Alliance webinar to learn more about this exciting prairie project at Dyck Arboretum of the Plains. Free for ELA members, $10 for nonmembers. Register at https://www.ecolandscaping.org/event/92301/