Boston Flora

Wednesday, October 24, 9:00 am – 3:00 pm – Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts Fall Conference

Please join President Suzanne McCane, along with the Board of Directors of The Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts, Inc., on Wednesday, October 24 for the Fall Conference at The Massachusetts Horticultural Society, 900 Washington Street in Wellesley. Registration and continental breakfast begins at 9 am, the business meeting begins at 9:30, followed by a speech by Claudia Thompson, founder of Grow Native Massachusetts. For complete information and registration visit www.gcfm.org, or contact meetings chairman Lisa Bourgeois at klbprc@comcast.net.

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Thursday, October 18, 9:00 am – 4:30 pm – Advanced Design Workshop with Roy Diblik

Join acclaimed designer and plantsman Roy Diblik on October 18 from 9 – 4:30 at Tower Hill Botanic Garden for a rare opportunity to immerse yourself in garden design and to be inspired by nearly four decades of his design experience and extensive plant background. During this full-day workshop, Mr. Diblik will share the importance of affection in the design process; the beauty of self-discovery in coming to know plants and creating intimate plant communities; and the joy of caring for perennial plantings.

Mr. Diblik’s teaching is based on his belief that successful planting design isn’t about how many new and different plants you can use, but rather about knowing your plants and understanding how to combine them to create sustainable and beautiful relationships. In this workshop, Mr. Diblik will delve into 16 plants and explain the value of coming to known them. In-depth discussion will help build an understanding of their growth rate, growth habits, and other characteristics that contribute to successful placement in communities and to their seasonal and yearly developmental associations with each other. Mr. Diblik will explore the importance of mindful inputs based on the garden’s selected plant patterns within the overall plant community and their evolving relationships from year to year. During the workshop, he will guide the group through layout patterns and evaluate layouts based on their stewardship needs from the first year to the fifth year. In addition to plant and design topics, Mr. Diblik will discuss gardening practices over landscaping practices. This exploration will challenge workshop participants to consider the relative benefits of health-and-beauty over neat-and-tidy. With the recognition that we must manage time as well as financial resources, Mr. Diblik will also share his inspirational wisdom about the transformational time we are in within the horticultural industry. He will describe his vision that we are positioned to become a plant driven culture that raises the level of beauty while recognizing the value of responsible water use, biodiversity expansion, habitat creation, and good soil stewardship.

Roy Diblik is a recognized perennial plant expert, grower, designer, author, and co-owner of Northwind Perennial Farm in southeastern Wisconsin. Combining his 35+ years of knowledge growing traditional and Midwest native perennials, he specializes in highly aesthetic, sustainable plant communities for all seasons, while reducing maintenance through design. e believes that gardens should be thoughtful, ecologically directed, emotionally outreaching, and yet very personal. Mr. Diblik is the author of The Know Maintenance Perennial Garden, a simplified approach that promotes use of hardy, beautiful plants that are complementary and thrive together as a community.

Co-sponsored by the Ecological Landscape Alliance. $125 for members of sponsoring organizations, $160 for nonmembers. Register online at www.towerhillbg.org.

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Saturday, October 13, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm – Landscape Design Clinic

This Berkshire Botanical Garden fast-paced, information-saturated clinic on October 13 from 9 – 4 will introduce design students, home owners, and others to an opportunity-finding and problem-solving design process. It will lead to the basic conceptual elements of a landscape master plan. All attendees will participate in the process of observing and designing. Students will come away with coherent examples of how design happens. An active discussion format will focus on common design principles. A step-by-step PowerPoint presentation will focus the discussion later in the afternoon. This all-day workshop is a prerequisite for the Landscape Design Clinic Level II course offered in spring 2019. The field trip is held rain or shine. The instructor is Walter Cudnohufsky, and the cost is $115 for BBG members, $125 for nonmembers. Register online at www.berkshirebotanical.org.

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Saturday, October 13 – Things Fall Apart: Land-Use History, Non-Native Insects, Climate Change, and the Decline of a Forest

The October New England Botanical Club meeting will take place Saturday, October 13 at the Harvard Forest in Petersham, Massachusetts. The featured speaker is Dr. Aaron Ellison, Senior Research Fellow in Ecology at the Harvard Forest. From late morning to mid-afternoon, there will be a tree coring and dendroecology workshop with Dr. Neil Pederson, and filed trips to sites of botanical interest around Petersham. In the late afternoon and evening, you will enjoy a tour of the Hemlock Hospice installation with Dr. Ellison at 4 pm, followed by a potluck dinner with NEBC members and guests (6 pm), and a 7 pm presentation from Dr. Ellison in the Fisher Museum at the Harvard Forest. For more information visit www.rhodora.org. Image courtesy of The Harvard Crimson.

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Tuesday, October 9, 5:15 pm – 7:30 pm – Native American Environmental History

This Massachusetts Historical Society panel on Tuesday, October 9 from 5:15 – 7:30 will explore the intersections of environmental history and indigenous studies—the questions that each field engenders in the other, as well as the perspectives that native and non-native scholars bring to their research as they traverse both fields. Questions of race, gender, geography, and sources enliven this growing body of scholarship. Join us for a stimulating and wide-ranging conversation on these and other topics. The panel participants are Lisa Brooks, Amherst College; Strother Roberts, Bowdoin College; Ashley Smith, Hampshire College; Thomas Wickman, Trinity College. Moderator: Cedric Woods, Institute for New England Native American Studies, University of Massachusetts Boston. The panel takes place at 1154 Boylston Street in Boston.

Seminars are free and open to the public; RSVP required.To RSVP: email seminars@masshist.org or call (617) 646-0579.

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Sunday, October 14, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm – Under the Spell of Succulents

Succulent nursery owner Jeff Moore introduces us to the world of cultivated succulents, offering insight into how we engage with these plants, from the casual enthusiast to collectors and growers. Learn about their use in container gardening, landscaping, bonsai and more, on Sunday, October 14 from 1 – 2 at Tower Hill Botanic Garden. Moore will also showcase the major genera, including aloes, euphorbias, agaves, cacti, crassulas and kalanchoes, with stunning images, and plenty of opportunity for Q&A.

Co-sponsored with Massachusetts Horticultural Society. Jeff Moore is a long-time succulent enthusiast who has owned Solana Succulents, just north of San Diego, since 1992. He is the author of three books, Under the Spell of Succulents, Aloes and Agaves, and Soft Succulents. All three books will be available for purchase and signing after his talk. Lecture is $10 for Tower Hill members, $20 for nonmembers. Register at www.towerhillbg.org.

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Sunday, October 14, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm – Embellished Pumpkins

Join Tower Hill Botanic Garden and instructor Mary Beth Hayes on Sunday, October 14 from 1 – 2:30, and decorate white mini-pumpkins with succulents, moss, cut flowers and berries. Learn techniques of using floral adhesives and plants to create a long-lasting decorative pumpkin. All supplies will be provided. Registrants are encouraged to bring their own clippers. Let’s create pretty pumpkins!

Mary Beth (MB) Hayes is a freelance floral designer in Chelmsford, MA, who focuses on seasonal, nature-based design. She has studied with notable floral designers including Francoise Weeks, Hitomi Gilliam and Holly Heider Chapple. MB enjoys working with groups of people and playing with flowers and plants to create things of ephemeral beauty. $50 for Tower Hill members, $60 for nonmembers. Register at www.towerhillbg.org.

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Friday, October 5 – Monday, October 8 – October Oddities

This October, get ready for the weird, wacky, and wonderful. During Tower Hill Botanic Garden’s October Oddities exhibition Tower Hill will be taken over by bizarre plants, from giant pumpkins to terrifying seedpods, slow down to discover nature’s oddities. Enjoy our indoor plant displays and then head outside to explore our outdoor displays and spot bizarre-looking plant parts on the trails. From Devil’s Claw seedpods in the vegetable garden to prickly cacti in the conservatories, learn about the strangest plants at Tower Hill.

Columbus Day Weekend will feature a growing exhibition for all ages – professionals, hobbyists, and amateurs alike. Plant in the spring, tend over the summer, and bring us your odd harvest in the fall! Tower Hill will offer prizes in the following categories: Funniest, Oddest, Kid-Grown, Veggie Creations, and Best in Show. All ages are welcome to compete in each category. The Best in Show winner will receive a $100 cash prize, the winner of the Kid-Grown exhibition will receive a $50 cash prize, and each winner of the other three categories will be awarded $20 gift cards for the Garden Shop at Tower Hill. Judges will include celebrity judge Roger Swain, in addition to our in-house horticultural experts.

Roger Swain, “the man with the red suspenders”, is recognized by millions as host of The Victory Garden, television’s longest-running gardening show. For fifteen years Roger planted and pruned, harvested and chatted with PBS viewers across the country. Subsequently, he co-hosted People, Places and Plants on HGTV, a show which celebrated New England gardens and gardeners, and featured Roger’s commentary, “Food for Thought.”

Biologist, gardener, writer and storyteller, Roger Swain was born and raised outside Boston, Massachusetts. He graduated from Harvard College, and went on to earn a Ph.D. studying the behavior in ants in tropical rainforests, before becoming Science Editor of Horticulture magazine. Since 1978 readers have been enjoying Roger’s essays and articles, as well as his five books Earthly Pleasures, Field Days, The Practical Gardener, Saving Graces, and Groundwork. When he is not talking with gardeners across the country, Roger can be found at work in the orchard and gardens of his New Hampshire farm.

Roger Swain received the Alice Milton Award for Design from the Worcester County (MA)Horticultural Society in 2012, the American Horticultural Society Award for Writing in 1992, and in 1996 he was awarded the Massachusetts Horticultural Society Gold Medal for his “power to inspire others.”

Exhibition Guidelines

Each submission must be labeled with the participant’s Name, Hometown, Plant name (common and Latin), and a brief description of why this entry is “odd.” Entry cards will be available at drop-off. Submissions must be checked in at Tower Hill on Friday, Oct. 5, 2018, between the hours of 11am and 5pm, or on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018, between 10am and 11:30am. Judging will occur on October 6 at noon. Submissions must be picked up between 3-5pm on Monday, October 8, or Tower Hill will dispose of them. Submissions will be on display indoors at Tower Hill over the weekend.

There are six general parts of plants growers can submit: roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits, and seeds. Judging categories will be:

Funniest: A plant that looks like a person, face, animal, etc.
Kid-Grown: Any gardener under the age of eighteen can submit in this category
Veggie Creations: Put together different plants to make an animal or monster
Oddest: Could be unusual for the region, an odd shaped vegetable, or a strange seed pod
Best in Show: The most impressive submission will be awarded this top prize

Ribbons will be awarded for first, second, and third place in each judging category. First place winners of each category will receive a $20 gift certificate to the Garden Shop at Tower Hill, which will be mailed to them. Best in Show will win a $100 cash prize and the Kid-Grown winner will win a $50 cash prize.

Note: Participants don’t have to pay admission to drop off or pick up their submissions, but must pay admission to re-enter Tower Hill over the weekend.

Top 20 Odd Plants to Grow in New England

Squash, Winter ‘Yokohama’ – (Cucurbita maxima) – A dark blue-green bumpy/warty fruits.
Squash, Patty Pan ‘Striped Green and White Striped – (Cucurbita pepo) Green and white striped and bumpy flattened fruits. Can be eaten as a summer squash or left on plant to mature and be used as a decorative gourd.
Squash, Winter ‘Pink Banana’ – (Cucurbita maxima) – A long 2’x3′ pink skinned squash.
Squash, ‘Tromboncino’ – (Cucurbita moschata) -When grown on trellis forms long straight-necked fruits with bulbus base give a trombone-like silhouette, or if allowed to grow along ground the neck can curl and distort into many interesting shapes.
Gourd ‘Caveman’s Club’, ‘Dinosaur’ – (Lagenaria siceraria) – A knobby/bumpy textured green gourd with a short handle and a rounded club-like blossom end.
Edible Gourd ‘Cuccuzi’/ ‘Snake’ – (Lagenaria siceraria) – Eaten at the 12″-18″ stage these light green skinned fruits can easily get 4′-5′ long or longer.
Luffa Gourd -(Luffa aegyptiaca) – Used as bath sponge when dry.
Love-in-a-Puff – (Cardiospermum halicacabum) – A dainty vine with small white flowers, later producing inflated seed pods containing a seed with a heart shaped spot.
Devil’s Claw – (Proboscidea louisianica) – Large seeds with 2-4 pronged “hook-like” ends.
Sunflower ‘Mongolian Giant’ – (Helianthus annuus) – 10′ tall plants with large 18″+ flower heads and individual seeds 1″long.
Corn ‘Oaxcan Green’ – (Zea mays) Unusual green kernels.
Beans, Dry ‘Tiger Eye’ – (Phaseolus vulgaris) – Dry beans are reddish-tan mottled with cream in interesting patterns.
Yard long Bean ‘Chinese Red Noodle’ – (Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis) 24″ long red/burgundy seed pods.
Beans, Dry ‘Ying-yang’ – (Phaseolus vulgaris) Cool beans with yin-yang pattern on black and white dry beans.
Amaranth ‘Dreadlocks’ – (Amaranthus caudatus var. gibbosus) Magenta-pink Pom-pom-like flowers on long drooping stems.
Love-in-a-mist -(Nigella damascena) interesting when dried; inflated balloon-like seed pods)
Bells-of-Ireland – (Moluccella laevis) Unusually shaped green flowers.
Poppy ‘The Giant’ – (Papaver somniferum) Interesting dried seed pods.
Cockscomb celosia – (Celosia argentea var. cristata (Cristata Group) ) – Flowers grow into brain-like shapes.
Snapdragon – (Antirrhinum majus) – Seed pods look like skulls when dry.

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Saturday, October 13, 10:30 am – 1:00 pm – Apples, Apples, Apples

It’s fall, time to celebrate all things Apple! Apples are an ancient, mysterious and remarkable fruit. Grown for over 10,000 years, apples appear in myths, legends, songs and folk traditions. Apple trees can live for over 100 years and no two apple seeds will produce the same fruit. Instructor Betsy Williams will hold a food and design class at Tower Hill Botanic Garden on Saturday, October 13 from 10:30 – 1.

The shape, flavor and fragrance of apples play starring roles in fall and winter celebrations. We’ll discuss apple history and traditions, learn how to use apples decoratively for the upcoming holidays and enjoy an apple tasting. The class will sample apple cider syrup, nibble dried apple slices, enjoy a sip of apple infused vodka, try a savory apple soup and classic apple salad then make a small table arrangement to celebrate Autumn with apples, greens, berries and other seasonal touches. Recipe handouts included. All materials included.

Betsy Williams teaches, lectures and writes about living with herbs and flowers. A gardener and herb grower since 1972, Betsy trained as a florist in Boston and England. She combines her floral and gardening skills with an extensive knowledge of history, plant lore and seasonal celebrations. Betsy is the author of several books on the uses and stories of herbs and flowers. She has appeared on the Discovery Channel and greater Boston cable stations as well as local and national radio talk shows. Betsy lectures and teaches locally and nationally. $70 for Tower Hill members, $80 for nonmembers. Register online at www.towerhillbg.org.

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Thursday, October 18, 5:30 pm – 9:00 pm – Massachusetts Horticultural Society Honorary Medals Dinner

The Massachusetts Horticultural Society’s 118th Honorary Medals Dinner will take place Thursday, October 18 from 5:30 – 9 in the Hunnewell Building at The Gardens at Elm Bank, 900 Washington Street in Wellesley.

Margaret Roach (pictured below) is the 2018 nominee for the George Robert White Medal of Honor, the highest honor given by the Society. Ms. Roach will be honored for her distinguished career in horticulture as a garden writer for publications, such as Newsday and Martha Stewart Living, where she was able to reach millions of people as she shared her knowledge of gardening. The author of three books, A Way to Garden, And I Shall Have Some Peace There, and The Backyard Parables and her web site, A Way to Garden. She also hosts a public-radio show and podcast which all continue to make meaningful connections between people, plants, and their beloved gardens.

The George Robert White Medal of Honor was established in 1909 and is among the most distinguished horticultural awards in the United States. The first honoree was Charles Sprague Sargent, Director of the Arnold Arboretum. Other recipients have included Gertrude Jekyll, Jens Jensen, The Royal Horticultural Society, Massachusetts General Hospital and Tasha Tudor.

Dale Deppe of Spring Meadow Nursery is the 2018 nominee for the Jackson Dawson Memorial Award. This award is given for exceptional skill in the science or practice of hybridization or propagation of hardy, woody plants.

William Cannon is the nominee for the Thomas Roland Medal, which honors men and women who have shown exceptional horticultural skill. Mr. Cannon is honored for his expertise of holly and his garden in Brewster, MA.

Betsy Ridge Madsen will receive a Gold Medal for her leadership as Chair of Massachusetts Horticultural Society and her dedication to help continue the Society’s legacy. Betsy’s volunteerism at the Flower Show as a judge, clerk, and many other positions helps continue Mass Hort’s tradition of promoting Amateur Competitions for passionate designers and plants people. As a floral designer, gardener, horticulturist and spokesperson, Ms. Ridge Madsen has advanced the art and science of horticulture by example and her willingness to share her expertise with others.

Carol Stocker will receive a Gold Medal in recognition of her work as a garden writer for the Boston Globe and other publications which has promoted the art and science of horticulture to thousands of readers.

Karen Perkins is nominated for the Silver Medal for her efforts in the propagation and promotion of Epimediums. She is the owner of Garden Vision Epimediums, and has demonstrated her dedication to the science of horticulture and promoting plants for people to enjoy in their gardens.

Trish Wesley Umbrell is nominated for the Silver Medal for her extraordinary skill as a garden educator, both formerly with Mass Hort and currently with the Natick Community Organic Farm.

Reservations are required ($125 per person). Visit https://masshort.org/education-events/honorary-medals-dinner/

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