Boston Flora

Saturday, April 5, 9:30 am – 11:30 am – Tastes of the Garden: From the Heart of Italy

Whether you’re Italian or not, nothing feels more like home than a delicious Italian dinner. Stefano Granzo, Tufts University grad student, teaches us his favorite recipes from his mother’s kitchen in Venice while incorporating locally grown produce and herbs, in this Boston Natural Areas Network class to be held Saturday, April 5, from 9:30 – 11:30 at the Future Chefs Office and Teaching Kitchen, 560 Albany Street (South End), Boston. Registration required, to register call 617-542-7696 or email info@bostonnatural.org.

Sunday, April 6, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm – Who Was Harriet Hemenway?

On Sunday, April 6, from 1 – 2:30 at the Shattuck Visitor Center in the Back Bay Fens across from the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Emerald Necklace docent Susan Helms Daley will give a talk on Harriet Hemenway, founder of the Massachusetts Audubon Society. Find out why there’s a street in the Fens bearing the family name. Free and open to the public.Â Sponsored by The Emerald Necklace Conservancy.

Thursday, April 3, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Organic Lawn Care

Whether your concerns are about family members, pets, or the environment the trend is toward a greener style of property management and for many this includes your lawn. This no nonsense approach to having a chemical free lawn can clear up much of the rhetoric involved in decision making when it comes to using or not using chemicals.

In this Massachusetts Horticultural Society presentation, taking place Thursday, April 3 from 7 – 8:30 at Elm Bank, 900 Washington Street, Wellesley, Bruce Wenning will cover the cultural practices that promote turfgrass germination, growth and establishment, reduce turfgrass insect and disease problems and conserve water. Organic versus inorganic methods will be contrasted to emphasize the real difference between the two methods. You don’t need inorganic chemical inputs to have a healthy lawn.

Bruce Wenning has thirty years of horticultural experience working with organic lawns and gardens and their pests. With university degrees in plant pathology and entomology he has taught organic lawn care for twenty years. Bruce is currently the horticulturalist at The Country Club in Brookline where he manages the formal gardens and greenhouse.

Lecture Fee $10 Mass Hort members; $15 non-members. Register on line at www.masshort.org.

Saturday, March 29, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm – Tell It With Pride

The Massachusetts Historical Society (MHS) and the Friends of the Public Garden are co-presenting a special event of talks and exhibit tours related to the MHS Tell It with Pride exhibition. The event is in commemoration of the memorial designed by Augustus Saint-Gaudens that honors the 1863 Civil War battle of Fort Wagner led by Colonel Robert Gould Shaw and the men of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment. Unveiled on May 31st, 1897, and located on the edge of the Boston Common facing the State House, the Shaw/54th Memorial is an important landmark in Boston, a monument created in gratitude to Shaw and the 54th Regimentâ€™s bravery in battle.

On Saturday, March 29th, visitors are encouraged to come and celebrate both the iconic statue and the people keeping its spirit alive. At 1:00 p.m. that day, you can meet the men of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment Company A, a group of civilian re-enactors who do living historical displays, educational lessons and Civil War period encampments and re-enactments. This group is also very involved in Making History on the Common, an event hosted annually by the Friends of the Public Garden.

At 2:00 p.m. that same day, listen to a talk by Kathryn Greenthal, author of the book Augustus Saint-Gaudens: Master Sculptor, and Henry Duffy, the curator of the Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site (located in Cornish, New Hampshire) about the creator of this landmark.

This event is open to the public and free of charge, but registration is required. If you are interested in attending, please register online at this link or call the MHS reservations line at 617-646-0560.

Saturday, April 5, 10:00 am – 1:00 pm – Growing & Pruning Grapes

The University of Massachusetts Extension will sponsor a class on Growing & Pruning Grapes on Saturday, April 5, from 10 – 1, led by Sonia Schloemann at Wards Berry Farm, 614 S. Main Street in Sharon. Grapes are one of the most universally enjoyed fruits available. Many of the new varieties have excellent taste, are winter hardy, and can make excellent wine. Grapes are fun to grow but present some challenges. Sonia Schloemann will help participants through the basics and give them the tools to overcome some of the challenges. Specific topics will include selecting varieties, planting, fertilizing, controlling pests, pruning, and vine training. Participants will have the opportunity to conduct actual pruning and gain both experience and confidence in pruning and training grapes in order to produce a bountiful crop.Â $50 fee.Â To register, visit https://classic.regonline.com/builder/site/?eventid=1460640.

Friday, April 4 – Sunday, April 6, 9:30 am – 4:00 pm – Spring Orchid Sale

Enjoy Historic New England’s selection of hundreds of orchid plants, including cattleyas, laelias, paphiopedilums, and phalaenopsis, at the Spring Orchid Sale at the Lyman Estate Greenhouses, 185 Lyman Street, Waltham, on Friday through Sunday, April 4 – 6, from 9:30 am – 4 pm. Species and hybrid plants that are budded and blooming are available. Let their gardening experts help you choose the right plants for your home. Free admission. Image from www.orchidboard.com. For more information visit www.historicnewengland.org.

Friday, April 4, 9:30 am – 10:45 am – Yoga in the Garden

Enjoy yoga in a peaceful, verdant setting at Elm Bank as the gardening season begins.

Instructor Cory Halaby has been practicing yoga and meditation for more than ten years. Her classes are designed to lift the spirit, clear the mind, and cultivate strength, flexibility, and balance on and off the mat. A trained life coach and Reiki practitioner, Cory draws from a powerful mix of mind/body skills to help students tap into their own vast capacity for wisdom, joy, and wonder.

All levels welcome and encouraged! Join The Massachusetts Horticultural Society for a single class beginning Friday, April 4, from 9:30 – 10:45, ($15.00 members, $18.00 non-members) or the full eight week series ($105.00 Mass Hort members, $130.00 non-members). Email lkamer@masshort.org for more information. Image from www.tylerarboretum.org.

Thursday, April 3, 6:30 pm – 9:30 pm – Taste of the Back Bay

The Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay invites you to the 19th Annual Taste of the Back Bay on Thursday, April 3, from 6:30 pm – 9:30 pm at the Prudential Skywalk.Â $75 NABB member price, $85 non-members, $100 at the door.Â Please respond by April 2 at www.nabbonline.com or call 617-247-3961.

Thursday, April 3, 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm – SKYWARN

A SKYWARNÂ® Spotter training session will be held on Thursday April 3, 2014 from 7-10PM at the Petersham Center School located at 31 Spring Street in Petersham, MA.

SKYWARNÂ® spotters are an important resource to the National Weather Service as they provide ground truth information in high impact weather events. These ground truth observations help aid in decisions in issuing watches, warnings and advisories. Not only will spotters learn how to observe the weather, they will also learn about valuable preparedness and safety tips. Trained spotters have been invaluable during weather events such as Post Tropical Storm Sandy, the February Blizzard of 2013, as well as during the Springfield Tornado. We are looking to attract as much interest as possible so we can expand our network and offer more extensive support to a greater area.Â Image below from www.obnoxiousbostonfan.com.

The effects of severe weather are felt every year by many Americans. To obtain critical weather information, NOAAâ€™s National Weather Service (NWS), part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, established SKYWARNÂ® with partner organizations. SKYWARNÂ® is a volunteer program with nearly 290,000 trained severe weather spotters. These volunteers help keep their local communities safe by providing timely and accurate reports of severe weather to the National Weather Service.

Although SKYWARNÂ® spotters provide essential information for all types of weather hazards, the main responsibility of a SKYWARNÂ® spotter is to identify and describe severe local storms. In the average year, 10,000 severe thunderstorms, 5,000 floods and more than 1,000 tornadoes occur across the United States. These events threatened lives and property.

Since the program started in the 1970s, the information provided by SKYWARNÂ® spotters, coupled with Doppler radar technology, improved satellite and other data, has enabled NWS to issue more timely and accurate warnings for tornadoes, severe thunderstorms and flash floods.

SKYWARNÂ® storm spotters are part of the ranks of citizens who form the Nationâ€™s first line of defense against severe weather. There can be no finer reward than to know that their efforts have given communities the precious gift of timeâ€“seconds and minutes that can help save lives.Â For more information visit www.skywarn.org.

Thursday, April 3, 10:00 am – 3:30 pm – Landscape Education Day

Every new year comes with its own challenges for successful maintenance of healthy and attractive landscapes. These challenges include variable and unpredictable weather, insect pests, weeds and changing regulations. Join UMass Extension Educators at the UMass Cranberry Research Station, 1 State Bog Road in East Wareham on Thursday, April 3 from 10 – 3:30 for a day of learning about the latest research-based information to help you kick off a successful landscape management season. Topics include new nutrient regulations and BMPs for nutrient management, timely info on insect pests of landscape and urban trees, developing a landscape weed management program, principles of ecological landscaping, and finding the right plant for the right place. $75. Register online at https://www.regonline.com/Register/Checkin.aspx?EventID=1362516, or phone 508-295-2212, x 47. Photo below from the Massachusetts Nursery & Landscaping Association.