Boston Flora

Sunday, March 30, 2:00 pm – True Lies & False Facts: A Questionable Tour of Boston

Join Boston By Foot on Sunday, March 30 at 2 pm for a unique walking tour of Boston that will keep participants on their toes. Called True Lies & False Facts, this questionable tour starts outside the Boston Public Library at the corner of Dartmouth and Boylston Streets (near Copley T stop) and winds its way around the Back Bay and Bay Village. Lasting an hour and a half, the tour will tell some wild and amazing stories about local characters, unlikely events and unwanted pests â€“ some of which are true and others are not. Developed as a fun way to celebrate April Fools Day, the tour is meant to test the participantsâ€™ knowledge of history and ability to separate the truth from fiction. The tour also operates as a fun competition. Every tour participant will get a score card to keep track of the stories and their choices of whether the stories are true or false. After the tour, participants are invited to come to Jacob Wirthâ€™s to grab a drink at a cash bar, enjoy some snacks, and get the real skinny on if what they heard was fact or fiction. There are some nice prizes for those who guess best. Reservations are highly recommended as tickets will be limited. The cost to join this annual tour is $20 for the general public (or $10 for members of Boston By Foot). Please make a reservation by calling 617-367-2345 or buying tickets on-line at www.bostonbyfoot.org. Walk-ups are also welcome if there are tickets left but only cash will be accepted on the day of the tour. The tour will proceed rain or shine.

Monday, March 17, 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm – The Lodge Women, Their Men and Their Times

On Monday, March 17, from 12 – 1, the Massachusetts Historical Society will present a free talk by Emily Lodge entitled The Lodge Women, Their Men and Their Times. Like a Whitman poem, the saga of the Lodge family has unfolded in tandem with the history of the great American experiment itself. Yet while the biographies of the Lodge patriarchs have been well-documented, the stories of the influential Lodge women have never been authoritatively chronicled. From the earliest days of the American colonies, through the Gilded Age, and into the first years of the 21st century, The Lodge Women Their Men, and Their Times traces her familyâ€™s remarkable history through its female figures, constructing a narrative that is at once intensely personal, political, and wholly universal.

Based on archival research, interviews, and personal memoirs, Emily Lodge presents her ancestors’ stories largely through their own voices, heard in a rich collection of personal letters exchanged with the luminaries of their times, whose lives were linked with the Lodges by politics, art, and family: Henry Adams, Henry James, Theodore Roosevelt, John Hay, Elizabeth Cameron and Edith Wharton, some of whose letters are published here for the first time.From her unique descendantâ€™s view on a long line of prominent Lodge women, the author recalls their grace, dash, and political influence through a sweep of history that illuminates the pages with the incandescent human truths of a distinguished family’s life and times.

Over the last thirty years a fascination with public policy has taken Emily into government, journalism, business and academia. As a print journalist, she focused on law and the courts. As a speech-writer for a US Congressman and a US Ambassador to France, her domain was foreign policy. As an award-winning television documentary researcher for 60 Minutes, she helped prove someone innocent. Emily won an Emmy Award for a CBS News Special Report about education. On moving to Europe, she became a correspondent for Brusselâ€™s leading monthly business magazine. Her Paris Voice features column were known for their witty and perceptive observations about public figures. She has written brochures for companies and helped create a major fund-raising drive for INSEAD, Europeâ€™s premier business school. A graduate of Georgetown University in diplomatic history, she is currently writing news analysis from the Middle East.

The talk will take place at 1154 Boylston Street in Boston.Â For more information, visit www.masshist.org.

From The Archives: Garden Day in The Back Bay, May 22, 1965

The Garden Club of the Back Bay celebrated a Garden Day on May 22, 1965, and Boston Globe photographer Gilbert Friedberg took the picture below of Mrs. Dean Dieter (Elizabeth Marshall Dieter) in her garden at 288 Commonwealth Avenue. The trellis is woven with what is described as “silver fleece vines,” which we believe are Polygonum aubertii. Thank you to member Kitty Winter for sharing her wonderful archive of photos with us.

Save

Sunday, April 13, 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm – Literary Lights Dinner

The Associates of the Boston Public Library invite you to the 26th annual Literary Lights Dinner on Sunday, April 13, from 6 – 9 at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel.Â This year’s honorees are Charles Coe, Tina Howe, Charles C. Mann, Stewart O’Nan, and Edith Pearlman.Â Presenters include Dan Chiasson, Lydia Diamond, Nathanial Philbrick, Joseph Finder, and Elinor Lipman.Â Stephen Greenblatt, John Cogan University Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University and author of eleven books including Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare, and The Swerve: How the World Became Modern, will give the keynote address.Â Individual ticket prices begin at $475, and are available on a first come, first serve basis.Â To register call 617-536-3886, or email associates@bpl.org.

Monday, May 19 – Thursday, June 5 – European Gardens and Art with the New Britain Museum of American Art

Experience a world famous flower showing, explore Stourhead (below) and Stonehenge, and visit the National Gallery & Royal Academy. Also see the Chelsea Flower Show, The National Trust Gardens of Stowe, the Hampshire/Surrey area gardens. Visit Museums such as the National Gallery & Royal Academy, Tate Modern, Vermeer Museum, MusÃ©e d’â€™Orsey, Monetâ€™’s home in Giverny and the Louvre.

Approximate Rate: $5,400 per person, includes round trip airfare. For complete itinerary visit www.nbmaa.org.

Saturday, April 19, 9:00 am – 3:00 pm – Northern Gardening Symposium

Three dynamic speakers will explore natural gardening practices, landscaping with native plants, and the use of native plants to promote healthy living for generations to come, at the Northern Gardening Symposium to be held Saturday, April 19, from 9 – 3 at Vermont Technical College in Randolph Center, Vermont.

You will hear Miriam Goldberger, founder and co-owner of Wildflower Farm, speak on Taming Wildflowers: From Seed to Vase, A Celebration, Guide, and Users’ Manual. The book Taming Wildflowers: Bringing the Beauty and Splendor of Nature’s Blooms into Your Own Backyard is a seductive celebration of wildflowers featuring lush photos from the authorâ€™s one-hundred-acre flower farm. Both practical and inspirational, this lively workshop teaches attendees how to grow hardy perennial wildflowers from seed, identify wildflower seedlings, incorporate wildflowers into gardens, garden to support pollinators, and harvest flowers.

Dan Jaffe, Propagator and Stock Bed Grower for New England Wild Flower Society, will present Design-less Gardening: A Naturalistic Approach. Disregard traditional design rules and adopt a new approach to garden design. Look to nature for your inspiration. What clues can you take from your landscape to help you provide the right plant for the right place? Learn to evaluate sunlight, moisture, soil, and other factors to create a successful garden that does not require many inputs in the way of watering, fertilizing, or extra coddling on your part. Learn to create a low-maintenance garden that actively supports the environment and provides beauty for both people and pollinators.

Finally, Uli Lorimer, Curator of the Native Flora Garden at Brooklyn Botanic Garden, explains how the Brooklyn Botanic Garden Expands its Native Plant Collection. Uli Lorimer explains how Brooklyn Botanic Garden has expanded its century-old native plant collection to serve important conservation and educational goals. The expansion sets a new benchmark for native plant displays. As the tree canopy has matured over the last one hundred years, sun-loving communities such as grasslands, serpentine and pine barren plants have suffered. The expansion reintroduces these plant communities with strict parameters. 150 new species have been added to the collection with nearly 30 species of conservation concern.

The event fee is $47 for New England Wild Flower Society members, $53 for nonmembers. Cosponsors: The Fells, Hardy Plant Club, Friends of the Hort Farm, Vermont Master Gardeners. To register, call 508-877-7630 x 3303 or email lreed@newenglandwild.org.

Wednesday, March 19, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – People of a Feather

On Wednesday, March 19, from 7 – 8:30 at Fruitlands Museum, 102 Prospect Hill Road in Harvard, watch a film about survival in a changing Arctic environment. This award-winning film, People of a Feather, takes you into the world of the Inuit on the Belcher Islands in Canada’s Hudson Bay. Their traditional life is juxtaposed with modern challenges as they confront changing sea ice and ocean currents disrupted by the massive hydroelectric dams powering New York and eastern North America. Soup will be provided by Harvard’s own Chef Paul and lively discussion by the audience! Admission is free, and a bowl of soup is $5. Visit www.fruitlands.org for complete details.

Thursday, March 20, 7:00 pm – The Riches of the Emerald Isle

North Quabbin Garden Club member Debbie Kent plans to show her travelogue of Ireland, enticing us with the green of the Emerald Isle and our hopes for a wonderful spring. At this Thursday, March 20 event, beginning at 7 pm at the Millers River Environmental Center, 100 Main Street, Athol, you will be taken to Dublin’s Botanic Garden, to Galway, the Cliffs of Moher, Adare and Adare Castle, various ancient sites, Waterford, the Viking Triangle, then back up the coast to Powerscourt Gardens (below) and the lovely little town of Enniskerry. With its narrow roads and “Neat and Tidy Towns”, the beautiful Emerald Isle is enchanting and challenging to drive. Do come and enjoy the ride.

An affiliate of the Millers River Environmental Center in Athol, the North Quabbin Garden Club formed in 2006 to encourage interest in all phases of home gardening. With efforts to promote better horticultural practices and foster civic beauty, emphasis is placed on use of native plants, organic gardening, and the conservation of natural resources. Monthly meetings are usually held on the third Thursday evening of each month featuring informative speakers or workshop sessions. Members are currently working on a wildlife habitat garden at the Millers River Environmental Center and planning their annual spring sale of perennial plants and specialty items. Guests and new members are always welcome, so join us this month and learn something new about gardening. Meetings are free to members and guests are asked for a donation.

Thursday, March 27, 9:00 am – 12:30 pm – Civic Development Projects: What Worked, What Didn’t

The Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts will present a civic development workshop on Thursday, March 27, from 9 – 12:30 at the Espousal Center, 554 Lexington Street, Waltham, entitled Civic Development Projects: What Worked, What Didn’t.Â Learn how to work effectively with civic authorities to make everyone proud. Photo below of a Garden Club of the Back Bay civic project courtesy of Penny and Ed Cherubino of www.bostonzest.com. Cost is $15 per club OR bring one item for the Raffle Table.Â Multiple club members may attend for just one club donation.Â To register contact Louise Sironi at 781-826-8421, or email sironied@verizon.net.Â Â

Saturday, October 4 – Sunday, October 19 – Madagascar With New England Wild Flower Society

The New England Wild Flower Society invites you to join them to explore the natural heritage and unique flora and wildlife of Madagascar in October, 2014. This 16-day expedition offers travel enthusiasts an exceptional opportunity to become acquainted with the flora and fauna of Madagascar.

Madagascar is the fourth largest island in the world, isolated from the African continent for 30 million years. It is home to at least 12,000 plantsâ€”a high percentage that are unique to the country. Ninetyâ€‘five percent of the lemurs and reptiles, 80 percent of the flowering plants, 98 percent of the palms, and more than 100 birds are found nowhere else.

Leading this tour will be Herilala Jonah, a superb Madagascar naturalist. Representing the Society will be staff member John Burns.

The itinerary includes:

â€¢ Antananarivo & the Lemur Park. Visit the capital city of Madagascar and this private reserve established in 2001 for lemur education and conservation.

â€¢ Perinet Reserve, in the eastern rain forests. Look for the largest of the lemurs, the indri, noted for its ear-shattering cries and agility in traveling through the rain forest canopy. Explore the moist forest with trees covered in epiphytes, ferns, and large lianas with bamboo below.

â€¢ Berenty Reserve, an internationally acclaimed wildlife reserve in the semiâ€‘arid south. Enjoy the unique spiny desert plus a profusion of ring-tailed lemurs, sifakas, lepilemurs, and flying foxes.

â€¢ Reserve de Nahampoana, an excellent botanical reserve near Fort Dauphin.

â€¢ Isalo National Park, an extraordinary landscape in the southwest with arid sandstone ridges sculpted by wind and water, with lemurs and endemic plants.

We hope you will join us for this adventure, and discover the magnificence of Madagascar in 2014!

For more trip information, you can download the trip brochure by visiting http://www.newfs.org/images/learn/Madagascar%20brochure%20from%20Betchart-%20final.pdf.Â Or contact:

Betchart Expeditions, Inc.
17050 Montebello Road
Cupertino, CA 95014-5435

Tel: (800) 252-4910 or (408) 252-4910
Fax: (408) 252-1444Email: info@betchartexpeditions.com