Boston Flora

Saturday, March 15, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm – The Art of Science in New England, 1700 – 1920

The 2014 Wellesley-Deerfield Symposium on Saturday, March 15, from 9 – 4, will explore visual representations of scientific inquiry produced, collected, distributed or otherwise circulating in New England from the start of the 18th century to the first decades of the 20th century.Â Scholars from a wide range of disciplines will address a variety of topics from the use of anatomical and biological models in scientific pedagogy to the impact of mechanical inventions for enhancing vision on artistic and scientific practice.Â Presenters include Daria D’Arienzo, Archival Consultant, Nancy Siegel, Associate Professor of History, Towson University, Ellery Foutch, Terra Foundation Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow, The Courtauld Institute of Art, Adam M. Thomas, Ph.D. Candidate, Art History, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Dennis Carr, Carolyn and Peter Lynch Curator of American Decorative Arts and Sculpture, Art of the Americas, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Lita Tirak, Ph.D. Candidate, American Studies, The College of William and Mary, Peter Benes, Co-Founder, Director, and Editor of the Dubin Seminar for New England Folklife, Naomi Slipp, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of the History of Art & Architecture, Boston University, Catherine Newman Howe, Research Associate, Department of Art, Williams College, and Kathleen M. Raley-Susman, Professor of Biology and Jacob P. Giroud, Jr. Chair of Natural History, Vassar College.

The Symposium will take place in the Collins Cinema, Davis Museum at Wellesley College.Â Free and open to the public, but seating is limited.Â For further information call 781-283-2043.Â Sponsored by the Grace Slack McNeil Program for Studies in American Art at Wellesley College, the Office of Academic Programs at Historic Deerfield, and the Barra Foundation.

Accompanying the Symposium is the Davis Museum exhibit “The Art of Science: Object Lessons at Wellesley College, 1870 – 1940,” in the Robert and Claire Freedman Lober Viewing Alcove, on view through June 22, 2014.

Tuesday, March 18, 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm – Beatrix Farrand, Rediscovered

The Hopkinton Garden Club welcomes character actor Colleen Plimpton as “Beatrix Farrand” on Tuesday, March 18, from 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm at the Hopkinton Historical Society, 168 Hayden Rowe in Hopkinton.Â Colleen considers herself both an educator and an entertainer. Her lighthearted, interactive, informativeÂ show â€˜n tell lectures illustrate various aspects of gardening and green living.Â She has presented to thousands of people over the past several years, including appearances at the Boston, Chicago, Connecticut and Rhode Island Flower Shows.

Beatrix Farrand (1872-1959) was Americaâ€™s first female landscape architect and a founding member of the American Society of Landscape Architects. Though overlooked for decades, her work is being rediscovered. Many of her gardens, such as Bellefield in Hyde Park, NY; Hill-Stead in Farmington, CT and Garland Farm in Bar Harbor, ME, have been restored. This talk is a dramatic, 45-minute, first person presentation of the life, times and work of this distinguished â€œlandscape gardenerâ€.

Free and open to the public.Â For more information visit www.hopkintongardenclub.org.

Saturday, March 15, 5:30 pm – Delicious Molds and Mushrooms

Join Formaggio Kitchen’s two favorite fungus gurus for a tour through the microbial world of cheese and mushrooms on Saturday, March 15, beginning at 5:30 at the Formaggio Kitchen Annex, 67 Smith Place in Cambridge. Veronica Pedraza, cheesemaker at Meadowood Farms and avid forager, and Benjamin Wolfe, a microbiologist and mycologist at Harvard University specializing in the microbiology of fermented foods, will help you discover a whole new world of fungal treats.Â $55. To purchase a spot, register online at www.formaggiokitchen.com/classes, or call 617-354-4750. Please have your credit card number ready. If you have any questions, please email classes@formaggiokitchen.com.

Friday, March 14, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm – Climate Solutions: Meeting the Challenge

Spend an evening with Frances Moore LappÃ© on Friday, March 14, from 7 – 9 at the Trinitarian Congregational Church, 54 Walden Street in Concord, when she discusses Climate Solutions: Meeting the Challenge, Changing the Way We Think to Create the World We Want. Frances Moore LappÃ© is the author of the three-million copy Diet for a Small Planet. Her most recent work, Eco-Mind, released by Nation Books in September 2013, is the winner of a silver medal from the Independent Publisher Book Awards. She brings her capacity for brilliant and original thinking to address the question of how best to approach the climate crisis.

In her Concord appearance on March 14, she will assure us â€œthat solutions to global crises are right in front of our noses, and our real challenge is to free ourselves from self-defeating thought traps that keep us from bringing these solutions to life.â€

In keeping with her upbeat message, the event will open with the lively music of local singer-guitarist, Tom Yates. There will be a book signing and reception at the conclusion of her remarks. Details: Go to www.concordcan.org. The â€œClimate Solutionsâ€ speaker series is remarkable because it is co-sponsored by six different local organizations, joining their voices in a call for large scale, effective action on climate change. What all of these organizations and groups have in common is a deep concern about what is happening to our planet —and they are providing funds, as well as ideas and support to this speaker series.

Scientists describe a natural world in turmoil later this century if we do not take steps to reduce our carbon footprint. Gardeners and farmers see the change in blossoming time, and the impact of extreme temperatures on plants, insects and animals.

Saturday, March 8, 9:00 am – 5:00 pm, and Sunday, March 9, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm – Needham’s Art in Bloom

Now in itâ€™s 6th year, award winning Needhamâ€™s Art in Bloom will return by popular demand to the Needham Public Library on Saturday, March 8nd from 9am â€“ 5pm and on Sunday, March 9rd from 1pm â€“ 4pm. There will be 45+ pieces of art, mixed mediums, by talented Needham High School students and creative colorful floral interpretations accompanying each piece of artwork by members of the Beth Shalom Garden Club. The Needham High School Fine Arts Department and Beth Shalom Garden Club have collaboratively organized this exhibit since its 2009 inception. Free admission. For more information visit: NeedhamArtinBloom.com.

Thursday, March 13, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Seed Starting Indoors

Get a jump on the season by starting your plants from seedsâ€”it’s cheaper than buying transplants, offers a much broader variety of plants, and can be quite addictive. On Thursday, March 13, beginning at 7 pm at Elm Bank, 900 Washington Street, Wellesley, Gretel Anspach will discuss seed choices, what to start and when to start it as well as growing methods including windowsill versus grow light gardening. Whether you are interested in annuals, perennials, edibles, or even shrubs and trees, this lecture will give you the information you need to go from starting a seed to planting in the ground.

Gretel Anspach is a Trustee of Mass Hort, a Lifetime Master Gardener, past-president of the Massachusetts Master Gardener Association and a systems engineer for Raytheon. Gretel is also a member of the Garden to Table committee at Mass Hort and helped to establish and maintain a food production garden at Raytheon that has provided fresh produce to the Marlboro Food Pantry for five years.

Lecture Fee $10 Massachusetts Horticultural Society members; $15 non-members. Sign up at www.masshort.org, or call 617-933-4973.

Tuesday, March 11, 7:00 pm – 9:30 pm – Boston Flower & Garden Show Preview Party

The Boston Flower & Garden Show and its producer, Paragon Group, are proud to partner with the Genesis Foundation for Children and radio station MIX 104.1 to kick off the show with a festive fundraiser on Tuesday evening, March 11, from 7 – 9:30 at the Seaport World Trade Center, Boston. All proceeds will benefit the Genesis Foundation. Mix and mingle while getting the first glimpse of the landscapes and floral designs the night before it kicks off. Light refreshments and beverages will be served, and the party will feature Karson & Kennedy from MIX 104.1. For tickets ($100 per person) visit www.bostonflowershow.com/buy-tickets/.

The Genesis Foundation supports innovative clinical care, life enrichment and educational programs that care for children with complex genetic disorders so that they can overcome adversity.

Wednesday, March 12, 7:00 pm – Eagle One: Raising Bald Eagles

The Athol Bird & Nature Club will present Dianne Benson Davis, author of Eagle One:Raising Bald Eagles,Â A Wildlife Memoir, on Wednesday, March 12 at 7 pm at the Miller’s River Environmental Center, 100 Main Street, Athol.Â Â Dianne spent four months living alone as the caretaker for eight baby bald eagles in the remote Quabbin Reservoir area of Massachusetts as part of an ambitious and successful effort to reintroduce the endangered bald eagle to the skies of New England. Eagle One is the record of her time with the eagles, based on the letters and journals she kept there. It is the story of a woman’s life devoted to the care of wildlife: her nearly twenty year relationship with a red-tailed hawk, her experiences caring for a baby polar bear, tagging loggerhead sea turtles, and working with countless animals at the Tufts University Wildlife Clinic and the EcoTarium. It is also a personal memoir; the story of perseverance and struggle as a single mother, the joys of learning and teaching about wildlife, and of finding happiness and fulfillment in work and family. Free and open to all.

Saturday, March 8, 9:00 am – 3:00 pm – Extinction is Forever: What Have We Learned?

Using the passenger pigeon as an iconic example of what can happen to a super-abundant species in a relatively short span of time, the 22nd annual Mass Audubon Birders Meeting on Saturday, March 8, from 9 – 3, will focus on the extinction phenomenon from a variety of perspectives. Since 1992, birders from around New England have come together every March to attend Mass Audubonâ€™s Annual Birders Meeting. With the help of supportive sponsors, they have successfully brought together engaging speakers from around the country, been joined by top-notch vendors, and drawn enthusiastic participants to these day-long events.

The meeting will take place at Bentley University in Waltham, and is co-hosted by Mass Audubon, the Museum of Comparative Zoology, and the Harvard Museum of Natural History. Featured speakers are:

Patrick Comins, Audubon Connecticut – Weather: Its Significance to Birds and Birders

Keynote Joel Greenberg, Research Associate of both the Chicago Academy of Sciences, Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum and the Field Museum – A Feathered River Across the Sky: The Passenger Pigeon’s Flight to Extinction

Matthew Kamm, Ph.D. candidate at Tufts University – Legacy of the Heath Hen

John Kricher, Professor of Biology at Wheaton College, Norton, Massachusetts – Bird Conservation: Ultimately itâ€™s Personal

Michael Reed, Professor of Biology at Tufts University – Causes and Consequences of Avian Extinctions

There will also be a silent auction, proceeds of which will provide financial support to the Bird Conservation programs at Mass Audubon. Register ($60 sponsor members, $65 public) at https://secure2.convio.net/mas/site/Ecommerce;jsessionid=2941D35BFE22BC33B67791314E6F05F1.app271b?store_id=1761.

Saturday, March 8, 6:00 pm – Bird Lover’s Event

On Saturday at 6:00 p.m.at Russell’s Garden Center, 397 Boston Post Road in Wayland, there will be a free Powerpoint presentation by renowned avian photographer Geoff Dennis, whose work appears in many bird publications. He’ll show his fabulous photos taken from his own yard and share his techniques for photographing birds. Geoff will talk about why his yard is bird-friendly and suggest ways for you to achieve the same effect at your home.

Russell’s is also pleased that Harlan Hyde from Aspen Song Wild Bird Food, who is an expert on wild bird feeding, will be there. After the presentation, both Harlan and Geoff will be available to answer your backyard birding questions.

There is a Photo Contest associated with this event, with a submission deadline of March 3. Guidelines:

Must be an original photo of wild bird(s) taken by the entrant and entrant must own all rights and title to the photograph.
Please include details of when and where the photo was taken.
Photo submissions may be dropped off at Russellâ€™s, mailed to Russellâ€™s or emailed to Marie Winter at mariew@russellsgardencenter.com by March 3, 2014. Be sure to include your name, address and contact info.

By submitting your photo to this contest, you agree that Russellâ€™s Garden Center may display a copy of your photo in the store through March 22, 2014.Â Geoff Dennis from Geoff Dennis Photos in Little Compton, RI will judge all photos to determine the winner.Â Winner will be notified by March 15, 2014.