Boston Flora

Thursday, December 12, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm – Succulent Dish Garden Workshop

As part of its Festival of Trees Celebration Mass Hort is offering this hands-on workshop on Thursday, December 12, from 7 – 9 at Elm Bank, to create a succulent dish garden to give as a gift or to keep for your own home.

Your succulent dish garden will be planted in a twelve inch Italian terra cotta container with South African succulents. Art Scarpa has been growing cacti and succulents since he was a boy and is an expert on their care. Art will provide you with all the information you need to care for your garden year round in a fun and informative presentation. Workshop fee includes plants, soil, container, top-dressing, and hand selected decorative stones. All tools will be provided.

Art Scarpa, known for his expertise in growing succulents and for his love for unusual plants, is certified as a judge by the Cactus and Succulent Society of America and has competed and judged at numerous major shows, including Boston, Newport and Philadelphia and many regional cactus and succulent shows. Art is also a 2013 Mass Hort Gold Medal recipient.

Workshop Fee: $45 Mass Hort members; $55 non-member.Â Register online at http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07e8d45ipc97363cd1&llr=kzaorjcab.

Sunday, December 8, 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm – History of the Boston Children’s Museum

On Sunday, December 8, from 3 – 5, the Jamaica Plain Historical Society and the JP Forum will present a free lecture entitled History of the Boston Children’s Museum at the Loring-Greenough House, 12 South Street. For over 100 years Boston Children’s Museum has been engaging children in joyful discovery experiences that instill an appreciation of our world, develop foundational skills, and spark a lifelong love of learning. In 1913, the Museum opened its doors at Pinebank in Jamaica Plain. Since then, the Museum has grown from a museum rooted in a single neighborhood to an urban museum serving the entire city of Boston and beyond. Come learn about the history of the Museum, what has changed and what has stood the test of time.Â The speakers are Leslie Swartz, Senior VP of Research and Development at Boston Children’s Museum and special guest Ted Walsh, a lifelong resident of JP who has collaborated on centennial exhibit materials based on his memories of visits to BCM.Â Public is welcome, and although this is a free lecture, a $5 donation will be gratefully accepted.

Saturday, December 14, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon – Serving Tray with Pressed Floral Design

Pauline Bergassi of Petal’n Fern Impressions will conduct a workshop on Saturday, December 14, from 10 – noon, at Tower Hill Botanic Garden, 11 French Drive in Boylston. Create a beautiful pressed floral artwork that will be placed, as the background design, in an 8 x 12 wooden serving tray. The tray is pre-finished in your choice of black or white. The coordinating backgrounds and botanicals will be covered with a piece of glass to make this craft a truly useful one for you or a lucky recipient. All materials are included.Â Tower Hill members pay $40, non members $50.Â Register on line by clicking here.

Wednesday, May 14 – Save the Date – 11th Annual Party in the Park

The 11th Anniversary of the Party in the Park, the Justine Mee Liff Fund Luncheon to preserve the legacy of Frederick Law Olmsted’s Emerald Necklace, will be held Wednesday, May 14, 2014 in a new location: Pinebank Promontory on Jamaica Pond. The reception will begin at 11 am, and the luncheon will start at 12:30.Â For more information, call 617-522-2700.Â You may also buy tickets online at www.emeraldnecklace.org/party-in-the-park.

Saturday and Sunday, December 7 & 8, 8:00 am – 5:00 pm – NABB’s Annual Christmas Tree Sale

Come to the Clarendon Street Playground on Saturday, December 7 or Sunday, December 8, from 8 – 5, and buy fresh cut balsam fir trees from Maine.Â Local delivery is available.Â If you have special size requests, contact the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay at 617-247-3961, or email info@nabbonline.com.

Monday, December 9, 12:30 pm – 1:45 pm – Climate Implications of the United States’ Oil and Gas Boom

Michael Levi, David M. Rubenstein Senior Fellow for Energy and the Environment and Director of the Program on Energy Security and Climate Change, Council on Foreign Relations, will speak on Climate Implications of the United States’ Oil and Gas Boom on Monday, December 9, from 12:30 pm-1:45pm, in Cabot 702, The Fletcher School, Tufts University. Hosted by CIERP’s Energy, Climate, and Innovation Program’s Research Seminar Series. Free. A light lunch will be served (first come first served).Â The speaker’s expertise centers on climate change, energy policy, weapons of mass destruction, homeland security, arms control and proliferation, technology and foreign policy, and science and technology in the Islamic world.

Tuesday, December 10, 7:30 pm – Life on the Leaf Edge

The next meeting of the Cambridge Entomological Club will take place Tuesday, December 10 beginning at 7:30 pm in room 101 of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Oxford Street, Cambridge. Samuel Jaffe will present a talk entitled Life on the Leaf Edge. Sam Jaffe will discuss his work photographing our local caterpillars. Highlights will include details on the defensive adaptations of caterpillars, and information on how he finds, rears, and photographs them. Live pupae will be featured, as well as, of course, the photos themselves.

Sam will also discuss how he has incorporated caterpillars into educational programming and curricula across New England in the hopes of fostering a new generation of aware and passionate naturalists. The meeting is free and open to the public. Snacks will be provided and you are also welcome to join us at 6:00 PM for an informal pre-meeting dinner at the Cambridge Common.

Wednesday, December 4 and Thursday, December 5, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm – Boxwood Trees Workshop

Choose either 12/4 or 12/5 workshop at Weston Nurseries, 93 East Main Street, Hopkinton, Massachusetts:

Create a holiday tabletop tree using freshly clipped boxwood. For decorations, go natural or add a little bling! These trees are perfect for your holiday dÃ©cor or to give as a gift. Of course there will be wine and goodies so bring a friend and make it a girls’ night. They’ll stay open until 8:00 pm on these nights so plan to end the evening with private shopping in the Garden Center Holiday Shop. Cost: $40 per person. These workshops are very popular so please call 508-293-8091 to reserve your spot now.

Wednesday, December 4, 7:30 pm – A Christmas Story, The Musical

Join 7NEWS on Wednesday, December 4 at 7:30 pm as they host a special performance at the Citi Performing Arts Center, Wang Theater, of A Christmas Story, The Musical, proceeds to benefit Project Bread.Â It all begins with food. Good food nourishes the body and the spirit.Â With regular meals, a child is free to grow, to think, to ask a question, to tell a joke.Â Good food brings laughter and a sense of belonging.Â And, who knows, it just might help you learn to dance.Â Project Bread is dedicated to alleviating, preventing, and ultimately ending hunger in Massachusetts.Â A portion of this night’s proceeds will help fill plates and holiday baskets at some of the 400 emergency food programs throughout the state.Â To learn more about making a donation over the holidays, visit www.projectbread.org. To order tickets, visit http://www.citicenter.org/show/1758/.

Saturday, December 7, 10:00 am – Holiday Wreath Workshop

As part of Elm Bank’s Festival of Trees Celebration, Mass Hort is offering this hands-on workshop on Saturday, December 7, beginning at 10 am, to create beautiful wreaths and swags to take home for the holiday season. Marisa McCoy will lead participants in design, choice of materials, and wreath composition. Through her vast depth of experience and under her gentle guidance you will create a wreath that appeals to your own design and color sense and one which you will be proud to display for the world to see.

Marisa is a Nationally Accredited Master Flower Show Judge, and the current President Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts. Marisa is also a floral design instructor, garden club speaker, active member of the MFA Senior Associates, and a custom wedding and special occasion floral designer. All materials will be provided. $45 for Mass Hort members, $55 for nonmembers. To register or for more information: www.masshort.org. And if you’re too busy to attend, link here before midnight tonight to order a beautiful wreath from The Garden Club of the Back Bay, like the one pictured below, which you can pick up this coming week.