Boston Flora

Tag: America in Bloom

  • Thursday, September 28 – Saturday, September 30 – America in Bloom Symposium and Awards Program

    Greenwood and Spartanburg, South Carolina will host the 2023 America in Bloom Symposium and Awards Program September 28 – 30. Thursday activities will include a tour of the Biltmore Estate & Gardens. Nestled within 8,000 acres of pristine Blue Ridge Mountain beauty, the Biltmore Estate is a one-of-a-kind destination. You will discover the estate’s origin and its evolution from the country home of the Vanderbilt family to beloved national treasure. This audio-guided tour spans three floors and the basement of the luxurious home, and then you can explore the historic gardens designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, the father of American landscape design. You will be in horticultural paradise experiencing the indoor and outdoor gardens! This tour includes transportation and admission to the house and gardens. Lunch options are available at the Biltmore for all budgets and styles. This tour requires walking. The cost for this tour is $149. Seating is limited so register early.  Later, catch up with old friends and make new ones at the Opening Night Reception followed by dinner, awards presentations, and silent auction.

    Friday morning’s Keynote Presentation is Protecting the Life that Sustains Us – Conserving Pollinators, with Ann Barlow, Clemson University Master Gardener. Research has shown significant global declines in native pollinator population sizes and ranges. Fortunately, correct landscape practices can help to build thriving, diverse native pollinator populations. In this presentation, you will learn how to galvanize your community to sustain pollinators by increasing the abundance of native plants, providing nest sites, and more. Ann will show how volunteers can be involved, mosquito prevention programs and pest control practices to implement, how to educate the residents, and more. More talks and a networking lunch will be followed by a community tour of Greenwood, which will present a look at Greenwood’s rich history with tours of the Railroad Historical Center and the Benjamin E. Mays Historic Preservation Site. Your learning tour will continue as you walk through the city center and explore pollinator gardens, recent commercial and residential development, and the vibrant Arts and Cultural District. You will learn about Greenwood’s renowned SC Festival of Flowers’ Signature Topiary Display, including where they live and how they are created. The showstopping topiaries will be displayed throughout the walking tour, so make sure you’re prepared for numerous photo opportunities. In the evening A Taste of the South dinner is hosted by the City of Greenwood. Dinner will be served in the City’s Uptown Farmers’ Market that architecturally continues the rich railroad tradition in its “depot” design. Enjoy an ultimate Southern buffet complete with all the “fixins.” Dessert will be provided by the Career Center’s Culinary Arts Department, all in a true Southern setting complete with Southern flora and fauna. The fun won’t stop there, as the Greenwood in Bloom Committee has prepared a special and fun end to the evening.

    Saturday is filled with optional sessions and showcases, ending with the Evening in Bloom America in Bloom Awards Banquet. For complete information, registration, and discounted hotel information visit https://americainbloom.org/about/

  • Thursday, October 5 – Saturday, October 7 – America in Bloom National Symposium

    The 2017 America in Bloom National Symposium is coming to New England for the first time this October.  The Town of Holliston will host the event October 5 – 7, and attendees from out of state will lodge at the Sheraton Framingham Hotel & Conference Center.

    The conference kicks off with an East Coast Garden Tour on Thursday, October 5 from 10 – 4, advance registration required. If you want to experience horticultural heritage in the Boston area at its best, this tour is for you! We’ll start by visiting one of the oldest and finest garden centers in the Boston area, Weston Nurseries. Known for offering exceptional plants and garden ideas, this nursery in Hopkinton, MA also has an amazing railroad garden. After touring the garden center we’ll enjoy lunch hosted by Peter Mezitt, fourth generation nursery owner. Then we will head to The Gardens at Elm Bank in Wellesley, MA, headquarters of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Here we will enjoy special tours of 12 display gardens, including an historic Olmsted Italianate Garden as well as the Bressingham Garden designed by English nurseryman Adrian Bloom. The last stop on the tour is to Wellesley College, rated one of the most beautiful small college campuses in the country. We will have a special tour of their botanic garden which now focuses on the fundamental role of plants in nature and culture. The cost is $50 and includes lunch. Tour is limited to 50 people so register early.

    If you prefer, take a tour of the Urban Farming Institute from 1 – 4. If you believe in sourcing local, fresh food, don’t miss this tour! The Urban Farming Institute is a brand-new concept in the historically-diverse Roxbury/Dorchester/Mattapan neighborhoods of Boston. The Institute’s mission is to develop and promote urban farming as a commercial sector within the city and to create green collar jobs for residents. It is also committed to engaging its urban community in building a healthier and more locally-based food system. The Fowler-Clark-Epstein Farm, currently under reconstruction, is becoming the center for celebrating the agricultural heritage of the Boston area as well as the cultural and historic heritage of this unique community. On this tour, you will see first-hand the work the Institute is doing to enable urban farming through farm creation, farmer training, public education, and policy change, and how the Institute brings people in urban neighborhoods closer to food production. Your tour leader is Barbara Knecht, partner in “Strategies for Cities.” Barbara has brought 30 years of developing urban land for public good and a love of all things edible to her work developing urban farm sites. The cost is $35. Tour is limited to 11 people so register early.

    Prior to that evening’s silent auction and cocktail reception there will be a Mayor and Elected Leaders Reception, and later, a Celebration Dinner.

    The Symposium begins in earnest on Friday, with a Keynote Presentation by Ken Kruckemeyer, board member of LivableStreets Alliance and partner in “Strategies for Cities.” Ken specializes in the design of civil infrastructure focusing in pedestrian and bicycle corridors as well as roadway and bridge design. Historic preservation has become a fundamental tool for strengthening communities. When understood as a combination of physical and human attributes, it can provide a framework for communities to build on their assets and improve health, affordability, prosperity, and well-being. Historic preservation can make it possible to achieve a wide range of public goals, including small business incubation, affordable housing, sustainable development, neighborhood renewal, heritage tourism, and economic development. By examples primarily drawn from his Boston experience, Ken will address the importance of historic preservation and the role that walkable corridors play in an effective immersion in the historic character of a community.

    Friday brings a host of panel presentations such as Creating a Sense of Place Downtown, and a How-To Guide to Improving Your Town Through Horticulture. Afternoon and evening tours of the Freedom Trail and the Rose Kennedy Greenway, plus Mount Auburn Cemetery, are on offer.

    On Saturday the Showcase of Innovation continues, and America in Bloom President Katy Moss Warner will take a brief look at collective successes in her morning Keynote Speech. A lunch and Holliston Walking Tour round out the afternoon, and that evening, the America in Bloom Awards Banquet will take place.

    Full registration is $345, and by registering online at http://www.americainbloom.org/Symposium/Registration.aspx before September 8 you will receive a discount. You may also call 614-453-0744, or email aib@AmericainBloom.org.

  • Thursday, October 6 – Saturday, October 8 – America in Bloom: The Changing Environment … Reimagining Our Communities

    It is with great pride that The Arroyo Grande Host Committee invites you to join them in Arroyo Grande for the 2016 America in Bloom Symposium & Awards Program, October 6-8. Arroyo Grande is a 5-Bloom Circle of Champions America in Bloom city steeped in California history. Located close to the Pacific Ocean, it is just a short drive from San Luis Obispo where the host hotel, Embassy Suites, is located. To enhance your central California experience in October, they have put together three optional, fascinating pre-Symposium tours that include drives with spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean. During the Symposium, you will visit one of the many California flower production nurseries and tour the botanic garden at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo set in the coastal mountains. This year, you will have the opportunity to experience the beauty, grandeur, and charm of California’s central coast. For a complete schedule of events visit http://americainbloom.org/Symposium/Schedule-of-Events.aspx.  Full Symposium registration is $295 per person if registered by September 11, $345 thereafter.

     

  • Thursday, September 20 – Saturday, September 22 – America in Bloom Symposium & Awards Program

    Located in the heart of the Ozark Mountains, the progressive spirit in Fayetteville, Arkansas makes it a great place to live, work, and play. It has been recognized as one of the best places to live in America. Much of Fayetteville’s success is due to its participation in America in Bloom for the past 11 years.

    The America in Bloom Symposium & Awards program offers the opportunity for you to see Fayetteville and Northwest Arkansas from the inside out. You can walk in the paths of the community’s past, learn about its innovative environmental efforts, witness commitment to quality landscapes, and experience the newest cultural addition, the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. You will be able to talk with Northwest Arkansas mayors who are facing different challenges leading their cities, and meet some environmental and horticultural experts. Experience the Farmer’s Market and the crazy enthusiasm for all that is Razorback! Fayetteville is a fun and unique mix of cool college town, thriving business community, outdoor lovers’ haven, and cultural arts center. We can’t wait for you to experience Fayetteville and discover “Ozark Red, White & Blooms.”

    On Thursday, you will take a guided walking tour of historic downtown Fayetteville, followed by a welcome reception, and an Arkansas Barbecue Feast and Award presentation with Mayor Lioneld Jordan. Friday brings the keynote speech Great Design & Tough Plants: The Key to Beautiful Communities, by P. Allen Smith, TV personality, designer, and garden expert. Scott Eccleston, Director of Trails and Grounds at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, will give insight into the unique design of the 120 acres of magnificent native plant trails and gardens that surround the museum. John McLarty and Marilyn Heifner, Heritage Trail Partners, will speak on Celebrating History – The Northwest Arkansas Heritage Trail. And there are other concurrent sessions on a variety of subjects, followed by an environmental tour of Fayetteville, a tour of the Gardens of the Crystal Bridges Museum of Art, and a reception at the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks. Saturday brings Robin Moore, director of the National Learning Initiative and author of Natural Learning – the Life History of an Environmental Schoolyard, speaking on Designing Nature into Children’s Lives, and more talks and workshops. A complete schedule may be found at www.americainbloom.org.

    A $139 group hotel rate at the Hampton Inn & Suites may be reserved using code “AIB” either online or by calling 479-756-3500. Full registration for all events is $200. Please register before August 29.

  • Thursday, September 30 – Saturday, October 2 – America in Bloom Symposium and Awards Ceremony

    Meet people who are passionate about planting – not just pots on the porch, but entire parks, commercial districts, medians and more.  Learn what the best towns in America are doing to enhance their quality of life, beautify their public, commercial and residential spaces, and encourage economic development.  Get easy-to-implement ideas from experts, and enjoy inspiring tours showcasing success stories of the St. Louis area, at this year’s America in Bloom Symposium, taking place September 30 – October 2 in St. Louis, Missouri.  Celebrating the beautification efforts of communities across the nation, the title of this year’s event is “Gateways, Gardens, Grandeur.”  For complete information, log on to www.americainbloom.org, or call 614-487-1117.

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