Boston Flora

Tag: American Horticultural Society

  • Thursday, May 8, 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm Eastern – Native Plant Pollination, Online

    This American Horticultural Society virtual presentation on May 8 at 7 pm Eastern is a fascinating journey showcasing the development of different flower types and the presentation of floral resources to pollinators. Exploring the types of insect pollinators, their foraging behavior, and the floral features that attract pollinators, Heather will provide many specific examples of how native plants are pollinated and what pollinator is most effective and why. Please note, this program will not be recorded.

    Heather Holm is a pollinator conservationist and award-winning author of four books: Pollinators of Native Plants (2014), Bees (2017), Wasps (2021), and Common Native Bees of the Eastern United States (2022). Both Bees and Wasps have won multiple book awards including the American Horticultural Society Book Award (2018 and 2022 respectively). Heather’s expertise includes the interactions between native pollinators and native plants, and the natural history and biology of native bees and predatory wasps. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, Minneapolis Star Tribune, and many local publications. Heather is also an accomplished photographer and her pollinator photos are frequently featured in print and electronic publications.

    Heather serves on the boards of the following non-profits: Friends of Cullen Nature Preserve and Bird Sanctuary, Friends of Minnetonka Parks, and the new Minnesota Oak Savanna Chapter of The Prairie Enthusiasts. In her spare time, she is an active community supporter, writing grants, and coordinating and participating in volunteer ecological landscape restoration projects. The latest project is a 13-acre oak savanna restoration that will provide thriving habitat for pollinators, birds, mammals, and passive, nature-based opportunities for people. REGISTER NOW. $15 AHS members, $20 nonmembers.

  • Thursday, April 24, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm Eastern – Native Plant Groundcovers, Online

    Short native plants and low-growing groundcovers have the potential to form dense undergrowth, creating a lush floor for your garden and contributing to the local ecosystem. Join the American Horticultural Society online on April 24 at 2 pm Eastern to explore the dynamics of plant competition in the understory, the role of site preparation, and plants native plants that will enrich your garden. Kathy Connolly is a landscape designer who specializes in naturalized designs, low-impact landscape techniques, and native plants. She works with homeowners, municipalities, and organizations through her business, Speaking of Landscapes. She has a master’s degree in ecological landscape planning and design from the Conway School and is an Accredited Organic Land Care Professional. Connolly has received award and recognition for her communications efforts on the topic of invasive plants.

    REGISTER NOW $15 for AHS members, $20 for nonmembers.

  • Thursday, April 17, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm Eastern – How Can I Help? Saving Nature with Your Yard, Online

    In this American Horticultural Society online talk on April 17 at 2 pm Eastern, Dr. Douglas Tallamy shares his new book to address questions about ecological landscaping and further motivate people to help restore ecosystem function where they live, work, play, worship, and farm. Tallamy will offer insight on topics such as ecology and evolution, biodiversity, invasive species, insect declines, native and non-native plants, conservation and restoration, residential and city landscapes, urban issues, oak biology, keystone plants, Homegrown National Park, monarchs, supporting wildlife at home, and more.

    Doug Tallamy is the T. A. Baker Professor of Agriculture in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware, where he has authored 114 research publications and has taught insect related courses for 45 years. Chief among his research goals is to better understand the many ways insects interact with plants and how such interactions determine the diversity of animal communities. His books include Bringing Nature Home, The Living Landscape, co-authored with Rick Darke; Nature’s Best Hope, a New York Times Best Seller; and The Nature of Oaks, winner of the American Horticultural Society’s 2022 book award. In 2021 he co-founded Homegrown National Park with Michelle Alfandari (HomegrownNationalPark.org). His awards include recognition from The Garden Writer’s Association, Audubon, The National Wildlife Federation, Allegheny College, Ecoforesters, The Garden Club of America, The Herb Society, and The American Horticultural Society.

    REGISTER NOW. $15 for AHS members, $20 nonmembers.

  • Tuesday, July 8 – Friday, July 11 – National Children & Youth Garden Symposium

    Cool down in New England next summer and learn with colleagues in the heart of the Connecticut River Valley!

    Save the Date for NCYGS 2025

    The American Horticultural Society is excited to share that the 33rd annual National Children & Youth Garden Symposium will be held in Hartford, Connecticut from Tuesday, July 8 to Friday, July 11, 2025. The symposium will focus on “Science & History in Youth Gardening” and will be headquartered at the Connecticut Science Center. Full details and registration will become available in January. Mark your calendars now.

    2025 NCYGS Call for Sessions

    The American Horticultural Society is now accepting session proposals for the 33rd annual National Children & Youth Garden Symposium, “Science and History in Youth Gardening,” in Hartford, CT from Tuesday, July 8 to Friday, July 11, 2025. We encourage youth garden educators from across the fields to apply! Please review the proposal guidance and submit your session proposals by Friday, January 3, 2025. All submissions will be notified of decisions in January 2025. For further information and to submit a proposal, visit NCYGS 2025.

  • Thursday, November 21, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm Eastern – Leave the Leaves, Online

    In this American Horticultural Society online talk on November 21 at 2 pm Eastern, we will explore why fallen leaves, sticks, and dead-head flowers are important to wildlife and soil fertility. Then, we will address practical concerns that arise when we keep autumn materials on home or community properties. How can careful plant selection, plant care, timing, and good landscape design help us to keep properties attractive at the same time as we practice good stewardship? This talk is accompanied by an extensive reference document. $15 for AHS members, $20 for nonmembers. Register at www.ahsgardening.org

    Kathy Connolly is a landscape designer who specializes in naturalized designs, low-impact landscape techniques, and native plants. She works with homeowners, municipalities, and organizations through her business, Speaking of Landscapes. She has a master’s degree in ecological landscape planning and design from the Conway School and is an Accredited Organic Land Care Professional. Connolly has received award and recognition for her communications efforts on the topic of invasive plants.

  • Sunday, August 24 – Saturday, September 6, 2025 – South Africa’s Blooming Landscapes: Wildflowers, Nature Reserves, and Gardens

    Experience the breathtaking landscapes of South Africa on our immersive American Horticultural Society’s program designed to showcase the country’s rich biodiversity, cultural heritage, and natural wonders. Set against the backdrop of wildflower season, explore the vibrant city of Cape Town and the Cape Floral Region, a UNESCO World Heritage Site renowned for its exceptional array of plant species and wildlife. Highlights include visits to the iconic Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve, the lush oasis of Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, and a delightful visit with members of the Cape Horticultural Society at the enchanting Arderne Gardens. Discover the pristine landscapes of the Weylands Wildflower Reserve, Nieuwoudtville, and the majestic Kagga Kamma Reserve, where ancient rock formations and awe-inspiring vistas await. In the picturesque wine country surrounding Stellenbosch, enjoy the tranquility of its vineyards and gardens, including a guided tour of the renowned Stellenbosch University Botanical Garden, the oldest university botanic garden in South Africa. At the Dylan Lewis Sculpture Garden, delight in the harmonious interplay between art and the natural world. Extend your adventure with an optional program to Blyde River Canyon and Kruger National Park, or tailor your experience with personalized program extensions, ensuring your South African adventure is truly unforgettable.Your AHS hosts are David and Janice Ellis. For complete information visit https://ahsgardening.org/gardening-programs/travel-study/2024-travel-study-programs/south-africas-blooming-landscapes-wildflowers-nature-reserves-and-gardens/

    Red Protea in Kirstenbosch, Cape Town against the backdrop of Table mountain, South Africa. Pincushion flower in Kirstenbosch Botanic Gardens, Cape Town, South Africa

  • Thursday, November 7, 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm Eastern – Adventures in Ecological Horticulture, Online

    Who doesn’t love butterflies? Habitat cultivation is a vital component of creating ecologically healthy landscapes, particularly in urban settings. But traditional landscaping practices rarely take biodiversity into consideration, and there aren’t yet guidelines to follow. For ecological horticulturist Rebecca McMackin, biodiversity is central to landscape management. In her 10 years as Director of Horticulture at Brooklyn Bridge Park, Rebecca oversaw 85 acres of diverse, organic landscapes, all managed to support birds, butterflies, and soil microorganisms. Join us to learn how to use ecological insight and experimentation to develop new management strategies – and why careful observation and documentation of the insects, birds, and other wildlife in your gardens is crucial to their success. Rebecca will speak online in an American Horticultural Society talk on November 7 at 7 pm Eastern. $15 for AHS members, $20 for nonmembers. Register at www.ahsgardening.org

    Rebecca McMackin is an ecologically obsessed horticulturist and garden designer. She is Arboretum Curator for Woodlawn Cemetery, managing one of the best tree collections in New York. She spent a decade as Director of Horticulture of Brooklyn Bridge Park, where she managed 85 acres of diverse parkland organically. Their research into cultivating urban biodiversity and ethical management strategies has influenced thousands of people and entire urban parks systems to adopt similar approaches. McMackin writes, lectures, and teaches on ecological landscape management and pollination ecology, as well as designs the rare public garden. She has been published by and featured in the New York Times, the Landscape Institute, on NPR and PBS, and somehow gave a TED talk. She holds MScs from Columbia University and University of Victoria in landscape design and biology and recently completed the Loeb Fellowship at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

  • Friday, November 1, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm Eastern – Building a Gardening Culture Through Media, Online

    Join Rochelle Greayer, the new editor of The American Gardener, for a conversation with AHS director of national programs Courtney Allen about the power of communications to create communities of plant lovers. As the author of a book, blog, magazine, and newspaper about horticulture, Greayer is at the forefront of gardening education. Hear her thoughts on gardening trends, how gardeners learn about them, and how gardeners create those movements together. This November 1 webinar at 2 pm Eastern is $15 for AHS members, $20 for nonmembers, and you may register at www.ashgardening.org

    As a garden expert, landscape designer, and entrepreneur, Rochelle Greayer founded Pith + Vigor, a newspaper, online magazine, and education platform, and she created the acclaimed blog Studio ‘g’, (named one of the top ten gardening blogs by Better Homes & Gardens). She also co-founded Leaf Magazine and contributed to Apartment Therapy as the original creator of the weekly column “The Gardenist.” For the last five years, she has been seen, every spring, talking about plants on the Home Shopping Network. A graduate of the English Gardening School in London, England, Rochelle has designed gardens for private residences and hotels worldwide since 2002. She has contributed to several gardening books and published her first solo work, Cultivating Garden Style, in 2014. 

    Her diverse background also includes co-founding the Harvard Farmers Market and a previous career as a physicist and rocket scientist. Rochelle is excited to take on the editorship of America’s oldest gardening magazine, to continue AHS’s long tradition of publishing informative science-based garden and horticultural stories, and to bring a new face to the magazine—one that reflects the modern gardener.   

  • Thursday, October 3, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm Eastern – The Crevice Garden, Online

    A rock garden is an age-old institution in gardening, maybe even a crusty old one, but Crevice Gardens are the ultimate expression of the spirit of gardening with nature’s rocky places in mind. More and more of them are recently part of the exhibits of botanic and public gardens around the world- as well as home gardener’s back yards. Why is that? In this American Horticultural Society webinar on October 3 at 2 pm Eastern, we’ll learn what a crevice garden is, a bit of its history, how all it can be used to create something special, grow challenging plants, or solve a problem. Finally, we’ll learn how to make an approachable one in the home garden, in any climate. $15 for AHS members, $20 for nonmembers. Register at www.ahsgardening.org

    Kenton Seth is the owner of Colorado-based garden design business Paintbrush Gardens, co-author of the New York Times-acclaimed book The Crevice Garden, and former Head of Horticulture for Western Colorado Botanic Gardens. He is an international speaker, a nursery owner/operator, an accomplished propagator of novel plants, and a designer and plantsman of crevice gardens, meadow gardens, and native plant landscapes.

    In his freelance garden design work, Kenton Seth consults for, designs, and installs rock, native plant, and xeric gardens. His landscapes span from Colorado to the Pacific Northwest, North Carolina, and New Zealand. He tests and implements cutting-edge planting systems, making them practical for use in both the private and public sector. While primarily an educator, consultant, and designer, he also installs public demonstration exhibits and residential landscapes to test, perfect, and demonstrate new techniques and plants. Seth operates a small nursery to supplement plant material for his designs as well as to supply plants to growers to support xeric plant availability. His mission is to demonstrate and facilitate examples of dry or unirrigated landscapes that are also ecologically beneficial, to raise the demand for such landscapes. Seth’s landscape worked is informed by his BFA in Studio Art from Colorado Mesa University and his Master Gardener certification from Colorado State University.

  • Wednesday, September 25, 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm Eastern – Ecotypes: Ecological Gardening with Nature’s Heirloom Seeds, Online

    It all starts with a seed. Join Sefra Alexandra, The Seed Huntress, on a conservation safari into the world of ecotypes— native plants grown from locally wildcrafted seeds. Discover why seed provenance is essential for plant resilience and ecological restoration.Learn how planting the right plants in the right place restores the living seed banks of our soils and strengthens the growing national movement of ecoregional seed networks. Embark on a journey into nature’s heirlooms and transform your garden with ecotypic seeds, the locally adapted treasures of pollinators. This American Horticutural Society online talk takes place September 25 at 7 pm Eastern, and is $15 for AHS members, $20 for nonmembers. Register at www.ahsgardening.org

    Sefra Alexandra – the Seed Huntress- is the Ecological Health Network Education Coordinator for the Northeast USA Bioregion. She leads The Ecotype Project, teaching smallholder farmers how to produce autochthonous plant material for ecological restoration. These efforts have led to the formation of the farmer-led Northeast Seed Collective, making ecotypic seed commercially available. In 2020 she began BOATanical.org where she guides ‘backyard’ expeditions to plant native plants by boat along riparian corridors, an experience that contributes to a culture of citizen science and ecological stewardship. Alexandra is on the board of the Freed Seed Federation and the steering committee of the Northeast Seed Network. She holds a MAT in agroecological education from Cornell University and is trained in the tradition of seed saving by the Rocky Mountain Seed Alliance. She is also a WINGS WorldQuest expedition flag carrier, member of the Explorers Club, former Genebank Impacts Fellow for the Global Crop Diversity Trust, and has helped to fortify community seed banks on island nations with Tactivate- the disaster response company she runs with her twin brother.