Boston Flora

Tag: Arnold Arboretum

  • Sunday, November 1, 2:00 pm – 3:15 pm – Second Nature: An Environmental History of New England

    Historian Richard W. Judd, PdD, Adelaide & Alan Bird Professor of History at University of Maine, explores the mix of ecological process and human activity that shaped that history over the past 12,000 years, in this Arnold Arboretum talk on Sunday, November 1 beginning at 2 pm in the Hunnewell Building. He traces a succession of cultures through New England’s changing post-glacial environment down to the 1600s, when the arrival of Europeans interrupted this co-evolution of nature and culture. A long period of tension and warfare, inflected by a variety of environmental problems, opened the way for frontier expansion. This in turn culminated in a unique landscape of forest, farm, and village that has become the embodiment of what Judd calls “second nature”— culturally modified landscapes that have superseded a more pristine “first nature.” Judd will relate significant cultural and ecological changes that have influenced the evolution of the New England landscape over time. Free for Arboretum members, $10 nonmembers.

    Register at my.arboretum.harvard.edu or call 617-384-5277.

  • Friday, October 23, 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm – Turning Wood: The Art of the Woodturner

    Woodturning has a history dating back to 1300 BC Egypt. Unique in relation to most woodworking due to its use of a lathe, woodturners turn out practical, functional pieces or “turn” to the purely aesthetic.

    Three woodturning associations, The Association of Revolutionary Turners (ART), Central New England Woodturners, and Massachusetts South Shore Woodturners, have come together for this very special Arnold Arboretum exhibition, bringing their own creativity and technical expertise and displaying unique pieces for utilitarian use and aesthetic enjoyment. Join us as turners demonstrate their skill working the lathe throughout the week-end of October 24 – 25, and attend the opening reception on Friday, October 23, from 5 – 7 in the Hunnewell Building Lecture Hall. Select work will also be on display in the Hunnewell Visitor Center October 9 through November 8. Free, no registration required.

  • Sunday, October 18, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm – Bike Tour of the Emerald Necklace

    Sunday, October 18, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm – Bike Tour of the Emerald Necklace

    Join docent Barbara Nazarewicz, as she leads a bike tour from the Fens to the Arnold Arboretum to enjoy the seasonal beauty of the Emerald Necklace. Return to Shattuck Visitor Center. Free, but registration required. Space limited. Sponsored by the Emerald Necklace Conservancy. Register on line at www.emeraldneckace.org.

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  • Thursday, October 15, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – The Art and Practice of Saving Seeds

    The time-honored tradition of saving seeds merges botany, history, observation, and experience. On Thursday, October 15, from 7 – 8:30 in the Hunnewell Building at the Arnold Arboretum, Lee Buttala, editor of The Seed Garden, by the Seed Savers Exchange, will provide an overview of plant reproduction and pollination, how to preserve varietal traits, and the many reasons for saving seeds from your favorite heirloom and open-pollinated plants. Even if you don’t have seeds to save, Lee will help you understand the origin of that heirloom tomato that you picked up at the farmers market and share knowledge that has been passed down through generations by farmers and home gardeners for preserving the plants that sustain us. Lee Buttala is an Emmy Award–winning television producer of Martha Stewart Living and was the creator, producer, and director of Cultivating Life, a PBS series on outdoor living and gardening. He has written for The New York Times, Martha Stewart Living, New York, and Metropolitan Home. He also served as the preservation program manager for the Garden Conservancy and has studied garden design at the Kyoto University of Art and Design, the Chelsea Physic Garden, and the New York Botanical Garden. Free for Arboretum members, $5 nonmembers. Register at my.arboretum.harvard.edu or call 617-384-5277.

  • Saturdays, October 3 and November 7, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm – Propagating Trees and Shrubs from Cuttings and Seeds

    Need to nurture? Then join longtime Arboretum propagator Jack Alexander at the Dana Greenhouses at the Arnold Arboretum to learn basic information and techniques for propagating most woody plants. Session One on Saturday, October 3 from 9 – 4 includes a lecture and workshop on seed propagation and construction of a propagation case. Session Two on November 7 will be a lecture and workshop on hardwood cuttings. You will leave class with numerous cuttings and seeds to care for. To participate, you must sign an Assumption of Risk and Release in order to practice the techniques taught in class. Bring a lunch and beverage. If you own hand pruners, bring them to class. A sharp knife and an apron may also be helpful. You will be collecting propagules from the Arboretum grounds on both afternoons regardless of weather, so dress accordingly and wear comfortable shoes. Fee $180 Arboretum member, $230 nonmember. Register at my.arboretum.harvard.edu or call 617-384-5277.

  • Tuesday, October 6, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – The Brother Gardeners

    Historian Andrea Wulf will speak at the Hunnewell Building of the Arnold Arboretum on Tuesday, October 6, from 7 – 8:30. Bringing to life the science and adventure of eighteenth-century plant collecting, The Brother Gardeners is the story of how six men created the modern garden and changed the horticultural world in the process. It is a story of a garden revolution that began in America. In 1733, colonial farmer John Bartram shipped two boxes of precious American plants and seeds to Peter Collinson in London. Around these men formed the nucleus of a botany movement, which included famous Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus; Philip Miller, bestselling author of The Gardeners Dictionary; and Joseph Banks and David Solander, two botanist explorers, who scoured the globe for plant life aboard Captain Cook’s Endeavor. As they cultivated exotic blooms from around the world, they helped make Britain an epicenter of horticultural and botanical expertise. The Brother Gardeners paints a vivid portrait of an emerging world of knowledge and gardening as we know it today.
    Fee: free for sponsor members, $20 nonmembers. Register at my.arboretum.harvard.edu or call 617-384-5277. Offered with the Massachusetts Historical Society.

  • Monday, October 5, 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm – The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt’s New World

    Andrea Wulf reveals in her new book the extraordinary life of the visionary German naturalist Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) and how he created the way we understand nature today. She will speak on Monday, October 5 beginning at 5:30 at the Massachusetts Historical Society, 1154 Boylston Street in Boston.

    Though almost forgotten today, his name lingers everywhere from the Humboldt Current to the Humboldt penguin. Humboldt was an intrepid explorer and the most famous scientist of his age. Wulf traces Humboldt’s influences through the great minds he inspired in revolution, evolution, ecology, conservation, art and literature. In The Invention of Nature, Wulf brings this lost hero to science and the forgotten father of environmentalism back to life. Fee: free for Arnold Arboretum and Massachusetts Historical Society members, $20 nonmembers. Register at my.arboretum.harvard.edu or call 617-384-5277.

  • Wednesday, September 30, 5:30 pm – Wilderness in America: A History of America and the Land from Conquest to Conservation

    America has a conservation legacy unmatched anywhere in the world. Almost 30 percent of the land in the United States—National Parks, National Forests, wild rivers, wilderness and other lands—are owned by the people of the United States. This film, Wilderness in America, tells the story of four centuries of American history and describes a changing view of the land by a number of leaders, writers, artists, photographers, teachers, and organizations. Join the Arnold Arboretum and the Massachusetts Historical Society on Wednesday, September 30 for a reception at 5:30 pm at the MHS headquarters, 1154 Boylston Street in Boston, followed by a Fulcrum Film screening at 6. Free, but registration requested at www.my.arboretum.harvard.edu or by calling 617-384-5277.  You may see a trailer at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvbyLW-rdU4.

  • Wednesday, September 30, 12:15 pm – 1:00 pm – Blacklisted: A Planted Allegory

    This multi-modal project stems from the ground research of collecting, studying and digging into the histories of invasive plant species in Claremont, California. Restricting her investigation to vegetation classified as invasive by the California Invasive Species Advisory Committee, artist Jenny Yurshansky was able to determine which invasive species have infiltrated the local area. At its root the project investigates the distinction between native versus invasive species. The discourse surrounding a list of “invasive” or “alien” flora species has interesting and fruitful correlations to policies regarding immigration, multiculturalism and evolving ideas about national identities that are inherently tied to the identity of border cultures and specifically California, a location that has carried the name of a number of nations throughout the historical record. Learn about Yurshansky’s process and discoveries in this creative look at invasive species, on Wednesday, September 30 from 12:15 – 1 in the Hunnewell Building of the Arnold Arboretum (bring your lunch.)
    Free – Register at my.arboretum.harvard.edu or call 617-384-5277.

  • Tuesdays, September 29 – November 17, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm – Introduction to Botany

    Learn botany from dedicated instructor and plant nomenclature specialist Kanchi Gandhi. Among the topics to be explored: plant cells and tissues, anatomy and morphology, reproduction, nutrition, growth and development, plant diversity, evolution, classification, and nomenclature. This 8 session course, Tuesdays from September 29 – November 17 at the Harvard University Herbaria, offering both lecture and laboratory activities, introduces botany to new students or serves as a refresher course. Required text: Botany for Gardeners by Brian Capon. Fee $225 Arboretum or NEWFS member, $270 nonmember. Register at my.arboretum.harvard.edu or call 617-384-5277. Offered in collaboration with the New England Wild Flower Society.