Boston Flora

Tag: Arnold Arboretum

  • Monday, February 22, 7:00 pm – The Pecan: A History of America’s Native Nut, Online

    This February 22 free Zoom talk at 7 pm Eastern is the first of three lectures in the Arnold Arboretum’s Director’s Lecture Series. Register at https://harvard.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_kAicDT3WRwGwXUExDs4Oxg

    In the United States, the pecan tree is native to a region stretching from central Texas to western Alabama, and from the Gulf of Mexico to southern Illinois. Today, most pecans grown for commercial consumption come from New Mexico and Georgia, places with no native pecans. What makes the extension of pecan production beyond its native habitat possible is the art and science of domestication. The pecan tree went from being primarily wild to primarily domesticated in an astonishingly quick period of time–a matter of decades. James McWilliams’ talk will explore the intricacies of this process while challenging us to think more critically about what we mean by ideas such as “natural,” “artificial,” and “authentic,” all of which are central to understanding the food we produce and consume.

  • Wednesday, February 10, 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm – Botany for Gardeners: Flowering Plant Life Cycle, Online

    In this February 10 Tower Hill Botanic Garden webinar beginning at 6:30 pm with Daphne Minner, we will explore the flowering plant life cycle, from seed germination to fruit. The focus will be on sexual reproduction and the intricate interplay between native plants and pollinators. You will learn about common pollinators to native New England and learn how various gardening practices can impact pollinators and climate change.

    A lifelong gardener, Daphne has merged her love of plants and science education into botanical education curricula for both children and adults seeking enrichment from nonformal organizations like Native Plant Trust, Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, and Penn State’s Shaver’s Creek. For more than 25 years, Daphne has worked to improve science and ecology education in both formal K-12 and informal settings. She has developed a certified wildlife habitat in her small urban yard that supports a wide diversity of plant and animal species. Through her careful observation and research, the fascinating relationship between plants and animals are illuminated in her own yard. She holds a certificate in field botany from the Native Plant Trust and a doctorate in Human Development.

    $10 for Tower Hill members, $15 for nonmembers. Register at www.towerhillbg.org

  • Thursday, January 28, 7:00 pm – Racial Equity in Urban Climate Action, Online

    Joan Fitzgerald, Professor of Urban Planning and Policy at Northeastern University, will build on key concepts in her new book, Greenovation: Urban Leadership on Climate Change (2020). On January 28 at 7 pm, with the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, she’ll discuss how cities are rethinking their approach to climate action by placing racial justice at the forefront. She’ll draw from recent experiences with Providence, Austin, and Oakland in creating participatory planning processes and new priorities for a just transition to a carbon-free society. She’ll conclude by discussing how the transition can be linked to jobs in the green economy. Join us via Zoom.
    Free, but registration required by clicking HERE.

  • Resilience: Art in the Time of COVID-19, Online

    Like many in the early days of the pandemic, the Arnold Arboretum’s exhibiting artist, Lois Cremmins, sought solace in the Arnold Arboretum. Fortified by experiences of what she describes as “transcendent beauty here,” she created a series of works in direct response to COVID-19.

    Resilience is defined as “an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change.”  Looking at Cremmins’ art—vivid combinations of paint and collage on paper—one senses an uplifting of her spirit. While exploring rich and attentive observations to detail, she chooses an overall application of colors, forms, and textures that bring a resounding cacophony of life to the surface. It is life in the Arboretum, vibrant and enduring, where Cremmins found her expressive vision of resilience and hope mirrored in the strength and grandeur of trees.

    “As spring unfolded into summer, I could sense that the plants and animals, sun and sky, were carrying on in spite of the pandemic. And I wanted to make artworks that are as triumphant and defiant in the face of COVID-19 as I felt the entire Arboretum was being.”

    Lois Cremmins

    Wishing to share her belief that art can offer optimism and comfort, Cremmins posted her images on Instagram. The full series of works can be viewed on her website.

    Lois Cremmins has had numerous solo and group exhibitions in the U.S. and Japan including Atlantic Gallery, Eyebuzz Gallery, Chashama, and Creative Space Hyashi. She is a grant recipient from the National Endowment for the Arts, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, and the Barbara Deming Fund. She holds degrees in both Visual Art and Landscape Design and Maintenance.

    All of Lois Cremmins’ artworks are paint and collage on paper. To view her images, visit https://arboretum.harvard.edu/events/current-and-past-art-shows/resilience-art-in-the-time-of-covid-19/

    Happy Place, 18″ x 24″ Lois Cremmins

  • Wednesday, January 13, 3:00 pm – Tree Mob: New Year, New Nest, Online

    Whoooo cares about New Year’s Eve when every evening in December and January is cause for celebration? Walk through the Arnold Arboretum during these winter months and you may hear a mating pair of great horned owls (Bubo virginianus) calling to one another as they prepare for nesting season. Will they use last year’s nest? Find a nook in a dead tree? Or repurpose a red-tailed hawk nest? Brendan Keegan will share a Powerpoint on the nesting habits of great horned owls as well as provide best practices for ethically observing these seldom seen raptors. Join us via Zoom on January 13 at 3:00 pm. Free, but registration required by clicking HERE.

  • Wednesday, November 4, 12:00 noon – 1:00 pm – The Challenges and Complexities of Ecological Gardens – A 5-Year Journal of Discoveries Webinar

    Wednesday, November 4, 12:00 noon – 1:00 pm – The Challenges and Complexities of Ecological Gardens – A 5-Year Journal of Discoveries Webinar

    On November 4, online, take a five-year photographic journey through one of the largest ecological and bio-diverse built landscapes in Rhode Island: St. George’s School. This Ecological Landscape Alliance webinar features Lori Silvia. Ms. Silvia will share the process, challenges, and discoveries she has made while managing concept, design, installation, plants, and daily maintenance of the landscape. Broader philosophical questions regarding the landscapes’ evolution will also be considered. Ms. Silvia’s passion for and dedication to this project will be obvious and honest, and her photographs will reflect her intimate daily involvement throughout the entire process of developing St. George’s landscape.

    Lori Silvia has a BFA from Mass College of Art & Design and graduated from The Landscape Institute, Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University. A collaboration of art, landscape design, science, and intuition is part of her vision. She has been a landscape designer and gardener at St. George’s School since 2008, creating LEED-certified ecological designs for the newly-built Hill Library and Academic Center and renovating nearly every corner of the campus in some way. Ms. Silvia is dedicated to experiential learning and lectures to students and the greater community.

    ELA members free, $10 for nonmembers. Register at www.ecolandscaping.org

  • The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University’s New Website

    The Arnold Arboretum has just released an entirely new website, a fresh portal to the institution that has been two years in the making! Ned Friedman says: “We set out to create an online identity as evocative, welcoming, and revelatory as the collections and landscape themselves.  Over the next few weeks, we will introduce you to newly curated stories from the Arboretum including plant biographies, tales of plant exploration, scientific discoveries, and the institution’s multifaceted roles in promoting social and environmental justice. We will pull back the curtain to reveal some of the magic that lies behind our roughly 16,000 woody plants and 281 acres of Olmsted-designed landscape. Today I’m excited to share a new feature with you. “Walks” offer virtual tours of the Living Collections, curated and designed by our staff, including me. The Director’s Tour illuminates just a few of the thousands of plants I’ve photographed and been captivated by over the past decade. Join me to find out why I love snakebark maples (and why you should too), why inhaling putrid ginkgo seeds is vivifying, and why I worship the acorns of the Oriental oak. And when you next visit, make your way to these very plants to experience their charms through the seasons in person. ” Very exciting news indeed.

  • Wednesday, August 19, 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm – Stunning Stewartias: Asiatic Stewartias and their Culture, Online

    Join Polly Hill Arboretum Executive Director Tim Boland online on Wednesday, August 19 at 3 pm as he shares the fascinating history, diversity, and culture of the beautiful white-flowering trees, the Asiatic Stewartias. Tim will detail Polly Hill’s own introduction to the group of trees which are highly valued for their camellia-like flowers, expressive bark patterns and garden adaptability. The PHA holds the national collection for the genus along with the Arnold Arboretum in nearby Boston. Come join us as we learn about new cultivated varieties and helpful suggestions as to how you can grow these trees in your own landscape. Free for PHA members, $10 for nonmembers. Proceeds benefit Polly Hill Arboretum and help make it possible for us to hold future affordable and free educational programs for our community. Thank you for support! Register here: bit.ly/Stewartias-Webinar-2020

  • Arnold Arboretum Expeditions App Now Available

    Discover a whole new way to interact with the Arnold Arboretum! Expeditions is a mobile app, created to help visitors get better acquainted with the Arboretum’s 281-acre landscape and some of the most spectacular collections. Expeditions shares stories about plants, conservation, and exploration history through a variety of media including photos and audio clips. Hear behind-the-scenes stories from staff illuminating how plants are collected, cared for, and shared with the world. Download Expeditions  free of cost from the Apple and Google Play stores, or view it on an internet browser at home.  The complete description may be found in the Harvard Gazette article by clicking HERE.

  • Friday, July 24 – Sunday, October 11 – Urban Ponds: Essential Ecosystem for the Enjoyment and Discovery of Nature

    Coming in late July, enjoy an online exhibition of the photography of Bruce Wilson brought to us by the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University.

    In Shakespeare’s time, four elements were considered essential to life – earth, air, fire, water. In our own lifetime, we have discovered just how essential these elements are. The fourth, water, takes on the role of beauty, reflection, discovery, joy, even metaphor, in this exhibition by photographer, Bruce Wilson.

    Urban Ponds: Essential Ecosystems for the Enjoyment and Discovery of Nature through October 11, brings the aesthetic and elemental properties of water, within the circumscribed arena of the city, to the Arnold Arboretum. Three ponds in the Bradley Rosaceous Collection, Faxon, Dawson, and Rehder, are alive with fauna and flora, beckoning visitors who relish a connection to nature and water in an urban community.

    An integral component of the Arboretum’s ecosystem and landscape, these ponds (as well as in an urban pond in Newton)—named for former Arboretum staff—entice Wilson to bring his artistic eye to the discovery of shadows, reflections, and visitor enjoyment. His pond images complement the trees, emphasize the subtle or saturated colors of water, and capture interactions between visitors and scenes of rich pond life. Water is our source of life, its essence can calm and nurture each of us during this year when we look for nourishment of the body and spirit. Wilson has captured moments for all of us to share and savor.

    While a relative newcomer to serious photography, Wilson’s images belie his short history of working with the original “raw material” in the initiating image, and then his post-production work to bring out interesting geometry, color, or the overlooked beauty of some part of nature. He takes his cue from Frederick Law Olmsted “The root of all my good work is an early respect for, regard and enjoyment of scenery.”

    Visit http://arboretum.harvard.edu to view the exhibit.