Boston Flora

Tag: Arnoldia

  • Wednesday, August 23, 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm – Writing in the Company of Trees

    In our perilous times, trees offer examples of resilience and precariousness, growth and generosity. How do we invite them into our writing? Join Matthew Battles, editor of Arnoldia, the Arnold Arboretum’s quarterly magazine, for an immersive workshop to practice writing under, about, and in collaboration with trees. 

    Participants will move throughout the landscape to engage trees in the arboretum’s collection while writing, reflecting, and sharing their discoveries.

    Please bring a notebook or other writing materials that are manageable in the field. This program involves walking along wooded paths, climbing some moderate slopes, and navigating uneven terrain. We will be sitting on the ground frequently, so travel camp chairs, yoga mats, or blankets are encouraged.

    In the event of inclement weather, registrants will be notified. For more information, please call (617) 384-5209. The event is scheduled for Wednesday, August 23 at 5:30 pm. Meet at the Centre Street Gate. Register HERE.

  • Through Sunday, February 6 – Hidden Worlds: A New Herbarium, Online

    For many artists who are invited to exhibit work at the Arnold Arboretum, the collections and landscape become a focus and rich cornucopia of form and even fancy. For some, like Madge Evers, it is much more. The Arboretum becomes a laboratory, even a studio, a repository brimming with the media she incorporates into her awe-inspiring prints—the fungi and their subsequent spores.

    Working not only with exhibitions, but with the Arboretum’s curation department, Evers submitted a proposal in March 2020 to begin collecting. March 2020 being the beginning of COVID-19 restrictions, our curatorial assistant, Kathryn Richardson, was being very selective about issuing collecting permits. Evers, however, was given the go ahead for her well conceived proposal. Richardson herself has a special interest in fungi, which she wrote about in her 2009 Arnoldia article “A Closer Look at Fungi”.

    Over the course of the next year, Evers was able to visit the Arboretum, collecting an assortment of mushrooms and adding their countless spores to her art. Along with the mushrooms, she collected other Arboretum plant materials. The resulting exhibition is lush with otherworldly light and shape. There is almost the sense of a kaleidoscope opening up with limited hues, but unlimited iterations of the nuanced disbursement of those spores upon a field of leaves and flowers.

    She has indeed planted her own stories in a rarefied environment where the almost hidden become the abiding mystery, delight, and revelation of this new herbarium. To view the virtual exhibition, available through February 6, visit https://arboretum.harvard.edu/art_shows/hidden-worlds-a-new-herbarium/

    For a detailed list of the plants incorporated into the prints, visit here: Hidden World Spore Prints.

    All artworks are mushroom spores on paper. Evers is an educator, gardener, and visual artist. She uses foraged mushrooms and plants to make works on paper that focus on regeneration. Her work has been shown in New England and New York. In June of 2020, she began to work full-time as an artist after teaching for 25 years in Rhode Island and Massachusetts public schools. She now conducts art-making workshops for people of all ages.

    All rights of the images reside with the artist. For more information on making a copy, or reusing an image, please send your request to arbweb@arnarb.harvard.edu. For information on the work itself, or to inquire about purchasing art, please also send your request to arbweb@arnarb@harvard.edu. We will put you in touch with the artist.

    Kousa Dogwood, 20″ x 28″ copyright 2020 Madge Evers

  • Thursday, February 11, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Growing Small Fruits in Your Backyard, Online

    This Massachusetts Horticultural Society class on February 11 from 7 – 8:30, online, is for those who want to grow small fruits in their backyard or on small commercial fruit farms. Growing blueberries, brambles, strawberries, or currants in your backyard can be rewarding and fun. This class will provide an overview on how to successfully grow these attractive fruits in your home landscape, be it a rural, suburban, or urban lot for ornamental purposes and for fruit production.

    Instructed by J. Stephen Casscles, Esq.

    J. Stephen Casscles is a government lawyer with over 35 years of experience in New York State and municipal government. He has dedicated his life to public service and has practiced law in a broad range of areas such as health, insurance, alcoholic beverage control, gaming, agriculture, economic development, municipal finance, and land-use law. 

    An enthusiastic viticulturalist, Stephen has a 12-acre farm in Athens, NY, called Cedar Cliff, where he cultivates over 110 different French-American hybrids, 19th Century heritage grape varieties from the Hudson Valley and Massachusetts, and own rooted chance hybrids that he evaluates, makes wine from, and lectures about. In addition, he lectures on wine, grape cultivation, 19th century American horticulture and landscape architecture at botanical gardens and historical societies throughout New York and New England. Mr. Casscles operates a small grape nursery that specializes in propagating rare French-American hybrids, 19th Century heritage grape varieties developed in the Hudson Valley, Boston’s North Shore, the rest of New England, and own rooted chance hybrids identified at his farm Cedar Cliff. He is an award-winning winemaker who currently works at Sabba Estate Vineyards, in Old Chatham, NY and formally of the Hudson-Chatham Winery in Ghent, NY (2007-2019) and his wines been covered by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Wine Enthusiast, New York Post, Hugh Johnson’s Annual Pocket Wine Book (2021), and The Albany Times-Union. 

    As a regional historian, Stephen authored Grapes of the Hudson Valley and Other Cool Climate Regions of the United States and Canada, which details the history of the Hudson Valley fruit growing industry, how to make wine, establish and maintain a vineyard, and the growing characteristics of over 170 cool climate grape varieties. He is currently working on two new books, The Prince Family Nurseries of Flushing, NY (1720-1869) and The Life and Times of E. S. Rogers and the Heritage Grapes of New England. 

    In addition to his full length works on grape varieties, grape cultivation, and 19th century horticulture,  Stephen is a frequent contributor to academic and trade journals such as Arnoldia of the Arnold Arboretum of Boston, MA, Fruit Notes of U. Mass Amherst, Horticultural News of Rutgers University, Wine Journal of the American Wine Society, New York Fruit Quarterly of the NYS Horticultural Society, and the Hudson Valley Wine Magazine

    As a culmination of his horticultural pursuits, Stephen advises and lectures at the Fermentation Sciences Program at SUNY at Cobleskill, and has a working relationship with professors at U-1 University Youngdong, Korea, and with many in the Korean grape and wine industry. 

    Stephen can be reached at cassclesjs@yahoo.com or by cell at 518-755-5475. 

    $18 for Mass Hort members, $26 for nonmembers. Register at www.masshort.org

  • Thursday, February 6, 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm – A Rose is a Rose: The Art of Botanical Prose

    Attention gardeners, readers, and writers! Come in from the cold on Thursday, February 6 from 2 – 3:30 at the Hunnewell Building at the Arnold Arboretum for an afternoon as delightful as a spring garden. Jonathan Damery, the associate editor for Arnoldia, will provide an enlivening and breathtaking tour of the artistry found in horticultural and botanical reference books. Bask in the profound eloquence of even the most exhaustive of botanical descriptions. Often cloaked in scholarly tomes, these compositions boast opinion, passion, simply gorgeous wordsmithing, and even intrigue, in some cases. Fee $5 Arboretum member, $10 nonmember Register at my.arboretum.harvard.edu or call 617-384-5277.

  • Michael Dosmann Named Keeper of the Living Collections of the Arnold Arboretum

    The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University is pleased to announce that it has named Dr. Michael S. Dosmann as Keeper of the Living Collections, a rare and (nearly) singular honor bestowed by the institution. Curator of the Living Collections at the Arboretum since 2007, Dr. Dosmann’s new title reflects his outstanding stewardship of the Arboretum’s renowned collection of woody plants over the past decade.
    Dr. Dosmann is only the second “Keeper” in the 145-year history of the Arnold Arboretum. The first was Ernest Henry Wilson, the Arboretum’s famed plant explorer best known for his pioneering expeditions in early-twentieth-century China. Wilson held the title of “Keeper” from 1927 to 1930. Dr. Dosmann assumes the title as the Arboretum reinvigorates Wilson’s legacy and the institution’s role as a leader in global plant exploration.
    Recognized as a leading authority on collections management of botanical collections and a tireless advocate for public gardens, Dr. Dosmann curates more than 15,000 living accessioned plants on the grounds of the Arboretum. Under his leadership, the Arboretum has vastly improved systems and protocols for mapping, documenting, and inventorying Arboretum plants, which has influenced standards at botanical institutions nationwide. Since 2015, and in collaboration with Professor William (Ned) Friedman, the eighth Director of the Arnold Arboretum, Dr. Dosmann has led the Arboretum’s efforts to accelerate efforts to explore, inventory, and collect vanishing biodiversity worldwide—the Campaign for the Living Collections—mounting or participating in multiple collecting expeditions in Asia and North America.
    Dr. Dosmann received his undergraduate degree in Public Horticulture from Purdue University (1996), and his Master’s degree (1998) and his Ph.D. (2006) from Iowa State University, and Cornell University, respectively, in Horticulture. He is the author of over 60 published articles, including 20 found within the covers of Arnoldia, the journal of the Arnold Arboretum. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the American Public Gardens Association, is an elected member of the Horticultural Club of Boston, and in 2014 was the on-air host of the three-part documentary Chinese Wilson produced by Central China Television. Photo courtesy of Harvard Magazine.

  • Thursday, July 14, 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm – More Than Roses

    The rose family (Rosaceae) is a large and diverse plant group that contains much more than just roses. On Thursday, July 14, beginning at 5:30 pm, take a walk through the Bradley Rosaceous Collection with Arnoldia editor Nancy Rose and learn about some familiar and not-so-familiar members of the rose family. In case of inclement weather, contact 617.384.5209. Meet at the Map Table at Dawson Pond, 125 Arborway in Boston. Free, but registration requested at 617-384-5251, or email adulted@arnarb.harvard.edu.

  • Saturday, November 7, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon – The Radicle Underground

    Saturday, November 7, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon – The Radicle Underground

    Join Dr. Peter Del Tredici of Harvard University’s Arnold Arboretum on Saturday, November 7 from 10 – noon at Berkshire Botanical Garden for an exploration of the important relationship between plants and soil. Developing a clear understanding of what goes on below the ground will help make you a better gardener. Learn about the structure and function of woody- plant root systems as well as the practical aspects of when and how best to water and fertilize trees and shrubs. Dr. Del Tredici will also examine the all-important contribution that soil microorganisms make to the nutrition and survival of plants, both in nature and in cultivation. The lecture will also cover the pros and cons of various methods for “packaging” root systems in commercial nurseries and basic planting techniques. This lecture is a must for anyone who cares about their garden plants both large and small.

    Dr. Peter Del Tredici retired from the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University in 2014 after working there for 35 years as Plant Propagator, Curator of the Larz Anderson Bonsai Collection, Editor of Arnoldia, Director of Living Collections and Senior Research Scientist. Dr. Del Tredici is an Associate Professor in Practice at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, where he has been teaching in the Landscape Architecture Department since 1992. He is the winner of the Arthur Hoyt Scott Medal and Award for 1999 presented by the Scott Arboretum of Swarthmore College, and in 2013 he was awarded the Veitch Gold Medal by The Royal Horticultural Society (England) “in recognition of services given in the advancement of the science and practice of horticulture.”

    You may register online ($25) at http://www.berkshirebotanical.org/event/peter-del-tredici-the-radicle-underground/?instance_id=3528 or call 413-298-3926, ext 15.

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  • Wednesday, March 20, 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm – Early Spring Bloomers

    Before the spring flowering season explodes, take a ramble with Nancy Rose, Editor of Arnoldia, the magazine of the Arnold Arboretum, to observe and delight in early bloomers like willows, witch hazels, and pussy willows.  The walk will take place Wednesday, March 20, beginning at 2 pm at the Arborway Gate.  Register on line at www.arboretum.harvard.edu (no fee), and in case of inclement weather, call 617-384-5209.  Beautiful photo from www.shecurmudgeon.com.

    http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2353/2308253405_5aac4e6fd6.jpg

  • Thursday, September 13, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm – Very Fine Vines

    Whether twining, clinging, or scrambling, vines know how to get around. Take a walk with Nancy Rose, editor of Arnoldia magazine, through the Leventritt Shrub and Vine Garden at the Arnold Arboretum on Thursday, September 13, from 1 – 2:30 in the afternoon, to learn more about how vines grow and climb. See vines with the best ornamental features, as well as those that provide tasty fruit. You’ll also learn about a few vines that you won’t want to plant!. Below is Parthenocissus tricuspidata ‘Fenway Park’ discovered by the Arnold Arboretum’s  Dr. Peter Del Tredici at – wait for it – Fenway Park.

    In case of inclement weather, contact 617.384.5209. To register for this free session, visit www.my.arboretum.harvard.edu.

  • Thursday, July 19, 5:30 pm – Locust, Legumes, and Nitrogen Fixation

    Meet horticulturist and Arnoldia Editor Nancy Rose in the locust collection (west of Meadow Road and north of the ponds) to learn about Robinia pseudoacacia, a member of the pea family, at the Arnold Arboretum on Thursday, July 19 at 5:30 pm.  The nearest gates are the Arborway or Forest Hills Gates, with parking along the Arborway, or the Centre Street Gate, where parking is limited.  Part of Tree Mob! (trademark) For more information visit www.arboretum.harvard.edu.