Boston Flora

Tag: Berkshire Community College

  • Saturday and Sunday, January 4 & 5, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm – The Science of Plant Propagation

    In this two day Berkshire Botanical Garden in person course on January 4 and 5 from 9 – 4, learn the art and science of plant propagation with a focus on the basic botany needed to understand and successfully propagate plants. Sexual and asexual propagation methods including sowing seeds, cuttings, grafting, layering, and division will be covered. Students will learn the fascinating science behind propagation along with the various techniques used to create new plants.

    Adam Wheeler started working and playing with plants at Broken Arrow Nursery in 2004 after completing his BS degree in Urban Forestry and Landscape Horticulture at the University of Vermont. His favorite role at Broken Arrow Nursery is plant propagation and the acquisition and development of new plants. Adam is a past recipient of the Young Nursery Professional Award from the New England Nursery Association and is the current Vice President of the North American Maple Society. He loves to share his passion for plants through photography and educational outreach. As a result, he lectures widely on a variety of subjects and is also an adjunct lecturer at Naugatuck Valley Community College and the Berkshire Botanical Garden. With his spare time he enjoys cultivating his eclectic collection of rare and unusual plants, rock climbing and competitive giant pumpkin growing!

    $215 for BBG members, $240 for nonmembers. Register at www.berkshirebotanical.org.

  • Wednesdays, March 11 – March 25, 5:30 pm – 8:30 pm – Container Gardening

    This Berkshire Botanical Garden Container Gardening course meets for 3 weeks on Wednesdays, March 11 – March 25, 5:30 – 8:30 pm, at the Education Center at Berkshire Botanical Garden in Stockbridge.

    Get to know the plants that thrive in containers, how to care for them and keep them looking fabulous. During the three sessions of this course you will acquire a knowledge of the skills required for beautiful and successful container gardens. We will cover the full scope of gardening in pots – from container, plant and soil selection to grooming and maintaining your collection to techniques for overwintering.

    Instructor Jenna O’Brien, owner and founder of Viridissima Horticulture & Design since 2003, has been working in Berkshire gardens for over 20 years. Jenna specializes in container gardening, perennial garden design and care, and estate garden and conservatory management.

    BBG Members: $135, Non-Members: $145. Register at www.berkshirebotanical.org.

  • Wednesdays, January 16 – March 6, 5:30 pm – 8:30 pm – Planting Plan Design Studio

    Learn how to design a planting plan for private and public garden spaces in this five week Berkshire Botanical Garden Course, in conjunction with Berkshire Community College. Explore the manipulation of space by using plant material through a series of exercises dealing with form, color, and texture. Students will consider the nature of plant characteristics in specific design settings. Style of house will be used for a source of inspiration while honoring the horticultural needs of each plant. Students will make presentations for each project, and class critiques will be positive, instructive, and essential to the learning process. This is a participatory class. Required text: Professional Planting Design by Scott Scarfone. Prerequisites: Herbaceous Plants, Ornamental Woody Plants, Drafting for Garden Design. Classes will take place in the Education Center at Berkshire Botanical Garden from January 16 through March 6, from 5:30 – 8:30.

    Instructor: David Dew Bruner, A.S.L.A., is an award-winning landscape architect and fine artist with over 35 years of experience ranging from Deputy Administrator of Riverside Park, NYC, to amusement park design, historical restoration and all scales of residential design. Originally from New Orleans, he has a B.L.A. and a B.F.A. from LSU as well as an M.L.A. from the University of Massachusetts.  BBG Members: $350, Non-Members: $385. Registration information may be found at https://www.berkshirebotanical.org/events/planting-plan-design-studio

    Image result for Professional Plant Design Scott Scarfone

  • Friday, August 26, 11:00 am – 12:30 pm – Frogs and Turtles of Berkshire County

    This Berkshire Botanical Garden illustrated talk on Friday, August 26 at 11 am will include methods of identifying frogs and turtles, details about their distinctive biology, and interesting facts about their behaviors and the methods these elusive creatures use to protect themselves and reproduce.

    Professor Tom Tyning, Professor of Environmental Science at Berkshire Community College, will encourage families to get to know these shy and retiring animals and will have frogs on hand to greet visitors. Free for BBG members and children under 12, BBG admission fee required for nonmembers. For more information visit www.berkshirebotanical.org.  Image of green frog from www.deerfieldriver.org.

  • Tuesdays, January 6 – 27, 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm – Botany for Gardeners

    This is a Berkshire Botanical Garden beginning course in plant anatomy and physiology that covers a wide range of topics. The relationship between structure and function of seeds, roots, stems, leaves, flowers and fruits will be addressed. An understanding of how plants grow and respond to their environment is fundamental to the successful planting and cultivation of this enormous class of organisms. The series of classes, to be held Tuesdays, January 6 – 27 at the Education Center at Berkshire Botanical Garden in Stockbridge, can be taken as a core requirement for the Horticulture Certificate Level I program, or each session may be taken as an individual class.

    Instructor – Joyce Hemingson, Ph.D. earned her degree in Botany from the University of Connecticut on the pollination biology of Clethra alnifolia (Sweet Pepperbush). She worked for many years as Director of Publications for White Flower Farm, located in Litchfield, CT. She is an active gardener and a longtime member of the North American Rock Garden Society. $165.  To register, call Berkshire Community College at 413-236-2127, or BBG at 413-298-3926.  Image from www.kulabotanicalgarden.com.

  • Saturday, November 2, 9:30 am – 4:30 pm – Landscape Design Clinic: Introduction to a Coherent Process

    This fast-paced, information-saturated Berkshire Botanical Garden clinic on Saturday, November 2 from 9:30 – 4:30 will introduce design students, home owners and  others to an opportunity finding and problem solving design process. It will lead to the basic conceptual elements of a landscape master plan. All attendees will participate in the process of observing and designing. Students will come away coherent examples of how design happens. An active discussion format will focus on common design principles. A step by step power point presentation will focus the discussion later in the afternoon. This all day workshop is a prerequisite for Landscape Design Clinic Level II course offered in spring 2012. The field trip is held rain or shine. This class can be taken as a core requirement for the Horticulture Certificate Level II program, or as an individual class.  $125 fee.  To register call Berkshire Botanical Garden at 413-298-3926, or Berkshire Community College, 413-236-2127.

    Instructor – Walter Cudnohufsky, M.L.A. is a long-time dedicated teacher. Having founded and for twenty years directed the nationally acclaimed Conway (Mass.) School of Landscape Design, he has honed a reasoned approach to planning design. Currently his firm is engaged in many diverse and stimulating planning/design projects throughout the region.

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