Boston Flora

Tag: Boston Globe

  • Thursday, November 7, 11:00 am – 12:00 noon, Eastern – Digging Deeper Into Ecological Horticulture, Online

    There is no better time to become a Conservation Circle, Sustainer, or Supporter Member of the Native Plant Trust. These lucky people are invited to a Zoom talk, Digging Deeper Into Ecological Horticulture by Uli Lorimer, Director of Horticulture of the Native Plant Trust, and The Boston Globe’s Ask the Gardener columnist. For gardeners seeking a more harmonious approach to their efforts, ecological horticulture is the answer. It is an evolving framework for building and maintaining beautiful, functional gardens—based on the assumptions that genetic diversity, local provenance, and adaptability are achieved using regional native species. Yet the research fails to fully support those assumptions, effective messaging is challenging, and gardens are often created based on what is available in the nursery trade. Uli will navigate these thought-provoking issues while reflecting on how this framework is applied at Garden in the Woods. If you wish to join, visit http://www.nativeplanttrust.org/. If you are already a supporter, rsvp 774-519-5553 or to specialevents@NativePlantTrust.org

  • Uli Lorimer Named as “Ask the Gardener” Columnist for The Boston Globe

    Native Plant Trust, the nation’s first plant conservation organization and the only one solely focused on New England’s native plants, announced that Uli Lorimer, Director of Horticulture, will become the next “Ask the Gardener” columnist for The Boston Globe. Following his predecessors, long-time columnist Carol Stocker and more recently, R. Wayne Mezitt, Lorimer will explore garden-related topics and answer questions submitted by Globe readers in a bi-weekly column, while remaining full time at Native Plant Trust.


    “Anyone who knows Uli knows that he was made for this role,” notes Tim Johnson, CEO of Native Plant Trust. “He has been teaching and inspiring gardeners for decades as a speaker, sage, and author of The Northeast Native Plant Primer and other works. His garden scholarship, personal insights, and poetic language constantly straddle science, art, and philosophy, encouraging us all to live a little more in tune with the natural world and to lighten our footprint on this earth through ecological horticulture.”


  • Charlesbank Landing at The Esplanade

    The Esplanade Association announces a $20 million gift commitment made to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts that will fund the establishment of Charlesbank Landing, a two-acre riverfront park enhancement on the historic Charles River Esplanade in Boston.

    As featured by The Boston Globe, this “gift would fund $12 million in improvements, including a new year-round visitors center, in a two-acre area along Storrow Drive where the Lee Pool once stood until the Department of Conservation and Recreation leveled the long-neglected complex nearly two years ago. The association plans to raise another $2 million for an endowment, and at least $6 million to cover operations and maintenancefor the site over the next three decades.”

    This gift will be funded by donations from members and supporters of the Esplanade Association and represents one of the largest private gifts to the Commonwealth’s state parks system in history.

    The Esplanade needs YOUR HELP to transform this two-acre area of the Esplanade. Join your fellow community members in voicing your support for Charlesbank Landing today!
    VOICE YOUR SUPPORT!
    Charlesbank Landing Landscape Plan. Courtesy of Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates.
  • Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, October 9 – October 26 – Hogpen Hill Farms

    Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, October 9 – October 26 – Hogpen Hill Farms

    Edward Tufte’s sculpture park, Hogpen Hill Farms, will be open to the public for the first time in five years, beginning October 9.

    Hogpen Hill Farms is Professor Tufte’s 234-acre tree farm + landscape sculpture park in Litchfield County in northwest Connecticut with 100 ET artworks. The artworks will remain open space in perpetuity.

    “It is wild, whimsical, grand and incredibly beautiful, with sculptures ranging from stainless steel surfaces reflecting every nuance of light, to lacy stone walls and silent boulder megaliths.” Michele McDonald, Boston Globe

    “North America’s best sculpture park: Edward Tufte’s Hogpen Hill Farms”   Philip Greenspun

    “Each of the works transforms the landscape…consider yourself lucky if you get to see these amazing pieces up close.”   Atlas Obscura

    “One of Connecticut’s 30 Hidden Gems.”   Connecticut Magazine

    The admission ticket is for a car. Ticket includes map guide to Hogpen, parking, restrooms for all, access to sculpture barn. $80 per car (4 wheels, 4 people or less). Hogpen Hill Farms closes at 5:30pm.

    For heavy rain, the ticket is good for anytime on any future days we are open. Ticket is good for one date. No refunds. Advanced ticket purchases only. For multiple cars and/or multiple days and questions, email pmozier@graphicspress.com or call 800-822-2454.

    You must bring a mask and wear it when you arrive to check in. Be sure to wear your mask when close to people not in your group. Use 10 foot physical distancing between your group and other groups, which is easy on our 234 acres.

  • Thursday, January 23, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Stop Mulch-scaping and Start Landscaping

    At some unknown point in time, mulch – black, orange, brown, etc. – became a part of the landscape, but wouldn’t you rather have plants? Anywhere you can spread mulch, you can dig a hole and put in a groundcover plant. Groundcover plants = living mulches. Think of the money, time and work you’ll save on mulching every spring. Groundcovers will make your gardening life easier and your garden easy on the eyes, but only if you do it right. Take this Massachusetts Horticultural Society class on January 23 from 7 – 8:30 pm to learn what to do before you start to replace your boring old mulch with fabulous new groundcovers. You’ll learn which ones are right for your garden with an inspiring Powerpoint presentation and comprehensive list of plants organized by size and type.

    Joanne Neale is a former attorney and the owner of Needham-based Garden MentorSM. (www.gardenmentor.net). Since 2000, she has provided over 600 Metrowest homeowners with garden designs, consulting on plant identification and care, and personal plant shopping services. Her gardening philosophy is based on low maintenance, sustainability and organic methods. Joanne was a speaker at the 2017 Boston Flower and Garden Show and has been featured on WHDH 7 and in the Boston Globe, Needham Times, and Improper Bostonian. Her articles on plants and gardening have been published in PITH + VIGOR, and she has won awards for her garden photography. Her Needham landscape, with woodland and shade gardens, mini-meadow, raised perennial beds and extensive bulb plantings, was included on the first Needham Women’s Club Garden Tour in 2012.

    MHS members $15, nonmembers $20. Register at www.masshort.org

  • Thursday, October 18, 5:30 pm – 9:00 pm – Massachusetts Horticultural Society Honorary Medals Dinner

    The Massachusetts Horticultural Society’s 118th Honorary Medals Dinner will take place Thursday, October 18 from 5:30 – 9 in the Hunnewell Building at The Gardens at Elm Bank, 900 Washington Street in Wellesley.

    Margaret Roach (pictured below) is the 2018 nominee for the George Robert White Medal of Honor, the highest honor given by the Society. Ms. Roach will be honored for her distinguished career in horticulture as a garden writer for publications, such as Newsday and Martha Stewart Living, where she was able to reach millions of people as she shared her knowledge of gardening. The author of three books, A Way to Garden, And I Shall Have Some Peace There, and The Backyard Parables and her web site, A Way to Garden. She also hosts a public-radio show and podcast which all continue to make meaningful connections between people, plants, and their beloved gardens.

    The George Robert White Medal of Honor was established in 1909 and is among the most distinguished horticultural awards in the United States. The first honoree was Charles Sprague Sargent, Director of the Arnold Arboretum. Other recipients have included Gertrude Jekyll, Jens Jensen, The Royal Horticultural Society, Massachusetts General Hospital and Tasha Tudor.

    Dale Deppe of Spring Meadow Nursery is the 2018 nominee for the Jackson Dawson Memorial Award. This award is given for exceptional skill in the science or practice of hybridization or propagation of hardy, woody plants.

    William Cannon is the nominee for the Thomas Roland Medal, which honors men and women who have shown exceptional horticultural skill. Mr. Cannon is honored for his expertise of holly and his garden in Brewster, MA.

    Betsy Ridge Madsen will receive a Gold Medal for her leadership as Chair of Massachusetts Horticultural Society and her dedication to help continue the Society’s legacy. Betsy’s volunteerism at the Flower Show as a judge, clerk, and many other positions helps continue Mass Hort’s tradition of promoting Amateur Competitions for passionate designers and plants people. As a floral designer, gardener, horticulturist and spokesperson, Ms. Ridge Madsen has advanced the art and science of horticulture by example and her willingness to share her expertise with others.

    Carol Stocker will receive a Gold Medal in recognition of her work as a garden writer for the Boston Globe and other publications which has promoted the art and science of horticulture to thousands of readers.

    Karen Perkins is nominated for the Silver Medal for her efforts in the propagation and promotion of Epimediums. She is the owner of Garden Vision Epimediums, and has demonstrated her dedication to the science of horticulture and promoting plants for people to enjoy in their gardens.

    Trish Wesley Umbrell is nominated for the Silver Medal for her extraordinary skill as a garden educator, both formerly with Mass Hort and currently with the Natick Community Organic Farm.

    Reservations are required ($125 per person).  Visit https://masshort.org/education-events/honorary-medals-dinner/

    Image result for margaret roach

  • Summer 2017 – Rose Kennedy Greenway Summer Art Installations

    You’ll won’t believe your eyes as The Rose Kennedy Greenway’s new public art installations challenge your perspective. Following Spaces Of Hope, our fifth Greenway Wall mural in our Dewey Square Park, they are excited to announce two new public art installations soon-to-be installed as part of the 2017 theme: Playful Perspectives! Mark Reigelman’s The Meeting House, a scaled-down version of the Pembroke Friends Meetinghouse, will be located between Pearl and Oliver Streets. Meredith James’s Far From This Setting In Which We Now Find Ourselves will be in the North End parks. For a comprehensive article, see Jeremy Fox’s April 29 Boston Globe piece at www.bostonglobe.com.

  • Saturday, April 15, 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm – Thoreau and the Language of Trees

    Richard Higgins will speak at Tower Hill Botanic Garden on Saturday, April 15 beginning at 12:30 on his new book, Thoreau and the Language of Trees. Free with admission. pre-registration requested at www.towerhillbg.org. Trees were central to Henry David Thoreau’s creativity as a writer, his work as a naturalist, his thought, and his inner life. His portraits of them were so perfect, it was as if he could see the sap flowing beneath their bark. When Thoreau wrote that the poet loves the pine tree as his own shadow in the air, he was speaking about himself. In short, he spoke their language.

    In this original book, Richard Higgins explores Thoreau’s deep connections to trees: his keen perception of them, the joy they gave him, the poetry he saw in them, his philosophical view of them, and how they fed his soul. His lively essays show that trees were a thread connecting all parts of Thoreau’s being-heart, mind, and spirit. Included are one hundred excerpts from Thoreau’s writings about trees, paired with over sixty of the author’s photographs. Thoreau’s words are as vivid now as they were in 1890, when an English naturalist wrote that he was unusually able to “to preserve the flashing forest colors in unfading light.” Thoreau and the Language of Trees shows that Thoreau, with uncanny foresight, believed trees were essential to the preservation of the world.

    Richard Higgins is a former longtime staff writer for the Boston Globe whose writing has appeared in numerous publications, including the New York Times, Atlantic Monthly, Christian Century, and Smithsonian. He lives in Concord, Massachusetts.

  • Wednesday, March 8, 10:00 am – How the Glaciers Affected New England’s Plants

    Wednesday, March 8, 10:00 am – How the Glaciers Affected New England’s Plants

    Today, Massachusetts is a network of houses, businesses, farms, forests, and wetlands—but how did it get to be that way? What did it look like when the Laurentide Glaciers melted 12,000 years ago? How did a state that was only 25 percent forest by 1850 come to be 64 percent forested today? As part of our ongoing series The Prehistoric Garden, The Garden Club of the Back Bay welcomes Meg Muckenhoupt to our March meeting on Wednesday, March 8 at 10 am at The College Club, 44 Commonwealth Avenue. This broad overview traces how and why the land has changed and what people thought about it—from Wampanoag King Philip to Frederick Law Olmsted to Governor Charlie Baker.

    Our speaker Meg Muckenhoupt is an environmental and travel writer. She has appeared on NPR’s Radio Boston and WCVB’s Chronicle, as well as WGBH’s Forum site. Her work has been featured in the Boston Globe, the Boston Phoenix, Boston Magazine, and the Time Out Boston guide; her book Boston Gardens and Green Spaces (Union Park Press, 2010) is a Boston Globe Local Bestseller. She currently serves as Executive Director of Community Outreach Group for Landscape Design (COGdesign).

    Meg was awarded a certificate in Field Botany by the New England Wild Flower Society and earned degrees from Harvard and Brown University. She lives in Lexington, Massachusetts. Garden Club members will receive notice of the meeting. If you are not a member but are interested in attending, please email info@bostonflora.com. Image from bostongeology.com.

  • Thursday, November 10, 6:00 pm – 8:30 pm – An Emerald Evening

    Ben Taylor, Chair of the Emerald Necklace Conservancy’s board of directors and former publisher of the Boston Globe, has been a strong park advocate and champion of the Emerald Necklace Conservancy since before he joined the board in 2002. His guidance and leadership of the board have helped the Conservancy fulfill its ongoing mission to restore and improve the park for all. An avid proponent of the critical importance of the Emerald Necklace to sustain the quality of life in the city, Ben is one of the park’s strongest advocates and supporters. An enthusiastic park user himself, Ben walks or bikes pathways of the Emerald Necklace almost daily.

    An Emerald Evening will be held on November 10, 2016 at 6 pm in the Koch Gallery of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The evening will include a reception and the awarding of the Olmsted Award of Excellence to our honored guest. All proceeds from the event will directly support the Conservancy’s programming in the Emerald Necklace park system. For more information visit www.emeraldnecklace.org.

    The Olmsted Award of Excellence is awarded biennially to an individual or organization who demonstrates an unwavering determination to carry out Frederick Law Olmsted’s vision and commitment to urban parks. The inaugural award, made in 2013, was presented to park supporter and advocate, Sarah Freeman. The 2014 award honored former Governor Michael Dukakis.

    Tickets ($250) may be purchased online at https://25749.thankyou4caring.org/emeraldevening2016