Boston Flora

Tag: Boston Nature Center

  • Garden Club of the Back Bay Announces Annual Grant Recipients

    Thanks in no small part to the continued success of our recent Twilight Garden Party, The Garden Club of the Back Bay announces that the following organizations will receive a total of $20,000 in financial grants for 2011:

    The Commonwealth Avenue Mall Committee – $5,000 to be credited to the Hereford Street to Massachusetts Avenue  air spading project fund.

    The Friends of the Public Garden – $4,000 to continue the inoculation of elms at risk for contracting Dutch elm disease.

    The Esplanade Association – $2,500 for the Elliot Oval Landscape Restoration, planting new trees and treating trees already on site, near the newly restored Community Boating docks.

    Emerald Necklace Conservancy – $2,500 for a planned meadow to be developed with native species and wildflowers.

    Boston Nature Center/Massachusetts Audubon Society – $2,500 to support six full scholarships for its summer camp.  The children attending the camp range in age from 5 to 14 and are from the local neighborhoods of Mattapan, Roslindale, and Jamaica Plain.

    Charles River Clean Up Boat – $2,000, to help continue the project of keeping the Charles River trash-free.

    Urban Ecology Institute – $1,000 to help with its Grow Boston Greener tree planting initiative.

    The Boston Committee of the Garden Club of America – $500 to the Blossom Fund, which is accumulating funds over a five year period to be awarded to a deserving project on or about the Rose Kennedy Greenway.

    For more information on all these important organizations and to learn more about the work they do, visit their website links above.  In addition to the above grants, The Garden Club of the Back Bay will spend an additional $20,000 on planting, pruning, and treating the street trees in our neighborhood over the coming year.  Thank you to all our volunteers and contributors for making our horticultural endeavors happen!

  • Saturday, May 7, 11:00 am – 12:30 pm – Hive Visit and Spring Management

    Please join the Northeast Organic Farming Association/Massachusetts Chapter for a Hive Visit and Spring Management morning on Saturday, May 7 beginning at 11 am at the Boston Nature Center, 500 Walk Hill Street in Mattapan. During this springtime apiary inspection, participants will have the opportunity to closely observe bees in their habitat. Jean Claude Bourrut will begin the workshop by opening hives to check on spring development. He will discuss bee life and activity within various hives (Top Bar, Nucleus, Langstroth eight and ten frames), hive management on a natural system, and hive splitting. Bring a veil and hive tool if you have them. Registration for those without veils will be limited to 7. Anyone with a veil (more up to date than the one pictured) may register. Cost: $25 NOFA members/ $30 Non-members. Jean-Claude Bourrut has been keeping honeybees for 20 years in urban and suburban settings. He currently manages a dozen hives in three apiaries.  To register for the workshop or for more information visit www.nofamass.org or contact Laura Eppstein at laura@nofamass.org.

  • Thursday, April 28, 6:30 pm – Ghost Bird

    To kick-off the 6th annual Birds and Bards Festival, The Arnold Arboretum, the Boston Nature Center, the Emerald Necklace Conservancy, and the Franklin Park Coalition will screen the movie Ghost Bird —a fascinating look at the controversial “rediscovery” of the extinct (or is it?) Ivory-billed woodpecker.

    The screening will take place at 6:30pm on Thursday, April 28th at the Boston Nature Center, 500 Walk Hill Street, Mattapan, Massachusetts 02126.

    In 2005, scientists announced that the Ivory-billed woodpecker, a species thought to be extinct for 60 years, had been found in the swamps of Eastern Arkansas. Other creatures have wrongly been presumed extinct, but the reappearance of the Ivory-bill was celebrated around the world as the rediscovery of a lifetime, prompting the largest recovery effort ever undertaken for a lost species. Millions of dollars poured in from the government while ornithologists and birders flooded the swamps to find the rare bird.

    Down the road, the town of Brinkley, Arkansas – itself on the brink of extinction – was transformed by the hope, commerce and controversy surrounding their feathered friend. But continued sightings by expert birders only highlighted the mysterious absence of credible evidence. Now six years later, the woodpecker remains as elusive as ever. Ghost Bird brings the Ivory-bill’s blurry rediscovery into focus revealing our uneasy relationship with nature and the increasing uncertainty of our place within it.

    Following the film, there will be a panel discussion about the state of conservation and endangered species in Massachusetts and around the world. Experts from three of the leading conservation organizations in MA will be available to answer questions:

    Pearl Yusuf, Asst. Curator of the Hooves and Horns, Franklin Park Zoo

    Joan Walsh, Director of Bird Monitoring, Mass Audubon

    Wayne Klockner, Director of the Massachusetts Program of The Nature Conservancy

    For more info visit

    http://ghostbirdmovie.com/

    http://arboretum.harvard.edu/news-events/birds-and-bards/

    http://www.massaudubon.org/Nature_Connection/Sanctuaries/Boston/news.php?id=1430&event=no

    Contact: Marc Devokaitis 617.384.5209 marc_devokaitis@harvard.edu

  • Saturday, April 9, 4:30 pm – 6:00 pm – Hive Installation and Spring Management

    This introductory workshop on Saturday, April 9,  from 4:30 – 6 pm at the Boston Nature Center, 500 Walk Hill Street in Mattapan, will cover honeybee hive installation as well as springtime management for a newly installed hive. There will be a live demonstation of installing a package of honeybees. Feeding, life cycle of the colony, hive expansion will also be covered. Cost: $25 NOFA members/ $30 Non-members. *PLEASE NOTE: To provide participants with a live hive installation demonstration, the workshop date might change depending on hive package delivery. Because of flexible date, payment will be collected at the event. Pre-registration still required.  Also please be aware that this event was also listed as taking place from 12:30 – 2 pm, so checking again with nnacamuli@gmail.com is highly recommended.   And we couldn’t resist Amy Winehouse’s beehive hairdo.  Thank you www.dailymail.co.uk.

  • Saturday, March 19, 9:30 am – 12:30 pm – Gardening for the Birds

    Join Stephen Kress, author of The Audubon Society Guide to Attracting Birds and Vice President for Bird Conservation for the National Audubon Society, for a lively presentation on desirable gardening practices-from a bird’s viewpoint.  An expert in seabird conservation, Kress successfully led Audubon’s Project Puffin in Maine. He is also an associate at the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology where he teaches a Field Ornithology course. He will explain bird-plant interactions and suggest landscaping options for creating enticing and safe habitats. He’ll provide solutions for reducing bird encounters with windows and cats, as well as some tactics for preventing the spread of avian diseases. He will also share tips for learning to recognize common backyard birds by sight and song. His book will be available for purchase and signing. $40 for ELA, WCFH members, Audubon Society members and Arnold Arboretum members, $48 for non-members. Registrations are limited – call 617-436-5838, or email ela.info@comcast.net. This Saturday, March 19 event is offered in collaboration with the Arnold Arboretum, Boston Nature Center, Grow Native Massachusetts/Cambridge, and Wellesley College Friends of Horticulture, and will take place from 9:30 am – 12:30 pm in the Hunnewell Building of the Arnold Arboretum, 125 The Arborway, Boston.

  • Garden Club of the Back Bay Holiday Wreaths – “Green Spending”

    Why should you buy from us? Yes, we know you could order from local florists (at a significantly higher price, we might point out), or from the nurseries or groceries stores (at perhaps a slightly lower cost, with a corresponding drop in quality.) Purchasing our wreaths comes with the satisfaction of knowing you are supporting many wonderful local organizations, in addition to our own.

    Each year we make grants to not for profit groups which are making a difference in our lives. In addition to the Friends of the Public Garden and the Commonwealth Avenue Mall Committee, we donate to the Emerald Necklace Conservancy, the Charles River Clean Up Boat, the Boston Nature Center of the Massachusetts Audubon Society, the Esplanade Association, COG, and to City Roots/The Urban Ecology Institute. This is by no means the complete list of beneficiaries (click on to our Projects page on the menu above for details) but we give approximately $20,000 annually to area groups accomplishing great works which we do not have the expertise or manpower to do ourselves. The dollar amount of these grants is dependent upon our earnings, so we urge you to be generous and allow us the opportunity to enhance your holiday environment with our fresh balsam wreaths.  We also directly pay for the planting, pruning, and inoculation of the street trees in our neighborhood – another $20,000 annual expenditure, give or take a thousand.  As Everett Dirkson used to say,  and I paraphrase, “A million here, a million there, and pretty soon you’re talking real money.”  Click HERE for an order form.

  • Saturday, April 10, 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm – Spring Fling Auction

    You are invited to The Boston Nature Center’s Spring Fling Auction on Saturday, April 10, from 7 – 10 (auction closes promptly at 9:15), at The Boston Nature Center, 500 Walk Hill Street, Mattapan, one of the Mass Audubon Society’s 47 wildlife sanctuaries.  Enjoy an evening of delicious appetizers and desserts, complimentary seltzer, beer and wine, and live jazz by musicians from the Community Music Center of Boston.  Honorary Committee Members include Governor Deval Patrick and First Lady Diane B. Patrick, Mayor Thomas Menino, Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz, Councillors Felix Arroyo, Maureen Feeney, John Connolly, Stephen Murphy, Charles Yancey, Robert Consalvo, and Ayanna Pressley.  Garden Club of the Back Bay member Chris Anderson sits on the working committee, so we encourage our members to participate in this worthy cause, which raises funds to benefit the Boston Nature Center Summer Camp and Teen Ambassador Scholarship Funds.  The very modest ticket price is $30 per person, $50 per couple, and all tickets will be held at the door.  RSVP no later than April 2, please, by calling 617-983-8500, or visit www.massaudubon.org/boston.

    http://www.stonehousefarmbb.com/artwork/07/picking-bugs.jpg

  • Thursday, March 11, 6:30 – 8:00 pm – Spring into Action

    Learn to green your home with simple, sustainable actions at this practical lecture to be held Thursday, March 11, from 6:30 – 8:00 at the Boston Nature Center, 500 Walk Hill Street in Mattapan.  The Massachusetts Audubon Society  notes that spring is on its way, and you should add a little green to your spring season.  Learn how to reduce your energy bill on hot days while still staying cool.  Discuss the best environmentally friendly household cleaners, and learn tips about the best green practices for indoors and outdoors.  Find out what you can do right now to “green” your home.  Preregistration is required.  Free for Mass Audubon members, $6.00 for non-members.  Family rate $12.00.  For more information, call 617-983-8500, or email bnc@massaudubon.org.

    http://blogs.trb.com/community/news/weston/forum/light%20bulb%20-%20stock.jpg

  • Thursday, October 8, 6:30 – 8:00 pm – Snapshot of Galapagos

    The Galapagos Islands have always attracted the imagination of potential visitors for its landscapes, fauna and high number of endemic species.  A booming tourism industry coupled with a resident population explosion from mainland Ecuador has forced the World Conservation Union to include Galapagos in the World Heritage in Danger List.  In his recent trip to these islands (another tourist?), Eduardo del Solar spent considerable time with Galagueno educators interested in conservation and reform.  For this Thursday, October 8 presentation at Mass Audubon’s Boston Nature Center, 500 Walk Hill Street in Mattapan, beginning at 6 pm, he will use his photographs and the website he created to talk about issues that face this incredible site.  For more information, log on to www.massaudubon.org.

  • Saturday, October 3, 2:00 – 4:00 pm – Birds of the Americas III Exhibit Opening

    Providing artistic and technical renditions of species across the Americas is the primary goal of local educator and photographer Eduardo del Solar. For this exhibit at Mass Audubon’s Boston Nature Center, 500 Walk Hill Street, Mattapan, he has captured images of endemic species from South America in their natural habitat. This year Eduardo has visited the islands of San Cristobal, Santa Cruz and Española in Galapagos as well as the Bellavista Cloud Forest Reserve in mainland Ecuador. Coastal birds from Lima and images of northern visitors to New England are part of this exhibit as well. Meet the artist and enjoy refreshments! Exhibit runs through October 31, 2009.  The free opening reception with wine and cheese will be held Saturday, October 3, from 2 – 4 pm.  For more information, log on to www.massaudubon.org, call 617-983-8500, or email bnc@massaudubon.org.

    http://www.treehugger.com/eduardo-del-solar.jpg