Join the Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts for a Morning of Horticulture on Monday, February 28 from 10 – 12 at the Espousal Center in Waltham, Massachusetts. Kim Smith, author of Oh Garden of Fresh Possibilities, will speak on The Pollinator Garden: Make your Gardens Inviting and Sustainable to Birds, Bees and Butterflies. The cost of the program is $5, and you may pay at the door. For directions and more information, log on to www.gcfm.org.
The Natural Resources Trust of Easton (NRT) is a member-supported, not-for-profit organization whose mission is to educate about significant natural and cultural resources and to acquire and preserve land of special character for the benefit of the public. The NRT promotes a land ethic in the community through educational programming. The NRT provides leadership, cooperation and networking to others with a similar mission. The Easton Garden Club (www.eastongardenclub.org) participates each year in the Annual NRT Harvest & Crafts Fair. The Fair draws thousands of people from around New England who come to shop the many juried crafts booths.
The Easton Garden Club’s civic role in the Harvest Fair is one of education, providing informational handouts on topics such as composting, attracting butterflies to your garden, and tips on native plants and trees. There are many club members, knowledgeable about gardening, at its booth available to answer questions from the public throughout the day. Club members harvest flowers from their gardens and pick (non-endangered!) native flowers, grasses, and vines growing along the roadsides. They start in the late spring and continue through the fall. The flowers are dried and stored until the week before the fair when many of the club members gather together to make wreaths, dried arrangements, and bouquets of flowers to sell. On Fair day they have ongoing demonstrations on subjects such as grapevine wreath making and flower arranging. For directions to the Fair, log on to www.nrtofeaston.org.
The secluded Tyringham Valley is one of the most scenic areas in the southern Berkshires. This field trip will take us through a variety of natural and pastoral landscapes, climaxing with a panoramic view of the surrounding countryside from the top of the Tyringham Cobble, a natural area owned by the Trustees of Reservations. We will look closely at the flora of the Hop Brook floodplain, a calcareous wetland community with a remarkable variety of grasses, sedges, and wildflowers, including several rare species. As we hike towards Tyringham Cobble, we will explore successional old fields and mixed hardwoods-hemlock slopes. Songbirds and butterflies, as well as wildflowers, grace the meadows of this special area. The hike is about 4 miles long and moderately strenuous. Wear suitable foot gear (feet may get wet in the floodplain) and bring a lunch. The walk on Sunday, September 27, will begin at 11 a.m., will be led by Ted Elliman, is limited to 15 participants, and is co-sponsored by The Trustees of Reservations. $40 fee for members of NEWFS and The Trustees of Reservations, $45 for non-members. To register, log on to www.newfs.org, or call 508-877-7630.
The Cambridge Center for Adult Education will offer a two session course led by Kim DeAndrade and Ellen Sousa on Habitat Gardening. You don’t need to get in the car and drive somewhere to enjoy nature. By learning to create a backyard habitat, you can create a sanctuary for songbirds, butterflies, and people, right in your own backyard. In this two-session course, for beginners or experienced gardeners, you will learn how and what to plant to attract various kinds of wildlife; how birds, dragonflies, bats, and beneficial insects all provide free pest control; plus other ecological gardening techniques. They will walk you through the process of providing the four elements that wildlife need: food, water, cover, and places to rear their young. They will explain how your property, large or small, can become a National Wildlife Federation-certified backyard wildlife habitat. Beautiful photos of New England habitat gardens will inspire you and wash away any remaining post-winter doldrums. Help create habitat, one yard at a time! Limited to 16.
Sec. 01: 2 Thursdays, 5:45-7:45 pm. Oct. 1 & 8, 56 Brattle St. | $75
Course Code: HABG–1
To register, log on to www.ccae.org.
Ends on: October 08, 2009
Price:75.00
Celebrate peak meadow bloom at The Garden in the Woods in Framingham with butterflies, games, and many special events, from noon until 4 pm. For more information and directions, log on to www.newfs.org.
By adding a progression and variety of easy-to-grow, nectar-rich flowers to your home garden, you can ensure a season-long treat in the form of visiting butterflies. Suzanne Mahler, one of the Garden Club of the Back Bay’s former speakers, is an expert in the subject and she’ll show you how mass plantings of colorful flowers, particularly those tinted pink and lavender, are irresistible to butterflies passing overhead. Butterflies are fragile creatures, and Suzanne will talk about how to ensure your garden is a haven for them. $5 for members of Massachusetts Horticultural Society, $10 general admission. To register, and for directions, log on to www.masshort.org.
