Boston Flora

Tag: Elm Bank

  • Thursday, September 5, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Community Garden – Get Involved!

    Thinking of joining a community garden? In this Massachusetts Horticultural Society workshop, to be held this Thursday, September 5, from 7 – 8:30 at Elm Bank in Wellesley, explore the vast variety of community gardens in Boston from gardens on the rooftops to postage stamp size gardens tucked between residences. Learn how community gardens support cultural exchange, community building, sustainability and healthy lifestyles. Most importantly, we will discuss how to get involved in community gardening by starting, joining or volunteering at a garden in your community!

    Caitlin Gilson is the Garden Educator at the Boston Natural Areas Network which coordinates activities related to all of the Boston area’s community and school gardens, involving over 10,000 individuals and families. Caitlin has created and managed school garden programs for over seven years. She has developed professional development workshops on gardening for the Green Education Foundation and the Northeast Organic Farming Association.

    Boston Natural Areas Network (BNAN), organized in 1977, works to preserve, expand and improve urban open space through community organizing, acquisition, ownership, programming, development and management of special kinds of urban land.

    Cost – $10.00 for members, $15.00 for non-members.  Register on line at http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07e7r2np7ga3191b6b&llr=kzaorjcab.

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  • Wednesday, September 11, 8:00 am – 5:00 pm – Exploring Design & Perennial Selection for the Landscape

    The 2013 Northeast Region Perennial Plant Symposium will take place Wednesday, September 11, from 8 – 5 at the Elm Bank Horticulture Center in Wellesley, presented by the Massachusetts Horticultural Society and The Perennial Plant Association.

    Following registration at 8 am, David Culp of Sunny Border Nurseries will speak on The Layered Garden: Design Lessons for Year Round Beauty.  Brandywine Cottage is David Culp’s two-acre garden where he has mastered the design technique of layering – interplanting many different species in the same area.  David will illustrate a basic lesson in layering:  how to choose the correct plants, how to design a layered garden, and how to keep it maintained.

    Following a break and visit to the Elm Bank Gardens, Stephanie Cohen, the Perennial Diva, will share The Path to an Exciting Mixed Border: Perennials and Shrubs.  Creating a garden for four seasons is always Stephanie’s goal.  In recent years, adding flowering shrubs that play nicely with perennial plants has added a new dimension.  Interesting flowers, lovely bark, fall color, berries,  and interesting shapes make shrubs and perennials perfect buddies in the border.  The Perennial Diva is not only opinionated about perennials, but she has added shrubs to her love ’em or leave ’em list.  Her book is illustrated below.

    Before lunch, Dr. Denise Adams will lecture on American Home Landscapes. American landscape design certainly has evolved over the years–from Colonial subsistence gardens to Victorian gardens of excess to 1980’s backyard barbecues. This lecture will provide a survey of American residential landscape history. Learn about the major landscape design trends and most popular plants since our country’s establishment to the present with special emphasis on the New England landscape.

    After lunch, Lloyd Traven of Peace Tree Farm will speak on Bringing the Awesome Every Day.  When you go shopping before a fancy party, do you say to yourself “I hope I can find the same dress everyone is buying?”  Do you want your living room decorated just like your neighbor’s?  Of course not.  Your garden should be no different.  All want their garden to stand out, to shine, to stop traffic (in a good way.)  We all need fresh ideas, new choices, different methods and a whole new design concept.  Water-friendly, edibles, foliage, container combinations – the rules have changed and a new world awaits.

    Jennifer Brennan of Chalet Nursery and Garden Shop will speak on Perennials for Problem Areas. Whether it is for our own gardens or for clients and customers, there are always those problem areas that need recommendations of perennials that do not just survive but thrive. Heavy clay soil and deep shade are also included.  Whatever the conditions, there are perennials that will work.  Expand your problem solving palette with these selections.

    Finally, John Friel of Emerald Coast Growers will present Tell Me What’s New! Tell Me What Works!  The growing zones of Massachusetts and region encompass great diversity.  John will present a roundup of perennials and ornamental grasses, new and known, that will provide great punch to the landscape.

    Registration fee is $99 per person before August 25, and $109 per person after August 25. This price includes lunch. The program will be held at 900 Washington Street in Wellesley, and you may register online at www.perennialplant.org or by calling 614-771-8431.  You may also mail the registration form found on the website to 3383 Schirtzinger Road, Hilliard, OH. Checks may be made payable to the Perennial Plant Association.

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  • Sunday, September 15, 3:00 pm – 7:30 pm – Downton Abbey-inspired Garden Party

    You’re invited to join The Massachusetts Horticultural Society for a Downton Abbey-inspired Garden Party at the Gardens of Elm Bank, 900 Washington Street in Wellesley, from 3 – 7:30 pm. This festive event will support the Massachusetts Horticultural Society’s Garden to Table program.

    Spend the afternoon strolling through the exquisite Gardens at Elm Bank, admiring a handful of vintage cars, watching a professional cricket match at “tea time”, and more. At 5:30pm, the doors to the historic Hunnewell Building will open to a Pimms cup, beer & wine, and delicious hors d’ouevre from the Catered Affair. Join our best costume & best hat contests and win luxury prizes.  Post-Edwardian era attire encouraged.

    Tickets are $125 each. This highly-anticipated event is expected to sell out quickly so be sure to register now. We look forward to seeing you there!  You may register on line at http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07e7v6rol93c8bc522&llr=kzaorjcab, or call Event Volunteer and co-hostess Leslie Mann at 508-904-4967.

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  • Tuesday, September 3, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm – Cocktails in the Garden and Tour

    On Tuesday, September 3, from 6 – 8, Volante Farms resident chef Todd Heberlein brings over a decade of farm to table cooking to Mass Hort for an evening of unique and flavorful, fresh from the garden small plates and refreshing drinks. Chef Todd will present guests with a selection of small plated, savory and sweet, that capitalize on the freshest tastes from Volante Farms Fields. Wander the gardens with seasonal treats in hand that might include some of Volante’s exclusive Cornetta peppers, house smoked bacon, heirloom tomatoes, and dozen of other unique flavors. Chef will also add a spark of local harvest to some refreshing beverages from water to wines to bubbly-all embellished by garden flavors. Join us for an evening to see the vegetable garden in its harvest glory and support and celebrate another season of horticultural and culinary cooperation for the benefit of our communities in need. Volante Farms has been a generous supporter of local food pantries and shelters for many years.

    Cost – $10.00 for Mass Hort members, $15.00 for non-members. Register at www.masshort.org.

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  • Thursday, August 22, 10:30 am – 12:00 noon – Creating Herbal Alchemy: An Introduction to Local Plants and Their Uses

    The Massachusetts Horticultural Society will present a lecture at Elm Bank on Wednesday, August 22, from 10:30 – noon featuring Steph Zabel. We are surrounded by an abundance of plants that are both food and medicine. Some of these plants are considered “weeds,” some are purposely garden-cultivated, some are wild natives, but all have unique gifts to offer.

    In this dynamic introductory class you will learn how many of the plants that grow all around us can be used in various ways to improve our health and add joy to our lives. We will discuss, taste, and create preparations such as herbal infusions, tinctures, oils, and wines. We will also identify some of the most under-appreciated yet prolific plants and learn how they can be used as nutritive teas, healing poultices or delicious wild edibles.

    Knowing our local plants connects us more deeply to the landscapes we inhabit and increases our awareness of the botanical world. Come learn what gifts the herbs that surround us have to offer!

    Steph Zabel is a community herbalist and educator based in Somerville, MA. She has always had an affinity for the plant world and studied horticulture, biology, and ethnobotany throughout her undergraduate and graduate years. Steph is a practicing herbalist and also works as a curatorial assistant at the Harvard University Herbaria. In addition to leading herbal classes, Steph offers individual holistic health consultations, hand-crafts herbal medicines, and runs her small business Flowerfolk Herbal Apothecary. She is also the founder and organizer of Herbstalk, a local educational event that teaches people about herbalism.

    Cost – $20.00 for members, $25.00 for non-members.  Register on line at www.masshort.org.

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  • Tuesdays, September 17 – October 22, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm – Floral Design Course

    Tuesdays, September 17 – October 22, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm – Floral Design Course

    This fall Mass Hort will once again offer a six week course for anyone interested in learning the nuts and bolts of how to do a design for a flower show. This course is designed especially for those who would love to enter a flower show but are unsure of how to go about it or are timid and need support and encouragement. This course will be held in the Education Building at Elm Bank on Tuesday evenings from 7 to 9pm from September 17th through October 22nd.

    Cost – $100.00 for Massachusetts Horticultural Society members, $100.00 for non-members. Register on line at www.masshort.org.

     

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  • Saturday, August 3, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm – Mass Marketplace Festival

    Celebrating the quality and abundance of local agriculture, floriculture, specialty foods and crafts, the Mass Marketplace Festival will include a full day of food sampling, shopping, and entertainment for all ages! New England farmers, specialty food producers, and artisans come together at The Gardens at Elm Bank to show off their products. Plants, handmade crafts and jewelry, soaps, baked goods, teas, herbs and vegetables, garden products, clothing and fine art may be found. Children’s activities include face painting, moon walk, and seed planting.

    Bring a blanket and enjoy a picnic lunch in the gardens – bring your own, or purchase food from one of our local vendors. Guests may also want to spend some time exploring or touring the many exquisite gardens of Elm Bank.

    Hours are 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Tickets are available on site the day of the event. Admission for Mass Hort members is free (with membership card)! Children eleven and under $2.00; ages 12 and up $8.00. For more information, visit www.masshort.org. No charge for parking.

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  • Thursday, July 25, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Solutions for Common Weed Problems

    Randy Prostak, UMass Extention Weed Specialist, will speak at Elm Bank on Thursday, July 25 beginning at 7 pm as part of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society’s Thursdays at the Hort speaker series. While there are more than 2,200 weeds found in Massachusetts there are roughly 15 to 20 that cause repeated grievance to the homeowner in their gardens. Join Randy Prostak as he identifies the most common problems and ways to prevent or eradictate them with the least amount of detrimental impact to the environment. $10 for Mass Hort members, $15 for non members. Register at www.masshort.org.

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  • Tuesdays, July 9 – July 30, 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm – Chinese Painting and Garden History Workshop

    The Landscape Institute at Boston Architectural College will take a workshop on the road at Elm Bank, 900 Washington Street in Wellesley, on four successive Tuesdays, July 9 – 30, from 6 – 9.  Entitled Chinese Painting and Garden History Workshop, this rich seminar is collaboratively taught by Chinese landscape historian YoYi Chen and landscape painter Ma Qingxiong.  His work is shown below. This unique offering is a creative course, exposing students to historical concepts in Chinese landscape design, such as using multiple viewpoints and evocative juxtapositions, as well as teaching participants to compose artistic landscape ink drawings.  The format is a combination of lectures, demonstrations, and workshop painting in the gardens.  $300.  To register, log on to www.the-bac.edu/LI.

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  • Thursday, June 20, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Vegetable Gardening for Everyone

    Thursdays at the Hort will present Susan Hammond, Master Gardener at the Keeper Vegetable Garden, on Thursday, June 20, at 7 pm, at Elm Bank, 900 Washington Street in Wellesley. Vegetable gardening is something everyone can enjoy, from the novice to the experienced gardener. It can be a way to bring fresh food to your table, teach children where food comes from, or even a way to beautify your yard! We’ll look at different types of vegetable gardens and discuss layout, variety choices, and growing techniques.  $10 for Mass Hort members, $15 for non-members.  Register on line at www.masshort.org. Image from www.meusprojeto.blogspot.com.

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