Boston Flora

Tag: fruit

  • Wreath of the Day, From the Archives – Refining Our Techniques

    We’ve been at this a long time, and the materials favored in one year fall out of fashion the next. Sometimes it’s a practical matter. Dried fruits such as oranges and apples were a decorator favorite, until one particularly warm winter when flies and bugs descended on the outdoor wreaths adorned with fruit (sugar!) creating a particularly buggy dilemma for people going in and out of their homes. Now, when we use dried fruit, we either paint the elements gold or silver or spray clear fixative to discourage critters. The wreath below, from ten years ago, shows just how pretty the fruit can be.

    Today’s post has been generously sponsored by Club member Susan Morris. Thank you!

  • Sunday, March 3, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon – Edible Landscaping with Fruit

    This UMass Extension presentation on Sunday, March 3 will explore how fruit can be incorporated into an edible landscape setting. We’ll talk about common fruit like strawberries and blueberries and also more unusual fruit like Aronia and Lingonberries. Participants will learn what these plants can contribute to a home landscape and what it takes to grow them successfully. The end of the class we will tour the UMass Permaculture Garden. $35.

    The class will be taught by Sonia Schloemann at French Hall at UMass/Amherst, 230 Stockbridge Road in Amherst. Register and pay via credit card for any Mass Aggie seminar by visiting http://ag.umass.edu/fruit/news-events/mass-aggie-seminars/mass-aggie-seminars-2018. You will be taken to a secure RegOnline site where you will be able to choose which seminars you wish to attend and to pay. You will receive an e-mail receipt of your transaction. Image from www.espaliertrees.com.

  • Saturday, September 16, 12:30 pm – 2:00 pm – Seeing Seeds: A Journey into the World of Seedheads, Pods and Fruit

    Though small, often unnoticed and not examined carefully, seeds are simply amazing—what they look like, what they do, how they do it, as they work towards their astounding goal of self-replication. The Berkshire Botanical Garden will explore the topic on Saturday, September 16 at 12:30 pm. Register online at www.berkshirebotanical.org.  BBG Members: $15; Nonmembers: $20

  • Tuesday, August 11 – Thursday, August 13, 9:30 am – 3:30 pm – Luminous Fruit: Highlights and Reflected Light

    Capture the glow of summer fruit by balancing highlights, shadows and reflected light to make your subject luminous. In this Wellesley Botanic Garden seminar designed for artists from advanced beginner to expert, Catherine Watters will teach you how to observe, measure and raw your subject, followed by careful and accurate color mixing using the Double Primary Color Bias Wheel. You are then ready to paint and capture the elegant shape, bold colors and textures using proper lighting to make your fruit come to life. Please note: choose to work on paper or vellum. For those more advanced artists wishing to work on calfskin vellum, Catherine will teach you her vellum dry brush technique. Vellum is not included in the registration fee ($395 for Friends of Wellesley Botanic Garden members, $495 for nonmembers) for this seminar. Contact the Friends office in advance to order a piece from Catherine. The class will take place at the Botanic Gardens on Tuesday through Thursday, August 11 – 13, from 9:30 am – 3:30 pm. To register, call 781-283-3094.

  • Sunday, April 3, 12:30 pm – 3:30 pm – More Fruit Please! Expanding Your Home Harvest

    With proper planning and plant selection, fruiting trees and shrubs can be an attractive and low-maintenance option for growing food in the home landscape.  Former City Fruit program director for Earthworks Ben Crouch will provide basic tips and outline resources for planning, planting, tending and harvesting a home orchard at this Sunday, April 3 workshop at the Hunnewell Building at the Arnold Arboretum. Learn the particulars of growing blueberries, apples, pears, plums and other less common fruit. There’s nothing fresher than home grown.$30 for Arboretum members, $35 for nonmembers.  Register at www.my.arboretum.harvard.edu/Info.aspx?EventID=1#April.  Photo of plum tree by Joshua James Evans.

  • Saturday, February 28, 1-3 pm – Small Fruit & Berry Gardening

    Learn about the art and science of growing small fruit including designing, planting and cultivation. This discussion will survey the fruits and berries that grow well in New England with a focus on realistic success. Discuss plant varieties, siting, cultivation, and fruit production of small fruits with low pesticide use. Small fruits such as raspberries, blackberries, grapes, strawberries, blueberries and currants will be covered. Instructor Sonia Schloemann is the small fruit specialist at the University of Massachusetts Extension in Amherst. Her specialty is education and research in small fruit production with a focus on IPM.  Berkshire Botanic Garden, Routes 102 and 183, Stockbridge, MA.  For more information call 413-298-3926 or log on to www.berkshirebotanical.org.