Boston Flora

Tag: Garden in the Woods

  • Monday, August 7, 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm – Climate Change and Native Plants, Online

    Native Plant Trust will sponsor a virtual class on August 7 from 6 – 7 pm.

    Climate change is a multifaceted challenge with numerous—and sometimes unexpected—contributing factors. To create solutions on a personal and manageable scale, we need to turn to the science.

    This class will cover a brief history of climate change and address carbon and hydrological cycles, the earth’s heating and cooling systems, and the importance of wise landscape design, construction, and agriculture to mitigate climate change. We will also discuss the role of native plants in the climate change conversation.

    Instructor: Trevor Smith is a landscape designer in the Boston area. Trevor specializes in green stormwater infrastructure, such as permeable pavers and rain gardens, as well as in landscapes designed to maximize Earth’s systems while balancing them with the needs and desires of her human inhabitants. He is passionate about the natural world which inspires his commitment to ecological principles and practices and devoted to creating beautiful landscapes that provide clients with an oasis to reconnect with the natural world. Mr. Smith holds several landscape certifications, including MCH, NOFA AOLCP, LEEDGA, and IPCI, and he is also a past President of the Ecological Landscape Alliance and a current Trustee.

    Tickets: $15 Members  –  $18 Non-Members Click Here to register.

  • Thursday, July 20, 5:30 pm – 8:30 pm Eastern- Shade Gardens: Embracing the Dark Side, Online

    Creating lush and vibrant gardens in the shade tends to frustrate even the best gardeners. How do we infuse more color, adventure, and intrigue into those spaces? The mood, plants, and conditions act as our guide. This July 20 Native Plant Trust virtual workshop with Cheryl Salatino blends site-specific assessment, design strategies, and plant options to help enliven your imagination. The webinar will be from 5:30 – 8:30, and is $45 for NPT members, $54 for nonmembers. Register at http://www.nativeplanttrust.org/events/shade-gardens-embracing-dark-side/ Please note: NPT does not make video or audio recordings of classes or programs available after the fact, because we believe education is interactive, with instructors and students building a community and culture of learning. Some programs may be recorded strictly for instructor-training purposes.

  • Wednesday, July 12, 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm Eastern – Native Plant Trust at 125: A Talk with Debbi Edelstein, Live and Online

    Join us for a conversation about the strategic vision for the organization as it approaches its 125th anniversary. Presented by Debbi Edelstein, Executive Director, Native Plant Trust.

    To attend this free program at Garden in the Woods in Framingham in-person, please register here. 

    To attend this free program virtually, please use the register link at http://www.nativeplanttrust.org/events/native-plant-trust-125/

    Please note: NPT does not make video or audio recordings of classes or programs available after the fact, because it believes education is interactive, with instructors and students building a community and culture of learning. Some programs may be recorded strictly for instructor-training purposes. Please visit this page to review this and other FAQs about our policies.

  • Saturday, July 15, 12:30 pm – 4:30 pm – Orchids of New England

    Curious about Lady’s-slipper orchids or the rose pogonia, made famous by Robert Frost’s poem? Orchidaceae is one of the largest plant families in the world, and there are 50 orchid species native to New England, from showy lady’s slipper (Cypripedium reginae) to rose pogonia (Pogonia ophioglossoides). While some species are common, many are of conservation concern. This session provides context for understanding native orchid habitats, diversity, and conservation issues. You will learn identification techniques, pollination strategies, and life-cycle stages for native orchids. Learn about the members of this highly evolved plant family and their specialized pollination strategies and interesting life cycles. Botanist Neela de Zoysa will conduct a class on Orchids of New England on Saturday, July 23 at 12:30 pm at Garden in the Woods in Framingham. $60 for Native Plant Trust members, $72 for nonmembers. Register at http://www.nativeplanttrust.org/events/orchids-new-england-2/

    Image result for rose pogonia orchid

  • Sundays, July 9 & July 16, 1:00 pm – 3:30 pm – Native Woody Plant Materials

    Explore the huge variety of native trees, shrubs, and woody vines. You will learn which species grow well in shade, which support local wildlife, and how to stagger plantings for continual bloom, fruit production, and fall color. The two-part Native Plant Trust course on July 9 and 16 at Garden in the Woods in Framingham addresses growth characteristics, cultural requirements, and best horticultural uses. Trevor Smith instructs. $108 for NPT members, $132 for nonmembers. Register at http://www.nativeplanttrust.org/events/native-woody-plant-materials/

  • Saturday, June 3, 8:00 pm – Mushroom Modulations

    Native Plant Trust proudly presents its first visiting artist, Christine Southworth. Christine is a Lexington-based multimedia composer whose work primarily involves nature—lightning, honeybees, coral reefs, spiders, snowflakes, and, currently, mushrooms. Her new work incorporates photographs and videos of mushrooms growing at Garden in the Woods and around Middlesex County from summer 2021 through the present, and she is using these to create an immersive performance environment. The electrical currents given off by mycelium networks are thought to be used as communication between different fungal fruiting bodies. Surrounded by her images of mushroom colonies growing and fading throughout the seasons, she will make music with live mushrooms that she has grown by “listening to” slight electrical variations in the colonies via electrodes placed on different parts of the fruiting growth and converted to sound. The performance will be followed by a discussion with the artist.

    The event takes place June 3 at 8 pm at Garden in the Woods in Framingham. $15 for NPT members, $18 for nonmembers. Register at http://www.nativeplanttrust.org/events/mushroom-modulations/

  • Saturday, May 6, 7:00 pm – Sphagnum Moss-Associated Nitrogen Fixation in New England Peatlands

    The New England Botanical Society is holding its May meeting on Saturday, May 6 in person at the Native Plant Trust’s Garden in the Woods in Framingham at 7 pm. The speaker is Dr. Kirsten Coe, Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, Middlebury College, speaking on Sphagnum Moss-Associated Nitrogen Fixation in New England Peatlands. To register, and for more information, visit https://www.rhodora.org/meetings/upcomingmeetings.html

    Kirsten K. Coe is a plant ecophysiologist, focusing on how environmental stress shapes plant performance and growth, and in turn how plant responses influence ecosystem level processes. She uses mosses as a model system to answer questions in this domain, focusing on ecosystems where they carry large ecological importance, often as keystone species. The Coe lab applies a combination of field manipulation experiments, stable isotope analysis, and laboratory photosynthetic stress assessment using infrared gas analysis and chlorophyll fluorescence. Two current lab research foci include (1) an NSF-funded project exploring the ecological, physiological, and genetic basis of desiccation tolerance in Syntrichia, a diverse clade of dryland mosses; and (2) the influence of symbioses between nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria and peatland mosses on nitrogen cycling.

  • Thursday, April 6, 3:00 pm – 6:00 pm Eastern – New England Climbers, Online

    Native climbers are an ecologically and taxonomically varied group of plants. They range from rare and vulnerable species, such as Allegheny vine (Adlumia fungosa) and the American climbing fern (Lygodium palmatum, pictured below) to those proliferating due to forest fragmentation and warming climate, such as wild grapes (Vitis spp) and poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans). Learn about 50 climbers and become familiar with identification characteristics. This Native Plant Trust class will take place online on April 6 from 3 – 6 led by Neela de Zoysa. NPT members $60, nonmembers $72. Register at http://www.nativeplanttrust.org/events/new-england-climbers-2/ Please note: We do not make video or audio recordings of classes or programs available after the fact, because we believe education is interactive, with instructors and students building a community and culture of learning. Some programs may be recorded strictly for instructor-training purposes.

  • Friday, March 31, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm Eastern – An Evening with Uli Lorimer and Rebecca McMackin, Live and Online

    Join Uli Lorimer, director of Horticulture at Native Plant Trust and author of The Northeast Native Plant Primer- 235 Plants for an Earth-Friendly Garden (Timber Press) and Rebecca McMackin, Loeb Fellow, Harvard Graduate School of Design, and former director of Horticulture, Brooklyn Bridge Park, for an evening of no-holds-barred discussion about native plants in horticulture from two of the leading experts in the field today. The event will be moderated by Barbara Moran, a correspondent on WBUR’s environmental team. For 25 years, she has worked as a science journalist covering public health, environmental justice, and the intersection of science and society. She has written for many publications, including the New York Times and the Boston Globe Magazine, and produced television documentaries for PBS and others. She was twice awarded the National Association of Science Writers’ highest honor, the Science in Society Award.

    This is a hybrid event: Live virtual and in person at Garden in the Woods, Framingham, MA. The talk is scheduled for March 31 from 6 – 8 Eastern.

    Attend in person: Tickets $30 (members)/$36 (non-members) 

    Click here to register to attend this event in person

    Attend live virtual: Tickets $15 (members)/$18 (non-members)

    Click here to register to attend this event virtually

    Please note: We at the Native Plant Trust do not make video or audio recordings of classes or programs available after the fact, because we believe education is interactive, with instructors and students building a community and culture of learning. Some programs may be recorded strictly for instructor-training purposes.

  • Wednesday, March 29, 12:30 pm – 2:00 pm – Native Plant Dyes

    For centuries, people have used natural materials to bring color into everyday life through wardrobe and fashion. Today, approximately 90 percent of dyes used in clothing are synthetic; many are made through unsustainable processes. In New England, we are surrounded by plants that can be turned into vibrant and lush pigments, which in turn can be applied to natural fibers such as wool, hemp, or cotton. In this Native Plant Trust class at Garden in the Woods on March 29 at 12:30 pm, we’ll discuss useful dye plants of the Northeast and New England ecoregions and explore how to process, extract, and bind these colors to fabric. Basic terminology of natural dyes, methods of plant identification, and ethical harvest of plant parts used will also be covered. As we conclude, a brief showcase of plant-dyed fabrics will be displayed. Join us for a fun and simple introduction to natural dyes from plants. Michael Piantedosi will instruct. $38 for NPT members, $45 for nonmembers. Register at http://www.nativeplanttrust.org/events/native-plant-dyes/