Boston Flora

Tag: Harvard University

  • On View: The Rockefeller Beetles

    Over a span of 90 years, banker and philanthropist David Rockefeller collected beetles from around the world, eventually building a personal collection of more than 150,000 specimens. In 2017, his longstanding support for the entomology department of the Harvard University Museum of Comparative Zoology culminated in a gift to the museum of this extraordinary collection. Join the Harvard Museum of Natural History in celebrating this invaluable gift. The small exhibit features hundreds of specimens from Rockefeller’s collection and recounts the story of a man whose childhood pursuit grew into a lifelong passion. Exhibit is on display at the Harvard Museum of Natural History, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge,  in Arthropods: Creatures That Rule.

  • Wednesday, May 8, 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm – Members-Only Tour of Spruce Cones at Arnold Arboretum with Ned Friedman

    If you haven’t joined the Arnold Arboretum yet, now is the time. In early May when crowds head to the lilac collection to see the beautiful spring flowers, something incredible is taking place below the radar, deep in the conifer collection. Spruce cones are just starting to emerge from their buds and they are not the shades of brown and grey that we know well: these young cones are vibrantly yellow, red, lime green, and pink. Join Arboretum Director Ned Friedman for a tour of the spruce collection to see this rainbow of young cones at their peak. There is even an opportunity to join virtually! Meet at the Walker Street Gate. Register at www.arboretum.harvard.edu

  • Friday, April 12, 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm – Taiko Drumming in the Cherry Blossoms

    In Japan, the appearance of cherry blossoms (sakura) in early spring is marked by festivals, family gatherings, and flower viewing where the trees thrive. At the Arnold Arboretum, the cherry collection along Forest Hills Road draws visitors to enjoy their spectacular and ephemeral displays. Among the showstoppers is the Sargent cherry, which was introduced to North America by the Arboretum and named for our founding director who collected the species on his 1892 expedition to Japan.

    Come celebrate sakura and Japanese culture in our Bradley Rosaceous Collection near the ponds and the Forest Hills Gate on Friday, April 12 from 6–7 p.m. Enjoy the rhythms of Taiko drumming by Karen Young and KASA Taiko from 6–6:30 p.m. and learn calligraphy and Japanese games with Showa Boston Institute. Visitors are welcome to bring a blanket to sit on for the performance. This event is appropriate for all ages.

  • Friday, April 12, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm Eastern – Garden Design: Color, Texture, Shapes, and Layers, Online

    The excitement and wonder of a colorful garden grab our attention and imprints its beauty on our memory. While color attracts us and stimulates our imagination, it also confounds many of us. We will explore our relationship to color, the garden dynamics that affect it, and how creating successful color combinations is strengthened by incorporating texture and shape throughout the layers of our gardens. This American Horticultural Society online talk will take place April 12 from 1 – 3. $30 AHS members, $40 nonmembers. Register at ahsgardening.org

    Cheryl Salatino is a New England based landscape designer, educator, and native plant enthusiast.  She started Dancing Shadows Garden Design twenty years ago to offer clients a more thoughtful and purposeful design aesthetic.  What continues to inspire this designer is how the beauty and value of nature endlessly challenge, surprise, and teach us. Salatino received her certificate in landscape design from the Radcliffe Seminars Landscape Design Program of Harvard University.  She has earned the status of Massachusetts Certified Horticulturist by the MA Nursery & Landscape Association and completed the UMASS Green School program in Landscape Management.  She has also earned an Advanced Certificate in Horticulture and Design as part of the Native Plant Trust educational certificate program. 

  • Thursday, January 25, 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm – Full Moon Walk

    Take in the sights and sounds of the Arnold Arboretum under the light of a full moon on January 25. Facilitator Bob Linscott will lead the group through some mindfulness in nature practices as we meander along the paved road to our final nighttime viewing location on top of Bussey Hill. Meet on January 25 at 6 pm in front of the Hunnewell Building. Registration is required at https://arboretum.harvard.edu/events/event-signup/?id=82536

    Accessibility: This program will take place entirely on paved roads. We will ascend some moderate hills.  Facilitator Bob Linscott is a certified Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction teacher at Brown University and Center for Mindfulness at UMASS Memorial Health Care.

    In the event of inclement weather, registrants will be notified via email. If you have questions, please email publicprograms@arnarb.harvard.edu or call the Visitor Center desk between 10:00am and 4:00pm at (617) 384-5209.

  • Sunday, January 21, 4:30 pm – 6:00 pm – Great Horned Owl Walk

    Dusk in January is a perfect time to look and listen for Great Horned Owls, often heard calling throughout the Arnold Arboretum’s collections. Join Horticulturist Brendan Keegan and Zoo New England’s Matthew Kamm to hear about the owls’ breeding and nesting behavior, learn how to go owling ethically, and possibly hear and see a few owls as well.  The walk takes place on January 21 beginning at 4:30 pm. Meet at the Bussey Street Gate. Registration required at https://arboretum.harvard.edu/events/event-signup/?id=82531

    Accessibility: Participants will walk over paved roads, woodchips paths, and mowed grass.

    In the event of inclement weather, registrants will be notified via email. If you have questions, please email publicprograms@arnarb.harvard.edu or call the Visitor Center desk between 10:00 am and 4:00 pm at (617) 384-5209.

  • Saturday, January 27, 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm – Mushroom Walk

    Hundreds of mushrooms hide beneath the Arnold Arboretum’s canopies, silently blossoming into unique forms then withering away again just as quickly. Join local mushroom enthusiast Maria Pinto on January 27 at 2 pm to search for these fascinating organisms on the Arboretum grounds, both edible and poisonous alike. Along the way you will learn what mushrooms to look for in different habitats and seasons, how they move through ecosystems, and what the Arboretum’s unique collections affect what mushrooms you might find here.  Meet at the Bussey Street Gate. Registration required at https://arboretum.harvard.edu/events/event-signup/?id=82552

    Accessibility: Participants will need to navigate woodchip, gravel, and dirt paths, and climb moderate hills. 

    In the event of inclement weather, registrants will be notified via email. If you have questions, please email publicprograms@arnarb.harvard.edu or call the Visitor Center desk between 10:00am and 4:00pm at (617) 384-5209.

  • Tuesday, December 12, 7:30 pm Eastern – Insects in the Anthropocene, Live and Online

    The Cambridge Entomological Club will hold its December meeting on Zoom this Tuesday, December 12 at 7:30 with Yui Suzuki of Wellesley College, as well as in person in the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Room 101 in Cambridge. For those able to attend, we will have an informal dinner at 6:00 pm at Cambridge Common Restaurant with the speaker, followed by our formal meeting (7:30 – 9:00 pm) in room MCZ101 of the Museum of Comparative Zoology (there will be signs to help direct). The meeting will begin with club announcements, followed by a 60-minute presentation by the invited speaker and Q&A. Membership is open to amateur and professional entomologists. Welcome! To access the Zoom presentation, click HERE.

    How will organisms fare in the 21st century as they face extreme environmental conditions and environmental degradation? Developmental plasticity is the ability of an organism to give rise to two or more distinct phenotypes in the face of environmental changes. Developmental plasticity is thought to offer new ways for evolution to shape an organism’s phenotype, but the mechanism by which this happens remains poorly studied. A classic example of developmental plasticity that evolves through natural selection is called a polyphenism where the same individual develops into two or more alternative phenotypes depending on the environment. In our lab, we have artificially selected for a polyphenism using temperature stress to generate a novel phenotype. My talk will focus on my lab’s latest findings on how our larvae respond to thermal stress and how selection might stabilize new phenotypes. In addition to sharing some of the challenges we have faced while conducting the study and how we solved these issues, I will also share some anecdotal observations of insects in Japan.

  • Wednesday, November 8, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm Eastern – Plant Humanities Initiative, Online

    Join the American Horticultural Society and Yota Batsaki, PhD, Executive Director of Dumbarton Oaks, online on November 8 to learn about Plant Humanities, a new, interdisciplinary field that explores and communicates the unparalleled significance of plants to human culture. The Plant Humanities Initiative collaborates to produce a digital platform of rare historic materials that document plants, building an accessible resource for well-researched, widespread horticultural storytelling. Batsaki will suggest how plant history from a spectrum of fields relates to contemporary topics of climate change, environmental degradation, and cross-cultural exchange. This virtual program will include a presentation, conversation with facilitator, and opportunities for participants’ questions.    

    Yota Batsaki, PhD, is the Executive Director of Dumbarton Oaks, a Harvard University research institute, library, museum, and garden located in Washington, DC. As principal investigator for the institute’s Plant Humanities Initiative, Batsaki applies her expertise in comparative literature to the interdisciplinary study of plants and their significance to human culture. She has published essays and co-edited volumes on the intersection of history, literature, and culture, including The Botany of Empire in the Long Eighteenth Century.

    $10 for AHS members, $15 for nonmembers. Register at www.ahsgardening.org

  • Tuesday, September 12, 5:30 pm – Spontaneous Plants at the Arboretum

    The Arnold Arboretum is known for its towering trees, but if you look closer you will see asters and goldenrods springing up amongst the oaks and the maples. What is the role of these spontaneous plants and how do staff encourage them through horticultural practices like no-mow areas? Join Horticulturist Ryan Devlin on September 12 for a free walking tour to get answers to these questions and more. Sign up at https://arboretum.harvard.edu/events/event-signup/?id=77946

    Chrysanthemum nipponicum 576-93*D