Boston Flora

Tag: Herbaceous Plants

  • Tuesdays, September 2 – September 23, 5:30 pm – 8:30 pm – Herbaceous Plants

    Taught by Lee Buttala, this Berkshire Botanical Garden essential course for the serious gardener covers basic herbaceous plants used in the garden setting, including identification, planting, fertilizing, pest control and pruning. Perennial selection will be the focus, although some time will be spent on annuals and bulbs. (4 Classes) All students participating in this class as part of the Horticulture Certificate Program are required to complete a final project.  BBG Members $215/Non-members $240. The class, running Tuesdays September 2 – 23 from 5:30 – 8:30, will be taught on site.

    Lee Buttala is the former Executive Director of Seed Savers Exchange, an heirloom vegetable genebank that is the only non-governmental organization storing seed at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. He has also worked for BBG and the Garden Conservancy, and currently serves as chair of the Historic Landscapes Committee of the APGA. Lee won an Emmy award for his role as a garden television producer for Martha Stewart Living and was the creator of PBS’s Cultivating Life. He is the editor of the award-winning book, The Seed Garden: The Art and Practice of Saving Seed, writes a weekly garden column for the Berkshire Edge and serves on the board of Hollister House Garden in Washington, CT. Lee studied garden design at the Chelsea Physic Garden, the New York Botanical Garden and the Kyoto School of Art and Design. He lives in Ashley Falls, MA. Register at https://www.berkshirebotanical.org/events/herbaceous-plants-5

  • Saturday, April 12, 10:00 am – 11:30 am – Herbaceous Plant Identification

    As small, herbaceous plants begin to pop out of the soil and carpet the landscape, early spring is a great time to learn what some of these plants are and how to identify them. Join Arnold Arboretum Manager of Adult Programming and Events Sarah Nechamen for a plant ID walk in the landscape and learn how to identify plants like chickweed, creeping charlie, stinging nettle, and more.

    Accessibility: This program will traverse flat, gravel paths. Meet on April 12 at 10 am in front of the Hunnewell Building. Participants will be notified via email at least one day in advance if a program needs to be cancelled due to inclement weather, and will be notified by phone if a program must be cancelled with less one day’s notice. Click here to view our full inclement weather policy. If you have questions about the status of a program, please email publicprograms@arnarb.harvard.edu (inbox monitored on weekdays) or call the Visitor Center desk between 10:00am and 4:00pm at (617) 384-5209. You can register for the wait list at https://arboretum.harvard.edu/events/herbaceous-plant-identification/?occurrence=2025-04-12

  • Thursdays, August 12 and 19, 1:00 pm – 3:30 pm – Native Herbaceous Plant Materials: Late Season

    This New England Wild Flower Society course with Jessie Panek covers many of the best native North American herbaceous plants for New England landscapes and gardens, with an emphasis on species that bloom in the second half of the growing season. She will focus on identification, cultural requirements, and the relationship between native habitats and the requirements of designed and managed spaces. Lectures include firsthand looks at plant materials used at Garden in the Woods. The class will be given in two sessions, Thursday August 12 and Thursday, August 19, from 1 – 3:30, at Garden in the Woods in Framingham.  Fee: $65 for NEWFS members, $75 for nonmembers.  Register at www.newfs.org.

    http://www.soonerplantfarm.com/_ccLib/image/specials/DETA-33.jpg

  • Thursdays, May 6 and 13, 12:00 pm – 3:30 pm, and May 20, 12:00 pm – 3:00 pm – Native Herbaceous Plant Materials: Early Season

    Many native North American herbaceous plants are suitable for growing in New England. This course examines the characteristics of horticulturally important native plants that grow and/or flower early in the season. Discussion includes how a plant’s cultural requirements relate to its wild habitat. Lectures are accompanied by firsthand looks at plant materials used at Garden in the Woods. Designed for anyone wanting to work at a professional level with native plants, this course is also appropriate for the avid home gardener.  This three part New England Wild Flower Society class is being taught by Jessie Panek, costs $130 if you are a member of NEWFS, and $150 if you are not.  You may register on line at www.newfs.org.

    http://www.netstate.com/states/symb/wildflowers/images/large_white_trillium.jpg

  • Saturday, December 5, 10:00 – 1:00 – Identifying and Enjoying Herbaceous Plants in the Late Fall

    When herbaceous plants have died back and look “disenchanted,” it is still possible to identify some of them by closely examining their dried leaves, stems, and persistent fruits and seeds.

    Join Frances Clark on Saturday, December 5, beginning at 10 am, for a classroom exploration to investigate 25-30 weeds and native herbaceous species growing in disturbed habitats, fields, and woodland edges. Examine specimens close at hand to learn identification features and intriguing seed- dispersal mechanisms. (Naturalist photographer Nathan Cook took the image of arrow leaf plantain below)

    Pre-registration is necessary, contact the registrar at 508-877-7630, ext. 3303.  The program will take place at Garden in the Woods, 180 Hemenway Road in Framingham, and is co-sponsored by the New England Wild Flower Society and by Massachusetts Audubon, Drumlin Farm.  The cost is $36 for members of NEWFS or Mass Audubon, and $42 for non members.  You may also email registrar@newenglandwild.org, or log on to www.newenglandwild.org/learn.http://www.isledegrande.com/giimages9/arrowleafwaterplantainseedpod.jpg

  • Sunday, October 18, 1 – 3 pm – Autumn Beauties: Native Plants in the Collections

    Tower Hill Botanic Garden’s grounds contain many beautiful native trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants that are at their most vivacious in the fall. Blueberries and chokeberries around the Wildlife Pond will be in vivid fall dress, and winterberries will be ripening for winter migrating birds. Fine native grasses will be at their ripest on Sunday, October 18, beginning at 1 pm, in the Systematic Garden. Witch hazels will be glowing yellow around the Wildlife Garden. Garden Designer Dori Smith, M. Ed, of Gardens for Life in Acton, Massachusetts,  will seek out the best specimens in the garden’s collections to show you. She will discuss the special characteristics of native plants that make them good choices for your gardens, and how to create a palette of plants that will please you and the wildlife, year round. Fee $20 for Tower Hill members, $25 for non-members.  To register, log on to www.towerhillbg.org.

  • Tuesday, September 15, 6:30 – 8:30 pm – Design a Native Mixed-Border Garden

    The Trustees of Reservations is sponsoring an illustrated lecture and workshop at Long Hill Horticultural Center in Beverly, Massachusetts on Tuesday, September 15, from 6:30 – 8:30 pm.  You’ll learn how to artfully combine shrubs and small trees with a selection of perennial and annual herbaceous plants, and to create a border garden with four seasons of beauty.  Horticulturist and landscape designer Laura Eisner will illustrate basic design principles you can apply to planning and planting a mixed border of any size and shape.  Also covered will be a range of native North American plants that thrive in borders.  Along with plant attributes and drawbacks, Laura will talk about those difficult areas where your plants never seem to thrive and she will discuss which plants will do well there.  Co-sponsored with the New England Wild Flower Society.  Members of the Trusees or NEWFS $25, nonmembers $30.  Registration required.  Contact bzschau@ttor.org.  Log on to www.thetrustees.org for directions.

    http://www.gardenvisit.com/assets/madge/long_hill_massachusetts/600x/long_hill_massachusetts_600x.jpg