Boston Flora

Tag: Horticulture Magazine

  • Garden How-To Free On Line Smart Gardening Workshops

    Horticulture Magazine has a series of free download’s on its website which give you access to great garden speakers from the comfort of your own home. No new live workshops are currently scheduled as of this date, but you may access recordings of past workshops at http://www.hortmag.com/smart-gardening-workshops

    Here are highlights of two presentations of interest. We will feature more in the coming weeks:

    Growing, Gardening & Designing with Wildflowers
    In this wildflower workshop for gardeners and modern farmers, Miriam Goldberger, founder and co-owner of Wildflower Farm, covers how to grow wildflowers from seed, including easy winter sowing techniques and wildflower seedling identification, plus how to choose the best wildflowers to grow in your garden. The author of Taming Wildflowers, Miriam will talk about why monarch butterflies and other endangered pollinators need milkweed and other wildflowers in order to survive. You’ll also learn how to harvest wildflowers and design your own wildflower wedding bouquets, boutonnieres and table arrangements.

    Ideas for Creating Serene Gardens—Simplicity, Sanctuary & Delight
    We all know that being in nature enhances our well-being, but how do we create an outdoor haven that allows us to enjoy those healthful benefits of nature in our back yards? Landscape designer Jan Johnsen, author of Heaven is a Garden—Designing Serene Outdoor Spaces for Inspiration and Reflection, will share intriguing techniques and ideas she has learned in her 40-year career to help you make an “unhurried garden” of your own. Jan writes the popular Serenity in the Garden blog and Facebook page.

  • Garden How-To University Free Online Workshops

    Horticulture Magazine has a series of free download’s on its website which give you access to great garden speakers from the comfort of your own home.  No new live workshops are currently scheduled as of this date, but you may access recordings of past workshops at http://www.hortmag.com/smart-gardening-workshops

    Here are highlights of two presentations of interest.  We will feature more in the coming weeks:

    Gorgeous, Superhero Flowering Shrubs and Groundcovers for Right-Size Flower Gardens
    This high-energy presentation by gardening guru Kerry Ann Mendez features eye-catching, low-maintenance flowering shrubs and groundcovers that provide interest for three or more seasons. Emphasis will be on varieties that are drought tolerant and pollinator friendly. These are some of Kerry’s favorite plants showcased in her latest book, The Right-Size Flower Garden.

    Spring Ahead with Cool-Season Flowers
    Flower farmer Lisa Ziegler shares her experiences growing hardy annual flowers such as snapdragons, sweet peas, bells of Ireland and other spring beauties that are favorites of gardeners as well as pollinators and other helpful insects in search of habitat and food at winter’s end. She will introduce the cool-season concept, when to plant, where to locate for the earliest blooming, setting the garden up for low maintenance and how to keep the blooms coming into summer. Lisa’s book Cool Flowers (St. Lynn’s Press, September 2014) was based on this program.

  • Garden How-To Free On Line Workshops

    Horticulture Magazine’s free online Smart Gardening Workshops give you access to great garden speakers from the comfort of your own home. They have no new workshops scheduled at this time, but you can access recordings of past workshops at http://www.hortmag.com/smart-gardening-workshops. Here is a sampling:

    Dr. A’s Greatest Perennials & Annuals

    Dr. Allan Armitage talks about new and great performers for your garden. Annuals aren’t just petunias anymore—they are extraordinary, diverse and colorful. Perennials continue to excite all gardeners, and Dr. A. highlights some of the most exciting, from hellebores to heucheras, American natives and more.

    Grow Organic: Making The Transition

    Growing a beautiful and productive garden without chemicals isn’t difficult, but it does require a shift in attitude and a dose of patience. In this workshop, Jessica Walliser (pictured below) shares a new understanding of the ease and convenience of organic practices. From soil management and cultural practices to pest control and dealing with “the junkie issue” (plants that have developed a fertilizer dependency), this talk is meant to present attendees with a deeper understanding of organic practices and offer plenty of tips for ensuring a successful garden.

  • Sunday, January 29, 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm – Gardening Simplified: Exceptional Plants and Design Solutions for Time-Pressed & Maturing Gardeners

    Change happens. Job demands, kids, hectic schedules, aging bodies, and changing interests have led to gardens that are not in balance with our lifestyle. Time for some ‘editing’. This inspiring Kerry Ann Mendez free lecture at Tower Hill Botanic Garden, 11 French Drive in Boylston on Sunday, January 29 at 2 pm provides easy-to-follow right-sizing strategies, recommended no-fuss plant material, and design tips for stunning year-round gardens that will be as close to ‘autopilot’ as you can get… Co-sponsored with the New England Hosta Society. Please register at www.towerhillbg.org.

    As an award-winning garden designer, author, and lecturer, Kerry Ann Mendez focuses on time-saving gardening techniques, workhorse plants and sustainable practices. She has been on HGTV and in numerous magazines including Horticulture, Fine Gardening, Garden Gate and Better Homes & Gardens. Kerry Ann was awarded the 2014 Gold Medal from the Massachusetts Horticultural Society for her horticultural accomplishments. She has published three popular gardening books – her most recent, The Right-Size Flower Garden (St. Lynn’s Press, 2015), focuses on exceptional plants and design solutions for busy and aging gardeners. For more about Kerry Ann visit www.pyours.com.

  • Sunday, March 29, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm – Practicing the Dark Arts: Tips and Plants

    Tips, techniques and lesser known plants for shade, with a special emphasis on later blooming herbaceous plants, is the topic of this Tower Hill Botanic Garden class on Sunday, March 29 from 2 – 3 with Ed Bowen. THBG member price $15, non-member $25. Register online at www.towerhillbg.org, or call 508-869-6111.

    Ed Bowen is a working gardener and proprietor of Opus Plants, a small nursery in southeastern New England specializing in unusual herbaceous plants. For
    years he was an instructor in the Massachusetts Master Gardener Program, is involved with Sakonnet Garden in Little Compton, RI, on the horticultural steering committee at
    North Hill in Vermont, and has written for Horticulture Magazine and other publications.

  • Wednesday, June 18, 4:00 pm – Seeing Flowers

    Wednesday, June 18, 4:00 pm – Seeing Flowers

    We’ve all seen red roses, blue irises and yellow daffodils. But when we really look closely at a flower, whole new worlds of beauty and intricacy emerge. On Wednesday, June 18 at 4 pm at the Education Center at Berkshire Botanical Garden, join author Teri Dunn Chace for this illustrated talk based on her recent book, Seeing Flowers: Discover the Hidden Life of Flowers. Chace’s lyrical and illuminating essays complement the extraordinarily detailed floral images by photographer Robert Llewellyn. Chace will offer insights on each flower by exploring distinguishing characteristics and share fascinating tidbits, tales and lore as we view images revealing amazing details of stamens and pistils, shadings on a petal or the secret recesses of nectar tubes.

    Teri Dunn Chace is a writer and editor with more than 30 titles in publication, including How to Eradicate Invasive Plants and The Anxious Gardener’s Book of Answers. She’s also written and edited extensively for Horticulture, North American Gardener, Backyard Living and Birds & Blooms.  BBG members $15, nonmembers $20.  Register at http://www.berkshirebotanical.org/ai1ec_event/seeing-flowers/?instance_id=2615.

    Seeing-Flowers

  • Friday, April 4, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm, and Saturday, April 5, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm – Great Gardens and Landscaping Symposium

    The 11th Annual Great Gardens and Landscaping Symposium, April 4 & 5, 2014 at The Equinox Resort in Manchester, Vermont , will be sponsored by: The American Horticultural Society, Corona Tools, Equinox Valley Nursery, Espoma, Gardener’s Supply Company, Liquid Fence, Neptune’s Harvest and Proven Winners.

    This premier symposium takes place April 4 & 5, 2014 and will be held at the world-class Equinox Resort (www.equinoxresort.com) in Manchester, VT. The symposium features six dynamic lectures, a Gardener’s Marketplace, great food, door prizes, and gifts. Over 200 gardeners from around the Northeast annually attend this popular event. NEW for 2014 is a special Garden Design Workshop on Friday from 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. This workshop is in addition to the symposium. Featured speakers, horticultural experts and notable authors are: David L. Culp: owner of award-winning gardens that have been featured on HGTV and in Martha Stewart Living, VP of Sunny Border Nurseries, instructor at Longwood Gardens (PA), former contributing editor to Horticulture magazine, and author of the top selling book The Layered Garden; Thomas Christopher: a highly respected expert on sustainable gardening practices with articles in The New York Times and Martha Stewart Living; owner of a sustainable lawn consulting business, Greener Grasses/Sustainable Lawns, graduate of the New York Botanical Garden’s school of professional horticulture and editor of a best seller – The New American Landscape: Leading Voices on the Future of Sustainable Gardening, which contains his own chapter on water-wise gardening; Deborah Trickett: a highly applauded container designer who works with clients throughout New England, owner of The Captured Garden, instructor at the Arnold Arboretum in Boston, and her work has been featured in The Boston Globe, Garden Gate and New England Home magazines as well as on the TV show New England Dream Home; Adam R. Wheeler: a plant fanatic who is the propagation and new plant development manager for Broken Arrow Nursery – a destination garden center in CT, and adjunct instructor on plant propagation and woody plant identification at Naugatuck Valley Community College; and Kerry Ann Mendez: owner of Perennially Yours, garden designer and consultant, guest on HGTV, former TV garden series host, her gardens have been featured in Garden Gate, Fine Gardening, Horticulture, and Better Homes and Gardens SIP, and author of The Ultimate Flower Gardener’s Top Ten Lists and Top Ten Lists for Beautiful Shade Gardens.

    How-to, informative lectures include: 50 Perennials I Could Not Live Without; The Layered Garden: Design Lessons for Year Round Beauty; A Back Yard Revolution – alternative grasses and compatible perennials that provide all the benefits of a conventional lawn; Celebrity Pots, an entertaining presentation on creating flashy containers that portray celebrities like Brad Pitt, Lady Gaga and Grace Kelly; Fun with Color: Variegated Foliage in the Garden; and Flashy New or Underused Perennials for 2014. Overnight packages and day only rates are available. Symposium Day Only rates: $98 per person by March 1, $108 after March 1; special rates for groups and Master Gardeners. Overnight packages including symposium programming, accommodations, meals and all taxes & gratuities start at $300.29 for a single or $430.09 for a double ($215.05 per person). For more information and registration details, visit www.pyours.com/symposium.

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  • Tuesday, March 27, 7:00 pm – One Writer’s Garden: Eudora Welty’s Home Place

    By the time she reached her late twenties, Eudora Welty (1909-2001) was launching a distinguished literary career. She was also becoming a capable gardener under the tutelage of her mother, Chestina Welty, who designed their modest garden in Jackson, Mississippi. From the beginning, Eudora wove images of southern flora and gardens into her writing, yet few outside her personal circle knew that the images were drawn directly from her passionate connection to and abiding knowledge of her own garden. Jane Roy Brown’s book One Writer’s Garden: Eudora Welty’s Home Place contains many previously unpublished writings, including literary passages and excerpts from Welty’s private correspondence about the garden.  Ms. Brown will speak at Porter Square Books, 25 White Street in Cambridge on Tuesday, March 27, beginning at 7 pm.

    Brown is a freelance travel and garden writer with a focus on historic gardens and landscapes. She is also director of educational outreach for the Library of American Landscape History. She has published in Horticulture, Preservation, Garden Design, and the Boston Globe, and she serves as a contributing editor to Landscape Architecture.  Call 617-491-2220, or visit www.portersquarebooks.com for more information.

  • Saturday, May 15, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm – Hardy Primroses for New England Gardens

    With over 425 species of primula growing under every possible condition over the globe, selecting a primrose that will not only survive but will also compliment your garden setting is a challenging task. This illustrated lecture at The Berkshire Botanical Garden, 5 West Stockbridge Road in West Stockbridge,  will introduce you to many of the species, from the tiniest rock garden plants to three foot tall bog dwellers, with emphasis on how to grow some of the best in a New England garden. A walk through the Berkshire Botanical Gardens’ newly developed primrose pathway will provide an example of siting and cultivation in our climate.

    Judith Sellers is a Master Gardener and active member of American Primrose Society and its New England Chapter. Her first primroses, grown from seed in 1974, initiated an addiction which now includes exhibiting at shows and growing and sharing seeds and plants of many Primula species. Her articles have appeared in Horticulture and in the APS Quarterly, Primroses.  $18 Berkshire Botanical Garden member price, $24 non-members.  Register on line at www.berkshirebotanical.org, or call 413-298-3926.  You may also email info@berkshirebotanical.org.

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  • February 18 – March 2 – Explore Cuba: Environment, Botanical Gardens & National Parks

    Katherine Greenberg, Past President, Pacific Horticultural Foundation, will escort a tour to Cuba February 18 – March 2, 2010, under the auspices of Pacific Horticulture Magazine.

    Join like minded plant lovers for a long-awaited study tour of Cuba, where you  will visit the highly successful urban gardens of historic Havana, as well as the country’s national parks, important repositories of the island’s native flora. Cuba is the largest, most diverse, and species-rich island in the Caribbean. You’ll also enjoy the country’s cuisine, music, and culture. Meetings with Cubans will highlight the tour. All tour members must qualify to participate.

    Pacific Horticulture staff are working with a humanitarian organization, Global Exchange, to provide opportunities for those of you who work in the areas of horticulture, botanic gardens, or the environment to travel to Cuba as members of this information-gathering delegation. You must be a full-time or part-time professional or volunteer professional to qualify. Please contact them to receive an application to be a part of this exciting opportunity.  Global Exchange is a registered Travel Service Provider for Cuba with the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Treasury Department. This trip operates under their General License.

    Tour highlights will include visits to the Havana Botanic Garden, the La Terrazas reforestation project and the Sierra del Rosario Biosphere Reserve for orchids at the Orquidarium Soroa (pictured below), a trip to Zapata, recognized as the finest wetland in the Caribbean with extraordinary plantlife and wildlife, Cinfuegos, a city on the south coast, the Sierra del Cambray Mountains, the colonial city of Trinidad, and more.  For a detailed itinerary, contact 510-849-1627, or email office@pacifichorticulture.org.