Boston Flora

Tag: Hunnewell Building

  • Saturday, June 11, 1:00 pm – Painters for a Purpose

    Painters for a Purpose is a group of South Shore artists who donate 30% of their sales from each exhibit to a local charity.  For their upcoming exhibit opening Saturday, June 11 at the Arnold Arboretum, they have chosen the Elizabeth Stone House. The opening reception will be in the Hunnewell Building Lecture Hall at 1 pm and is free and open to the public.  The show will run through July 23.

    Located in Roxbury, Massachusetts, the Elizabeth Stone House is committed to countering the effects of trauma and breaking the cycles of violence and abuse—one family at a time. Through residential and community support services, the Stone House helps families heal and women reclaim control over their lives. The Stone House helps women and families rebuild their lives after experiencing domestic violence, mental illness, substance abuse and other forms of trauma. The Stone House provides residential and non-residential programs, as well as an emergency shelter for those who are in immediate need.  For more information, call 617-384-5209, or visit www.arboretum.harvard.edu.

  • Saturday, April 30 – Sunday, June 5 – The New Botanicals/Lilacs by Vinette Varvaro

    The New Botanicals / Lilacs is an exhibition of exquisite giclee lilac prints. Intense color saturated lilacs in varying hues of purple, magenta, pink and white emerge from velvety black back grounds creating lifelike portraits of each specimen. This exhibition is in co-ordination with The Arnold Arboretum’s Lilac Sunday annual celebration. Artist Vinette Varvaro created The New Botanicals Collection as a fresh new version of traditional antique botanical prints yet has retained their classic beauty and detail. Also shown are several prints from The New Botanicals / Woody Plants and Shrubs collection. Ms. Varvaro uses both digital technology and painterly skill to produce fine art prints for collectors and horticulturalists. The twenty-four lilac images shown are blossoms cut from lilacs at Syringa Plus Lilac Nursery in West Newbury, Massachusetts. The exhibition, in the Hunnewell Building Lecture Hall at the Arnold Arboretum, will run from Saturday, April 30 through Sunday, June 5. A reception with the artist will take place Wednesday, May 4, from 6 – 8 pm. You may also meet the artist in the Lecture Hall during Lilac Sunday on May 8, and she will give an artist talk about her work on Wednesday, May 18, from 6:30 – 8:30 pm. For more information about the artist, visit www.thenewbotanicals.com.

  • Thursday, May 12, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – The Olmsted Legacy: America’s Urban Parks

    The Arnold Arboretum, in conjunction with the Emerald Necklace Conservancy, will offer an evening of film and discussion on Thursday, May 12 in the Hunnewell Building of the Arnold Arboretum, from 7 – 8:30 pm.  The documentary The Olmsted Legacy: America’s Urban Parks explores the formation of America’s great city parks, including Boston’s own Emerald Necklace, through the eyes of 19th Century landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted.   The film traces the life of Olmsted: his early struggles in school. his personal tragedies and his unorthodox career path.  Olmsted and his firm carried out more than 500 commissions, nearly 100 of which were public parks.  His work includes the linear park system that stretches from the Back Bay Fens to Franklin Park known as the Emerald Necklace.  A Q & A session will follow the screening.  For more information on the documentary, visit www.theolmstedlegacy.org.  The admission fee is $10, and you may sign up by logging in to www.my.arboretum.harvard.edu.

  • Tuesday, May 10, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – The Secret Lives of Honey Bees

    Most people are familiar with the sight of a honey bee forager as she visits flowers in a garden or park, but few people know the rich story of the life of a colony within the darkness of a hive.  Heather Mattila studies the social organization of honey bees at Wellesley College, where her hives lend a lively presence to the arboretum.  Heather will unravel the secret life of honey bees, including the different kinds of bees that are found in hives and the jobs that they do, as well as the means by which honey bees communicate to ensure a healthy and productive colony, in this lecture on Tuesday, May 10, from 7 – 8:30 at the Hunnewell Building of the Arnold Arboretum in Jamaica Plain.  The program is co-sponsored by the Wellesley College Friends of Horticulture.  Members of either sponsoring organization will pay $10, non-members $15.  Register at www.wellesley.edu/WCFH, or call 781-283-3094.  Image from www.treehugger.com.

  • Tuesdays, April 26 and May 3, 6:30 – 8:30 pm – Urban Vegetable Gardening for Beginners

    Join Abby Hird, Researcher, Botanic Garden Conservation International, on two consecutive Tuesdays, April 26 and May 3, from 6:30 – 8:30 at the Hunnewell Building at the Arnold Arboretum, to learn the where, what, and why of urban vegetable gardening.  She will guide beginners through site evaluation, plant selection, and common problems and possible solutions in raising home-grown food.  She’ll talk about community resources, maximizing yield from a small plot and ways to grow food more sustainably.  $45 for Arboretum members, $55 for non-members.  Sign up at www.my.arboretum.harvard.edu, or call 617-384-5277.  Image from www.urbanlandarmy.com.

  • Thursday, April 14, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm – Garden Plants Great and Small

    Jen Kettell, Horticultural Technologist at the Arnold Arboretum, will present a lecture Thursday, April 14, from 6:30 – 8:30 in the Hunnewell Building, entitled Garden Plants Great and Small.  Low-growing and ground-covering woody plants can add texture, unity, and dimension to even the smallest of gardens.  In fact, these can be the perfect solution for the city gardener – small, low-maintenance plants that help to shade out weeds while adding interest.  Jen will share some of her favorites appropriate for a vaariety of conditions and uses.  Fee: $20 for Arboretum members, $25 for non-members.  To register online, log on to www.my.arboretum.harvard.edu, or call 617-384-5277.

  • 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.

  • Tuesday, March 29, 1:30 pm – 3:30 pm – Vernal Pools: Ecology and Design Considerations

    Elizabeth Colburn, Ph.D., Aquatic Ecologist with the Harvard Forest, Harvard University, will give an illustrated presentation at the Hunnewell Building at the Arnold Arboretum on Tuesday, March 29, from 1:30 – 3:30. Betsy will speak about the natural history and ecology of New England vernal pools in the context of ecological landscaping. Topics will include the origins and annual cycles of vernal pools; life histories of common pool animals; year-round habitat needs of pool inhabitants; linkages among vernal pools, adjacent uplands, and other water bodies; factors affecting water quality and hydrology; plants associated with vernal pools; and strategies for avoiding damage to vernal pool ecosystems within managed landscapes.  Fee $20 Ecological Landscaping Association and Arnold Arboretum members, $25 nonmember.

    Co-sponsored by the Ecological Landscaping Association and the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University.  Register online at https://my.arboretum.harvard.edu or by phone at 617-384-5277.

  • Sunday, March 20, 1:30 pm – American Rhododendron Society DeBurlo Lecture

    The Massachusetts Chapter of the American Rhododendron Society is hosting the DeBurlo Lecture, featuring speaker Donald Hyatt, in the Hunnewell Building at Elm Bank on Sunday, March 20, beginning at 1:30 pm.  The lecture will last roughly one hour, with ARS providing time for questions and refreshments.  This event is free to MHS members.

    Although professionally a mathematics and computer science teacher in Fairfax County Public Schools in Northern Virginia for 33 years, Donald Hyatt has always maintained a strong interest in plants. He lives in the family home his late parents built in 1950, and maintains a lovely mature garden that he started when he was only 3 years old.

    Don’s educational background includes a Bachelors degree in Horticulture with double major in Biochemistry, but he also earned a Masters degree in Computer Science. He served as the Computer Systems Lab Director at the highest ranked school in the US, the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, VA, from the time school opened in 1985 until he retired in 2002. During his teaching career, Don received a number of tributes as an educator. A team of students he coached won a million dollar supercomputer for their school, and numerous other students won national and international awards in various science and Internet competitions. Don was personally honored as a Teacher of the Year finalist in Fairfax County.

    After retiring, Don has focused his efforts on varied horticulture interests including the documentation and preservation of rare native azalea populations in the Southern Appalachians. Don has served on the national boards of the ASA (Azalea Society of America) and the ARS (American Rhododendron Society). He has received national awards from both organizations including the Distinguished Service Award from the ASA, and both Bronze and Silver Medals from the ARS. He is a frequent speaker at national and international plant conferences, has authored a number of articles on azaleas and rhododendrons, and is recognized as an accomplished botanical illustrator and photographer.

    Recently, Don has been championing the local opposition to what many see as an ill-conceived decision by certain administrators at the U.S. National Arboretum who plan to destroy the magnificent azalea display (pictured below) on the historic Glenn Dale Hillside planted in 1947 by the Arboretum’s first Director, Benjamin Y. Morrison.  If you plan to attend, please rsvp to Susan Harding at dsh1965@comcast.net.

  • Saturday, March 12, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm – Tree Pieces: Painted Fabric Collages by Merill Comeau

    To Merill Comeau, the cacophony and chaos of plant life parallels our shared human experience of coping with a complex and shifting environment. In her large-scale fabric interpretations of the natural world, she makes use of incongruous materials with past lives: artists’ brush cleaning rags, a mother-in-law’s blouse, cast-off sheets from the Salvation Army, plastic mesh bags from garlic bulbs, vintage linens, and colorful fabric samples. The complexity of the work is compelling from a distance, but also draws viewers closer to engage in the sensual surface. www.arboretum.harvard.edu. Opening reception in the Hunnewell Building Lecture Hall of the Arnold Arboretum will take place Saturday, March 12, from 1 – 3, and the show will be on exhibit through April 24.