Boston Flora

Tag: Massachusetts Horticultural Society

  • Thursday, January 28, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Houseplant Success

    Let Dr. Paul Steen give you an overview of the practical side of houseplant culture, on Thursday, January 28 from 7 – 8:30 at Massachusetts Horticultural Society’s Parkman Room, 900 Washington Street in Wellesley. He will discuss what can go wrong with houseplants and how to prevent these problems from occurring. And how to care for your plants that they flower and re-flower year-after-year. Come for a great list of tips and ideas that help the average houseplant grower. He will focus on proper light, water and temperature requirements for popular houseplants. We also review common pests and diseases, and their treatment. Mass Hort Members $12 Non-Members $20. Sign up at www.masshort.org.

  • Wednesday, January 20, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm – Meditations in Ink: Introduction to Asian Brush Painting

    Students in this January 20 Massachusetts Horticultural Society workshop will focus on Calligraphy and Iris painting in ink and color.This workshop is for those interested in learning and using the traditional tools and techniques of Asian Brush Painting (aka “sumi-e” in Japan). Through step-by-step instructor demonstrations and hands-on brush painting projects using the “Four Treasures” (bamboo brushes, hand ground ink, inkstone, and rice paper) you will explore this ancient and elegant art and leave class with two completed works. NO ART EXPERIENCE NECESSARY. Against a backdrop of meditative music, this workshop is your doorway to the exciting yet contemplative world of Asian art! This day long class runs from 10 – 4 in the Putnam Building, 900 Washington Street in Wellesley.

    Bruce Iverson is an artist who has specialized in Asian Brush Painting (sumi-e in Japan) since 1972 with master brush painters Jean Shen, Ning Yeh, and I-Hsiung Ju. He has exhibited in group and juried shows throughout the United States and has had several one-man shows in New England. He has traveled to China for a deeper understanding of the context of brush painting and is a juried member of the New Hampshire Art Association. His work is grounded in a three thousand year old tradition in which the tools, techniques and philosophy of this Asian art form have had a lifelong resonance. Additional information about Bruce can be found at his website www.iversonarts.com Instructor will provide supplies. Students must provide their own lunch and beverages.Mass Hort Members $150 Non-Members $180, Register online at www.masshort.org.

  • Tuesday, January 19, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Year-Round Indoor Salad Gardening

    Discover the Low-Tech, No-Grow-Lights Approach to Abundant Harvest. On Tuesday, January 19, from 7 – 8:30 in the Parkman Room of Mass Hort’s Education Building, 900 Washington Street in Wellesley, home grower and author Peter Burke will demonstrate how he plants his greens year round, and discuss his method found in his newest book Year-Round Indoor Salad Gardening. Come for a demo, a chance to ask questions and to start your own.

    Year-Round Indoor Salad Gardening offers good news: with nothing more than a cupboard and a windowsill, you can grow all the fresh salad greens you need for the winter months (or throughout the entire year) with no lights, no pumps, and no greenhouse. The book will be for sale at this lecture.

    Longtime gardener Peter Burke was tired of the growing season ending with the first frost, but due to his busy work schedule and family life, didn’t have the time or interest in high-input grow lights or greenhouses. There had to be a simpler way to grow greens for his family indoors.

    Burke found a way- he didn’t even need a south-facing window, and he already had most of the needed supplies just sitting in his pantry. The result: healthy, homegrown salad greens at a fraction of the cost of buying them at the market. The secret: start them in the dark. Growing “Soil Sprouts”—Burke’s own descriptive term for sprouted seeds grown in soil as opposed to in jars—employs a method that encourages a long stem without expansive roots, and provides delicious salad greens in just seven to ten days, way earlier than any other method, with much less work. Mass Hort Members $12 Non-Members $20

    Register online at www.masshort.org.

  • Tuesday, January 12, 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm – A Global Herbaria: Collecting Plants Across the Ages and the Continents

    Tuesday, January 12, 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm – A Global Herbaria: Collecting Plants Across the Ages and the Continents

    An herbarium is a collection of pressed and dried plant material, and they have been collected throughout the ages to document plants that grow in different regions of the world, and their uses that are avidly studied by scientists. Why are these herbaria so important? Linnaeus knew, Emily Dickinson knew, Henry David Thoreau knew. Do you?

    Join Mass Hort and Julie McIntosh Shapiro, from the Harvard University Herbaria on Tuesday, January 12 at 1:30 pm in the Parkman Room of the Education Building, 900 Washington Street in Wellesley, as she takes us on a tantalizing journey through the Global Plant Initiative (GPI) project, where people participated from 75 countries, and Julie will show highlights from around the world as well as Mass Hort’s collections.

    Mass Hort Members $12 Non-Members $20. Register on line at http://www.masshort.org

    herbaria

  • Monday, December 21, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon – Winter Solstice Walk

    Massachusetts Horticultural Society educator Katie Folts will lead a walk on the trails at Elm Bank Reservation, identify plants, and discuss how these plants have adapted to survive cold winters.

    Get outside on Monday, December 21 from 10 – noon and make the most of the shortest days of the year! Reflect on the beauty of the season and walk along the Charles River. Meet at the Putnam Building, 900 Washington Street, Wellesley.

    Mass Hort Members $8, Non-Members $10, Children 12 and Under $3. Sign up online at http://www.masshort.org/eventdetail/217/422|427|430|433/winter-solstice-walk?filter_reset=1

  • Thursday, November 19, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Tree Care for Autumn

    Scott McPhee will give you the checklist to prepare your trees for the onset of winter, in this Massachusetts Horticultural Society lecture on Thursday, November 19, from 7 – 8:30 at Elm Bank, 900 Washington Street in Wellesley. He’ll show you how to troubleshoot common issues, and tell you when to call in the professionals. Lecture Fee: Mass Hort Members $10, Non-Members $15. Register online at http://www.masshort.org/eventdetail/221/422|427|430|433/tree-care-for-autumn?filter_reset=1. Image from www.mrtreeandlawnservice.com.

  • Friday, November 27 – Sunday, December 13 – Festival of Trees and Snow Village

    Massachusetts Horticultural Society’s Festival of Trees showcases dozens of trees and the Snow Village at Elm Bank for children and adults to enjoy. This annual festival takes place from the end of November through the first two weeks of December at Mass Hort’s Elm Bank property, 900 Washington Street, Wellesley, MA 02482.

    The Festival of Trees, displayed in the Hunnewell Carriage House, offers beautifully decorated holiday trees that are donated and decorated by local businesses, garden clubs, and individuals. Visitors “vote” with their raffle tickets, in hopes of being the tree winner at the end of the festival. Visitors can also enjoy the decorated buildings and grounds at Elm Bank with a stroll or a horse-drawn wagon ride. For the young at heart, there are Santa Visits and other activities.

    Snow Village at Elm Bank is a wonderful addition to the holiday spirit of the Festival of Trees. Bill Meagher of Needham graciously donated the product of his thirteen year “hobby” of building Christmas villages and trains. Massachusetts Horticultural Society is delighted to share his enchanting displays with model trains winding through villages and vignettes, including Christmas in the City (Boston of course!), Fenway Park, and hundreds of decorated houses and lights. This amazing scenery in miniature is sure to get kids of all ages excited about the holiday season.

    Admission is $10 for people 12 and older; children 11 and under, no charge. The Mass Hort member rate is $8. Join Mass Hort at the Festival and admission is free! The Festival is open November 27 through December 13, weather permitting: Wednesdays and Thursdays 4-8 pm; Friday through Sunday 10 am-8 pm; Sunday December 13 until 6 pm; Monday through Thursday mornings, by appointment, for senior group visits; Monday and Tuesday evenings, by appointment, for corporate events. For complete information visit http://www.masshort.org/Festival-of-Trees

  • Wednesday, November 18, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – The Homemade Kitchen: Recipes for Cooking with Pleasure

    How do we help our children become more confident, able, and independent in the kitchen? Join Alana Chernila for an evening of exciting ideas, strategies, and simple ways to empower kids in the kitchen. This night in the Parkman Room of the Elm Bank Education Building at the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, 900 Washington Street, Wellesley, will be useful for parents, caregivers, and educators of children of all ages.

    Alana Chernila writes, cooks, sells fresh vegetables, and teaches cheese making. She is a graduate of St. John’s College in Santa Fe and lives with her husband and two young daughters in western Massachusetts. Her first cookbook, The Homemade Pantry: 101 Foods You Can Stop Buying & Start Making, was published by Clarkson Potter in Spring 2012. Her second book The Homemade Kitchen: Recipes For Cooking With Pleasure, will be published by Clarkson Potter in Fall 2015. Visit Alana online at eatingfromthegroundup.com. Proceeds will help support the Garden to Table Program. Lecture Fee: Mass Hort Members $20, Non-Members $25. Register on line for this November 18 lecture, which begins at 7 pm, at http://www.masshort.org/eventdetail/198/422|427|430|433/the-homemade-kitchen-recipes-for-cooking-with-pleasure?filter_reset=1

  • Tuesday, November 17, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Heirloom and Native Plants: A Living History

    On Tuesday, November 17 from 7 – 8:30 at the Dover Town Library on Dedham Street in Dover, the Massachusetts Horticultural Society welcomes its Director John Forti for a lecture entitled Heirloom and Native Plants: A Living History. For those interested in gardens that inspire a sense of time and place…this talk will foster a better understanding of the most tried and true plants and our role in preservation. This illustrated talk brings to life the unique and living history of plants that have a defining presence in our region. It explores the significance of heirloom/open-pollinated plants and gives voice to the history they keep alive.

    John Forti is a nationally recognized lecturer, garden historian, ethnobotanist and garden writer. He is the Director of Horticulture for the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, the oldest horticultural society in the nation. Before taking on this new position, he was the Curator/Director of Historic Landscapes at Strawbery Banke Museum in Portsmouth, NH. He previously served as the Director of Horticulture at Plimoth Plantation Museum where the gardens and seed program he created brought international attention to the preservation of Pilgrim and Wampanoag heirloom crops. Thousands on Facebook follow his posts where he blogs as The Heirloom Gardener – John Forti.

    Lecture Fee: Mass Hort Members $10, Non-Members $15.  Register online at http://www.masshort.org/eventdetail/211/422|427|433/heirloom-and-native-plants-a-living-history?filter_reset=1

  • Massachusetts Horticultural Society Print Collection

    Thanks to three months of collaboration between the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, the Boston Public Library, and Digital Commonwealth, more than 1,000 rare images from the oldest horticultural library in the nation are now available at the click of a button.

    With prints dating from 1620 to 1969, Mass Hort’s Botanical Print Collection captures more than three centuries in the evolution of botanical illustration, offering an invaluable resource for students, researchers, and authors in the field of horticultural. The digital portal will also create opportunities for the public to explore images that until now have been seen only by experts and aficionados, and to cultivate an appreciation for the art and science of horticulture from the comfort of their own homes.

    The Horticultural Library at Massachusetts Horticultural Society was the first in the United States. It was established soon after the Society was founded in 1829 to share horticulture knowledge and beauty through its prints, books, extensive collection of seed catalogs, and other rare materials. Its horticultural holdings provide invaluable resources to our members, scholars, historians and general public.

    Noticing that interest in botanical prints had grown during the intervening 140 years, the Society mounted its first major exhibit in 1968. It continued in 1969, when a group of lily prints was shown to the North American Lily Society at its annual meeting.

    Digitization and online access to special collections is an important strategy for any cultural heritage organization as it allows us to reach our users beyond our buildings and business hours. Today, with the help of Digital Commonwealth, Mass Hort’s Library will meet the 21st Century digital needs of students, researchers, authors and the public.

    Massachusetts Horticultural Society’s botanical prints are available online at the Digital Commonwealth repository at https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/collections/commonwealth:k930hm897. These images are available for the purposes of viewing and studying and not for commercial use.

    Massachusetts Horticultural Society’s Library collection includes over 20,000 volumes at our library in the Education Center of our Elm Bank horticulture center and gardens. Additionally, at a separate archival storage facility, the Society maintains 5,000 rare books, manuscripts, prints, seed catalogs, glass slides, and early transactions of horticultural institutions.

    Many of the books transferred to the Chicago Botanical Garden’s Lenhardt Library Rare Book Collection in the early 2000’s by Mass Hort are now available online through the Illinois Digital Archives at http://www.idaillinois.org/cdm/landingpage/collection/ncbglib01; search on “Massachusetts Horticultural Society.”

    Digital Commonwealth is a non-profit collaborative organization that provides resources and services to support the creation, management, and dissemination of cultural heritage materials held by Massachusetts libraries, museums, historical societies, and archives. Digital Commonwealth currently has over 130 member institutions from across the state.