Boston Flora

Tag: Massachusetts Horticultural Society

  • Thursday, November 12, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Prepping for the Holidays

    Learn how to select and use fresh fruits and vegetables from the supermarket, woody herbs from your garden and locally grown evergreens and berries to decorate your home for Thanksgiving and the Winter Holidays. The Massachusetts Horticultural Society talk on Thursday, November 12 from 7 – 8:30 will cover gathering, preparing and using seasonal plant material as well as mechanics and containers. Two arrangements will be demonstrated

    Betsy Williams teaches, lectures and writes about living with herbs and flowers. A life long gardener, herb grower and cook, Betsy trained as a florist in Boston and England. She combines her floral, gardening and cooking skills with an extensive knowledge of history, plant lore and seasonal celebrations. An entertaining lecturer, she weaves stories and legends throughout her informative talks and demonstrations.

    She has presented at Monticello, The American Horticultural Society’s Youth Symposium, the Pennsylvania Lavender Festival and International Herb Association as well as Colonial Williamsburg, the Ozark Folk Center and the New England, Rhode Island and Cincinnati Flower Shows.  Image from www.prestonbailey.com.

    Lecture Fee: Mass Hort Members $10, Non-Members $15. Register online at http://www.masshort.org/Thursday-Night-at-the-Hort/

  • Thursday, November 5, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Concocting Cordials

    The winter months are the perfect time to make festive and warming cordial drinks. So come spice up your holidays and learn how to create delicious herbal-infused alcoholic beverages — they make a delightful treat to sip by the fire, or to give as gifts.

    It’s much easier than you think, and you can be as creative as you wish! At Elm Bank on Thursday, November 5 from 7 – 8:30 we will sample several examples of herbal wines and cordials and each participant will create his/her own in class to go home with.

    Steph Zabel is an herbalist and educator based in Somerville, MA. For over a decade she has combined her passions for natural medicine, community outreach, and education. She holds a Masters degree in ethnobotany, and is a graduate of several herbal apprenticeships including a three-year training in clinical herbalism. Steph began her professional career working in the botanical collections of the Harvard University Herbaria. Her current work focuses on teaching practical & inspiring herbal classes and offering dynamic wellness sessions. Steph is also the founder of HERBSTALK, Boston’s vibrant community herbal conference, through which she creates accessible educational opportunities for all plant enthusiasts.

    Proceeds will help support the Garden to Table Program. $20 Mass Hort members, $25 non members. Register at http://www.masshort.org/Thursday-Night-at-the-Hort/ or call 617-933-4943.

  • Thursday, November 12, 5:30 pm – NELDHA Fall Reception

    Thursday, November 12, 5:30 pm – NELDHA Fall Reception

    The 2015 New England Landscape Design & History Association’s Fall Reception features a lecture by landscape architect Thomas Paine on November 12, 2015, at Massachusetts Horticultural Society. His  book Cities with Heart (bilingual in English and Chinese, 2015) explores leading examples of urban open space across the globe. The reception begins at 5:30 and features wine, beer, tea, and coffee, accompanied by small bites and is followed by the lecture. Members $10/Nonmembers $20. Registration Deadline is November 6, 2015.

    Tom Paine heads the Boston office of AGER, a Shanghai-based multidisciplinary landscape architectural and urban planning firm that focuses on large urban projects in China. He has worked on commercial, residential, and institutional projects including campuses, retirement communities, historic sites and parks in the U.S., England, and Asia. He led the site design of the first Gold LEED-certified public project in Massachusetts.

    Tom is currently placing a book for general audiences called The Greenspace Imperative. He is the principal author of Historic Parkway Preservation Treatment Guidelines (Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, 2006) and Guidelines for Greens, and, with Ronald Lee Fleming and Laurie Halderman, On Common Ground, Caring for Shared Land from Town Common to Urban Park (Harvard, Massachusetts: Harvard Common Press, 1, 1982).

    For more information contact Janis Porter at JPorter5@comcast.net.

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  • Friday, October 23, 8:00 am – 3:30 pm – Let’s Drink to That! A Symposium on the History of Herbal Libations

    Learn about shrubs, bitters, herbal cordials, infused wines, and more on Friday, October 23 from 8 – 3:30 at the Hunnewell Carriage House, 900 Washington Street in Wellesley. The use of herbs in intoxicants and distilled beverages is part of an ancient and traditional rite of celebration. Enjoy a day of exploration of these amazing beverages featuring five lectures or demonstrations, an herbal lunch, taste samplings of herbal beverages, and a silent auction.

    Speakers include Dr. Judith Sumner, John Forti and Susan Belsinger. Lunch catered by Stockbridge Herbs. The program is sponsored by The New England Unit of The Herb Society of America. Cost is $90 if you register before October 5, $105 thereafter. Register at www.neuhsa.org or call 508-869-0545.

  • Thursday, October 15, 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm – Honorary Medals Awards Dinner

    Each year, the Massachusetts Horticultural Society presents the Honorary Medals Dinner where the leading lights of horticulture are honored. The event gives us the opportunity to recognize the outstanding contributions of horticulturalists, plant innovators, and those who have made significant contributions to the enjoyment and appreciation of plants and the environment.

    Join us Thursday, October 15 at 6:30 pm to celebrate the 2015 honorees, including Kris Jarantoski (pictured below), the recipient of the George Robert White Medal of Honor and Keynote Speaker. Kris Jarantoski is the Executive Vice President and Director at the Chicago Botanic Garden.

    Jarantoski develops and directs the horticulture, plant collections, and facilities and planning of the Chicago Botanic Garden. Since joining the Garden in 1977, Jarantoski has played a major part in the creation of each of the 26 distinct gardens and four natural areas on the Garden‘s 385-acre campus.

    Register at http://goo.gl/oSL1Yo $130 per plate

  • Thursday, October 8, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Wrapping Up Your Garden

    The calendar says October, but it doesn’t mean your work in the garden is done. There are four areas you need to concentrate on. Betty Sanders calls them the ‘Must Do’s’, ‘Should Do’s’, ‘Could Do’s’ and ‘Don’t Do’s’.

    Garden writer, lifetime Master Gardener, and President of the Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts Betty Sanders offers a Massachusetts Horticultural Society program on Thursday, October 8 from 7 – 8:30 at Elm Bank that will ensure your garden gets off to a great start next spring. Register at http://goo.gl/UhG3tV

    $10 Mass Hort Members, $15 Non-Members.  Image from www.dailymail.co.uk

  • Saturday, October 3, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon – Pickling the Harvest

    Join Eric Cooper, chef at Ten Tables, on Saturday, October 3 from 10 – noon in the Parkman Room of Elm Bank, 900 Washington Street in Wellesley, to learn how you can enjoy the fruits of your labor beyond the growing season. He will demonstrate and share basic pickling techniques to keep local flavor in your diet all year long.

    Chef Eric Cooper has been pursuing his love of food for very nearly two decades on a global quest that’s had him working, teaching and studying the native cuisines in some twenty-five countries or extra-national territories on seven continents and occasionally in international waters.

    Cooper’s culinary career includes stops in the gastronomic capitols of New York, London, Paris and Madrid as well as the forested islands of Downeast Maine and tree-lined neighborhoods of Boston. He’s cooked everywhere from the dusty townships of South Africa to the mountainside Tibetan refugee camps of northern India to the frigid aimags of western Mongolia to the icy wastes of Antarctica and steep rolling seas of the Drake Passage — all in pursuit of a uniquely broad understanding of food and why we eat it.

    Proceeds will help support the Massachusetts Horticultural Society’s Garden to Table Program. Mass Hort Members $15, Non-Members $20.  Register at www.masshort.org, or call 617-933-4943.  Image from www.seriouseats.com.

  • Wednesdays, September 30 – November 4, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm – Beginning Floral Design

    Would you like to learn how to create your own floral arrangements with “wow factor?” Have you ever walked through the floral design competitions at the Boston Flower & Garden Show or the Barnstable, Topsfield, or Marshfield Fairs and thought to yourself, “I could do this?” The Massachusetts Horticultural Society is ready to give you the tools to design your own arrangements!

    Beginning September 30 from 7 – 9 and continuing for six Wednesday evening sessions in The Parkman Room in the Education Building at Elm Bank, 900 Washington Street, Wellesley, you’ll learn the nuts and bolts of how the basics of floral design, you’ll even learn how to enter a competition. The class will cover the basics: how to choose a container, select plant material, and entering a design show. Expert designers will teach you the basic elements of the most popular classes of floral arrangement: traditional, creative, miniature and table design.

    You will receive the encouragement, guidance and the tools that can take you from arranging flowers at home to designing for a competition that will be viewed by thousands. Image from www.pamelaeganfloral.com.

    Course Fee: $100 Mass Hort members; $125 for non-members. Register online at http://www.masshort.org/eventdetail/181/422|427|430|433/beginning-floral-design-at-mass-hort-2015?filter_reset=1

  • Sunday, September 27, 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm – Culture of the Gardens in the Italian Renaissance

    The Massachusetts Horticultural Society is delighted to welcome Princess Giorgiana Corsini in the Hunnewell Carriage House at Elm Bank on Sunday, September 27 at 5 pm, who will speak on the history and culture of gardens in the Renaissance. She brings rich understanding and hands-on experience in gardening and will, no doubt, give ideas to elegantly enhance our New England gardens.

    The architecture of the Palazzo Corsini’s 16th century vaulted loggia in Florence is echoed in the structure of the classical gardens it faces. Fifteen generations of the Corsini family have enjoyed the Renaissance symmetry of their private gardens just steps from the center of Florence. The garden is highlighted by symmetrical box hedges, ancient statuary and potted citrus trees. It was recently updated by the famous landscape architect, di Collobiano, who is known for his simplistic elegance. The Corsini have added color and scent with a variety of lavender and other vigorous Mediterranean plants.

    Princess Giorgiana and Prince Filippo Corsini come from an historical Florentine family dating back to the 12th century. Their early fortunes were tied to trading with the Court of England. While their political influence declined under the Medici they increased their wealth through trading throughout Europe and providing a postal service. During the 16th and 17th century they built palaces in Florence, Tuscany and Rome including the palace on Via Sul Prato that is home to their classical garden. The family soon regained political power with the elevation of cardinals and Pope Clement X11.

    Today the Corsini family maintains Wineries in Marsiliana and Le Corte and other agricultural properties. They also have one of Italy’s finest and most expansive family archives which have recently been moved from Florence to their Tuscan villa, Le Corti, with a great deal of national press.

    Giorgiana Corsini is an expert with hands-on experience in both Renaissance Italian classical gardens and aristocratic wineries in Tuscany. She travels and lectures throughout Europe, Canada and the United States.

    Registration: $20/Member, $25/Non-member.  Please register by Tuesday, September 22 at http://www.masshort.org/eventdetail/169/422|427|430|433/culture-of-the-gardens-in-the-italian-renaissance?filter_reset=1

  • Sunday, September 20, 6:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Fall Harvest Festival Dinner

    Come and celebrate all that is local and abundant! Join us for an evening celebrating the fall harvest and building community in the Gardens at Elm Bank, 900 Washington Street in Wellesley. Showcasing the best of local agriculture and seasonal heirloom foods, come share a place at our tables enjoying fine open-air dining, hand-crafted beverages, and music and dancing under the goddesses in the Maple Grove. Twilight tours of the gardens will lead to us to gather together for a festive seated dinner culminating in a magical illuminated candle labyrinth.

    This event supports the Garden to Table program strives to build strong local food systems from the seeds planted to the food grown and harvested and shared within the community. We work to offer high caliber education in horticulture, nutrition, and food production and preparation both in schools and in the Seed to Table and Garden to Table education spaces in the Gardens at Elm Bank. The Massachusetts Horticultural Society also works to raise awareness of food accessibility issues within local, greater Boston, and regional communities.

    Register at http://goo.gl/9NtP7a

    $65 for Mass Hort Members, $75 for Non-members