Boston Flora

Tag: Massachusetts Horticultural Society

  • Thursday, September 12, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm, and Friday, September 13, 7:30 am – 12:30 pm – Relax, It’s Only Garden Photography

    Starting with an illustrated lecture at Elm Bank on Thursday evening, September 12, from 7 – 8:30 pm, our friend Rich Pomerantz will provide an introduction to and explanation of camera workings, light, composition and technique as it all relates to garden photography. This presentation, illustrated by a digital slideshow, is suitable for beginners, novices, or more advanced photographers. With the fabulous Elm Bank gardens at our disposal, come prepared to be productive and have plenty of opportunities to explore your garden photography fantasies in the field with your camera.

    A half-day workshop beginning early Friday morning will explore methods of seeing and of photographing, aimed at improving the way you photograph flowers and gardens. Whether you wish to preserve horticultural and natural beauty for posterity, publication or personal enjoyment, this class will expose you to steps that can help you bring your garden photography to a higher level and produce clear photographic visual imagery. We will learn the proper use of the camera, the true value of the tripod, how to set up a shot and evaluate light using the meter and the eyes. We will explore depth of field, color, light modification and more. Describe order in the chaos, manage changing light, find and convey the emotion and energy in the scene you see. We will critique students’ work at lunch after photographing in the beautiful Elm Bank gardens.

    Participants should have a working knowledge of their equipment. Even if you do not have a DSLR and you use a ‘point-and-shoot’ you will benefit from this class. If possible, please bring your own laptop for editing. There are only two things you must bring: a working and open mind, and YOUR CAMERA’s MANUAL.

    Fee: Lecture Only – $20 members, $25 non-members; Workshop only – $95 for members: $125 for non-members

    Participants who attend both the workshop and the lecture can do both for 1 flat fee: $105 for members: $135 for non-members. Register online at http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07e7r2qh0e4a9aabcb&llr=kzaorjcab

    Rich Pomerantz is a full time freelance photographer based in Litchfield County, Connecticut. His images have appeared in diverse periodicals ranging from Garden Design, Horticulture, Fine Gardening, Organic Gardening and Outdoor Photographer to Coastal Living, Traditional Home, Berkshire Living, Connecticut Home and Garden, CT Cottages and Gardens, National Geographic for Kids and Ranger Rick. He counts among his clients many corporations, garden designers, landscape architects and individuals.

    Rich teaches photography classes and workshops through the Massachusetts Horticultural Society and the NY Botanical Gardens. He has spoken about garden photography at the Boston, Rhode Island and Long Island Flower Shows and at the national Garden Writers Association symposium (and The Garden Club of the Back Bay!)

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  • Thursday, September 5, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Community Garden – Get Involved!

    Thinking of joining a community garden? In this Massachusetts Horticultural Society workshop, to be held this Thursday, September 5, from 7 – 8:30 at Elm Bank in Wellesley, explore the vast variety of community gardens in Boston from gardens on the rooftops to postage stamp size gardens tucked between residences. Learn how community gardens support cultural exchange, community building, sustainability and healthy lifestyles. Most importantly, we will discuss how to get involved in community gardening by starting, joining or volunteering at a garden in your community!

    Caitlin Gilson is the Garden Educator at the Boston Natural Areas Network which coordinates activities related to all of the Boston area’s community and school gardens, involving over 10,000 individuals and families. Caitlin has created and managed school garden programs for over seven years. She has developed professional development workshops on gardening for the Green Education Foundation and the Northeast Organic Farming Association.

    Boston Natural Areas Network (BNAN), organized in 1977, works to preserve, expand and improve urban open space through community organizing, acquisition, ownership, programming, development and management of special kinds of urban land.

    Cost – $10.00 for members, $15.00 for non-members.  Register on line at http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07e7r2np7ga3191b6b&llr=kzaorjcab.

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  • Wednesday, August 28, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm – Creating Your Best Garden by Saving Seeds

    Expert garden consultant and plant historian, Christie Higginbottom will speak about the history and importance of saving seeds on Wednesday, August 28, from 7 – 9 at the Petersham Memorial Library, 23 Common Street in Petersham. Farmers and gardeners can nurture and perpetuate their best flowers and vegetables and share their bounty to create local food sources and locally adapted plants. Or just enjoy sharing seeds with your friends!

    Christie will teach how to grow, harvest, and save your own seeds. Christie has worked at Old Sturbridge Village, creating period gardens and preserving heirloom plants. She has lectured at such venues as Tower Hill Botanic Garden, Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants at Monticello, and the New England Wild Flower Society. She is a recipient of the Thalassa Cruso Award from the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. Presented by the Petersham Memorial Library Seed Savers Program with support of the Petersham Grange. Thank you www.wasatchgardens.org for the image below.

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  • Wednesday, September 11, 8:00 am – 5:00 pm – Exploring Design & Perennial Selection for the Landscape

    The 2013 Northeast Region Perennial Plant Symposium will take place Wednesday, September 11, from 8 – 5 at the Elm Bank Horticulture Center in Wellesley, presented by the Massachusetts Horticultural Society and The Perennial Plant Association.

    Following registration at 8 am, David Culp of Sunny Border Nurseries will speak on The Layered Garden: Design Lessons for Year Round Beauty.  Brandywine Cottage is David Culp’s two-acre garden where he has mastered the design technique of layering – interplanting many different species in the same area.  David will illustrate a basic lesson in layering:  how to choose the correct plants, how to design a layered garden, and how to keep it maintained.

    Following a break and visit to the Elm Bank Gardens, Stephanie Cohen, the Perennial Diva, will share The Path to an Exciting Mixed Border: Perennials and Shrubs.  Creating a garden for four seasons is always Stephanie’s goal.  In recent years, adding flowering shrubs that play nicely with perennial plants has added a new dimension.  Interesting flowers, lovely bark, fall color, berries,  and interesting shapes make shrubs and perennials perfect buddies in the border.  The Perennial Diva is not only opinionated about perennials, but she has added shrubs to her love ’em or leave ’em list.  Her book is illustrated below.

    Before lunch, Dr. Denise Adams will lecture on American Home Landscapes. American landscape design certainly has evolved over the years–from Colonial subsistence gardens to Victorian gardens of excess to 1980’s backyard barbecues. This lecture will provide a survey of American residential landscape history. Learn about the major landscape design trends and most popular plants since our country’s establishment to the present with special emphasis on the New England landscape.

    After lunch, Lloyd Traven of Peace Tree Farm will speak on Bringing the Awesome Every Day.  When you go shopping before a fancy party, do you say to yourself “I hope I can find the same dress everyone is buying?”  Do you want your living room decorated just like your neighbor’s?  Of course not.  Your garden should be no different.  All want their garden to stand out, to shine, to stop traffic (in a good way.)  We all need fresh ideas, new choices, different methods and a whole new design concept.  Water-friendly, edibles, foliage, container combinations – the rules have changed and a new world awaits.

    Jennifer Brennan of Chalet Nursery and Garden Shop will speak on Perennials for Problem Areas. Whether it is for our own gardens or for clients and customers, there are always those problem areas that need recommendations of perennials that do not just survive but thrive. Heavy clay soil and deep shade are also included.  Whatever the conditions, there are perennials that will work.  Expand your problem solving palette with these selections.

    Finally, John Friel of Emerald Coast Growers will present Tell Me What’s New! Tell Me What Works!  The growing zones of Massachusetts and region encompass great diversity.  John will present a roundup of perennials and ornamental grasses, new and known, that will provide great punch to the landscape.

    Registration fee is $99 per person before August 25, and $109 per person after August 25. This price includes lunch. The program will be held at 900 Washington Street in Wellesley, and you may register online at www.perennialplant.org or by calling 614-771-8431.  You may also mail the registration form found on the website to 3383 Schirtzinger Road, Hilliard, OH. Checks may be made payable to the Perennial Plant Association.

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  • Sunday, September 15, 3:00 pm – 7:30 pm – Downton Abbey-inspired Garden Party

    You’re invited to join The Massachusetts Horticultural Society for a Downton Abbey-inspired Garden Party at the Gardens of Elm Bank, 900 Washington Street in Wellesley, from 3 – 7:30 pm. This festive event will support the Massachusetts Horticultural Society’s Garden to Table program.

    Spend the afternoon strolling through the exquisite Gardens at Elm Bank, admiring a handful of vintage cars, watching a professional cricket match at “tea time”, and more. At 5:30pm, the doors to the historic Hunnewell Building will open to a Pimms cup, beer & wine, and delicious hors d’ouevre from the Catered Affair. Join our best costume & best hat contests and win luxury prizes.  Post-Edwardian era attire encouraged.

    Tickets are $125 each. This highly-anticipated event is expected to sell out quickly so be sure to register now. We look forward to seeing you there!  You may register on line at http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07e7v6rol93c8bc522&llr=kzaorjcab, or call Event Volunteer and co-hostess Leslie Mann at 508-904-4967.

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  • Tuesday, September 3, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm – Cocktails in the Garden and Tour

    On Tuesday, September 3, from 6 – 8, Volante Farms resident chef Todd Heberlein brings over a decade of farm to table cooking to Mass Hort for an evening of unique and flavorful, fresh from the garden small plates and refreshing drinks. Chef Todd will present guests with a selection of small plated, savory and sweet, that capitalize on the freshest tastes from Volante Farms Fields. Wander the gardens with seasonal treats in hand that might include some of Volante’s exclusive Cornetta peppers, house smoked bacon, heirloom tomatoes, and dozen of other unique flavors. Chef will also add a spark of local harvest to some refreshing beverages from water to wines to bubbly-all embellished by garden flavors. Join us for an evening to see the vegetable garden in its harvest glory and support and celebrate another season of horticultural and culinary cooperation for the benefit of our communities in need. Volante Farms has been a generous supporter of local food pantries and shelters for many years.

    Cost – $10.00 for Mass Hort members, $15.00 for non-members. Register at www.masshort.org.

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  • Thursday, August 22, 10:30 am – 12:00 noon – Creating Herbal Alchemy: An Introduction to Local Plants and Their Uses

    The Massachusetts Horticultural Society will present a lecture at Elm Bank on Wednesday, August 22, from 10:30 – noon featuring Steph Zabel. We are surrounded by an abundance of plants that are both food and medicine. Some of these plants are considered “weeds,” some are purposely garden-cultivated, some are wild natives, but all have unique gifts to offer.

    In this dynamic introductory class you will learn how many of the plants that grow all around us can be used in various ways to improve our health and add joy to our lives. We will discuss, taste, and create preparations such as herbal infusions, tinctures, oils, and wines. We will also identify some of the most under-appreciated yet prolific plants and learn how they can be used as nutritive teas, healing poultices or delicious wild edibles.

    Knowing our local plants connects us more deeply to the landscapes we inhabit and increases our awareness of the botanical world. Come learn what gifts the herbs that surround us have to offer!

    Steph Zabel is a community herbalist and educator based in Somerville, MA. She has always had an affinity for the plant world and studied horticulture, biology, and ethnobotany throughout her undergraduate and graduate years. Steph is a practicing herbalist and also works as a curatorial assistant at the Harvard University Herbaria. In addition to leading herbal classes, Steph offers individual holistic health consultations, hand-crafts herbal medicines, and runs her small business Flowerfolk Herbal Apothecary. She is also the founder and organizer of Herbstalk, a local educational event that teaches people about herbalism.

    Cost – $20.00 for members, $25.00 for non-members.  Register on line at www.masshort.org.

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  • Tuesdays, September 17 – October 22, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm – Floral Design Course

    Tuesdays, September 17 – October 22, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm – Floral Design Course

    This fall Mass Hort will once again offer a six week course for anyone interested in learning the nuts and bolts of how to do a design for a flower show. This course is designed especially for those who would love to enter a flower show but are unsure of how to go about it or are timid and need support and encouragement. This course will be held in the Education Building at Elm Bank on Tuesday evenings from 7 to 9pm from September 17th through October 22nd.

    Cost – $100.00 for Massachusetts Horticultural Society members, $100.00 for non-members. Register on line at www.masshort.org.

     

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  • Tuesdays in August – Not Your Average Joe’s Garden to Table Program Benefit

    The Garden to Table Program at Massachusetts Horticultural Society has been chosen to receive Not Your Average Joe’s 15% community donation. What this means is that every Tuesday night in August, 15% of your restaurant tab will be donated to our program.

    Not Your Average Joe’s has been a generous supporter of the program this year. Come see the garden they sponsored titled “New and Unusual” which includes Flower sprouts, Indigo Rose Tomatoes, Lunch box Peppers and something called a Tomato Berry. Enjoy some great food and help support Mass Hort.

    Not Your Average Joe’s has locations in the following communities: Acton, Arlington, Beverly, Burlington, Dartmouth, Hyannis, Medford, Methuen, Needham, Newburyport, Norwell, Randolph, Seekonk, Watertown, Westborough.

    Here’s how it works:
    Print and present the certificate to your NYAJ’s waitstaff and the Garden to Table Program will receive 15% of your total purchase.  Click here for a certificate!

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  • Saturday, August 3, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm – Mass Marketplace Festival

    Celebrating the quality and abundance of local agriculture, floriculture, specialty foods and crafts, the Mass Marketplace Festival will include a full day of food sampling, shopping, and entertainment for all ages! New England farmers, specialty food producers, and artisans come together at The Gardens at Elm Bank to show off their products. Plants, handmade crafts and jewelry, soaps, baked goods, teas, herbs and vegetables, garden products, clothing and fine art may be found. Children’s activities include face painting, moon walk, and seed planting.

    Bring a blanket and enjoy a picnic lunch in the gardens – bring your own, or purchase food from one of our local vendors. Guests may also want to spend some time exploring or touring the many exquisite gardens of Elm Bank.

    Hours are 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Tickets are available on site the day of the event. Admission for Mass Hort members is free (with membership card)! Children eleven and under $2.00; ages 12 and up $8.00. For more information, visit www.masshort.org. No charge for parking.

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