Boston Flora

Tag: Native Plant Trust

  • Friday, August 6, 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm – Beauty of the Wild, Online

    In Beauty of the Wild, Darrel Morrison tells stories of people and places that have nourished his career as a teacher and a designer of nature-inspired landscapes. Growing up on a small farm in southwestern Iowa, Morrison was transported by the subtle beauties of the native prairie landscape—the movement of grasses in the wind, clouds across the sky, their shadows over the plain. As a graduate student at University of Wisconsin–Madison, he encountered the Curtis Prairie, one of the first places in the world where ecological restoration was practiced. There he saw the beauty inherent in ecological diversity.

    For more than six decades, Morrison has drawn inspiration from the varied landscapes of his life—from the Iowa prairie to Texas prickly pear scrub to the maple-beech-hemlock forests of Door County, Wisconsin, to the banks of the Oconee River in Piedmont Georgia. He has been guided as well by the teachings of Jens Jensen, who believed that we can’t successfully copy nature but can get a theme from it and use key species to evoke that essential feeling. In native plant gardens at the University of Wisconsin Arboretum, New York Botanical Garden, and Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Morrison has blended communities of native plants in distillations of prairie, woodland, and coastal meadow. At Storm King Art Center, his landscapes capture the essence of prairie grasslands and native meadows. These ever-evolving compositions were designed to reintroduce diversity, natural processes, and naturally occurring patterns—the “beauty of the wild”—into the landscape.

    This online event on August 6 at 6 pm is part of Native Plant Trust’s Meet the Authors series. $12 for NPT members, $15 for nonmembers. Register at http://www.nativeplanttrust.org/events/beauty-wild/

  • Wednesday, July 28, 1:30 pm – 4:00 pm – Tick-Trefoils and Bush-Clovers

    There are about 25 species of Desmodium, Hylodesmum, and Lespedeza in New England. These summer-blooming members of the legume family often look alike, presenting challenges to identification. This Native Plant Trust class on July 28 at 1:30 pm at Garden in the Woods will focus on the features that distinguish each species and discuss their ranges and habitat preferences. $38 for NPT members, $45 for nonmembers. Register at http://www.nativeplanttrust.org/events/tick-trefoils-and-bush-clovers/ Ted Elliman is the instructor.

  • Thursday, July 22, 12:30 pm – 4:30 pm – Milkweeds and Dogbanes

    Milkweeds (Asclepias) are some of the most attractive and fragrant wildflowers, and they are magnets for butterflies and pollinators. Learn about their special relationship with monarch butterflies, complex flower structure, ingenious pollination strategy, and protective chemical arsenal. This Native Plant Trust class at Garden in the Woods in Framingham on July 22 at 12:30 will help you identify the common and rare species and recognize their surprising range of habitats. You will also learn tips for milkweed cultivation and discuss the dangers that threaten this native plant.$60 for members and $72 for nonmembers. Register at http://www.nativeplanttrust.org/events/milkweeds-and-dogbanes/

  • Friday, July 9, 10:30 am – 2:30 pm – Harvard Designs: Arboretum and Science Complex

    Join The Native Plant Trust on July 9 from 9:30 – 2:30 for a landscape study of two Harvard University landscapes—Arnold Arboretum and the Science and Engineering Complex—designed by the award-winning landscape architecture firm STIMSON. This program follows the landscape architecture process from planning to implementation. We begin at Arnold Arboretum, discussing the Arboretum’s role in selecting plants for all Harvard University projects. We will then visit Harvard’s Science and Engineering Center (SEC) to tour the newly installed landscape and see the implementation of the arboretum’s recommendations. STIMSON landscape architects will also discuss the role of the SEC landscape project in the evolution of Harvard’s campus and key design factors such as stormwater management, landform orientation, and surface materials. The program is cosponsored with the Boston Society of Landscape Architects. Instructors will be Glen Valentine and Joe Wahler, principals, and Ryosuke Takahashi, associate, STIMSON. $60 for sponsor members, $72 for nonmembers. Register at http://www.nativeplanttrust.org/events/harvard-designs-arboretum-and-science-complex/

  • Tuesday, June 22, 10:00 am – The Survival of New England’s Plant Diversity, Online

    The Native Plant Trust and The Nature Conservancy reveal their recommendations for the survival of New England’s Plant Diversity in a virtual press conference on June 22 at 10 am Eastern time. Free, but registration required HERE.

    Has more than a century of land conservation in New England protected the right places to save the region’s plant diversity, and thus overall biodiversity, as the climate changes? Conserving Plant Diversity in New England is a groundbreaking new report from Native Plant Trust and The Nature Conservancy that answers the question. The result of a two-year collaboration, the report measures progress toward global targets for plant and land conservation and provides a scientific framework and detailed roadmap for action at the species, habitat, and parcel scales in all six states that will save plant diversity.  

    With the Biden Administration’s recent adoption of one of the international targets–conserving and restoring 30 percent of the nation’s lands by 2030–this report is especially timely. The report and the accompanying interactive mapping tool give policy makers, federal and state agencies, and land trusts in each state the detailed information needed to achieve the 30 x 30 goal and to spend conservation dollars most effectively by focusing on climate-resilient sites that capture plant and habitat diversity.  Join the report’s authors for a virtual press conference in which they will reveal findings and recommendations for permanently protecting resilient, biologically diverse landscapes across New England.

     Debbi Edelstein, Executive Director of Native Plant Trust, will introduce the report, and two of its authors will present the findings and recommendations:

    • Mark Anderson, Director of Science for the Eastern United States at The Nature Conservancy
    • Michael Piantedosi, Director of Conservation at Native Plant Trust

  • Thursday, June 24, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon – Managing Yards for Plant Biodiversity, Online

    Suburban yards can support remarkably high plant biodiversity. How homeowners manage their yards largely determines the plant composition of these expanding ecosystems. In this free Native Plant Trust online talk on June 24 at 10 am, Woodwell Climate Research Center ecologist Christopher Neill and conservation biologist Desiree Narango describe findings from a one-of-a-kind, nationwide research project that examined the flora, soils, microclimates, insects, and birds in suburban yards in six metropolitan regions across the United States, including Boston. Neill will address how suburbanization does or does not homogenize residential landscapes compared with the natural areas that surround these cities. He will connect this new research to ways that homeowners can modify their yards to support native plants and wildlife, and how Native Plant Trust and Woodwell Climate Research Center’s new collaboration shares the research with a broader audience. Register at http://www.nativeplanttrust.org/events/managing-yards-plant-biodiversity/

  • Saturday, June 19, 12:30 pm – 3:30 pm – Floodplain Botany

    Join Native Plant Trust and Neela de Zoysa on June 19 at 12:30 pm for a breathtaking walk along the floodplain of the meandering Sudbury River at Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. This habitat is lush and diverse, with flood-tolerant trees, shrubs, ferns, sedge meadows, grasses, and other herbaceous species. We will take a close look at these plants—their adaptations, wildlife value, and interactions with invasive species. $45 for NPT members, $54 for nonmembers. Register at http://www.nativeplanttrust.org/events/floodplain-botany/

  • Saturday, June 5, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm – Gowing’s Swamp

    One of Thoreau’s beloved landscapes, referenced often in his writings, Gowing’s Swamp is a rare and beautiful bog in a kettle hole tucked away below a glacial ridge. On June 5 at 1, Native Plant Trust will walk the loop around the bog in Sudbury and explore the thriving community of northern bog plants such as pitcher plant (Sarracenia purpurea), bog rosemary (Andromeda polifolia), bog laurel (Kalmia polifolia), small cranberry (Vaccinium oxycoccos), large cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon), and black spruce (Picea mariana). We will observe the many vernal pools and the bird and mammals in this unusual habitat. Neela de Zoysa leads, and the field trip is $30 for NPT members, $36 for nonmembers. Register at http://www.nativeplanttrust.org/events/gowings-swamp/

  • Friday, June 4, 9:00 am – 12:30 pm – Introduction to Grasses Identification, Online, and Friday, June 25, 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm – Author Book Talk, Online

    Many people are apprehensive about identifying grasses. With a little practice, however, you can learn to recognize common native and non-native species using an everyday vocabulary and easy-to-see characteristics. Lauren Brown, co-author with Ted Elliman of Grasses, Sedges, Rushes: An Identification Guide, will provide an online Native Plants Trust introduction to these beautiful and abundant plants. You will require this book for the class. $53 for NPT members, $63 for nonmembers. Register at http://www.nativeplanttrust.org/events/introduction-grasses-identification/ Please note that on Friday, June 25, the authors will give a live talk from 6 pm – 7:00 pm, also sponsored by Native Plant Trust, and the cost for that session is $12 for NPT members, $15 for nonmembers. Sign up for the author talk at http://www.nativeplanttrust.org/events/grasses-sedges-and-rushes/

  • Friday, May 21, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm – Ecology and Conservation of Native Pollination Systems

    Join Dr. Robert Gegear, 2018 recipient of the (then) New England Wild Flower Society’s Regional Impact Award, to learn the skills needed to properly assess, conserve, and restore native pollination systems and the biodiversity they support. This Native Plant Trust class at Garden in the Woods in Framingham on May 21 from 1 – 4 provides foundational knowledge for the Community Science workshop and can be taken alone or in tandem with the workshop. $45 for NPT members, $54 for nonmembers. Register at http://www.nativeplanttrust.org/events/ecology-and-conservation-native-pollination-systems/

    Morning glory pollen grains.