Boston Flora

Tag: Native Plants

  • Classes On Demand, Online – Best Native Plants for Containers

    Now you can gain gardening expertise whenever and wherever you want with Classes On Demand! Featuring several of Mt. Cuba Center’s most popular courses, each class lasts about 90 minutes. Once purchased, students are able to watch the pre-recorded videos more than once, or stop at any point and re-start it again later within 30 days of the purchase date. Please call if this is a gift that will need a specific start date.

    On-demand classes are intended for independent learning by one student. They do not offer teacher interaction and are available for a limited time only.

    The beauty of using native plants in containers is that they are adapted to our local growing conditions. From short to tall, sun to shade, spring through fall, there are plenty of plants for creating a small, wildlife-friendly oasis on a balcony, patio, or porch. Leave with a list of our favorite container-loving natives.


    Julia Eppes was an Assistant Horticulturist working in the Formal Gardens at Mt. Cuba Center. She has a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology with a minor in Landscape Horticulture from the University of Delaware. She formerly interned at Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library and worked at Gateway Garden Center.

    $19. Register at https://tickets.mtcubacenter.org/webstore/shop/viewItems.aspx?cg=ga&c=REC#4396

  • Monday – Friday, 11:00 am – 3:00 pm, through August 15 – Native Plants & Northeast Ecosystems Art Show

    Visit Grow Native Mass in Lexington and enjoy some art. At Grow Native, we seek to build a shared vision of the world that views humans as being “of nature,” not separate from it. This helps us reframe our landscapes and integrate our built environment into a native plant heritage that must be reclaimed it we are to sustain life as we know it. We must embrace local systems while we also operate in a globally connected world. With that in mind, we are delighted to present our summer art show, Native Plants & Northeast Ecosystems.

    We are pleased to feature nine New England artists:

    Julie C. Baer • Steve Bennett • Paula Pitman Brown • Mike DeRosa • Daisy Hebb Barbara Kibler • Michaela Nielsen • Michele O’Neil • Bella Rozza

    Art Show open hours will be 11:00 am – 3:00 pm Monday-Friday until August 15— in the First Parish Church in Lexington at 7 Harrington Road. Drop in during those hours to immerse yourself in this broad collection of works that focus in on the detailed beauty of native plants, and zoom way out to ponder dilemmas like development and plastic pollution that natural ecosystems face. Bring the kids— there are activities for them, too!

  • Saturdays, February 1 – February 22, 10:00 am – 11:30 am Eastern – Native Plants for Every Corner of the Garden, Online

    This sequence of Berkshire Botanical Garden online classes, taught by Duncan Himmelman on Zoom, is suited to gardeners of all levels, from novice to experienced. Sign up for individual classes or the whole series which run Saturdays, February 1 to February 22, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Series topics include Native Vines, Native Groundcovers, Living Mulch, Native Bulbs, and Native Plants for Container Gardens.

    Duncan Himmelman earned his doctorate at Cornell University and taught horticultural science at the college level for 24 years. He recently retired as the education manager at Mt. Cuba Center, a public garden in Delaware devoted to native plant advocacy. He continues to enjoy teaching, designing landscapes and promoting ecologically focused gardening practices. $50 for BBG members, $65 for nonmembers. Register at www.berkshirebotanical.org

  • Wednesday, July 24, 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm – Cultivating the Passion for Native Plants

    Jared Barnes, Ph.D., started gardening when he was five years old, and since then he has enthusiastically pursued how to best cultivate plants and cultivate minds. In this inspiring Polly Hill Arboretum lecture in the Far Barn on July 24 at 5:30 pm, Dr. Jared Barnes will share how he educates students about native plants at Stephen F. Austin State University, his explorations in the wild looking for native plants, and his success growing them in east Texas. $5 for Polly Hill Arboretum members, $10 for nonmembers. Registration is required: bit.ly/PHA-Cultivating-Lecture

  • Thursday, June 20, 5:30 pm – Native Plants with a Twist: Unexpected Excitement from our Native Flora

    On June 20, the Martha’s Vineyard Garden Club, in collaboration with Polly Hill Arboretum, will be sponsoring a lecture by Adam Wheeler, Production and Horticulture Manager at Broken Arrow Nursery in Hamden, CT. Adam will speak on “Native Plants with a Twist: Unexpected Excitement from our Native Flora.” Adam stresses that native plants don’t have to be boring! In this informative and educational lecture, he will explore the unique and exceptional slide of our native flora and present his current favorite native trees and shrubs for general garden use. This includes design considerations, cultural requirements, and other critical details. A special emphasis will be given toward unusual variation and unexpected use. Both novice and experts alike will find value in the details provided. This lecture will be held in the Far Barn at Polly Hill Arboretum beginning at 5:00 p.m. Registration is required. The cost is $5.00 for MVGC and PHA members and $10.00 for non-members, payable upon registration. Here is the link for registration: https://form.jotform.com/240526018970152​

  • Tuesday, April 16, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm Eastern – Planting for Pollinators: How to Find the Right Native Plants for Your Area, Online

    There’s no going wrong with native plants — from increasing biodiversity to requiring less maintenance, these plants benefit the health of the environment as well as the wildlife that depends on them. Native plants are also a particularly valuable source of food for pollinators, and pollinator gardens can have a positive impact on the local community as well as local wildlife.

    With Native Plant Month and Earth Day approaching, it’s the perfect time to start adding native, pollinator-friendly plants to your corporate gardens. However, it can be challenging to know which plants are native for your specific location. Since 1973, the National Wildlife Federation’s Garden for Wildlife program has worked to simplify the plant selection process by connecting people to their local native plants. In this free webinar on April 16 at 1 pm Eastern, Garden for Wildlife CEO Shubber Ali will share how corporate native plantings have a positive impact not only on the ecosystem, but also on the community, employees and the company’s bottom line.

    What you’ll learn:

    • Why it’s important to garden for wildlife, specifically pollinators
    • How to determine the right native plants for your area and where to source them
    • Tips for incorporating native plants into a corporate setting

    Who should take this webinar:

    • Corporate conservation programs interested in  using native plants
    • Companies that want to use native landscaping to support the biodiversity of their community
    • Anyone interested in supporting pollinators in their area

    Register at www.wildlifehc.org

  • Tuesday, March 26, 3:00 pm – 4:15 pm Eastern – Sourcing Native Plants and Seeds: A Homeowner’s Guide, Online

    Once you’ve decided what to plant, in what form and where do you obtain those plants? This can be a challenge, as the nursery and seed industry has not kept up with the altered requirements of  the burgeoning native plant movement. In this NDAL online presentation on March 26 at 3 pm Eastern, Ian Caton will draw on his extensive experience as both a garden designer and plant grower to provide guidance on sourcing often hard to find native plants and seeds, determining the best plant size for your application, the use of horticultural cultivars, when and how to obtain plants grown from local seed sources, and how to determine the likely survivability of the plants you are purchasing. He will also show how seeds, both purchased and collected, can help to overcome nursery industry shortfalls, and provide an inexpensive supplement to live plant installation.    $42. Register at www.ndal.org

  • Saturday, February 17, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon – The Supply and Demand of Straight Native Species

    Instructors Marie Chieppo and Jasmine Callahan will discuss the recent surge in demand for straight native species by homeowners and others who are invested in the campaign to attract birds and insects that depend on straight species for food and habitat on Saturday, Feb. 17, from 10 a.m. to noon. Why does this void exist and what can we expect down the road? The class includes a presentation and interview, with discussion and Q&A to follow.

    Marie Chieppo has written articles for the Ecological Landscape Alliance and the Association of Professional Landscape Designers on the topic. An experienced ecological landscape designer, Marie also works in the retail sector at Hyannis Country Garden on Cape Cod. Jasmine Callahan is a former owner of Blue Stem Nursery and now the owner and propagator of Dragonfly Natives.

    The class takes place at Berkshire Botanical Gardens in West Stockbridge, and is $40 for BBG members, $60 for nonmembers. Register at www.berkshirebotanical.org

  • Saturday, September 30, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm – Knockout Natives for Every Garden

    Great landscapes are brought to life with beautiful, high-performing plants that provide multi-season interest and simultaneously welcome wildlife into the garden. Discover a selection of native plants, from perennials and shrubs to small and medium-sized trees, that have strong ornamental appeal, regional adaptability, and great ecological value at the Berkshire Botanical Garden on September 30, from 1 to 3 p.m. 

    Duncan Himmelman earned his doctorate at Cornell University and taught horticultural science at the college level for 24 years. He recently retired as the education manager at Mt. Cuba Center, a public garden in Delaware devoted to native plant advocacy. He continues to enjoy teaching, designing landscapes and promoting ecologically focused gardening practices.

    $25 for BBG members, $40 for nonmembers. Register at https://www.berkshirebotanical.org/events/knockout-natives-every-garden

  • Friday, April 21, 2:00 pm – 3:15 pm Eastern – At Home in a Wild Landscape, Online

    Thoughtfully arranged native plantings can reduce maintenance, improve the environment, and enhance the beauty of any residential property. Achieving these goals however, requires a basic understanding of the patterns and processes that govern plants in the wild, and an effort to apply that understanding to a designed environment. Through a series of detailed case studies, including his own small suburban property, Larry Weaner, FAPLD, will show how artistically composed native plant compositions can result in both ecologically healthy and experientially rich home landscapes. The webinar takes place April 21 from 2 – 3:15 Eastern, and is $42. Register at https://learning.ndal.org/courses/at-home-wild-landscape-2023 The session will be recorded and viewable to registrants for 3 months after the live session date.

    Larry Weaner, FAPLD, founded Larry Weaner Landscape Associates in 1982 and established NDAL in 1990. He is nationally recognized for combining expertise in horticulture, landscape design, and ecological restoration. His design and restoration work spans more than twenty U.S. states and the U.K., and has been profiled in numerous national publications. His book Garden Revolution: How Our Landscapes Can Be a Source of Environmental Change (Timber Press 2016) received an American Horticultural Society Book Award in 2017, and in 2021 he received American Horticultural Society’s Landscape Design Award.