Boston Flora

Tag: Native Trees

  • Wednesday, February 5, 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm Eastern – The Botany of Design, Online

    Using his book Understanding Perennials as a starting point, Bill Cullina tackles the thorny subject of garden design in an innovative way. In this fun and informative Mt. Cuba Center talk, he explores such things as the reasons for big leaves, variegation, red foliage and flowers and ways to create more satisfying designs without breaking the budget. He looks at life beyond the color wheel, and the importance of healthy soil and reveals some of his best horticultural secrets while weaving together aesthetics, psychology, botany, and ecology. Both beginning gardeners and seasoned pros will be able to learn from and enjoy this talk. Bill Cullina is the F. Otto Haas Executive Director of the Morris Arboretum. He is a well-known author, lecturer, and authority on North American native plants. His books include Wildflowers; Native Trees, Shrubs, and Vines; Native Ferns, Mosses, and Grasses; and Understanding Perennials.

    This program takes place online on Wednesday, February 5, 2025. $25. Register at https://mtcubacenter.org/event/botany-of-design-online/

    Looking into the rear garden at 3 Bush Road, Kew. Plants included Fatsia japonica, Dicksonia antarctica, Phyllostachys nigra, Musa bajoo and Eriobotrya japonica.

  • Saturday, February 15, 9:30 am – 11:00 am – Foundations in Gardening: Native Trees and Shrubs

    Your backyard and Blithewold have much more in common than you think. Director of horticulture Fred Perry and horticulturist Joe Verstandig dive into the details of New England’s native woody plants on February 15 from 9:30 – 11. The lecture will discuss the criteria for being a native plant, the role natives play in the ecosystem, and some of the best-cultivated species to add in your garden. Blithewold is located at 101 Ferry Road in Bristol. Rhode Island, and you may register at https://www.blithewold.org/event/foundations-in-gardening-native-trees-and-shrubs/

    $25 Members | $30 Non-Members

  • Wednesday, March 6, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Sugar, Sex, and Poison: Understanding the Vital Powers of Plants

    Wednesday, March 6, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Sugar, Sex, and Poison: Understanding the Vital Powers of Plants

    Are we humans masters of our world, or are plants really the ones in charge? What they lack in locomotion, they compensate for in structure and chemistry. Celebrated author and botanist Bill Cullina, Executive Director, Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, will explain why plant life is at the center of a carefully balanced natural economy that is critical to the functioning of our ecosystems. Through photosynthesis, plants produce the energy that powers the food chain. And although eaten by others, they are far from helpless prey, having evolved a dizzying arsenal of relationships to create ecologically sound landscapes. The free Grow Native Massachusetts lecture will take place March 6 at 7 pm at the Cambridge Public Library,449 Broadway in Cambridge.

    William Cullina is the author of many celebrated books about native plants, including the well-known trio: Growing and Propagating Wildflowers; Native Trees, Shrubs, and Vines; and Native Ferns, Moss & Grasses.

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  • Wednesday, November 8, 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm – Choosing Native Trees for Your Landscape Webinar

    Planting a tree on your property is a lifetime commitment. Choose wisely and you—and the tree—will be happy for decades. Choose poorly and you both may be miserable. Learn how to identify the best native trees for your landscape and gain some practical tips for selecting healthy trees at the nursery. This New England Wild Flower Society live webinar on Wednesday, November 8 from 6:30 – 7:30 pm will be taught by Mark Richardson, and is $10 for NEWFS members, $13 for nonmembers. Register at http://www.newfs.org/learn/our-programs/live-webinar-choosing-native-trees-for-your-landscape

  • Wednesday, February 13, 6:30 pm – Native Trees and Shrubs

    Guest Speaker Betty Sanders from the Massachusetts Master Gardeners Association will present Native Trees and Shrubs on Wednesday, February 13 beginning at 6:30 pm at the Millis Veterans Memorial Building, 900 Main Street, Room 130, Millis, Massachusetts. This free program is sponsored by the Millis Garden Club.

    “Native Trees and Shrubs will be more than a listing of those plants and the qualities that make them a desirable part of any garden,” said Ms. Sanders. “I will begin the Program with a thoughtful discussion of what qualifies as a native plant and why natives are a vital part of any landscape. I’ll wrap up by highlighting some of my favorites, what makes them special and why they belong in your garden.” For more information visit www.millisgardenclub.org.

  • Sunday, October 2, 9:00 am – 1:00 pm – Identifying the 25 Most Common Trees in Boston

    If yesterday’s Arnold Arboretum walk with Ajay Sequeira wasn’t enough for you, join Kyle Port, Manager of Plant Records at the Arnold Arboretum, on Sunday, October 2, from 9 – 1 (meet at the Hunnewell Building), and in just a few hours you can learn to identify 90 percent of the trees growing in Boston, both native and nonnative. Beginning in the classroom, you will briefly review the characteristics of the 25 most common trees and learn the botanical terminology necessary to describe them. You will then walk the grounds of the Arboretum to look at mature specimens of these trees. Register on line at www.arboretum.harvard.edu. Fee $45 member, $60 nonmember.

  • Mondays, February 8, 22, and March 1, 6:30 – 8:30 pm – Landscaping with Native Plants

    Join Michael Lance, owner and designer with Wild Regeneration, at the Hunnewell Building of the Arnold Arboretum on three Mondays, February 8, February 22, and March 1, from 6:30 – 8:30 pm, for this native plant design class.  Gardeners, smitten by a display of natives at a garden center, erroneously infer all sorts of attributes from the word “native,”such as “hardy,”“resilient,”“tough,”or even “better.”All of these traits may indeed apply to any native plant; however, this is dependent on the conditions in which the plant is grown. For example, a tough native wetland plant won’t be resilient when planted along the hot, dry edge of a driveway. In this class with designer Michael Lance you will learn about native plants that would be most suitable to your garden site. Michael will present some of the plants that he incorporates when designing gardens for clients, with class sessions about native trees, shrubs, and perennials. He’ll emphasize edible and medicinal plants, trees and shrubs that exhibit ornamental characteristics, and perennials that can withstand and thrive in urban and suburban New England conditions. Throughout the class Michael will incorporate organic techniques and his philosophy for developing healthy and beneficial garden habitats.
    Fee $70 Arnold Arboretum member, $85 nonmember. To register, log on to www.arboretum.harvard.edu.

    http://www.newfs.org/images/visit/visit%20crop%20GITW%20spring.jpg/image_preview

  • Sunday, October 18, 1 – 3 pm – Autumn Beauties: Native Plants in the Collections

    Tower Hill Botanic Garden’s grounds contain many beautiful native trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants that are at their most vivacious in the fall. Blueberries and chokeberries around the Wildlife Pond will be in vivid fall dress, and winterberries will be ripening for winter migrating birds. Fine native grasses will be at their ripest on Sunday, October 18, beginning at 1 pm, in the Systematic Garden. Witch hazels will be glowing yellow around the Wildlife Garden. Garden Designer Dori Smith, M. Ed, of Gardens for Life in Acton, Massachusetts,  will seek out the best specimens in the garden’s collections to show you. She will discuss the special characteristics of native plants that make them good choices for your gardens, and how to create a palette of plants that will please you and the wildlife, year round. Fee $20 for Tower Hill members, $25 for non-members.  To register, log on to www.towerhillbg.org.