Boston Flora

Tag: NEWFS

  • Tuesday, June 4, 10:00 am – 1:00 pm – Native Shrub Heroes

    The New England Wild Flower Society and the Ecological Landscaping Association will co-sponsor Robin Wilkerson, Landscape Designer, in a lecture entitled Native Shrub Heroes on Tuesday, June 4, from 10 – 1 at Garden in the Woods in Framingham.  Learn about plants that offer color and form to our landscapes, but also provide nourishment and habitat for birds, mammals, and insects.  Find out which shrubs can replace any non-native invasive shrubs lingering in a back corner of your garden – burning bush, anyone?  Discover the reasons for going native in your plant selection, as Robin introduces you to a choice collection of beautiful and well-behaved indigenous plant.  Following the lecture and slide program, walk the Garden to see these shrubs in their early summer glory.  $40 for members of the sponsoring organizations, $48 for nonmembers.  Register on line at https://www.eventville.com/catalog/eventregistration1.asp?eventid=1010242.

    http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/Portals/0/PlantFinder/low/L980-0901020.jpg

  • Sunday, April 28, 1:30 pm – 3:30 pm – Spring Wildflowers of the Northeast: A Natural History

    The Ecological Landscaping Association, New England Wildflower Society, Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, Massachusetts Audubon Drumlin Farm, and Tower Hill Botanic Gardens will co-sponsor Spring Wildflowers of the Northeast: A Natural History, with author Carol Gracie, on Sunday, April 28, from 1:30 – 3:30 at Garden in the Woods in Framingham.  The wildflowers that brighten our woodlands in spring are more than just a delight for the eye and a lift for the winter-weary spirit.  Each has a role in the environment, with often interesting interactions with pollinators and seed dispersers.  Topics will include adaptations for early blooming, medicinal and other uses, the origin of wildflower names, pollination and seed dispersal, and the latest scientific research on the ecology of these beautiful plants.  Following the lecture and book signing, enjoy an optional docent-led walk through Garden in the Woods in its early spring glory.  $15 for members of a sponsoring organization, $18 for nonmembers.  Register by calling 617-436-5838, or visit www.ecolandscaping.org.

    http://i.walmartimages.com/i/p/97/80/69/11/44/9780691144665_500X500.jpg

  • Saturday, March 16, 1:00 pm – 3:30 pm – Late Winter Mushrooms

    Join mycologist Lawrence Millman on Saturday, March 16, from 1 – 3:30 at Garden in the Woods in Framingham to discover what fungi can be found in New England at the end of winter.  Learn about survival strategies of these species, then walk through the Garden in search of some of them.  The underside of a log is the equivalent of a nice cozy chair in front of the fire for many fungi.  Copies of the instructor’s new book, Fascinating Fungi of New England, will be available for purchase.  $21 NEWFS members, $25 nonmembers. Register at www.newfs.org.

    http://lawrencemillman.ebumu.com//srv/htdocs/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/lmillman02_crop.jpg

  • Monday, February 25, 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm, and Saturday, March 2, 9:30 am – 1:30 pm – Bones of the Garden: Strengthening the Design

    Every memorable landscape has one thing in common – strong “bones.”  The placement of trees and shrubs creates form, directs movement, and organizes the garden.  Learn to select, situate, and integrate these stately elements into the cultivated landscape.  Explore the concepts of scale, creating space and the impact of plant growth over time in locating structural elements.  Using your new knowledge, develop your own site-specific design.  Receive feedback on designs and plant combinations.  During the final session, inspect the “bones” of Garden in the Woods with a late winter walk.  The two session class takes place Monday, February 25, 6:30 – 9, and Saturday, March 2, 9:30 – 1:30.  The instructor is Cheryl Salatino, designer and horticulturist, and the fee is $132 for members of NEWFS and The Landscape Institute, and $160 for nonmembers.  Register at www.newfs.org.  Image from www.masterscapes.com.

    http://www.masterscapes.com/uploads/images/hobhouse-garden-2a-369x369.jpg

  • Tuesday, February 19, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon – Protecting Your Valuable Trees

    Trees are valuable landscape elements and warrant special attention during and after construction. Join professional arborist, Carl Brodeur at the Garden in the Woods on Tuesday, February 19, from 10 – 12, to learn how to protect your trees during construction projects and how to keep them healthy after project completion.  $20 for NEWFS and ELA members, $25 non members.  Register at www.ecolandscaping.org, or by calling 617-436-5838.

  • Mark Richardson Becomes the New England Wild Flower Society’s Director of Horticulture

    The New England Wild Flower Society welcomes Mark Richardson as its new Director of Horticulture. Mark has an intriguing combination of strategic vision, skills, and experience that impressed everyone who interviewed him. A native of Rhode Island, Mark worked for four years as the assistant manager of a 45-acre nursery while earning his degree in Urban Horticulture at the University of Rhode Island. He then received his Master of Science in Public Horticulture from the Longwood Graduate Program as part of the University of Delaware. New degree in hand, he was asked by Longwood Gardens to run the undergraduate programs, and he spent his five years on staff in roles that encompassed strategic program development, design and development of a new garden area, and even leading the entire Education Department (with its $2.6 million budget) for seven months during the search for a new director. He left Longwood for Brookside Gardens, a botanic garden that is part of the Parks Department of Montgomery County, Maryland, where he served as the manager of adult education programs and frequent horticulture instructor/lecturer/author (and he developed a strategic plan for technology in the garden!). While he has enjoyed his work in education, his passion is plants, and he is excited to be shifting back to horticulture and his roots in New England.

  • Saturday, November 3, 10:00 am – 11:30 am – Naturally Curious

    Meet Mary Holland, the engaging author of Naturally Curious, A Photographic Field Guide and Month-by-Month Journey through the Fields, Woods, and Marshes of New England, and with her inspiration get started on your own journey of discovery, on Saturday, November 3, beginning at 10 am at Garden in the Woods in Framingham.  Mary guides you through a selection of each month’s most memorable natural events with information and images of native plants and wildlife, beginning in March when the earth awakens and ending in February at the end-of-year cycle.  After the presentation, examine the accompanying collection of skulls, scat, feathers, horns, antlers and more.  Books will be available for purchase and signing.  Co-sponsored by the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, New England Wild Flower Society, Mass Audubon Drumlin Farm, and Friends of Wellesley College Botanic Garden.  Members of any of the sponsoring organizations pay $10, non-members $15.  Register at www.newfs.org.

  • Mondays, October 22 – November 5, 10:00 am – Ecological Landscaping Techniques

    Decisions we make in our gardens today can have large impacts on the landscapes of tomorrow.  How do we ensure the long term sustainability of our backyards, business parks and public spaces?  Identify and address these potential problems by taking a comprehensive look at the landscape through the eyes of designers, horticuturists and botanists, in this three part New England Wild Flower Society class, to be held on three successive Mondays, October 22 (10 – 3), October 29 (10 – 3) and November 5 (10 – 2) at Garden in the Woods in Framingham.  Receive hands-on training in soil health and composting, plant ID and selection, storm water management and organic techniques – all filtered through the concepts of modern design.  Bring a bag lunch.  $216 for NEWFS members, $245 for non-members. Register at www.newfs.org. Photo from www.verbeeksculpture.com.

  • Tuesday, July 10, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm – Design Inspirations from New England’s Wild Landscapes

    Recapture the flavor of your favorite part of New England by designing a native plant community into your garden.  This Tuesday, July 10 lecture at Garden in the Woods in Framingham will include several examples of local naturalistic landscapes, some wild sites that “just grew,” some managed natural landscapes, and some that were designed as a recreation of a woodland, seacoast, or meadow location.  The instructor will be Laura Eisener, principal landscape designer at Laura D. Eisener Landscape Design.  Fee is $24 for NEWFS and ELA members, $29 for nonmembers.  Register at www.ecolandscaping.org.

  • Saturday, April 28, 9:30 am – 3:00 pm – Introduction to Willow Identification

    Willows are considered challenging for identification: variation within each species is so high that often at first glance plants belonging to different species resemble each other more than those of the same species. However, some characters remain constant and reliable, and with practice, willows become much more approachable. Irina Kadis and Alexey Zinovjev, Botanists and willow enthusiasts, will concentrate on the characters helpful for identification, using mostly common native and non-native species from Massachusetts as examples, on Saturday, April 28, from 9:30 – 3 at New England Wild Flower Society’s Garden in the Woods in Framingham. In the classroom they will have herbarium specimens, freshly cut branches, some forced branches for those species that flower later in spring, and also some potted plants to examine and compare. Bring a hand lens, if you have one. After lunch, you will carpool to a site a short distance away from Garden in the Woods for a walk. Boots are required, as the area is flooded during the spring time. Bring a lunch and beverage. (Note: Irina Kadis is Curatorial Assistant at the Arnold Arboretum’s Dana Greenhouses.)  Co-sponsored with the Arnold Arboretum. Fee $66 member, $80 nonmember.  Register at http://my.arboretum.harvard.edu/Info.aspx?EventID=1#April.  Image of melanostachys from www.thislittleworld.typepad.com.