Boston Flora

Tag: Ohio State University

  • Sundays, January 23, February 27, and March 27, 2:00 pm – The Big Chill: Early Environmental Histories of Climate Change, Online

    Historic Deerfield presents a free three part virtual lecture series beginning Sunday, January 23 at 2 pm, and continuing monthly. From a centuries-long Little Ice Age to the global aftermath of the largest volcanic eruption in the last 10,000 years, this year’s series is devoted to early environmental histories and their impact on people and places. Join us for three virtual webinars this winter exploring how North American Indigenous communities and European colonizers understood and experienced the plunging temperatures and deep freezes, catastrophic flooding, and severe droughts and famine that became part of cultural memory and identity.

    Topics include The Problem of Climate in Early Colonial History, presented by Sam White of Ohio State University, Tambora: The Eruption that Changed the World, presented by Gillen D’Arcy Wood of University of Illinois, and Snow Cover and Winter Knowledge of the Little Ice Age, presented by Thomas M. Wickman of Trinity College. Thomas Wickman, by the way, is author of Snowshoe Country: An Environmental and Cultural History of Winter in the Early American Northeast.

    Free, but registration is required by clicking HERE This lecture series will be presented live via Zoom webinar. The link to the webinar will be sent to registrants prior to the event. Webinar will be recorded and available to registrants for viewing for two weeks after the live event.

  • Saturday, March 25, 1:30 pm – 2:30 pm – Plants, Pollinators, and How to Support Them

    On Saturday, March 25 at 1:30 pm at Tower Hill Botanic Garden, 11 French Drive in Boylston, Joseph Tychonievich explains the interesting ways plants have evolved to attract their preferred pollinators. Along with a tour of nature’s most creative (and sometimes disgusting) methods of connecting pollinators and plants, Joseph discusses ways to foster biodiversity in your own garden and shows examples of managing garden pests by letting other insects do the dirty work.

    A life long gardener and lover of plants, Joseph earned his BS in horticulture from Ohio State University, went on to work for Shibamichi Honten Nursery in Saitama, Japan, has been a repeated guest on public radio’s food show The Splendid Table, wrote a book, Plant Breeding for the Home Gardener,  Timber Press, 2013), spent two years working at the famed rare plants nursery Arrowhead Alpines and was named by Organic Gardening Magazine as one of “…six young horticulturists who are helping to shape how America gardens.” Joseph’s most recent book is Rock Gardening: Reimagining a Classic Style (Timber Press, 2016). Currently Joseph lives and gardens with his husband and an adorable black cat in SE Michigan. $15 for Tower Hill members, $25 for nonmembers. Register online at www.towerhillbg.org.

  • Saturday, September 24, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm – Plant Breeding in the Home Garden

    It’s the holy grail of gardening: a plant that perfectly matches your tastes and the conditions in your garden. The hitch? You’re not likely to find it at your local garden center. You’re going to have to create it yourself. But don’t worry—it isn’t hard. After all, gardeners have been doing it for centuries, simply by saving seeds of the varieties that tasted or performed best. This Berkshire Botanical Garden talk on Saturday, September 24, co-sponsored with the Berkshire Chapter of the North American Rock Garden Society, will get you started with the basics of how to produce a new variety of hosta, a tomato perfect for your palette (or climate), a pepper with just the right amount of heat, or a more fragrant rose!

    Part of a new generation of gardeners, Joseph Tchonievich earned his B.S. in horticulture from Ohio State University, went on to work for Shibamichi Honten Nursery in Saitama, Japan, and wrote a book, Plant Breeding for the Home Gardener, spent two years working at the famed rare plants nursery, Arrowhead Alpines, and was named by Organic Gardening magazine as one of “six young horticulturists who are helping to shape how America gardens.” BBG members $20, nonmembers $25. Register online at http://www.berkshirebotanical.org.