Wright-Locke Farms in Winchester is bringing back Farm Talks! This year, each community talk will focus on topics related to sustainability. First up, on April 14 at 7 pm, we host a panel discussion about pollinators, poisons, and planting. Learn what you can do to support healthy ecosystems in your yard and community. These talks will give you a wide range of information to be a better environmental steward, a cause very close to our hearts.
Most of us know honeybees for the delicious honey they create (and the occasional sting!) But for scientists, the non-native honeybee represents a potential threat to our native bumblebees and butterflies. Biology Professor Dr. Richard Primack has been studying these insects at the Arnold Arboretum, observing flower visitors at over 600 plant species to determine if honeybees and native pollinators can co-exist. Join him for a research talk on December 7 from noon – 1:15 at the Hunnewell Lecture Hall. For more information visit https://arboretum.harvard.edu/events-2/program-catalog/
This American Horticultural Society virtual presentation on May 8 at 7 pm Eastern is a fascinating journey showcasing the development of different flower types and the presentation of floral resources to pollinators. Exploring the types of insect pollinators, their foraging behavior, and the floral features that attract pollinators, Heather will provide many specific examples of how native plants are pollinated and what pollinator is most effective and why. Please note, this program will not be recorded.
Heather Holm is a pollinator conservationist and award-winning author of four books: Pollinators of Native Plants (2014), Bees(2017), Wasps (2021), and Common Native Bees of the Eastern United States (2022). Both Beesand Wasps have won multiple book awards including the American Horticultural Society Book Award (2018 and 2022 respectively). Heather’s expertise includes the interactions between native pollinators and native plants, and the natural history and biology of native bees and predatory wasps. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, Minneapolis Star Tribune, and many local publications. Heather is also an accomplished photographer and her pollinator photos are frequently featured in print and electronic publications.
Heather serves on the boards of the following non-profits: Friends of Cullen Nature Preserve and Bird Sanctuary, Friends of Minnetonka Parks, and the new Minnesota Oak Savanna Chapter of The Prairie Enthusiasts. In her spare time, she is an active community supporter, writing grants, and coordinating and participating in volunteer ecological landscape restoration projects. The latest project is a 13-acre oak savanna restoration that will provide thriving habitat for pollinators, birds, mammals, and passive, nature-based opportunities for people. REGISTER NOW. $15 AHS members, $20 nonmembers.
The Garden Club of the Back Bay welcomes Master Gardener Denise Guerin on March 27 at 10 am at The Chilton Club on Commonwealth Avenue. She will discuss successful pollinator habitats created in places as different as suburban gardens to apartment decks, small urban yards and patios to parking lot “hell strips”. This is a members only meeting, but it’s never too late to join at https://bostonflora.com/.
Denise Guerin is a gardening expert with the Massachusetts Master Gardeners Association and volunteer with the Ohrenberger School Pollinator Garden. Her primary focus is on growing native plants and creating habitats for native bees, birds and insect pollinators.
There is a growing awareness that pollinators are important, and that they’re in trouble. We know that pollinators need flowers and that they are responsible for much of the food we eat, but we’re maybe a little vague on the details. Pollinators, particularly insect pollinators, do need flowers – lots of flowers, and the right kinds of flowers – so diversity and quantity are big factors. But let’s back up a bit. Why are there flowers in the first place? And for that matter, why are there fruits and berries? Surely they didn’t evolve just for human pleasure and sustenance. There’s more to it, and it’s a fascinating story of interrelationships.
This March 12 online presentation by the Massachusetts Horticultural Society is not an i.d. presentation, it’s about best plants and practices. Gardeners are uniquely able to support the entire life cycle of beneficial insects and other pollinators. Good plant choices and land care, coupled with simple awareness of the living world buzzing all around us make all the difference. After all, we’re not just cultivating flowers, we’re cultivating habitat.
Instrucctor Karen Bussolini is a nationally known garden photographer with 6 books to her credit, a writer and speaker, and an eco-friendly garden coach. Her art background and focus on environmental topics – ecological landscaping, native plants, biodiversity, xeriscaping, organic gardening, planting for wildlife, pollinators, and other beneficial insects – inform every aspect of her work. Her slide talks combine beautiful original images, recent scientific findings, personal observations, hands-on experience, and a touch of humor. She is a NOFA-Accredited Organic Land Care Professional and an active member of GardenComm (formerly GWA), The Association of Garden Communicators. Karen is currently the Senior Horticultural Advisor at White Flower Farm in Connecticut.
Join UMass Extension for this January 30 virtual winter workshop about pollinators. Get the latest buzz on the status of pollinators in Massachusetts from state apiary inspectors as well as researchers at the University of Massachusetts. Aspects of the health of honeybees and bumblebees will be discussed, along with “lesser-known heroes” of the pollinator world: ants, beetles, flies, butterflies, sawflies, and wasps! $35. Registration and a complete itinerary are at https://ag.umass.edu/landscape/events/winter-workshop-pollinator-topics
In recent years, seasonal patterns have become unstable. Climate change requires smart gardening practices. In response, horticultural science and gardening best practices are constantly evolving. As gardeners, we can have a positive impact by creating a resilient, ecologically-friendly landscape.
Interested in digging deeper? Massachusetts Master Gardeners’ ten-week boot camp will provide you with information to help combat climate change and support a healthier environment. Our series begins with an in-depth discussion of what an ecosystem is and how you can use that knowledge to enrich your own landscape. We then explore how you can build ecologically-friendly gardens from shade to groundcovers.
WHY WE CALL IT BOOT CAMP: In recent years “Boot Camps” have become popular for everything from parkour to yoga to chess and even knitting! The MMGA is not about the latest fads or fashions, but it occurred to us that our program and all these other boot camps share something in common: they are short, focused, and led by subject matter experts. And they help you take a favorite pursuit to the next level by imparting knowledge and skills that you can put to use both immediately and long-term.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND: Boot Camp is designed for home gardeners at all levels of experience who are looking to build an ecologically-friendly landscape. Information is presented in a way that is easily understandable to less experienced gardeners while including enough science-based background to be useful to everyone. While much of Boot Camp’s content is geared to Massachusetts, gardeners in other lower New England states may also benefit.
WHAT YOU’LL LEARN IN BOOT CAMP/Program Topics:
Landscapes / Ecosystems
Native New England Plants
Creating a Pollinator Habitat Anywhere
Creating an Eco-friendly Garden
Shade Gardening
Groundcovers
Lawn and Lawn Alternatives
Water Wisdom: Save water, the environment and money
Composting
Inviting Wildlife into your Yard
Click HERE for Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs),including a complete list of program topics.
WHO ARE THE PRESENTERS: Sessions are taught by our most experienced Certified Master Gardeners who are passionate subject matter experts and trained presenters. They started out as home gardeners just like you, so they know what information will help you the most.
YOUR INVESTMENT AND WHY IT’S WORTH IT: The fee for all ten sessions of Boot Camp is $250, payable online by credit card or PayPal. This averages out to just $25 per session – $12.50 for each of the 20 hours you’ll spend in class.
Here are just some of what makes Home Gardener Boot Camp unique:
It’s the only program of its kind taught exclusively by Certified Massachusetts Master Gardeners.
Classes are geared toward learning about the biodiversity of landscapes and ecosystems which are intimately connected. You’ll learn the right habitat for flora and fauna to thrive in your landscape.
Because sessions are live, you will have the opportunity to interact with presenters via a 30-minute Q&A. No relevant questions will go unanswered: If we run out of time, we’ll get back to you with written responses.
Missed class? No problem. Classes will be recorded and available for viewing up to 1 week after the missed lecture to paid registrants.
To provide an ongoing reference, most lectures include handouts, which will be emailed.
Strategic conservation in farmed and urban landscapes can disproportionately increase biodiversity. Nick Haddad has worked for three decades to understand how to conserve landscapes to benefit pollinators and other species. He has created large experiments to test the role of targeted conservation efforts. For example, landscape corridors through urban and farmed landscapes can create superhighways for plants and animals to increase their presence, abundance, and diversity. Read more about the Ecological Landscape Alliance webinar on January 18 and register HERE.
If you have a patch of lawn, you may consider participating in No Mow May, an initiative where neighborhoods, or even just individuals, refrain from moving their lawns for the entire month to help out pollinators. Wright-Locke Farm clued us into it, and the New York Times published a recent article with details and some special pictures. The movement is also alive and well and was started in Great Britain and in Wales, where towns are asked to let their parks and road verges go wild. The site Plantlife has details. So take a month off and enjoy your pollinators.
What do an annoying house fly, the nearly endangered Mexican long-tongued bat, and a poop-eating butterfly have in common? Each creature, respectively, is the reason we are able to enjoy a bite of chocolate, a nip of tequila, or the calming scent of lavender.
Liana Vitali, a naturalist and educator at Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary in Maryland, tells fascinating stories about pollinators around the world during an immersive audio-visual survey. From bees to bats and everything in between, Vitali’s vignettes offer an entertaining, informative glimpse into the lives of these pollinating winged marvels—and how our lives depend to a great extent on their unique and wild ways.
This Smithsonian Associates online talk will take place April 6 beginning at 6:45 pm, and is $20 for Smithsonian members, $25 for nonmembers. Register at www.smithsonianassociates.org.
If you register multiple individuals, you will be asked to supply individual names and email addresses so they can receive a Zoom link email. Please note that if there is a change in program schedule or a cancellation, we will notify you via email, and it will be your responsibility to notify other registrants in your group. Unless otherwise noted, registration for streaming programs typically closes two hours prior to the start time on the date of the program. Once registered, patrons should receive an automatic email confirmation from CustomerService@SmithsonianAssociates.org. Separate Zoom link information will be emailed closer to the date of the program. If you do not receive your Zoom link information 24 hours prior to the start of the program, please email Customer Service for assistance.
