Boston Flora

Tag: Shrubs

  • Wednesday, July 10, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm – Shrubs Across the Seasons: July

    Walk the Arnold Arboretum landscape with Michael Dosmann, Curator of Living Collections, to learn about shrubs, both common and lesser-known species. On Wednesday, July 10, beginning at 6:30 pm in the Hunnewell Building of the Arnold Arboretum, Michael will focus on those that display outstanding characteristics in summer. You’ll learn cultural requirements and see full-size specimens so you can determine which shrubs might suit your needs. There will be an additional session in September. See www.my.arboretum.harvard.edu for full information, and registration. Fee $20 Arboretum member, $27 nonmember. Below is a buttonbush, which blooms in June and July.

    http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/Portals/0/PlantFinder/low/G830-0901020.jpg

  • Saturday, April 27, 10:00 am – 1:00 pm – Transplanting Shrubs and Planting Small Ornamental Trees

    Learn by doing in this hands-on shrub and tree planting/transplanting workshop at Berkshire Botanical Garden on Saturday, April 27, from 10 – 1. All aspects of successful planting will be demonstrated, and participants will assist in transplanting a multi-stem shrub and planting a small tree. Learn how to successfully transplant shrubs by correct timing and placement and techniques designed to create minimal disturbance and ensure smooth transition to a new site. Consider the differences between bare-root, container-grown or balled-and-burlapped trees and understand the importance of siting. $35 for BBG members, $42 for nonmembers.  Register on line at www.berkshirebotanical.org.  Bring gloves and dress for weather.

    Ken Gooch is the Forest Health Program Director for the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation. Additionally he is a Massachusetts Certified Arborist and teaches arborculture at the Garden.  Image from www.organicconnectmag.com.

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  • Thursday, November 1, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm – Trees and Shrubs for Smaller Gardens

    Using trees and shrubs to good effect in small yards can be challenging. Arlington garden designer Sally Nash of Light & Shade Garden Design, Inc., will cover how to choose plants that will not outgrow the available space, where to buy the plants you have selected, and what to look for on plant labels, at this free Medford Garden Club lecture on Thursday, November 1, from 7 – 9. She’ll also touch on planting methods and pruning techniques that can help keep your plants in scale with their neighbors.  The event will take place at the Medford Public Library, 111 High Street in Medford.  For more information you may email sbcummer@msn.com.

  • Saturday, November 3, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon – Making Alcohol-Free Spirits: Cordials, Shrubs and Syrups from Fruit and Flowers

    Learn how to make syrups and shrubs from cultivated fruits such as raspberries, strawberries, currants and rhubarb, at this Berkshire Botanical Garden class to be held Saturday, November 3, from 10 – noon. Also consider berry essences and elixirs made with native plants such as elder flowers, milkweed and aronia. This workshop will focus on how to make syrups and shrubs at home. Enjoy tasting various combinations of products and making shrubs from a 19th-century recipe. Each participant will take home a finished bottle of red currant, raspberry or strawberry shrub, a recipe for a vinaigrette-made shrub, as well as cocktail recipes for using shrubs.

    Participants should also bring wide-mouth, quart-size glass jars that they will fill in class, take home to age and then turn into shrub from a simple recipe included with each jar.

    Kate Keravian is owner of Bug Hill Farm, Ashfield, MA. They grow and make berry essences and elixirs made with native plants such as elder flowers, milkweed and aronia. Their signature concoction is “Kiss of Cassis” an alcohol-free cordial made from whole pressed black currants slightly sweetened with local honey. Their products are made from whole fruit and flowers.  Cost is $22 for BBG members, $27 for non-members, nad you may register at www.berkshirebotanical.org.

  • Saturday, October 22, 11:00 am – 12:00 noon – Putting Your Landscape to Bed

    Mahoney’s Garden Center in Concord will conduct a free seminar entitled Putting Your Landscape to Bed on Saturday, October 22, from 11 – noon.  Do you know how to prepare your roses, dahlias, delphiniums or azaleas for the cold weather?  Mahoney’s in-house expert will show you how to prepare your beds and containers for the long wintr months.  Topics covered include annuals, perennials, trees, and shrubs, and the best way to winterize pottery, statuary, and fountains.  Sign up at www.mahoneysgarden.com.  In keeping with our “Japan Year” garden club program theme, below is a picture of cycads wrapped for winter in Kyoto, Japan, from Tokyo Moe, a blog about Nakano, Tokyo and public space, found at www.jaredinnakano.wordpress.com.

     

  • Saturday, August 7, 10:00 am – 2:00 pm – Shrubs Revisited

    What is woody, short and multi-stemmed? …When it comes to knowledge, it’s use it or lose it. Here is a chance to review 20-25 of the shrubs covered in New England Wild Flower Society’s core course “Native New England Shrubs” during a different season of the year. You will also learn several shrubs not covered in the core course. Instructor Roland “Boot” Boutwell might even add in a few summer wildflowers. And, if you haven’t taken the shrubs core course, this class will provide a good introduction to our New England shrubs. Our field site, the Horn Pond Conservation Land in Woburn, Massachusetts, is an area both rich and diverse and is one of NEWFS research botanist Arthur Haines’ favorite field sites. As you stroll throughout the property, you will focus on a few of the key ID characteristics and learn a bit about the natural history of each shrub. Bring a hand lens and your shrub cards, if you have them, as well as a bag lunch. $44 for NEWFS members, $52 for nonmembers.  Register at www.newfs.org.

    http://www.bluestoneperennials.com/images/items/350x350/HYPERICUM_androsaemum_GOLDEN_TUSAN.jpg

  • Wednesdays, July 14 and July 21, 10:00 am – 12:30 pm – Identifying Natives with Newcomb’s

    Learn to use Lawrence Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide for the first time or revisit an old friend to understand why this book remains one of the most popular and useful field guides for a non-botanist (botanists like it too). With its unique key, short accurate descriptions, and sensitive drawings by Gordon Morrison, you will be able to identify both woody and herbaceous native plants from rare wild flowers to tiny interesting weeds. Even if you have used this book before, you will enjoy getting to know about Newcomb’s history, his close observations in the field and in his own garden that helped him create a book light enough to carry, yet filled with 1,375 wildflowers, shrubs and vines of the Northeastern United States. Receive a solid grounding in “Newcomb’s,” which will serve you well as you take other botany courses in the New England Wild Flower Society’s Certificate Program.  The classes will be held on Wednesday, July 14 and Wednesday, July 21, from 10 – 12:30, at Garden in the Woods in Framingham, and are taught by Carol Govan, a past speaker at  Garden Club of the Back Bay meetings.  NEWFS member fee is $55, $65 for nonmembers, and you may register at www.newfs.org.

    http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_iwgYXDv5f7w/Sipnyyrbb3I/AAAAAAAABFc/CXETCnLI3OA/s320/Newcomb.jpg

  • Saturday, June 19, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon – Making More Woody Plants – Taking Cuttings

    Longing for that special hydrangea? Learn how to propagate easy to grow shrubs and trees in a class at Berkshire Botanical Garden, 5 West Stockbridge Road, West Stockbridge on Saturday, June 19,  from 10 – noon,  with woody plant specialist Adam Wheeler. He will cover how to collect, prepare and propagate shrubs and trees from softwood cuttings. Set at a good time of the year, participants will take cuttings, make a simple propagator and learn techniques needed for insuring successful rooting. Easily propagated shrub varieties, cultivation requirements, timing and care will be the focus of this program. Participants will go home with some great plant material.  Materials are included in the cost of the class, but please bring your own hand pruners.   $40 members of BBG, $45 non members.  Register on line at www.berkshirebotanical.org, or call 413-298-3926.

    Adam Wheeler is the Propagation and New Plant Development Manager for Broken Arrow Nursery located in Hamden, Ct. a specialty nursery with a focus on woody plants, especially kalmias (below.)  He has an M.S. in Plant and Soil Science form the University of Vermont and he teaches woody plant propagation workshops throughout New England.

    http://www.english-country-garden.com/a/i/flowers/kalmia-5.jpg

  • Saturday, May 15, 8:30 am – 11:00 am – Perennial Plant Sale

    The Brockton Garden Club will hold a Perennial Plant Sale on Saturday, May 15, from 8:30 am – 11:00 am at the Brockton Park Department headquarters, 45 Meadow Lane in Brockton (former site of the Campello Swimming Pool).  See new plants, old favorites, perennials, shrubs, herbs, ground covers, grasses, house plants and more.  The Scholarship Committee will have hardy geraniums for sale in a veriety of colors.  Proceeds fund the Brockton Garden Club’s city-wide Civic Projects and Scholarship Fund.  For more information and directions, log on to www.brocktongc.org.

    http://www.cdngeraniums.com/images/shows/Before-08-Ian.jpg

  • Mondays, January 25 and February 1, 10:00 am – 12 noon – Winter Shrubs and Plantings

    Sandy Vorce is the study group leader for this two part class in Winter Shrubs and Plantings, part of the Tufts University Osher Life Long Learning Institute conducted at Tufts’ Medford campus.  From berries to needles, branch color to fragrance, there are many shrubs that hold particular interest in the New England winter landscape.  Explore the variety, habitat and value of these plants through photographs, stories and samples.  The first session takes place Monday, January 25, and the second will be held Monday, February 1, from 10:00 am – 12 noon.  Sandy Vorce is the Property Manager at Mass Audubon Habitat Education Center and Wildlife Sanctuary.  She is a Master Gardener trained in ecological landscaping and has a passion for nature and love of wildlife. Call 617-627-5699, or log on to www.ase.tufts.edu/lli for more information.  $50 for Osher Life Long Learning Institute members, $85 (includes annual membership dues) for the general public.

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