Boston Flora

Tag: Smith College

  • Tuesday, November 14, 5:15 pm – 7:30 pm – Drafting the Cape Cod Formula

    When the National Park Service wanted to create a federal park on Cape Cod, residents worried about what would happen to their homes, communities, and coastal traditions. This Massachusetts Historical Society lecture examines how citizens articulated their concerns, and how these responses helped the NPS and Senators John F. Kennedy and Leverett Saltonstall to create a new acquisition and land management policy that would then be applied to other living landscapes. The lecture will be given at the Massachusetts Historical Society building on Boylston Street in Boston by Jacqueline Gonzales of Historical Research Associates, with comment by Steven Moga of Smith College.

    Free and open to the public. To RSVP: email seminars@masshist.org or call (617) 646-0579.

  • From the Archives: Road Tripping

    In June of 1982, Club members traveled to Hammersmith Farm in Newport.  Lunch followed at The Inn at Castle Hill. Hammersmith Farm was built by John W. Auchincloss in 1887 as his family’s 28-room summer “cottage.” After Jacqueline Bouvier, daughter of Mrs. Hugh Auchincloss, became Mrs. John F. Kennedy, the wedding reception was held at Hammersmith Farm. President Kennedy and his wife enjoyed visiting the farm when they could find the time, and no wonder. Beautiful rolling lawns and gardens, nature paths and copses of trees—not to mention the lovely old house itself—make the farm a seaside paradise.
    Mrs. Auchincloss sold Hammersmith Farm mansion in 1977, and it was opened to the public until recently, when it was reclaimed as a private residence. Many of its original furnishings from the times when it figured prominently in the news have been sold off. Those who had the opportunity to visit were fortunate indeed.

    The Garden Club of the Back Bay offers a selection of road trips as part of each year’s program calendar.  This season we traveled to Wellesley for a program at the Botanic Garden on cycads and gymnosperms, to Smith College for a peek at greenhouses and evolutionary plant murals, and to Windermere Community Gardens for a groundbreaking ceremony, in addition to two trips to The Country Club in Brookline for Boston Committee of the GCA meetings and lectures.  Our great disappointment is the lack of widespread support these trips garner.  While in theory everyone wants the opportunity to “get out of town” in practice we find difficulties in scheduling members to attend.  We encourage all members to consider participating in future field trips, and anyone wishing to organize an outing should email info@bostonflora.com.

  • Tuesday, March 21, 9:00 am departure, 11:00 am program – Plant Life Through the Ages

    Tuesday, March 21, 9:00 am departure, 11:00 am program – Plant Life Through the Ages

    Smith College recently installed Plant Life Through the Ages: A Mural of Plant Evolution, and The Garden Club of the Back Bay is privileged to visit the Botanic Garden of Smith College, 16 College Lane in Northampton, and view the mural with Madelaine Zadik, Manager of Education and Outreach. We will have time to explore the Lyman Plant House as well. The field trip will take place Tuesday, March 21, with a Back Bay departure time of 9 am, and projected return by 4 pm. A delicious a la carte lunch in Northampton will be planned before returning to Boston in the afternoon. Garden Club members will receive written notification, but if you are not a member but are interested in joining us at 11 am in Northampton, email info@bostonflora.com for information. Numbers are limited and priority will be given to GCBB members.

  • Saturday, March 12, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon – Can I Grow It Here, Now, and How?

    Today’s horticultural climate offers a vast selection of native and exotic plants, soil amendments, watering systems, fertilizers, and methods of pest management. And today’s changing gardening climate offers a vast array of shifting seasons, unexpected storms, early-season heat spikes, late frosts, floods, and droughts, as well as a host of new diseases and insects. What’s a New England gardener to do in the face of all these challenges and choices? On Saturday, March 12 from 10 – noon at the Berkshire Botanical Garden, Dr. Kim Tripp, former Director of the Botanic Garden of Smith College and of the New York Botanical Garden, will identify immediate and pressing climate-change problems while sharing specific solutions for planning, planting, and keeping gardens and gardeners vital. Drawing on her extensive experience with growing thousands of different plants from around the world in stressful native and non-native environments, she will discuss how to design, plan, plant, and maintain diverse garden styles and plants in the northeastern U.S. in the face of increasing environmental change and unpredictability.

    Kim Tripp, D.O., Ph.D. After an extensive career dedicated to plants and botanical gardens, Dr. Tripp is now also a fully licensed osteopathic physician in practice at Goldman/Tripp Osteopathic Healthcare in Sharon, CT. She completed her post-doctoral work in plant science at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University and has taught and lectured on a broad range of horticultural and botanical subjects. $35. Register online at www.berkshirebotanical.org.

  • Thursday, December 3, 7:00 pm – Plant Life Through the Ages: A Mural of Plant Evolution

    The Smith College Botanic Garden is proud to unveil a new 60-foot mural, consisting of eight panels depicting great moments in plant evolution. While there are numerous depictions of animal evolution, until now there has been no mural devoted specifically to the evolution of plants. Seeing this opportunity, the Botanic Garden stepped in to commission a mural and fill the void. The stunning paintings were created by muralist Robert Evans. With a specialty in natural history, ethnography, and history, his work can be found at the Smithsonian, Mount Vernon, and numerous museums, zoos, and aquaria. This is his first installation at a botanical garden.

    To celebrate the opening of Plant Life Through the Ages, they have invited paleobotanist James W. Walker to speak about plant evolution and the mural. The lecture will take place in the Campus Center Carroll Room. Dr. Walker is Paleobotanical Consultant on the Mural and Emeritus Professor of Biology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. The talk will be followed by a reception and viewing of the mural at the Lyman Plant House.

    The eight panels will permanently reside along the corridor to the Palm House.

  • Friday, November 6, 7:30 pm – Horticultural Insights into Plant Conservation and Climate Change

    Climate change is predicted to be a major threat to biodiversity in coming years. It is unclear how plant species will respond to this challenge: if they will be able to tolerate new climatic conditions in their native ranges, or if their dispersal and migration capacities will be sufficient to keep up as their preferred climate zones shift northward.

    Native plant horticulture in the eastern U.S. provides a largely untapped trove of data on these pressing questions, as many species have been grown outside their native ranges for decades and, in some cases, have even escaped to colonize new geographic areas. These data are helping to recalibrate ecological models and guide the development of new conservation approaches, including controversial steps like “assisted migration”.

    Dr. Jesse Bellemare is an assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Smith College. His research focuses on plant ecology, biogeography, and conservation in relation to climate change, as well as ecosystem changes caused by exotic species. He will speak on Friday, November 6 at 7:30 pm in the Campus Center Carroll Room as the Fall Chrysanthemum Show Opening Lecture.

    A reception and preview of the Fall Chrysanthemum Show at the Lyman Plant House will follow. For more information visit https://www.smith.edu/garden/Home/events.html The Chrysanthemum Show, featuring ikebana by Smith College Students, runs from Saturday, November 7 – Sunday, November 22, 10 – 4 daily. Friday extended hours 10 – 8. Suggested donation $5.

  • Thursday, June 4 – Monday, June 8 – Garden Days at the Emily Dickinson Museum

    Take part in one of Emily Dickinson’s favorite pastimes – gardening.  Join the staff of The Emily Dickinson Museum June 4-8 for Garden Days, an annual effort to prepare the Museum’s historic grounds for summer. Volunteers with all levels of experience are welcome to plant, weed, and beautify under the direction of landscape historian Marta McDowell, author of Emily Dickinson’s Gardens.

    Garden Days begins on Thursday, June 4, during the monthly Amherst Art Walk. A Garden Days volunteer meet-up and orientation starts at 5 pm, followed by an “art in the garden” session until 7 pm. At 6:45 pm, a poetry reading by Amherst-area poets Seth Landman and Kelin Loe will be held in the Homestead parlor.

    On Saturday, June 6, at 3 pm, Marta McDowell will lead a free tour of the museum grounds. This event is open to the public, and begins in the Homestead garden.

    As a special thank you, Garden Days volunteers are invited to tour the Museum at no charge on Sunday, June 7. Tours will be held at 12:30 pm, 1:30 pm, 2:30 pm, and 3:30 pm. For more information, or to sign up for a Volunteer Shift below, visit http://www.emilydickinsonmuseum.org/node/473?utm_source=Garden+Days+2015&utm_campaign=Garden+Days+2015&utm_medium=email

    VOLUNTEER SHIFTS
    Friday, June 5
    9 am – noon and 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm
    Saturday, June 6
    9 am – noon and 4 pm – 6 pm
    Sunday, June 7
    9 am – noon
    Monday, June 8
    9 am – noon
    Marta McDowell lives, gardens and writes in Chatham, New Jersey. She teaches landscape history and gardening at the New York Botanical Garden, where she was named “Instructor of the Year” in 2011. Her book, Emily Dickinson’s Gardens, was published by McGraw-Hill in 2005, and she was an advisor for the New York Botanical Garden’s 2010 show.

    Her latest book, Beatrix Potter’s Gardening Life, was published by Timber Press in 2013. Marta is active in the Chatham Community Garden and is on the board of the NJ Historical Foundation at the Cross Estate in Bernardsville. Her husband, Kirke Bent, summarizes her biography as “I am therefore I dig.”

    Seth Landman is the author of four chapbooks and the full-length poetry collections Confidence (Brooklyn Arts Press, 2015) and Sign You Were Mistaken (Factory Hollow Press, 2013). His work can be found in Boston Review, iO, Jellyfish, Lit, and elsewhere. He received his PhD in Creative Writing and Literature from the University of Denver (2013) and an MFA from the University of Massachusetts (2008) where he is currently an Academic Advisor in Humanities and Fine Arts.

    Kelin Loe is the author of These Are The Gloria Stories (Factory Hollow Press 2014) and the chapbook The Motorist (minutesBOOKS 2010). She lives in Northampton, MA, and is working towards a PhD in Rhetoric at UMass Amherst.

    The Emily Dickinson Museum: The Homestead and The Evergreens, opens for 2015 on Wednesday, March 4. Museum hours are 11 am to 4 pm, Wednesday through Sunday. Find out more about visiting here.

    The Emily Dickinson Museum is dedicated to educating diverse audiences about the poet’s life, family, creative work, times, and enduring relevance, and to preserving and interpreting the Homestead and The Evergreens as historical resources for public and academic enrichment.

    The Emily Dickinson Museum is owned by the Trustees of Amherst College and overseen by a separate Board of Governors. The Museum is responsible for raising its own operating and capital funds.

    The Emily Dickinson Museum is a member of Museums10, a collaboration of ten museums linked to the Five Colleges in the Pioneer Valley–Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, and Smith Colleges, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

  • Friday, June 5, 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm, Saturday, June 6, 8:00 am – 4:00 pm, and Sunday, June 5, 9:00 am – 1:00 pm – 7 – New England Botanical Club 120th Anniversary Research Conference

    Come celebrate New England Botanical Club’s 120th anniversary at this historic free research conference, to be held at Smith College in Northampton Friday – Sunday, June 5 – 7.

    Botanical societies and practicing scientists enliven and advance plant science. Academic biologists and citizen-scientists generate important new discoveries about the flora. They also inspire a new generation of students who continue to expand scientific knowledge and work to conserve plants and ecosystems.

    Meetings, field trips, and conferences are vital ways to infuse all botanists with new energy and visions for the future. Botanists of northeastern North America will showcase their activities and research.  Botanical societies will brainstorm on opportunities for future research and collaboration.

    The weekend kicks off Friday with a reception at the Smith College Greenhouses from 5 – 7.  Registration begins Saturday at 8, followed by a morning session with talks by botanical researchers and exhibit tables on display by botanical societies.  The keynote speaker will follow the buffet lunch.  Editor in Chief of the American Journal of Botany Dr. Pamela Diggle (pictured) will address the conference.  She is also Past President of the Botanical Society of America.  An afternoon session follows the speech.  Sunday at 9, at the MacLeish Field Station, there will be a brainstorm meeting: ensuring the future of botanical societies.  Then at 11:30, take a botanical foray of the 240 acre field station (bag lunch provided.) The weekend is co-sponsored by Smith College Department of Biological Sciences.  Register at www.rhodora.org.

  • Monday, December 15, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Climate Change and Plant Conservation: Is Managed Relocation an Option?

    Join Jesse Bellemare, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, Smith College, on Monday, December 15, from 7 – 8:30 pm at the Hunnewell Building of the Arnold Arboretum, as he discusses Climate Change and Plant Conservation: Is Managed Relocation an Option? Climate change is projected to be one of the top threats to biodiversity in coming decades. Species with small geographic ranges, often called “endemics”, may be at especially high risk of extinction because unsuitable climatic conditions could develop rapidly across the entirety of their ranges. If such species are unable to disperse long distances on their own to follow suitable climatic conditions, it has been proposed that human-assisted colonization or “managed relocation” might be an option of last resort to avoid extinctions. With this approach, climate-threatened species would be intentionally translocated to new regions as conditions deteriorated within their native ranges. Dr. Bellemare will speak about his research to better understand how the distribution and diversity of these rare species is related to past climate change, such as the Ice Ages, and to predict how the species might respond to the threat of modern anthropogenic climate change. Will managed relocation of species be a viable solution to prevent rare species extinction? Register at https://my.arboretum.harvard.edu/Info.aspx?DayPlanner=1386&DayPlannerDate=12/15/2014. $5 for Arboretum members, $10 for nonmembers.  Image of New England Blazing Star from www.nantucketconservation.org.

  • Through November 30 – Chrysanthemums at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

    Dozens of varieties of chrysanthemums appear in the courtyard in late October. Japanese-style single-stem chrysanthemums mix with traditional types in an explosion of color and texture.

    To create this unique exhibit, Museum gardeners and volunteers work from June to October using Japanese cultivation methods to create a single stalk and a single flower on each specimen plant. Over the spring and summer, each plant is pinched weekly (this is called disbudding) and fertilized at specific intervals. This style, which produces a large single bloom, is called ogiku.

    The Japanese technique of training chrysanthemums became popular in the West around the turn of the century. Within Isabella Gardner’s lifetime, many chrysanthemums were grown on her Brookline estate, Green Hill, and won awards at the Massachusetts Horticultural Society’s fall flower shows. The Museum later won top awards from the Massachusetts Horticultural Society for its chrysanthemums in 1934 and 1936.

    Chrysanthemums were first cultivated as an herb in ancient China and arrived in Japan in the 8th Century. Cultivation of the flower was originally permitted only in the gardens of the emperor and the nobility. They were introduced to the western world in the 17th Century. Today, sumptuous festivals are held in celebration of the flower throughout Japan.

    The Chrysanthemums display is made possible in part by the Barbara Millen and Markley H. Boyer Endowment Fund for Horticulture. The Museum thanks Longwood Gardens and the Botanic Garden of Smith College for their generous donations of single-stem chrysanthemum cuttings for the 2014 Chrysanthemums display.

    The Courtyard features plants that are actively growing and constantly changing. Courtyard images include plants that are representative of each display, but plants will be added or replaced over the life of the display. For more information visit www.gardnermuseum.org.