Boston Flora

Tag: trees

  • Saturday, June 5, 11:00 am – 25th Annual Tower Hill Plant Sale

    It’s hard to believe that 25 years have passed since the first Plant Sale was held on the rough field and lawn in front of the Farmhouse.  That sale attracted nearly 400 visitors – pretty astonishing for the first sale at the brand new headquarters of the Worcester County Horticultural Society. At its peak, the sale has attracted as many as 3,100 visitors, expanding to become one of Tower Hill’s largest fundraisers.

    Because of the construction  at the core of the property, this year’s sale will be held in the grassy overflow parking field adjacent to the paved lots.  Some details remain the same: one of the many benefits of Tower Hill’s Plant Sale is the ability to select from the specialty offerings of more than a dozen participating Plant Societies, including Bamboo, Cactus & Succulent, Conifer, Daylily, Epimedium, Fern, Heather, Hosta, Indoor Gardeners, Lilac, Magnolia, Miniature Plants, Orchid, Rhododendron, and Rose.  These ardent devotees are wild about their specific plant interests and can offer great tips on care and growing.  Please note that a Tower Hill member discount card does not apply to sales in the plant society area, and most of the societies are able to accept only cash or checks.

    More than 12,000 plants will be available for sale:  unusual perennials, herbs and everlastings, shrubs and trees, including Cary Award Winners, natives, annuals, incredible edibles, and Tower Hill “Best Buy” plants – donated divisions from beautiful plants grown by members. Special Plant Sale T-shirts to commemorate the 25th anniversary will be sold, and there will be Plant Giveaways to our early arriving members.  Two silent auctions on the day of the Plant Sale feature a variety of choice, hard to find, specimen plants and garden ornaments.  Register first and enjoy the challenge of competing with other plant enthusiasts for the plants that spark your interest.  Tower Hill members enjoy the benefit of early admission at 9 a.m.  For more information, call 508-869-6111, or log on to www.towerhillbg.org.

    http://www.soonerplantfarm.com/_ccLib/image/plants/DETA-835.jpg

  • Saturday, April 17, 8:00 am – 4:00 pm – Cape Cod Horticultural Conference

    Come to the Barnstable High School Performing Arts Center, 744 West Main Street in Hyannis on Saturday, April 17, for a full day conference beginning at 8:00 am – 4:00 pm, sponsored by the Master Gardener Association of Cape Cod.  The program will feature:

    Rick Darke, The Wild Garden: A fresh look at the wild garden concept and will illustrate why it is the most enjoyable, sensible approach for livable, ecologically sustainable modern landscapes;

    Vincent Simeone, Wonders of the Winter Landscape: How to enhance the aesthetic value and interest of the garden by using horticultural treasures such as winter fruiting plants, broadleaved evergreens, conifers and trees with interesting bark;

    C.L. Fornari, The Top 25: 25 plants that she thinks you should know about, along with the 25 most interesting/amusing/useful bits of gardening information she has learned in over 25 years of gardening.

    Book signings with speakers, lunch, marketplace, and a raffle will be part of the day. MCLP and MCH professional credits are available.  The cost of $60 includes lunch.  For more information, call 508-375-6690, or email tramos@barnstablecounty.org.  You may also find information at www.capecodextension.org.

    http://diggingdog.com/bookcovers/pockgdgrasses.jpg

  • Garden Club of the Back Bay Holiday Wreaths – More Reasons to Buy

    We are often asked “What does the Garden Club do?”  Throughout this web site, you will find much information about our mission and our projects, but essentially we are all about the trees.  Previously we explored our pruning project, and today we’d like to introduce you to the magic of mulch, and why we do it.

    When we plant a new street tree on the sidewalks of the Back Bay (and we plant, on average, ten new trees a year in empty tree pits), we install a PVC pipe perforated with holes and topped with a removable cap to facilitate deep watering.  We contact abutting neighbors and find a good citizen willing to provide auxiliary water to the newly planted tree for a period of two years, and then we mulch.  The mulch moderates the temperature of the soil surrounding the tree and lessens evaporation, very important on hot summer days.  A young tree undergoes the same transplant shock that flats of flowers do, but while a small pansy plant can recover rapidly with a quart of water, the tree needs far more moisture to thrive.

    Needless to say, mulch isn’t free.  We purchase bales and bales of mulch and volunteer members clean out the tree pits (cigarette butts are but one of many unmentionable bits of garbage we find discarded next to our beloved trees) and add a few inches of mulch, carefully keeping the mulch away from the bark so we don’t promote rot.  That mulch money comes, in part, from your support of our Holiday Wreath sale, and we hope that, when you decide to purchase one of our gorgeous wreaths, you’ll think of how grateful the young trees will be when they are tucked in to bed with their blankets of mulch.  Click here to order.

  • Saturday, November 14, 9:00 – 11:00 am – Asian Longhorn Beetle Battle

    Asian Longhorned Beetle (“ALB”) is an invasive wood-boring pest that was discovered in Worcester, MA in August 2008. It is a huge threat to the trees that grow in our parks and along every street, and puts the livelihood of our state’s forests as well as our nursery and maple syrup industries at risk. Help us survey Boston’s trees for signs of this invasive beetle. Learn how to recognize ALB and ALB tree damage, and what trees are most vulnerable. A brief training session will be held before the survey. Meet Saturday, November 14 (raindate Sunday, November 15) at 9:00 am on the Commonwealth Avenue Mall at Arlington Street.  Wear comfortable shoes and bring water.  Call 617-626-1735 to register.  For more information, log on to http://massnrc.org/pests/alb.  This survey is sponsored by the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources.

    http://www.columbia.edu/itc/cerc/danoff-burg/invasion_bio/inv_spp_summ/alb1.bmp

  • Saturday, October 17, 10:00 am – Eden’s Gems: A Walk in the Village Orchard

    Garden Thyme programs are held on the third Saturday of each month and are FREE for members of Old Sturbridge Village. Led by Village horticultural and agricultural staff, these programs and workshops are held at various sites and deal with a variety of plant-related themes and topics. Participants gather at the Visitor Center at 10 a.m. each month and are led to the appropriate site or setting.  On October 17, enjoy Eden’s Gems: A Walk in the Village Orchard, with Christie Higginbottom. Did you ever wonder why 1800s cooks and cider makers had over 800 apple varieties to choose from and we only have a dozen or so? Meet the Village’s historic fruits — the Mothers, the Spitzenburgs, the Russets, the Baldwins and the Sheepsnose apples. Learn about seedlings, scions and rootstocks. Find out how the art and skill of propagating these trees keeps our apple heritage alive.  For more information, and directions, log on to www.osv.org.

    http://www.cardcow.com/images/set301/thumbs/card00435_fr.jpg

  • Saturday, September 5, 5 – 7 pm – The Lure of Trees

    Fruitlands Museum, at 102 Prospect Hill Road, Harvard, Massachusetts, is proud to present an exhibit by Artist-in-Residence Zsuzsanna Szegedi based on her season-long study of Fruitlands’ trees. For Szegedi, working on “The Lure of Trees” has provided a special opportunity to blend her European and American training in Fruitlands’ unique natural environment.

    Inspired by nature and our attachment to the land, her work steps beyond the straightforward representation of our environment and explores the complexity of our relationship to it.

    Hungarian-born artist Zsuzsanna Szegedi holds a BFA from Massachusetts College of Art. Her paintings can be regularly seen at the Copley Society of Art in Boston. She is the recipient of a Puffin Foundation artist grant and her latest paintings were sponsored by the Gamblin Artist Colors Co.

    The Lure of Trees exhibit runs September 6 – November 15, 2009. For directions and additional information, log on to www.fruitlands.org.

    Zsuzsi

  • Friday, July 24, 9 – 3 – Organic Gardening Magazine Program

    This is going to be one great day of gardening insights, delicious food, and gardening fellowship. Please make plans to join exceptional professionals in their fields Steve Silk, Ellen Ogden, Tim Kane, and Kerry Mendez at the elegant Glen Sanders Mansion (www.glensandersmansion.com) on Friday, July 24 from 9:00 – 3:00 p.m. Continental breakfast and registration will begin at 8:30 a.m. The first garden presentation starts at 9:00 a.m. Featured topics: European Kitchen Garden Designs; The Crazy, Mixed-up Border: An Eclectic Approach to Using Trees, Shrubs, Annuals, Tropicals, Edibles and Perennials; Hellstrip Gardening (some of the toughest, top performing plants for tough to garden areas including dry shade, slopes, poorly drained areas, poor soils, and hot, baking sites),and the best fruiting shrubs and trees, including their care and pruning requirements. For more about the speakers and topics, please visit www.pyours.com/gardenclasses.html.

    As a bonus, every attendee will receive a one-year complimentary subscription to Organic Gardening magazine. This premier magazine is a must for everyone interested in tips and how-to’s for organic gardening and living a healthier lifestyle. Check out this fantastic publication at www.organicgardening.com.

    The registration fee is only $65 per person for four dynamic garden talks, continental breakfast, lunch, door prizes, a one-year subscription to Organic Gardening magazine, and terrific handouts. To register, please visit Kerry’s garden classes page at www.pyours.com/gardenclasses.html. You can pay by PayPal or by check.

  • Tuesday, June 30, 10 – 11:30 a.m. – If Trees Could Talk

    Dawn redwood, dove tree, and franklinia are just a handful of the trees growing at the Arboretum with engaging stories of how they secured a place in gardens and in the history of plant exploration. If our trees could talk, they might share accounts of faraway forests, botanical adventures, and intrepid plant explorers. Join Collections and Grounds Manager Tom Clark on a walking tour of the Arboretum where he will reveal some of the fascinating stories behind these and other beloved plants.$5/free to PHA members. 508-693-9426
    Admission Fee: $5/pha members free    		 Polly Hill Martha's Vineyard
    For More Information:
    Contact: Karin Stanley
    Address: The Polly Hill Arboretum, State Rd, West Tisbury, MA
    Phone: 508-693-9426
    Email: karin@pollyhillarboretum.org
    Website: http://www.pollyhillarboretum.org

  • Saturday, May 30, 11-4 – 24th Annual Tower Hill Plant Sale

    One of the many benefits of Tower Hill’s Plant Sale is the ability to select from the specialty offerings of more than a dozen participating Plant Societies, including Bamboo, Cactus & Succulent, Conifer, Daylily, Epimedium, Fern, Heather, Hosta, Indoor Gardeners, Lilac, Magnolia, Miniature Plants, Orchid, Rhododendron, and Rose.  These ardent devotees are wild about their specific plant interests and can offer great tips on care and growing.  Please note that a Tower Hill member discount card does not apply to sales in the plant society area, and most of the societies are able to accept only cash or checks.  More than 12,000 plants will be available for sale:  unusual perennials, herbs and everlastings, shrubs and trees, including Cary Award Winners, natives, annuals, incredible edibles, and Tower Hill “Best Buy” plants – donated divisions from beautiful plants grown by members.  Two silent auctions on the day of the Plant Sale feature a variety of choice, hard to find, specimen plants and garden ornaments.  Register first and enjoy the challenge of competing with other plant enthusiasts for the plants that spark your interest.  Tower Hill members enjoy the benefit of early admission at 9 a.m.  Free Admission all day, and $1 parking fee.  For more information, call 508-869-6111, or log on to www.towerhillbg.org.