Boston Flora

Tag: University of Maine

  • Wednesdays, August 30 and September 13, 10:00 am – 2:30 pm, and Wednesday, September 6, 11:00 am – 1:00 pm – Native Woody Plant Materials

    Native Woody Plant Materials is a three-part class sponsored by the Ecological Landscape Alliance.

    * Wednesday, August 30, 2017, 10:00am – 2:30pm
    * Wednesday, September 6, 2017, 11:00am – 1:00pm
    * Wednesday, September 13, 2017, 10:00am – 2:30pm

    Explore the huge variety of native trees, shrubs, and woody vines. Learn which species grow well in shade, which support local wildlife, and how you should stagger your plantings for continuous bloom, fruit production, and fall color. We’ll discuss growth characteristics, cultural requirements, and best horticultural uses. The course will include lectures and walks in the Garden in the Woods, 180 Hemenway Road in Framingham, as well as a field trip to The Arnold Arboretum. Bring a bag lunch. $170 for ELA members, $200 for nonmembers. Register online at http://www.ecolandscaping.org/event/native-woody-plant-materials/

    Dan Jaffe is the propagator and stock bed grower at New England Wild Flower Society (NEWFS) in Framingham, Massachusetts. He earned a degree in botany from the University of Maine and an advanced certificate in Native Plant Horticulture and Design from NEWFS. After interning at Garden in the Woods, Dan worked for a year as Plant Sales Coordinator at the Garden. Native red maple branch photo from www.bowerandbranch.com.

  • Sunday, July 9, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon – Tried and True Natives

    Ask any veteran gardener, landscape designer, ecologist, or botanist what their favorite plant is and they’ll berate you for limiting their selection to just one – but you can be sure each one of them has a list of favorites. Perhaps they are tasty, good for pollinators, or just downright beautiful but either way they are the plants they know they can count on.

    Join Dan Jaffe on Sunday, July 9 at 10 am at Garden in the Woods, 180 Hemenway Street in Framingham, to learn about those tried and true native species that will never let you down.

    Dan Jaffe is the propagator and stock bed grower at New England Wild Flower Society (NEWFS) in Framingham, Massachusetts. He earned a degree in botany from the University of Maine and an advanced certificate in Native Plant Horticulture and Design from NEWFS. After interning at Garden in the Woods, Dan worked for a year as Plant Sales Coordinator at the Garden. $26 for Ecological Landscape Alliance Members, $32 for nonmembers. Register and see more at: http://www.ecolandscaping.org/event/tried-true-natives/#sthash.Aft1kyEk.dpuf

  • Thursday, October 13, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Bogs and Fens: New England’s Most Pristine Ecosystems

    Ronald B. Davis, PhD, Professor Emeritus, School of Biology and Ecology and the Climate Change Institute, University of Maine, will speak on Thursday, October 13, 7:00–8:30pm at the Boston Nature Center, 500 Walk Hill Street, Mattapan, on the topic of Bogs and Fens.

    Bogs and fens are wetlands underlain by deep water-saturated peat. In New England, at least 25 of them can be visited on boardwalks, where one can see unique assemblages of flora and fauna, including carnivorous plants, orchids, and uncommon bird species. Dr. Ronald Davis will illustrate his lecture with outstanding photographs and explain some of the unique features of these beautiful and fascinating ecosystems. Fee: Free for Arboretum members and student; $5 nonmembers. Register at my.arboretum.harvard.edu or call 617-384-5277. Presented jointly by the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University and Mass Audubon’s Boston Nature Center.  Image from www.hikenewengland.com.

  • Sunday, March 20, 1:00 pm – Where the Wild Things Are: Native Plants for Pollinators

    From meadows to mountain tops, our natural areas are often touted as the best places for pollinators and wildlife but what about our gardens?  Join Dan Jaffe on Sunday, March 20 at 1 pm at the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History  in Brewster for a crash course on all things alive in the garden.  Ecological gardening techniques, strategies for attracting new pollinators to your landscape, and the best native plants for each site will be discussed.

    Dan Jaffe is Propagator and Stock Bed Grower at New England Wildflower Society’s Garden in the Woods. Dan Jaffe began his career as an intern at NEWFS, and then served as Plant Sales Coordinator before assuming his current responsibilities. Prior joining the Society, he worked for four years in the nursery business where he held management positions. Dan earned a degree in Botany from the University of Maine.

    Lecture Admission is $10 per person APCC Members $5 / Tickets available online at https://www.showclix.com/event/wherethewildthingsare/listing

    The Gardening for Life Speaker Series is sponsored in part by the Friends of CCMNH and APCC (The Association to Preserve Cape Cod).  For more information please call: 508-896-3867, ext. 133.

  • Sunday, November 1, 2:00 pm – 3:15 pm – Second Nature: An Environmental History of New England

    On Sunday, November 1 at 2 pm at the Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston, Richard W. Judd, PhD, Adelaide & Alan Bird Professor of History, University of Maine, will explore the mix of ecological process and human activity that shaped that history over the past 12,000 years. He traces a succession of cultures through New England’s changing postglacial environment down to the 1600s, when the arrival of Europeans interrupted this coevolution of nature and culture. A long period of tension and warfare, inflected by a variety of environmental problems, opened the way for frontier expansion. This in turn culminated in a unique landscape of forest, farm, and village that has become the embodiment of what Judd calls second nature, culturally modified landscapes that have superseded a more pristine first nature. Judd will relate significant cultural and ecological changes that have influenced the evolution of the New England landscape over time. $10 fee. Call 617-384-5277 for more information.

  • Sunday, November 1, 2:00 pm – 3:15 pm – Second Nature: An Environmental History of New England

    Historian Richard W. Judd, PdD, Adelaide & Alan Bird Professor of History at University of Maine, explores the mix of ecological process and human activity that shaped that history over the past 12,000 years, in this Arnold Arboretum talk on Sunday, November 1 beginning at 2 pm in the Hunnewell Building. He traces a succession of cultures through New England’s changing post-glacial environment down to the 1600s, when the arrival of Europeans interrupted this co-evolution of nature and culture. A long period of tension and warfare, inflected by a variety of environmental problems, opened the way for frontier expansion. This in turn culminated in a unique landscape of forest, farm, and village that has become the embodiment of what Judd calls “second nature”— culturally modified landscapes that have superseded a more pristine “first nature.” Judd will relate significant cultural and ecological changes that have influenced the evolution of the New England landscape over time. Free for Arboretum members, $10 nonmembers.

    Register at my.arboretum.harvard.edu or call 617-384-5277.

  • Saturday, July 11 & Sunday, July 12, 10:00 am – 5:30 pm – Butterfly and Caterpillar Weekend

    On Saturday and Sunday, July 11 and 12, meet an amazing array of native New England caterpillars in various stages of development, and learn more about caterpillars and butterflies through live presentations and interpretations throughout the Museum of Science.

    On Saturday and Sunday from 10 – 3 there will be a Caterpillar Lab. This one-of-a-kind experience is a celebration of the impressive diversity of New England caterpillars. Each individual display includes a variety of caterpillars, in various stages of development and on their local host plants. With no glass between you and the displays, you can experience caterpillars up close — eating, pooping, camouflaging, or defending themselves with clever adaptations such as warning coloration, inflatable horns, strange smells, and squeaking mandibles.

    From 1 – 3 on both days you may Create Your Own Butterfly Habitat. With your paid admission to the Butterfly Garden, learn how to create and plant your own butterfly habitat. We’ll discuss the importance of using native plantings and how to get your garden started. Get your hands dirty planting native seeds and take them home to help start attracting butterflies!

    On Saturday at 11:30 hear Dr. Gerard Talavera from Harvard University describe the amazing migration of the Painted Lady butterflies, Vanessa cardui. Learn more about the challenging task of studying this beautiful insect, which is found on five continents. Also on Saturday, at 12:30, Dr. Naomi Pierce, curator of Lepidoptera at Harvard University, will introduce you to the insect-eating predators and their nourishing ant prey. Dave Champlin from the University of Maine unravels the amazing transformation of how the butterfly gets its wings on Sunday at 11:30, and finally, on Sunday at 12:30, Norah Warchola from Tufts University discusses the fascinating relationship between an endangered species of caterpillar and the ants that protect it from predators in exchange for a sugary bribe.

    Also on Saturday and Sunday there will be presentations on Gardening for Butterflies at 1:30 in the Shapiro Family Science Live! Stage, Green Wing, Lower Level. As a bonus, The Secret Lives of Fireflies will be featured both days at 3:30 pm. Watching fireflies is a special part of warm summer nights in New England. We watch and we enjoy, but do we really know what they are saying? This program sheds a little light on the secret lives of fireflies. You’ll also learn how you can participate in a scientific research effort to find out if these magical insects are disappearing from our landscape, and if so, why and what can be done about it. Solitary Bees: The Other Bees will be discussed at 5:30 pm on Saturday and Sunday. Honey bees are in decline. Since they are responsible for pollinating one third of our food crops, their disappearance threatens our food supply. While scientists try to find out why and how to reverse this trend, our crops still need to be pollinated. Find out how you can help by becoming a “solitary beekeeper.”

    While you are at the Museum, don’t miss Flight of the Butterflies at the Mugar Omni Theater each day at 1 pm. Weighing less than a penny, the monarch butterfly makes one of the longest migrations on Earth. Follow this perilous journey and join hundreds of millions of real butterflies in the remote mountain peaks of Mexico, with breathtaking cinematography from an award-winning team. Be captivated by the true, compelling story of an intrepid scientist’s 40-year search to find the monarchs’ secret hideaway. Purchase of separate timed ticket required for Omni film. You may buy these tickets on line at www.mos.org.

  • Tuesday, November 18, 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm – Protecting the Ash Tree: Wabanaki Diplomacy and Sustainability Science in Maine

    Brown ash trees sustain the ancestral basket-making traditions of the Wabanaki people of Maine and play a key role in their creation myths. These trees are now threatened by the emerald ash borer, a beetle that has already killed millions of ash trees in the eastern United States. Wabanaki tribes and basket makers (see basket image below from Hood Museum at Dartmouth) have joined forces with foresters, university researchers, and landowners to develop and deploy actions aimed at preventing an invasion by this insect. Anthropologist Darren Ranco, PhD, Associate Professor of Anthropology and Coordinator of Native American Research, University of Maine discusses how the stakeholders involved in this interdisciplinary effort are making use of sustainability science and drawing from Wabanaki forms of diplomacy to influence state and federal responses to the emerald ash borer, and prevent the demise of the ash trees that are so central to Wabanaki culture. The program will take place on Tuesday, November 18, from 7 – 8 at the Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street in Cambridge, and is sponsored by the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, in collaboration with the Harvard Museums of Science and Culture. Visit the exhibits in the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology and the Harvard Museum of Natural History, open for special evening hours following the lecture. Free event parking is available at the 52 Oxford Street Garage. Free and open to the public.

  • Wednesdays, June 23 & 30, 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm – Cape’scaping

    Michael Talbot of Talbot Ecological Land Care in Mashpee will present a two part series on Cape’scaping at Highfield Hall, 56 Highfield Drive, Falmouth, on Wednesday June 23 and Wednesday, June 30, beginning at 4 pm.  The first, Creating an Eco-Friendly Garden and Property, will help make your garden more interesting and enjoyable, easier to care for and environmentally friendly.  He offers ideas and tips on an ecological garden, lawn and landscape design, plant selection and installation of a Cape Cod green space to provide beauty, wildlife habitat and personal enjoyment.  The second lecture, Caring for an Eco-Friendly Lawn and Property, Michael will share how to maintain healthy gardens, lawns and plantings that are attractive and environmentally sensitive, using less water and fertilizer and safer pesticides, minimizing damage to our natural resources.  You will learn how maintaining our properties safely can mitigate the pollution of Cape Cod bays, inlets, streams, and of our drinking water.

    Michael Talbot is an award winning landscape designer, horticulturist and conservation consultant who has appeared on The Victory Garden and New England Chronicle, and has been a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Maine.  $5 suggested donation for each lecture.  For more information, log on to www.highfieldhall.org.

    http://www.talbotecolandcare.com/images/shadegarden.jpg