Boston Flora

Tag: University of Pennsylvania

  • Friday, May 8, 9:00 am Eastern – Mid-Atlantic Plant Research Conference, Live & Online

    Plants in the mid-Atlantic region, as well as the Northeast, are facing new challenges to their survival, growth, and reproduction due to a variety of threats, including land use change, habitat loss, climate change, and more. Invited speakers will address new research in plant science that can help us understand the challenges at hand in our wetland and coastal regions, including mechanisms of plant resistance and adaptation, and possible solutions.

    Speakers will include:

    Morgan Gostel, Director of Plant Science, Morris Arboretum & Gardens
    LeeAnn Haaf, Director of Estuary Science, Partnership for the Delaware Estuary
    Dr. Jay Kelly, Co-Director, Center for Environmental Studies, Raritan Valley Community College
    Erin Lacour, Biologist, John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge
    Patrick Megonigal, Associate Director for Research, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
    Catherine Seavitt, Chair, Department of Landscape Architecture, University of Pennsylvania

    The program will be held in person at the Morris Arboretum & Gardens; live virtual attendance is also available. Please indicate ‘In-Person’ or ‘Virtual’ attendance at registration. Lunch is provided to all attendees. Visit https://www.morrisarboretum.org/see-do/events/mid-atlantic-plant-research-conference

  • Thursday, April 23, 10:30 am – 11:45 am Eastern – The Roots of American Botany, Online

    Join the Morris Arboretum & Gardens on April 23 at 10:30 am for a free virtual conversation exploring Philadelphia’s rich botanical legacy through compelling stories of the past!

    Philadelphia is not only the birthplace of America; it is the birthplace of American botany. Widely celebrated as America’s Garden Capital, the city has also played a pivotal role in shaping the nation’s understanding of plant sciences.

    During this lively virtual discussion, hear examples of cutting-edge research tools Morris Arboretum & Gardens scientists as well as other members of the University of Pennsylvania research community are using to solve enduring botanical mysteries. Highlights include new research initiatives at Morris, an exploration of the genetics of Penn’s historic Penn Treaty Elm, and collaborative work in plant genetics with the Penn Museum. Register at https://www.morrisarboretum.org/see-do/events/roots-of-american-botany

  • Thursday & Friday, January 15 & 16 – Seeing the Forest AND the Trees, Live and Online

    Founded in 1990 by Landscape Designer Larry Weaner and NDAL, this annual two-day symposium has a long tradition of celebrating native plants and innovative ecological practice. Presenters reflect the diverse factors that shape our landscapes including landscape architects, landscape designers, horticulturists, ecologists, historians, anthropologists, artists and others. The series offers in-depth explorations of forward-looking and overlooked topics, always seeking to connect theory with practical application. Join us as we continue to connect the dots between ecological restoration, cultural landscape practice, and fine garden design.

    Special Note: For many years, NDAL has deeply appreciated its partnership with Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania and Connecticut College Arboretum in jointly presenting the January Annual Symposium. While NDAL will be solely producing the Symposium from this year onward, we would like to gratefully acknowledge the important role these two institutions and their respective team members have played.

    The 2026 symposium, January 15 and 16, is Seeing the Forest AND the Trees: Designing Landscapes that Integrate Regional Specificity with Global Commonality. Incorporating a region’s indigenous plant communities and ecological processes is at the heart of ecology-based design. But no natural system operates in isolation or is forever immune to change…..especially today where the effects of watershed alteration, soil disturbance, plant globalization, and climate change are at play worldwide. Our Symposium will begin by zooming in on techniques for regionally-specific landscape analysis and design. We will then widen the lens and learn how disturbance, ecological science, and cultural land practices across regions can factor into those processes. Finally, we will explore how an expansive view of landscape art can unify this micro/macro divide in landscapes ranging from expansive to intimate.

    The event takes place at Kean University in Union, New Jersey, but there are virtual options available. Early bird registration savings available through December 10. Register at https://www.ndal.org/2026-annual-symposium

  • Saturday, May 7, 7:00 pm – Public Gardens in Today’s World, Online

    Saturday, May 7, 7:00 pm – Public Gardens in Today’s World, Online

    The New England Botanical Club will hold its next meeting on Saturday, May 7 at 7:00 pm Eastern Time via Zoom. Non-members may register for the meeting access link here. William Cullina will speak on Public Gardens in Today’s World.

    William Cullina is the F. Otto Haas Executive Director of the Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania. For eleven years prior, Bill was at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, as Director of Horticulture and Plant Curator and then as President and CEO. Cullina holds degrees in plant science and psychology; he has been working in public horticulture for 25 years. He has extensive experience in horticultural and forestry research and commercial nursery production, including, I’m sure you will remember, at The New England Wild Flower Society, now the Native Plants Trust.

    A well-known author and recognized authority on North American native plants, Cullina lectures on a variety of subjects to garden and professional groups and writes for popular and technical journals. His books include Wildflowers, Native Trees, Shrubs, and Vines, Understanding Orchids, Native Ferns, Mosses, and Grasses, and Understanding Perennials. Bill Cullina will discuss the increasingly critical role that public gardens play in American society. He will consider biophilia: the affinity of human beings for other life forms and what this means for public gardens. He will also reflect on ways that gardens provide accessibility, improve physical and mental health, engage in critical research, and provide space for quiet joy and transcendence.

  • Thursday, March 31, 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm – Parque Ecologico Lago de Texcoco, An Ongoing Ecological Recovery in the Mexico City Valley, Online

    After the fall of Tenochtitlán, 500 years ago, the Spanish conquistadors established a regime that opposed water in the Mexico City Valley. In contrast to the culture of the original inhabitants, water became an “enemy” to be confronted and defeated. Engineering over five centuries perpetuated this approach, which has been called “hydrophobic” by members of the traditional peoples that inhabit the Valley.

    This culture extends all the way into the present day, but recently a parallel conversation has arisen, and there are technicians, planners, designers, and politicians that demand a different approach–one that may help preserve and recover as much as possible the original ecology of the Valley, one that may help heal what has been destroyed, one that may transform the future of the entire Valley region.

    The first large project that is based on this premise and that has been able to reach the execution phase is the “Parque Ecológico Lago de Texcoco”, an initiative to reclaim 14,000 hectares (almost 35,000 Acre) for ecological purposes with enclaves of cultural and sports infrastructure, that will open this space to the public.

    Iñaki Echeverria is an architect, landscape urbanist, and entrepreneur based in Mexico City. He has specialized in the integration of techniques conventionally associated with architecture, science, technology, and ecology to reconsider this intersection as an opportunity to transform buildings, landscape, and infrastructure. He has been studying the region around Lago de Texcoco for more than 18 years. Today he is the Director of the Parque Ecológico Lago de Texcoco in Mexico National Water Commission (Conagua).

    Echeverria is an academic at UPenn and has taught Design at Harvard GSD, UNAM, and Iberoamericana and founded an annual workshop at Aedes Network Campus Berlin. He is a member of the board of advisors to Harvard’s Office for Urbanization, Mexico City’s Conduse and the Journal of Contemporary Urban Affairs.

    His work has been published and exhibited in America, Africa, Asia and Europe; some emblematic commissions are the ecological parks CDT Tijuana, PEMEX Coatzacoalcos and Atlacomulco; the Papalote Children’s Museum in Monterrey; PEMEX boarding houses for indigenous children; Infirmary school and diabetes clinic for ProCdMx; Ternium’s workers’ club; exteriors for luxury retailer Liverpool and a vast array of housing, mix-use and office projects.

    All are invited to watch and participate online in this Harvard Graduate School of Design program by clicking https://www.gsd.harvard.edu/event/inaki-echeverria-parque-ecologico-lago-de-texcoco-an-ongoing-ecological-recovery-in-the-mexico-city-valley/?mc_cid=8ad0c8b81b&mc_eid=314db6bd32 at the noted start time of 6:30 pm Eastern time on March 31. No pre-registration is required.  Online audience members will be able to submit questions throughout the event using Vimeo’s Q&A function. If you would like to submit questions for the speaker in advance of the event, please click here.

  • Thursday, December 8, 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm – Webinar: Evaluating Conservation Landscape Design

    This Ecological Landscape Alliance on line presentation by Ann English on Thursday, December 8 from 7 – 8 pm will focus on evaluation of landscape design which includes environmental as well as aesthetic assessment. A Conservation Landscape can take many forms and can conform to standard aesthetic assessment while providing valuable ecosystem services, such as runoff reduction and pollinator support. The webinar will cover the key components of a conservation landscape, and how to create aesthetically pleasing landscape solutions that require fewer synthetic inputs while applying typical form, color, texture, concept analysis aspects of evaluation.

    Ann English, RLA, ASLA, LEED® AP BD+C is the Program Manager for the RainScapes Program in the Watershed Management Division of the Montgomery County, MD Department of Environmental Protection. The RainScapes program promotes and implements projects which reduce storm water runoff and improve water quality on properties within Montgomery County, MD. The County offers technical and financial assistance (in the form of RainScapes Rewards Rebates) to encourage property owners to implement eligible RainScapes techniques on their property and has developed a training program for professionals that has been used as a model for other jurisdictions and colleges. Her career spans private, non-profit and governmental sectors as well as several years teaching at two universities, with focus on plants, designing with plants and how they perform in the environment and she is the designer of the LID Center’s rain garden templates,(2007). She earned her BA in American History from U. Penn, a Master’s of Regional Planning from the Pennsylvania State University and a Master’s of Landscape Architecture from the University of Georgia. Free for ELA members, $10 for nonmember.  See more at: http://www.ecolandscaping.org/event/webinar-evaluating-conservation-landscape-designs/#sthash.AJaWupoS.dpuf

  • Thursday, November 12, 10:00 am – From Landscape Gardening to Landscape Urbanism

    The Boston Committee of the Garden Club of America will hold its annual fall membership meeting, lecture and luncheon on Thursday, November 12 beginning at 10 am at The Country Club, 191 Clyde Street in Brookline.  Charles Waldheim will give a talk entitled From Landscape Gardening to Landscape Urbanism.

    Charles Waldheim is the John E. Irving Professor of Landscape Architecture at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design. His lecture will focus on the evolution and current trends in ‘Landscape Urbanism’, a term coined by Waldheim to describe the recent emergence of landscape as a medium of urban order for the contemporary city. Professor Waldheim is a Canadian-American architect, urban theorist, and educator. His research examines the relations between landscape, ecology, and contemporary urbanism. At the same time that urban sprawl has distanced the population from the landscape, environmental literacy among designers and scholars has grown, giving rise to an architectural discourse known as ‘landscape urbanism’. In his lecture Waldheim, who is at the forefront of this movement, explores the origins, the current context and the aspirations of this relatively new field that is inspiring the future of city making. Waldheim is author, editor, or co-editor of numerous books on the subject, and his writing has been published and translated internationally. He has taught at Rice University, University of Toronto, University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Michigan. Charles is also the Ruettgers Consulting Curator of Landscape at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.

    The event is open to members of Garden Clubs affiliated with The Boston Committee and their guests.  Garden Club of the Back Bay members will receive separate invitations and a car pool notice in the mail.  For more information email info@bostoncommittee.org.

  • Through Monday, October 26 – American Horticultural Society 2015 Online Auction

    The not for profit American Horticultural Society offers one of a kind garden experiences all over the United States on its online auction site, and proceeds support AHS educational programs. This week we are highlighting one auction item a day selected from hundreds of options. For the full list visit http://www.ahs.org/online-auction.

    Today’s item is a visit to the Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania hosted by Paul Meyer, The F. Otto Haas Executive Director. Your visit for up to four includes a personalized golf cart tour of the Morris Arboretum and Bloomfield Farm, and refreshments in the garden with Executive Director Paul Meyer, 2014 winner of the American Horticultural Society’s prestigious Liberty Hyde Bailey Award

    The Morris Arboretum’s 92-acre public garden is an ever-changing horticultural display featuring a spectacular collection of rare and mature trees in a Victorian landscape. The Arboretum boasts many exceptional features such as a formal rose garden, a swan pond, open vistas, wetlands, sculptures, garden architecture, and an elegant Fernery — the only restored free-standing fernery in North America. The iconic Out on a Limb canopy walk takes visitors 50 feet up into the treetops for a bird’s eye view of the canopy. Bloomfield Farm is an adjacent, non-public, 74-acre research and support site. Its Horticulture Center is certified as Platinum LEED®, illustrating the Arboretum’s commitment to the highest level of sustainability.

    During your tour, Paul will discuss the origins, development, recent restoration and adaptive reuse of the historic gardens. The Morris Arboretum was founded in 1887 as a private estate, and established in 1932 as an arboretum and public garden. Paul will also focus on his favorite plants in the Arboretum’s living collection, which contains over 12,000 trees and shrubs. He will share insights about the attributes of those species, and how these individual plants became part of the Arboretum’s collection

    Paul Meyer has been the F. Otto Haas Executive Director of the Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania since 1991, and has played a major role in the restoration of its late-Victorian gardens. He is a leader in the field of plant exploration and evaluation, having completed twelve expeditions to countries including China, Korea, Taiwan, Armenia and the Republic of Georgia. The Arboretum is a year-round destination and the gardens offer four seasons of interest, and is an easy train ride from Boston.

    Conditions/limitations for this item: Tour to be arranged at a mutually agreeable time subject to host’s availability by October 31, 2016; this personalized tour is available only on weekday mornings, afternoons, or early evenings.  Photo by Paul Meyer.

  • Wednesday, March 4, 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm – Charles Eliot and the Modernization of Boston’s Landscape

    Charles Eliot was the son of Harvard President Charles William Eliot, a visionary landscape architect, and protégé of Frederick Law Olmsted. He inspired the 1891 Trustees of Public Reservations — what is now the oldest regional land trust in the world — and had a central role in shaping the Boston Metropolitan Park System. He was the guiding vision behind the transformation of the banks of Charles River in Cambridge and, although he did not live to see his plans reach fruition, his work accelerated the rescue of the Charles from a virtual sewer to one of the most picturesque features of region’s landscape. On Wednesday, March 4, from 5:30 – 7 pm, at the Massachusetts Historical Society offices at 1154 Boylston Street in Boston, Professor Anita Berizbeitia will talk about Eliot’s work and his legacy in landscape design.

    Anita Berrizbeitia is Professor of Landscape Architecture and Director of the Master in Landscape Architecture Degree Programs at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Her research focuses on design theories of modern and contemporary landscape architecture, the productive aspects of landscapes, and Latin American cities and landscapes. Berrizbeitia has taught design theory and studio, most recently at the University of Pennsylvania School of Design, where she was Associate Chair of the Department of Landscape Architecture. Her studios investigate innovative approaches to the conceptualization of public space, especially on sites where urbanism, globalization, and local cultural conditions intersect. From 1987 to 1993, she practiced with Child Associates, Inc., in Boston, where she collaborated on many award-winning projects. She was awarded the 2005/2006 Prince Charitable Trusts Rome Prize Fellowship in Landscape Architecture. A native of Caracas, Venezuela, she studied architecture at the Universidad Simon Bolivar before receiving a BA from Wellesley College and an MLA from the GSD.

    The Landscape Architects series of the Massachusetts Historical Society has been made possible by the generous underwriting of Stephen Stimson Associates Landscape Architects and is cosponsored by the Mount Auburn Cemetery and the Nichols House Museum. $10 fee (no charge for Fellows and Members of MHS, Mount Auburn Cemetery, and the Nichols House Museum.) Register online at https://dnbweb1.blackbaud.com/OPXREPHIL/EventDetail.asp?cguid=76FBBAD5-59FC-442D-8347-A5AE40DBF561&eid=50858&sid=30B92800-1EE0-40A8-94EC-6D7F80E0E8E9

  • Monday, April 14, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Uncorking the Past: The Quest for Wine, Beer, and Extreme Fermented Beverages

    Call 617-384-5277 and join the wait list for the Arnold Arboretum’s Director’s Lecture Series April 14 offering, Uncorking the Past: The Quest for Wine, Beer, and Extreme Fermented Beverages, presented by Patrick E. McGovern, PhD, Scientific Director, Biomolecular Archaeology Laboratory for Cuisine, Fermented Beverages, and Health at the University of Pennsylvania Museum.  The presentation begins at 7 at the Weld Hill building at the Arboretum.
    Fermented beverages have probably been with the human race from its beginning in Africa. Following a tantalizing trail of archaeological, chemical, artistic, and textual clues, Patrick E. McGovern, the leading authority on ancient alcoholic beverages, will describe how enterprising our ancestors were in concocting a host of beverages from a vast array of natural products (honey, grape, barley, rice, sorghum, chocolate). As humans spread around the planet, this had profound effects on our cultural and biological development. Some of these beverages, including the earliest alcoholic beverage from China (Chateau Jiahu), the mixed drink served at the King Midas funerary feast (Midas Touch), and the chocolate beverage (Theobroma), have been re-created by Dogfish Head Brewery, shedding light on how our ancestors made them and providing a taste sensation and a means for us to travel back in time. The talk will be followed by a tasting of ancient beers recreated by Dogfish Head Craft Brewed Ales. Participants in the tasting must be 21 or older.  $10 Arboretum member, $20 nonmember

    Read about an ancient Nordic grog, McGovern’s latest beverage discovery, and it re-creation. Fermented beverages have probably been with the human race from its beginning in Africa. Following a tantalizing trail of archaeological, chemical, artistic, and textual clues, Patrick E. McGovern, the leading authority on ancient alcoholic beverages, will describe how enterprising our ancestors were in concocting a host of beverages from a vast array of natural products (honey, grape, barley, rice, sorghum, chocolate). As humans spread around the planet, this had profound effects on our cultural and biological development. Some of these beverages, including the earliest alcoholic beverage from China (Chateau Jiahu), the mixed drink served at the King Midas funerary feast (Midas Touch), and the chocolate beverage (Theobroma), have been re-created by Dogfish Head Brewery, shedding light on how our ancestors made them and providing a taste sensation and a means for us to travel back in time. The talk will be followed by a tasting of ancient beers recreated by Dogfish Head Craft Brewed Ales. Participants in the tasting must be 21 or older.
    $10 member, $20 nonmember

    Read about an ancient Nordic grog, McGovern’s latest beverage discovery, and its re-creation, at http://www.penn.museum/press-releases/1031-patrick-mcgovern-nordic-grog.html.

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