Boston Flora

Tag: Wellesley College Botanic Garden

  • Friday, March 16, 10:00 am – Carl Linnaeus

    Carol Govan talks about the personal life, unusual philosophy, and important works of Carl Linnaeus on Friday, March 16 at 10 at the Wellesley College Botanic Garden. Swedish botanist, physician and zoologist Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778) invented an easy method to identify and name all plants, including many previously unknown, sent to him from around the world. The modern system of scientific nomenclature is due to his work. Friends of Wellesley College Botanic Gardens, free. Nonmembers $10. Register by calling 781-283-3094 or email bcbgfriends@wellesley.edu.

  • Wednesday, March 22 – Friday, March 24, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm – Illuminating Botanicals with Gold Ink

    In this Berkshire Botanical Garden three day studio class with botanical illustrator Carol Morley, students learn to add a decorative element to their botanical drawings by embellishing the flowing lines of a drawing of a flower or leaf with 18-carat-gold liquid ink. They will also learn to add details to a drawing with the point of a luminous silver or gold Prismacolor pencil. Students should bring along a few favorite botanical drawings to the class. They can then transfer one of them to a dark paper, add a bee or two and a butterfly, and weave in some gold lettering, which will transform the drawing into a glowing illuminated botanical illustration. Students will discover how easily spectralite liquid gold flows from the nib of a crow quill pen and how it looks and feels. For those with no crow quill experience, there is the option to work solely with luminous colored pencils.

    Carol Ann Morley is a professional artist and dedicated teacher working in Milton, NH. She founded the Botanical Art and Illustration Certificate Program at the New York Botanical Garden and teaches botanical art and drawing at the New York Botanical Garden, Wellesley College Botanic Garden, and Sanctuary Arts in Eliot, ME.

    This class meets at Berkshire Botanical Garden in Stockbridge on Wednesday, Thursday, & Friday, March 22, 23, & 24, 10 am – 4 pm. Bring a bag lunch. A materials list will be e-mailed to you upon registration. Gold ink and paper can be purchased from the instructor. At the moment, the class is fully registered but if you’d like to be placed on a waitlist, please contact the BBG office manager at (413) 320-4794.

  • Tuesday, January 31, 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm – Tour of Wellesley College’s Margaret C. Ferguson Greenhouses

    Gail Kahn, Assistant Director of the Wellesley College Botanic Gardens, will lead a tour through their 16 interconnected greenhouses, which house the most diverse collection of plants under glass in the greater Boston area.  Highlights of the season may include birds of paradise, orchids, and a blooming Durant camellia, a 130 year old specimen which came from the founder of the college.  The tour is sponsored by the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, and you may sign up ($12 for Mass Hort members, $20 for nonmembers) at www.masshort.org.

  • Friday, October 21, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon – Succulents

    Carol Govan talks about the connections among related plants and how they express their genetic heritage in response to their environments in this Friday, October 21 lecture and greenhouse walk at the Wellesley College Botanic Gardens, beginning at 10 am. Succulents have adapted to habitats that experience temporary drought. Observe the amazing forms, thick, fleshy leaves, stems and branches that help several plant families survive in this unforgiving environment. See Wellesley’s succulent collection, especially those from the cactus family, the most well known succulent.  Friends of Wellesley College Botanic Gardens free, nonmembers $10. Register by calling 781-283-3094.

  • Wednesday – Friday, October 19 – 21, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm – Fruits of Fall: Botanical Illustration

    Wednesday – Friday, October 19 – 21, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm – Fruits of Fall: Botanical Illustration

    Enjoy the bountiful fruits of fall in a lasting portrait. In this three-day colored-pencil workshop at Berkshire Botanical Garden on October 19 – 21, botanical illustrator Carol Morley will examine the colors, shapes and light, and shade of the fruit. It is easy to fall in love with the brilliant color of a subject only to find the final portrait falling flat. In this workshop, students will learn how to control and select the colors needed from the beginning and progress with confidence. Starting with a tonal study of the fruit in graphite, the class will have fun finding all the colors that are present in the fruit, making a color palette that will serve as a guide. Working from the palette, students then make a 3D color study and progress to the fruit’s final portrait, selecting the appropriate colors that will give the fruit form and capture its succulent character. Bring a bag lunch. Click on  https://berkshirebotanical.org/education/lectures-and-workshops/ for materials list and registration. $290 for BBG members, $315 for nonmembers.

    Carol Ann Morley is a professional artist and dedicated teacher working in Milton, NH. She founded the Botanical Art and Illustration Certificate Program at the New York Botanical Garden and teaches botanical art and drawing at The New York Botanical Garden, the Wellesley College Botanic Garden and Sanctuary Arts in Eliot, ME, in addition to the Berkshire Botanical Garden.  Image from www.gardendrum.com.

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  • Thursday, April 28, 12:00 noon – 1:30 pm – Agroecology in Cuba and Beyond

    In November 2015 Wellesley College Botanic Garden Fellow Katie Goodall had the opportunity to attend the International Agroecology Conference in Guira de Melena, Cuba, which brought together farmers, peasants, agroecology promoters, facilitators, scientists, students, and others interested in the development of agroecology throughout the world.  In addition to talks, Katie and the other participants visited farmer cooperatives in several provinces.  Katie will relate her experiences at the Wellesley College Science Center, Room SCI-278 on Thursday, April 28 from noon to 1:30.  Friends of Wellesley Botanic Garden fee is $15, non-members $20, and the price includes lunch.  Register by calling 781-283-3094 or email wcbgfriends@wellesley.edu.

  • Monday, January 4, 9:30 am – 3:30 pm – Taster Day

    The Friends of Wellesley Botanic Gardens will host Ann Swan on Monday, January 4 from 9:30 – 3:30 for a one day workshop in colored pencil for beginners.  This class is a whistle stop introduction to the materials and techniques Ann uses to produce her vibrant, contemporary illustrations with colored pencils.  She will guide you through the minefield of materials and their uses and will demonstrate the basic techniques of layering, burnishing and underpainting, and with some individual attention, will launch you into the exciting world of colored pencil.  Be warned, it is addictive!  WCBG Friend price $125, nonmembers $150.  Register by calling 781-283-3094.  Image copyright Ann Swan.

  • Wednesday, November 18, 12:30 pm – 2:00 pm – The Parks of Washington, DC

    Delight in the charms of gardens and parks on the Mall, in leafy Georgetown, and on the grounds of George Washington’s beloved Mount Vernon with garden designer and Wellesley College Botanic Gardens docent Maureen Bovet on Wednesday, November 18, beginning at 12:30 pm in the Botanic Garden Visitor Center.  Maureen’s photos and stories will take you on a tour of the green side of the nation’s capital.  WCBG members free, non members $10.  Call 781-283-3094, or visit www.wellesley.edu/wcbgfriends.  Photo by Maureen Bovet.

     

  • Wednesday, March 18, 12:30 pm – 3:30 pm – The Orchard Ecosystem

    Farmer and writer Michael Phillips (www.groworganicapples.com,) author of The Holistic Orchard, discusses his holistic approach: health-guilding orchard practices that bring about wholesome fruit.  A healthy orchard ecosystem includes unerstanding soil biology, boosting tree immunity with deep nutrition, timing maintenance tasks relative to tree growth cycles, approaching insect pest situations from a life cycle standpoint, and abetting biodiversity.  Growing tree fruits and berries is something that anyone with a passionate desire can do, given wise guidance and a personal commitment to observe the teachings of the trees.  This Wellesley College Botanic Garden lunch and lecture will be held Wednesday, March 18, from 12:30 – 3:30, and the fee is $45 from Friends of WCBG, $60 for nonmembers (includes lunch.) Register by calling 781-283-3094, or email wcbgfriends@wellesley.edu.

  • Monday, February 16, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm – Cloudy With a Chance of Pepos

    The popular book and movie Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs makes us hungry!  Giant food doesn’t fall from the sky at the Wellesley College Botanic Garden, but we’ll experiment with rafting options to be prepared for a getaway just in case.  We’ll think about where our food really comes from and explore the different ways that botanists and chefs think of fruits and vegetables. Do an imaginative craft and enjoy a botanical fruit tasting with a “pepo”, a “drupe,” a “pome,” and a “hesperidum.”  The free event takes place Monday, February 16, between 1 – 4 (drop in anytime.)  For more information call 781-283-3094.