Boston Flora

Tag: wellesley college

  • Wednesday, January 13, 8:30 am – 4:30 pm – Large-Scale Landscapes Symposium

    On January 13, 2016 (Snow Date January 14), join ELA and Wellesley College for a symposium on the development and maintenance of large-scale landscapes that utilize fewer inputs, are designed and maintained with the environment in mind, and become more sustainable over time. Experts who work daily in successful, sustainable large-scale landscapes will lead four presentations and one panel discussion. If you are a landscape professional responsible for planning and maintaining the landscapes of college campuses, municipal parks, cemeteries, public gardens, land trusts, private estates, or other large landscapes, join ELA as we explore ecological options for large-scale landscapes with a distinguished lineup of presenters. Included in the program are Ronnit Bendavid-Val of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden on Addressing Wear and Tear in High Use Areas, a panel discussion on Maintaining the Maturing Landscape with Mark Richardson, Horticulture Director of the New England Wild Flower Society, Ray Oladapo-Johnson, Director of Park Operations at the Emerald Necklace Conservancy, Sue Pfeiffer, an arborist at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, and John Olmstead, Wellesley College Landscape Manager. Also featured is a talk on Designing Rain Gardens for Long-lasting Success with Clay Larsen, Healthier and Lower-Cost Lawns with Chip Osborne, and Reawakening Large Landscapes: Activating the Space with Sandy Vorce of Audubon’s Habitat Education Center and Wildlife Sanctuary. Fees $85 – $110. For complete information and registration visit http://www.ecolandscaping.org/event/large-scale-landscapes-symposium/

  • Tuesday, January 5 – Thursday, January 7, 9:30 am – 3:30 pm – Tactile Textures, Tips and Tricks

    Immerse yourself for three days (January 5 – 7, 9:30 – 3:30) with Ann Swan while she demonstrates a variety of colored pencil techniques to help you create realistic textures, to make your colors leap off the page, and to amaze with fine detail.  Ann will demonstrate underpainting and layering into wet baby oil to help you create truly luscious, rich, clean colors and banish the grays.  Learn how to use the neon and fluorescent colors to create luminosity and added vibrancy.  For intermediate students and beyond.  Friends of Wellesley Botanic Gardens $365, nonmembers $450.  To register, or for more information, call 781-283-3094, or visit www.wellesley.edu/wcbgfriends.  Image copyright Ann Swan.

  • 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.

  • Tuesday, August 11 – Thursday, August 13, 9:30 am – 3:30 pm – Luminous Fruit: Highlights and Reflected Light

    Capture the glow of summer fruit by balancing highlights, shadows and reflected light to make your subject luminous. In this Wellesley Botanic Garden seminar designed for artists from advanced beginner to expert, Catherine Watters will teach you how to observe, measure and raw your subject, followed by careful and accurate color mixing using the Double Primary Color Bias Wheel. You are then ready to paint and capture the elegant shape, bold colors and textures using proper lighting to make your fruit come to life. Please note: choose to work on paper or vellum. For those more advanced artists wishing to work on calfskin vellum, Catherine will teach you her vellum dry brush technique. Vellum is not included in the registration fee ($395 for Friends of Wellesley Botanic Garden members, $495 for nonmembers) for this seminar. Contact the Friends office in advance to order a piece from Catherine. The class will take place at the Botanic Gardens on Tuesday through Thursday, August 11 – 13, from 9:30 am – 3:30 pm. To register, call 781-283-3094.

  • Sunday, June 21, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm – Collections Up Close: Lindens in the Landscape

    The Tilia (linden) collection is the largest genus of summer-flowering trees in the Arnold Arboretum—nearly 150 trees are in the collection, most along Meadow Road. In late June and early July they are at the height of their bloom, providing an exceptional opportunity for study, comparison, and enjoyment. Linden flowers attract pollinating bees and appreciative visitors with their wonderful, enticing fragrance. Join The Arnold Arboretum on Meadow Road for a horticultural tour of the Tilia collection with Kyle Port, Manager of Plant Records at the Arboretum, and a tour focusing on honey bees with Heather Mattila, Assistant Professor at Wellesley College, whose research focuses on the mechanisms of honey bee behavior, the chemical ecology of colonies, and the microbiology of queens and workers. There will also be fun family activities focusing on the lindens. The event takes place from 1 – 3 on Sunday, June 21. Collections Up Close events offer great ways to explore plants at the Arboretum. Free – no registration required.  Image from www.herbs-hands-healing.co.uk.

  • 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, January 19, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm – The Plantastic World of Harry Potter

    The Friends of the Wellesley College Botanic Garden had so much fun last spring with the plants mentioned in the Harry Potter books that they’re doing it again, with some different activities. While whomping willow and puffapod sprang from the imagination of author J.K. Rowling, other plants used by Harry Potter and his wizardly friends are quite real and have stories of their own to tell.  Meet a mandrake and see if it screams.  Explore the Wellesley College Botanic Garden’s selection of wand woods and potion ingredients.   Make an owl craft and learn about these amazing creatures.  Create a “plunging potion pouch” to take home. Come dressed as your favorite character from the Harry Potter books if you wish.  The free, family friendly event will take place Monday, January 19, from 1 – 4 (drop in anytime.) For directions visit www.wellesley.edu.

  • Monday, January 19 and Saturday, February 28, 11:00 am – Global Flora: The Transformation of the Ferguson Greenhouses’ Permanent Collection

    Wellesley College will soon be reconstructing the five major houses of the Ferguson Greenhouses.  On Monday, January 19 and Saturday, February 28, at 11 am, hear their plans for Global Flora, the transforming of the 1920’s facility into a showcase of living beauty, highlighting plant form.  Global Flora will become a new node for interdisciplinary science research and teaching at the College, as well as an innovative example of sustainable design.  Free and open to the public. Call 781-283-3094 for more information.

  • Wednesday, November 19, 10:00 am – Tablet Tech for Gardeners

    The Garden Club of the Back Bay’s November meeting will take place Wednesday, November 19, beginning at 10 am at The College Club, 44 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston.  Continuing our exploration of Technology in the Garden, we welcome Sarah Roche who will speak on Tablet Tech for Gardeners. Sarah Roche teaches a variety of courses for all abilities throughout the year, focusing on botanical drawing and painting in watercolor. She currently teaches at the South Shore Art Center in Cohasset MA, at the Copley Society in Boston and at the Wellesley College Botanic Gardens for the Friends of Horticulture, where she is Education Director for the Certificate program in Botanical Art and Illustration . She will demonstrate how the tablet computer can be an invaluable tool in the garden – feel free to bring your tablet with you to this meeting. Open to the public but reservations are essential.  Please email info@bostonflora.com if you plan to attend.  Garden Club members will receive written notification of the event. One of Sarah’s beautiful watercolors is shown below, courtesy of the Copley Society.

  • Wednesday, November 5, 1:30 pm – Food of the Gods: Chocolate Production from Bean to Bar

    This Wednesday, November 5 talk by Wellesley College Botanic Garden fellow Katie Goodall will explore the journey of chocolate from tropical landscapes to consumers all over the world.  Focusing on Latin America, she will discuss cacao’s botanical origins, cultural history, cultivation methods, and their ecological impacts.  And what’s a chocolate talk without a tasting?  Be sure to come (1:30 pm at the Visitor’s Center of the Botanic Garden) ready to savor the flavors of local specialty chocolates. Image from www.neroandbianco.com.  WCBG Friends free, nonmembers $10.  Register by calling 781-283-3094 or email wcbgfriends@wellesley.edu.