Boston Flora

Tag: White Flower Farm

  • Tuesday, June 13, 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm Eastern – Naturescape Your Yard, Online

    The Massachusetts Horticultural Society presents a virtual presentation on June 13 at 6:30 pm Eastern time, with Karen Bussolini. Naturescaping is landscaping with nature – attracting and sustaining wildlife, using native and well-adapted plants, using resources wisely, and avoiding environmental pollution. $25 for Mass Hort members, $33 for nonmembers. Register HERE.

    But it also means landscaping like nature. Nobody plants, waters, or fertilizes the forest or the prairie, yet they survive – beautifully – on their own. Naturescaping – also called Ecological Landscaping – creates self-sustaining (i.e. low-maintenance) landscapes that function like nature. Naturescape Your Yard is informed both by the work of notable ecologists and ecological designers and my own understanding that everything comes from somewhere, everything goes somewhere and it’s all connected. I present big-picture ecological thinking, nitty-gritty how-to tips, and images of sustainable yards and gardens that serve the needs of the people who use them, look attractive, and function as small ecosystems.

    Instructor:
    Karen Bussolini is a nationally known garden photographer with 6 books to her credit, a writer and speaker, and an eco-friendly garden coach. Her art background and focus on environmental topics – ecological landscaping, native plants, biodiversity, xeriscaping, organic gardening, planting for wildlife, pollinators, and other beneficial insects – inform every aspect of her work. Her slide talks combine beautiful original images, recent scientific findings, personal observations, hands-on experience, and a touch of humor. She is a NOFA-Accredited Organic Land Care Professional and an active member of GardenComm (formerly GWA), The Association of Garden Communicators. Karen is currently the Senior Horticultural Advisor at White Flower Farm in Connecticut.

  • Saturday, February 29, 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm – The Perennial Plant Palette

    With so many plants to choose from, how can one be sure of creating successful perennial garden designs? Analyze the site, pick the right plants for that habitat and create winning combinations based on growth habit, foliage, and flowers. Need some help? Join perennial plant expert Robert Herman on Saturday, February 29 at Berkshire Botanical Garden in Stockbridge at 2 pm as he provides inspiration through examples of wonderful combinations for every type of gardening situation. BBG members $25, nonmembers $35. Register at https://www.berkshirebotanical.org/events/perennial-plant-palette-combinations-every-garden

    Robert Herman has over 25 years of experience as a professional horticulturist, almost 7 of which were spent in Europe as “Meister” for the Countess von Zeppelin Nursery in Germany. He served in the horticulture and education departments at the Missouri Botanical Garden; at White Flower Farm he was Director of Horticulture. From 1999-2007, he lead his own international consulting business, Uncommon Plants, specializing in perennials for gardens and green roofs.

  • Saturday, February 16, 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm – The Genus Geranium: Hardy Cranesbills for Every Garden

    Not to be confused with the tender Pelargonium species, the hardy Cranesbills are a diverse group of plants in habitat, foliage and flower suited to practically every gardening situation. The medley of Cranesbills offers up a profusion of blooms in early summer while the fascinating foliage patterns, markings and fall color can provide three-season interest. As manager of the Countess von Zeppelin Nursery in Germany and Director of Horticulture at White Flower Farm, Robert Herman cultivated over 30 species and cultivars of the genus Geranium. He will share his knowledge and provide advice on selecting and raising some of the best plants for New England gardens, on February 16 from 2 – 4 at Berkshire Botanical Garden in Stockbridge.

    Robert Herman has over 25 years of experience as a professional horticulturist, almost 7 of which were spent in Europe as “Meister” for the Countess von Zeppelin Nursery in Germany. He served in the horticulture and education departments at the Missouri Botanical Garden; at White Flower Farm he was Director of Horticulture. From 1999-2007, he lead his own international consulting business, Uncommon Plants, specializing in perennials for gardens and green roofs.

    Advance registration is highly recommended, but walk-ins are always welcome, space permitting. BBG members $25, nonmembers $35. Register online at https://www.berkshirebotanical.org/events/genus-geranium-hardy-cranesbills-every-garden

    Image result for hardy geranium white flower farm

  • Saturday, May 26, 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm – Fete des Fleurs

    Wear your best hat and celebrate the opening of Berkshire Botanical Garden’s stunning summer exhibition Beautiful Strangers: Artists Discover the Garden, a collection of contemporary sculpture on display throughout the Garden’s beautiful grounds featuring works by Alice Aycock, Wendell Castle, E.V. Day, Fitzhugh Karol, Mark Mennin, Michele Oka Doner, Ned Smyth, Stephen Talasnik, and Rob Wynne.
    Curated by James Salomon.

    This year’s Fete includes Plants as Art — a silent auction of artistically displayed plants, trees, shrubs and container plants. All proceeds from the auction support the Garden’s horticulture and education programs.

    For more information call (413) 320-4794, or register online at https://www.berkshirebotanical.org/events/f%C3%AAte-des-fleurs.

    The following businesses have generously donated to Plants as Art

    Broken Arrow Nursery
    Campo de’ Fiori
    David Burdick Daffodils & More
    Glendale Botanicals
    Hort and Pott
    Maple Lane Nursery
    O’Brien Nursery
    Pondside Nursery
    Twin Brooks Gardens
    Whalen Nursery, Inc.
    White Flower Farm
    Windy Hill Nursery
    Zema’s Nursery

    Image result for Fete des fleurs Berkshire Botanical Garden

  • Saturday, January 28, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon – Growing Fragrant Plants Indoors

    Learn all about our favorite fragrant indoor plants including jasmine, citrus, lavender, culinary herbs, and forced bulbs. On Saturday, January 28 from 10 – noon at Berkshire Botanical Garden in Stockbridge, White Flower Farm nursery manager Barbara Pierson will share her expertise for keeping these plants looking their best from fertilization and winter care to pest control and trade secrets for keeping plants healthy. She will bring a selection of specimen plants and offer some plants for purchase from the greenhouses at White Flower Farm. Register online at www.berkshirebotanical.org – BBG members $25, nonmembers $30. Receive a discount if you sign up for both the morning and afternoon classes on January 28 (this class and Growing Succulents: Agave and Aeoniums with Rob Gennari, 1-3 pm). Cost for both classes: Members $40; Nonmembers $50.
    To register for the discounted price, call 413-298-3926.

  • Saturday, February 7, 1:00 pm – 2:15 pm – Keepsake Annuals

    The best old-fashioned annuals for beds and containers and the new versions of some our favorites will be discussed. Whether you like fragrant heliotrope or self-sowing verbena, this Tower Hill Botanic Garden lecture on Saturday, February 7 from 1 – 2:15 will cover the A-Z of easy care heirloom types and showcase combinations that work.

    Lecturer Barbara Pierson of White Flower Farm graduated from Cornell’s School of Horticulture and has been the Nursery Manager at White Flower Farm since 1998. A popular guest on television and radio, she is regularly interviewed and quoted as an expert in newspapers across the country. She was featured in a five-part series of articles in The New York Times about home gardening in the summer of 2010. She has been a guest on WNPR’s “The Faith Middleton Show” and Martha Stewart Radio’s “Morning Living”. She is the face and voice of many of the how-to gardening videos available on White Flower Farm’s Web site. Her encyclopedic knowledge of ornamentals and edibles mean her talks are both enormously instructive and highly entertaining. Free with admission, but pre-registration is requested at https://dnbweb1.blackbaud.com/OPXREPHIL/EventDetail.asp?cguid=C7E2C131-AD0F-49AA-B073-5B92F8300A37&eid=50739&sid=09529F86-BAEF-4393-8887-27E3C466858A.

  • Tuesdays, January 6 – 27, 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm – Botany for Gardeners

    This is a Berkshire Botanical Garden beginning course in plant anatomy and physiology that covers a wide range of topics. The relationship between structure and function of seeds, roots, stems, leaves, flowers and fruits will be addressed. An understanding of how plants grow and respond to their environment is fundamental to the successful planting and cultivation of this enormous class of organisms. The series of classes, to be held Tuesdays, January 6 – 27 at the Education Center at Berkshire Botanical Garden in Stockbridge, can be taken as a core requirement for the Horticulture Certificate Level I program, or each session may be taken as an individual class.

    Instructor – Joyce Hemingson, Ph.D. earned her degree in Botany from the University of Connecticut on the pollination biology of Clethra alnifolia (Sweet Pepperbush). She worked for many years as Director of Publications for White Flower Farm, located in Litchfield, CT. She is an active gardener and a longtime member of the North American Rock Garden Society. $165.  To register, call Berkshire Community College at 413-236-2127, or BBG at 413-298-3926.  Image from www.kulabotanicalgarden.com.

  • Sunday, May 18, 9:00 am – 3:30 pm – Gardeners’ Fair at Elm Bank

    Join the Massachusetts Horticultural Society at Elm Bank, 900 Washington Street in Wellesley, on Sunday, May 18, for the annual Gardeners’ Fair, featuring White Flower Farm’s Great Tomato Celebration, Society Row Plant Sale, specialty vendors, and children’s activities, plus food and special lectures.  Special Mass Hort members’ hours 8 am – 9 an, and public hours 9 am – 3:30 pm. The Gardeners Fair and the Society Row Plant Sale includes a variety of vendors carrying everything you need to plan, dig, plant, and enjoy your home garden space. The Gardeners’ Fair is your opportunity to find rare and unusual perennials, trees and shrubs; ready-to-plant herbs and vegetables; and tomato varieties by the dozens. It’s also a chance to hear talks by an expert, find unique garden tools, garden ornaments and accessories, as well as other gardening necessities.

    White Flower Farm will be back. They’re bringing ‘The Great Tomato Celebration’, which features over 80 tomato varieties ranging from heirlooms and popular hybrids (see sample heirlooms from White Flower Farm below.) If you’re confused by all the choices, they’ll have experts on hand to offer advice on flavor, yield, disease resistance and planting instructions. White Flower Farm will also have a large selection of herbs and vegetable seedlings, plus planting implements.  Mass Hort members free, General Public $5.00.

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  • Wednesday, March 5, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm – Best New Plant Varieties for 2014

    If you enjoy the White Flower Farm mail order catalog, then this Evening Garden Club of West Roxbury presentation on Wednesday, March 5, beginning at 7 pm, is a “must.” The presenter will be Barbara Pierson, WFF nursery manager for 15+ years. Barb is a graduate of Cornell’s School of Horticulture and has appeared on radio, TV and in The New York Times. She is responsible for trialing all of the plants that White Flower Farm sells — which makes for some extraordinary photographs and great insights into what to buy (and what to avoid) for 2014, as well as plants being trialed for 2015 release. In early 2013 Barb gave this presentation to a packed house at Tower Hill Botanic Garden. Her presentation to our club will be her ONLY appearance in MA this year – don’t miss it!  Location: Elks Lodge, 1 Morrell St., West Roxbury, MA. Cost: $10 at the door (one lucky attendee will win a $50 White Flower Farm gift card).  For more information please visit http://gcfm.org/eveninggcwestroxbury/Home.aspx

     

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  • Saturday, January 26, 11:00 am – New Varieties for 2013

    This Tower Hill Botanic Garden lecture on Saturday, January 26 at 11 am will highlight the most exciting new introductions for 2013, including annuals, perennials, vegetables and shrubs. At home and in White Flower Farm’s trial gardens, speaker Barb Pierson of White Flower Farm in Litchfield, Connecticut tests varieties that are new to the commercial market and makes firsthand notes on their cultivation and performance. Using White Flower Farm’s top-quality photographs, Pierson’s talk will give the audience tips on what to buy and what to avoid. Every participant will receive a White Flower Farm catalog, and one lucky person will win a $50 gift certificate. Register at www.towerhillbg.org  or call 508-869-6111. THBG members $12, Nonmembers $15.