The Garden Club of the Back Bay

See beautiful displays of daffodils and primroses of every kind imaginable, including lovely flower arrangements. Tour Tower Hill’s amazing daffodil collection on Sunday at 3 pm.  Vendors will be selling choice plants and gardening products.  Tower Hill Botanic Garden, Boylston, Massachusetts.  For more information, log on to www.towerhillbg.org.

The DCR and the Boston Harbor Island Alliance will present design plans for improvements to Georges Island, scheduled to take place between spring of 2009 and summer of 2010.  The program is free, open to the public, and will take place in the Ballroom, Entrance Level, of the Marriott Long Wharf Hotel, beginning at 6 pm on Thursday, March 19.  For additional information, call 617-626-4974.

It’s Tower Hill’s 24th birthday.  Enjoy free admission all day and learn about year-round activities and education at Tower Hill.  There will be a concert by the U.S. Airforce Band.  For more information, log on to www.towerhillbg.org.

Sample a lemony collection of sumptuous gourmet food tastings from Central New England’s top restaurants and caterers at Tower Hill Botanic Garden’s “Limonaia” Annual Fundraiser, to raise money for the planned Limonaia to be built across from the Orangerie.  Tickets, $35 per person.  For more information call 508-869-6111 or log on to www.towerhillbg.org.

NOFA/Mass presents our second annual Statewide Spring Organic Gardening Day. On April 18, there will be organic gardening workshops in every region of the state. Growing our own food is an excellent way to save money, lessen our carbon footprint, improve our health, and connect with neighbors and nature. Isn’t now a good time to learn skills that will help you plant a garden and make it productive throughout the year? Topics will include starting garden beds, seed starting, organic soil fertility, organic soil amendments, mulches and cover crops, weeds, disease and pests, what to plant when, crop spacing, and succession cropping.  These workshops are all being led by experienced gardening educators, and they are intended to meet the tremendous resurgence of energy and action for backyard and community gardening. Workshops will be held in Mattapan, South Natick, Newbury, Middleborough, Cohasset, Worcester, Barre, Winchendon Springs, West Springfield, Wendell, Chesterfield, Sheffield, and Pittsfield.  Register online at www.nofamass.org/programs/practicalskills/workshopday.php.  For more information contact Ben Grosscup at ben.grosscup@nofamass.org.

Since 1867 the Grange has given members the opportunity to become leaders and to make a positive difference in their respective communities. Millions of Americans in thousands of communities have reaped the rewards of having a local Grange providing educational opportunities, community service projects, and legislative influence. During the 142nd year of service the Grange continues to advocate on behalf of traditional American values and aids in keeping the family structure strong by bringing the entire family together in one organization.  Edward Luttrell, President of the National Grange, has proclaimed April as Grange Month across the nation, and new members are encouraged.  For information on a Grange near you, log on to www.nationalgrange.org.

If you’ve always yearned to host houseplants, but failed – this lecture will come to the rescue. Selecting low-maintenance houseplants such as succulents that are in synch with a hectic lifestyle is one solution. But another avenue is crystal clear: glass can serve as a solution to bond botany and you. With the aid of a terrarium, you can host nature almost anywhere – in your parched apartment or your dim cubicle. Plus, terrariums introduce beauty, whimsy, sophistication, and sparkle into indoor gardening. From vases to Wardian cases, including cloches and apothecary jars, we’ll demonstrate precisely how to work with glass enclosures of all types to incorporate green into your life, no matter how busy your schedule might be. Tovah Martin is the author of an upcoming book entitled “The New Terrarium.” $9 members, $10 non members. Tower Hill Botanic Garden, 11 French Drive, Boylston, MA.  For more information, and to register, log on to www.towerhillbg.org.

The Gibson House Annual Benefit will be held Sunday, March 22 at the Fairmont Copley Plaza.  Cocktails, food, a jazz trio, raffle and live auction will kick off the celebration of the 150th anniversary of Catherine Hammond Gibson’s decision to build one of the first houses in the Back Bay. $125 in advance, $150 at the door. For more information, log on to www.thegibsonhouse.org.

Climate change is the challenge of our time. How we respond will affect generations to come. The scientific community has told us that we must reduce our emissions of greenhouse gases 80% (of 1990 levels) by 2050 to avert the most catastrophic effects of climate change. The problem is global, but solutions will depend on the actions of individuals. Neighborhood associations can help motivate and organize neighbors to take action, serve as resources to their members, and use the campaign as a way to recruit new members. To learn details, come to Brookline Town Hall, Room 103 on Wednesday evening, March 11. For more information, contact donweitzman@rcn.com, Alisa Jonas at jonasdays@verizon.net, or Rob Daves at robdaves@rcn.com.

The best organic food is what’s grown closest to you.  Use www.localhaarvest.org to find farmers’ markets, family farms, and other sources of sustainably grown food in your area, where you can buy produce, grass-fed meats, and other goodies.  There is a fabulous catalog, links to CSA’s, restaurants, farms and grocery stores, and links to some very entertaining blogs.

Join renowned garden designers Joe Eck and Wayne Winterrowd for an entertaining, fascinating, and highly personal account of over 30 years of experience in the making of North Hill, which garden historian Mac Griswold has called one of the ten best private gardens in North America.  This lecture is both a biography of a mature garden and the autobiography of a relationship, but it also includes valuable information on garden design and on the cultivation of rare and unusual plants. The lecture will be followed by a book signing of their third and unexpectedly moving latest book written together, Our Life in Gardens, which contains much sound information about plants and garden design.  There are sections about particular plants – roses and lilacs, snowdrops and cyclamen, and vegetables.  There are also chapters on the development of their garden over time and the dark issue that weighs more and more on the authors: its eventual decline and demise.  Tower Hill Members $9, Non-Members $10.  Register at www.towerhillbg.org.

Spice up your life with an A to Z tour of spices that explore the history, folklore and medicinal benefits of common culinary spices. RN/herbalist Bonnie Kavanagh will guide you in the creation of a healthy spice blend to bring home, along with the knowledge to improve your health with every meal. Workshop will meet in the Carriage House of Blithewold Mansion, Gardens and Arboretum, 101 Ferry Road, Bristol, Rhode Island. $20 members of Blithewold, $25 nonmembers. For more information call 401-253-2707, or log on to www.blithewold.org.