Garden Club of the Back Bay member Donna Morrissey created a fabulous arrangement entitled “Victoria Falls, Africa” at Tower Hill Botanic Garden in Boylston, Massachusetts, as a part of Flora in Winter, a celebration taking place at Tower Hill and at the Worcester Art Museum.  The very labor intensive arrangement includes asparagus fern, asters, freesia, wax flower, babies breath, statice, lisianthus, loosestrife, feather fern, ruscus and bear grass.

Join Allan Mandell, an internationally published photographer with a passion for the gardens of Kyoto, in November, 2010, for a Pacific Horticulture trip timed to take advantage of Kyoto at the height of fall color.  Mr. Mandell has been awarded numerous ‘Garden Globe’ and ‘Quill & Trowel’ awards for photography, and is the sole photographer of Garden to Vase (Timber Press, 2007), Artists in Their Gardens (Sasquatch Books, 2001), Garden Retreats (Chronicle Books, 2000), Naturalistic Gardening (Sasquatch Books, 1998), Gardening from Scratch (Simon & Schuster, 1998) and Tea Gardens (Chronicle Books, 1998).

Once the imperial capitol of Japan, Kyoto is a treasure trove of the traditional arts.  Garden making flourished here.  Experience stroll gardens and small Zen temples, navigating through crowds and quiet back streets, urban density and forested hillsides, all in pursuit of bamboo, maple leaves, imperial elegance, rustic Shinto simplicity, and the quiet within.  Accommodations in a traditional ryokan, with side trips to soak in hot baths, are part of the experience.  Enjoy being lost for a while – lost in color, line, pattern, creativity, and discovery.  Bring open eyes, your gear, and a desire to explore.  This trip is limited to ten guests, so you are advised to contact Sterling Tours at 619-299-3010 as soon as possible.  They may also be found at www.sterlingtours.info/choices.php.

Join Jen Kettell, Horticultural Technologist at the Arnold Arboretum, on Saturday, February 20  at 9:00 a.m. in the Hunnewell Building at the Arboretum for this single session pruning workshop. Jan presented this program earlier in January, and you have a second chance.  With no leaves on the branches to obscure your view, this is the best time of year to study a tree’s structure and shape it for improved air circulation, silhouette, and strength. Jen Kettell, an International Society of Arboriculture-certified arborist and accredited Organic Land Care professional, will explain the reasons for pruning and what to consider when pruning dormant trees, shrubs, and vines. She will demonstrate techniques, give guidelines for determining which plants benefit from winter pruning, and explain how plants heal from pruning wounds, even when dormant. Bring your questions to this classroom discussion and demonstration. Fee $30 Arnold Arboretum member, $35 nonmember.  To register, or for more information, log on to www.arboretum.harvard.edu.

Instructor Kristin DeSouza leads a class on Thursday, February 11, from 9:30 – 11:30 am, on Designing an Edible Native Plant Garden (co-sponsored by the New England Wild Flower Society).  There are over 20,000 species of edible plants in the world, yet fewer than 20 species now provide over 90% of our food.  What are our native edibles and how can we utilize them in the garden?  Have you ever eaten a pawpaw fruit or sauteed oyster mushrooms freshly picked from your garden for your evening’s dinner?  Horticulturalist Kristin DeSouza will illustrate the design and installation process of the new edible native plant garden at Garden in the Woods.  She will weave together historical plant uses, design approaches, horticultural techniques, and culinary applications.  A sampling of native plant edibles will be available as well.  Directions will be sent to registrants ($25 NEWFS members, $29 non members).  Log on to www.slowfoodboston.com for more information.

The transition from hunting and gathering to food production was a seismic shift in human history. With it, we transformed the world. But how and when did this happen, and why is it important to understanding our current human condition? Bruce Smith, curator of North American archaeology at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, will discuss his current research on agricultural origins — and how the story is more complicated than you’d expect.  This free lecture will take place at the Harvard Museum of Natural History, 26 Oxford Street in Cambridge, on Thursday, February 11, from 6:00 – 7:00 pm.  For more information, log on to www.hmnh.harvard.edu.

The Medford Garden Club is sponsoring a free lecture on Thursday, February 4, from 7 – 9 pm at the Medford Public Library, 111 High Street in Medford.  Bryan Hamlin, a Medford botanist and a board member of the Friends of the Middlesex Fells, will explain what has changed botanically in the Fells and why.  His illustrated talk will cover the history of the Fells and its past and current habitat.  For more information, email sbcummer@msn.com.  Photo below taken by Sandra Loosemore.

On Thursday, February 11, at 7:00 pm, Historic Newton will present the first in the 2010 Newton History Series programs at the Newton Free Library.  The series is called Roots in Our History.  The opening lecture, entitled Fruits of Their Labors: The Kenrick Nurseries Legacy for Today’s Garden, will be given by award- winning landscape designer and preservationist Lucinda A. Brockway.

In his nursery catalog of 1831, William Kenrick boasted that his family nursery was about 35 years old and “now without doubt, the oldest of note in New England.”  At the time he couldn’t have realized that the nursery would continue beyond his 76 year lifespan (1796-1872).  The Kenrick’s “undeviating principles of accuracy, of honor, and of rectitude” gained them the highest reputation in the plant industry, and many of our most beloved fruit and tree varieties, including many in our gardens today, first came to this country through the Kenrick family nurseries.  In 1796, their passion for plants, which began with “no other motive than the ornament and improvement of a portion of [John Kenrick's] own lands,” launched the family to the heights of horticultural recognition.  Today their Waverley Avenue home in Newton, and the trees shading the streets of Farlow Hill, are fitting tribute to their labors.

Today’s green movement asks us to “buy local.”  What better way to buy locally than to celebrate the fruit and plant cultivars of the Kenrick nurseries in our backyard gardens or on our local grocer’s shelves!  From copper beeches to Belgian pears, there is something in their nursery lists for everyone.  The rich story of this family’s passions makes each juicy bit of a Van Mons pear even sweeter.

Lucinda A. Brockway is principal and owner of Past Designs, a landscape preservation and design firm in Kennebunk, Maine.  Brockway serves a national clientele, including The National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Trustees of Reservations, and numerous state and federal preservation agencies.  In addition, she has designed landscapes for private homes which have been featured in Old House Journal, Victoria Magazine, Colonial Homes, and Accent.  She is an instructor for the National Preservation Institute, offering courses in landscape preservation from South Carolina to Hawaii.  Her work has been recognized by the Garden Club of America, The American Society of Landscape Architects, the Massachusetts Historical Commission, and others.  She is the author of three books: A Favorite Place of Resort for Strangers, Taking a Garden Public: Feasibility and Startup, and Gardens of the New Republic.  For more information, call the Newton Free Library at 617-796-1360.  All programs are free and open to the public.  Parking is free, and the Newton Free Library is handicap accessible.

Prince Charles’s Head Gardener, Debs Goodenough, will be the featured speaker at the Berkshire Botanical Garden’s Annual Winter Lecture on Saturday, February 13, from 2 pm – 4 pm, at Monument Mountain High School in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.  A reception and book signing will follow the lecture.

Ms. Goodenough replaced David Howard in 2008 as Head Gardener of The Highgrove Estate.

Tickets cost $30 for members of the Botanical Garden, and $35 for the general public.  Reservations are essential. For tickets and more information, you may call 413-298-3926, or email info@berkshirebotanical.org.

Join the North American Rock Garden Society March 19 – March 21 in Devens, Massachusetts, to hear about terrific new plants for your garden.  Learn design principles you can use to make your garden more interesting and pleasing.  Buy great plants, and enter a plant show.  Mingle with other obsessed gardeners.  Devens, Massachusetts is the new town on the site of the former Fort Devens, 30 miles west of Boston (who knew?).

Featured speakers include Gordon Hayward, author and garden designer, on the uses of stone in the garden, Jan Sacks and Marty Schafer, proprietors of Joe Pye Weed’s garden, on small irises, Lauren Springer Ogden and Scott Ogden, authors and garden designers, on plant-driven garden  design, Bill Cullina, author and plant and garden curator, from Coastal maine Botanical Garden, on trilliums, Darrell Probst, horticuturist and plant breeder, giving two talks, one on new introductions of astilbes, coreopsis and more, and the other on epimediums from the wilds to the garden, Sally and John Perkins, rhododendron experts, on ericaceous plants for the rock garden, and Jeff Good, landscape director of The Fells in Newbury, New Hampshire, on design and restoration of the rock gardens at The Fells.

You’ll also choose two of these three design workshops:  Discussing the Design Process with the Ogdens, Propagation of Trilliums with Bill Cullina, or Sturdy, Reliable Plants for the Rock Garden with Mike Slater, NARGS Recording Secretary.

In addition to many vendors selling great plants, there will be a plant who, and newcomers as well as experienced plant show participants are encouraged to enter.  For further information, contact Registrar Vivien Bouffard (vbouffard55@msn.com) or Chair Rosemary Monahan (rosemonahan@comcast.net), or call 978-568-1780.

The meeting will be held at the Marriott Spring Hill Suites/Devens Common Center in Devens.  For rooms, register directly with the hotel: 1-888-287-9400, or on line at www.marriott.com.  Be sure to mention that you’re registering as part of the block reserved for the New England Chapter of the North American Rock Garden Society.  Conference rates are $119 plus tax, and hotel reservations must be made by February 18.

You may register for the conference on line at www.nargs.org, or contact Vivien or Rosemary as noted above to receive a written form.  Fee for attending is $250 if received by February 1, and $275 thereafter.  There is also an optional Friday dinner for $45.

You will see a new link on the right hand side of our home page, directing you to www.bostonparks.org, a just launched web site which is part of a strategy to formalize the connections among park volunteers and advocates across Boston, and will provide tools and resources for helping members connect with one another.  Website resources will include an online discussion board that makes it easy to have conversations about topics of interest to park volunteers and advocates, a calendar, and soon, a member directory.

Boston Park Advocates (BPA) is a growing, volunteer-based, citywide network of active park stakeholders who are the champions for Boston’s parks and open spaces.  It is a diverse and broad based constituency of individuals and organizations that collectively use and care about Boston’s open spaces because green spaces enrich our lives immeasurably, with both their beauty and functionality. These places are our parks, playgrounds and athletic fields, our streets, sidewalks and bikeways, our community gardens, and our beaches, greenways, urban wilds and reservations.

The goal of the network is to connect and unify Boston’s diverse park and community stakeholders. BPA aims to build  capacity, share resources and information, raise public awareness, and strengthen the collective impact of its network members to influence public park policy and increase support for the range of urban parks and open spaces.  Membership is free – register on the web site for notification of future meetings and events.

The Berkshire Botanical Gardens will hold a demonstration/workshop on Agaves, Orchids, Succulents and more on Saturday, February 20, beginning at 1 pm.  Investigate the trend in gardening with plants from around the world.  Consider agaves, and succulents, as low maintenance patio plants that double as houseplants for the winter months.  Learn about orchids and how to care for these exotic beauties.  Practical information on selection, cultivation, maintenance and  over wintering will be covered with a focus on keeping plants bautiful and  healthy. Students will practice dividing and repotting a variety of specimen plants and will take home divisions to grow.

The class will be given by Rob Gennari, a garden designer and owner of Glendale Botanicals, a specialty tropical nursery located in Berkshire County.  He uses tropical plants in his design work and has in-depth experience with propagating, growing and maintaining these plants.  The cost of the workshop is $25 for BBG members, $30 for non members, and includes all materials. Bring gloves and pruners.  Additional plants will be offered for sale following the event.  To register, log on to www.berkshirebotanical.org.

Non-native invasive plants are a leading threat to the botanical health of our ecosystems and the diversity of our landscapes. Now is the time to plan your strategy for combating these invasive threats to the biodiversity of our region. Learn how to identify the most common invasives in the Connecticut River Valley (see Japanese barberry below), where they are likely to be found, and how they can impact the plants and animals where they grow.  Topics include mechanical, chemical and manual control techniques, prevention of soil erosion and further infestation by invasives, and finally techniques for the re-vegetation process. The class includes a PowerPoint presentation, use of herbarium specimens and demonstrations of tools and equipment. The class is appropriate for landowners as well as stewards of public lands.  Sponsored by the New England Wildflower Society, the class will take place at Nasami Farm in Whately, Massachusetts, and will cost $28 for NEWFS members, and $33 for nonmembers.  The instructor is Tony Reiber, and you may register on line at www.newfs.org.

Berkshire Botanical Gardens is holding a special hands-on workshop Saturday, February 6, from 10:00 am – 2:00 pm with Nancy Moore Bess, master basket maker.  Using handmade papers for packaging has a long tradition in Asia, especially in Japan. Pyramid packages hold snacks, juice, bath salts or Macadamia nuts. Textured paper is tied with raffia to hold three erasers or five black stones. Handmade paper is folded into a boat form and stitched with Japanese mizuhiki to hold a floral arrangement. Participants will duplicate these projects and many more inspired by the instructor’s collection. Participants should bring small items they might want to wrap – handmade soaps, potpourri from their gardens, small books, dried flowers, etc.

Ms. Bess exhibits her baskets worldwide.  She has championed Japanese basketry in the west and is the author of Bamboo in Japan.  The cost for this workshop is $50 for BBG members, $60 for nonmembers, plus, in each instance, a $15 materials fee paid directly to the instructor at the class.  For more information and directions, log on to www.berkshirebotanical.org.  These popular workshops always sell out, so register as soon as possible.

What makes a cottage garden and how can this style, often associated with the English gardening tradition be adapted to the challenging climate of New England? Learn about the design elements of this unique gardening style, and consider the plants and planting schemes used to create the loose informal style, at this illustrated lecture to be held at the Berkshire Botanical Garden on Saturday, February 6, from 1:00 – 3:00 pm. The instructor will illustrate design concepts using a cottage garden located in Sherman, CT. This garden, often on the Garden Conservancy tour, will serve as an example for the lecture.

Amy Ziffer owns Shady Lady Garden Design, a garden design and maintenance business in western Connecticut.  She is a former editor at Fine Gardening magazine and a Master Gardener.  Her display garden was honored with inclusion in The Garden Conservancy’s Open Days Directory beginning in 2007.   The cost of the lecture is $18 for BBG members, $24 for non members, and directions and information may be obtained by logging on to www.berkshirebotanical.org.

What was it like to live in the dark with only the Moon and a few candles to light your way?  Living in the Dark will explore life before the electric light.  Enjoy this special evening tour of the beautiful Governor Gore mansion. Led by a guide in period clothing, these tours focus on life in the early 19th century.

Why is it called a Full Moon Tour? These tours take place each month on an evening near the full moon. The full moon was very important to early settlers as well as Native Americas. By providing additional light at night, the full moon allowed them to work late into evening and made night-time travel safer. Though varied in theme, each Full Moon Tour includes the major rooms of the mansion and offers a glimpse into the fascinating world of the Gores.

Admission for Full Moon Tours is $12 adults, $8 children 6-12. Light refreshments are included.  Please note, these tours are designed for adults and older children and are not appropriate for children under 6 years of age. Parking is free. For reservations call (781) 894-2798.

Additional Full Moon Tours will take place on Friday, February 26 and Wednesday, March 29 starting each night at 7pm (doors open at 6:30pm).  For directions, log on to www.goreplace.org.

Slow Food Boston’s 3rd Annual Film Series continues with a screening of The End of the Line at the Tufts University Friedman School, 150 Harrison Avenue, on Sunday, February 7 at 3:30 pm.

Grilling beautiful tuna steaks. The ubiquitous shrimp cocktail. Polluted fish farms. Mercury. Omega 3 fatty acids. Fishing quotas. Ouch – purchasing & consuming seafood has never been so rife with conflict.   This somewhat unnerving documentary The End of the Line explores issues like those above in what the LA Times called a “…crisp, informative and convincing way…” The NY Times says, despite some flaws, that it “…subverts our ancient faith in the ocean as an inexhaustible resource, offering a persuasive case that the major species of edible fish are headed for extinction.”

Join Slow Food Boston for this in-depth look at current research and thoughts on our oceans, the fish that populate them and the people whose livelihoods depend on them. Oh, not to mention the effects all of it has on those of us on the other end of the chain: the consumers!  Cost is $5, payable at the door by cash or check.

The Executive Committee of The Garden Club of the Back Bay voted this week to send an unrestricted $1,000 contribution to Partners in Health, for its Stand With Haiti initiative.  As we are all aware, the major earthquake centered just 10 miles from Port-au-Prince has devastated the country.  Partners in Health and its partner organization Zanmi Lasante have worked in Haiti for nearly twenty-five years, and today it is one of the largest non-governmental health care providers in the country.  The Garden Club is proud to support its efforts.  More information can be found on the Partners in Health website, and at www.standwithhaiti.org.

Create a piece of Arnold Arboretum history.  Enter the contest to design next year’s Lilac Sunday T-shirt.  The Arnold Arboretum invites artists of all ages to submit T-shirt designs for Lilac Sunday 2010.  Lilac-themed T-shirts have been a tradition at Lilac Sunday for many years, and continue to be a highly anticipated and popular memento of this event.

Designs must be original artwork for the front of a T-shirt, suitable for men and women.  Design must be a maximum of 2 color.  Open to all ages, and you may submit up to three designs.  The deadline is January 31, so get sketching!  Please submit a digital file of your design (may be a digital photograph).  For complete submission rules, log on to www.arboretum.harvard.edu.  Questions and submissions may be sent to arbweb@arnarb.harvard.edu – put “Lilac Sunday T-Shirt Competition” in the email subject line.  Last year’s winning design below was created by Laura Osterweis of Natick.

On Saturday, February 6, from 1:00 – 4:00 pm, instructor Tia Pinney, a Drumlin Farm Teacher-Naturalist, will cover all the basics of maple sugaring.  Do you have a sugar maple or two in your yard?  Do you love maple syrup?  If so, come learn how to make your own delicious syrup.  Everything will be covered – tree identification, equipment needed, tapping, weather, boiling, finishing, and storing.  The class is open to adults, teens age 16 and older, and children age 12 and older with adult supervision.  Dress warmly.  Registration is required.  Adults, $25 for Mass Audubon members, $35 for nonmembers.  You may register by phone with credit card by calling 781-259-2200, or by logging in to www.massaudubon.org.  You may also email drumlinfarm@massaudubon.org for more information and directions to 208 South Great Road, Lincoln, MA, where the class will take place.

As previously reported, the Worcester Art Museum will present the 8th Annual Flora in Winter January 28 – January 31.  Skilled artisans from across New England create clever, provocative interpretations of works from the Museum’s collection, and public spaces are adorned with arrangements by area florists.  On Thursday, January 28, enjoy a special day of Flora just for Garden Club members.  Begin with a lunch at noon in the Conference Room, followed by a Flora in Winter Chairman’s Tour of the Galleries from 1 – 2 pm.  From 2 – 3 pm, learn design secrets and flower arranging techniques during a Demonstration by legendary arranger Julie Lapham.  Come early at 11 am and stay late until 5 pm to wander through the galleries and breathe in the fresh aromas of spring.  The price for Garden Club Day is $25 for WAM members, $40 for nonmembers (includes Museum admission).  Reservations are required, since space is limited.  Call 508-799-4406, x 3025.