The Garden Club of the Back Bay

Come to Boston University’s Sargent College, 635 Commonwealth Avenue, Room 101, on Wednesday, June 16, beginning at 6:30 pm, for a provoking panel discussion in the Farm to Fork series. How do we get the food we eat? At the grocery store? From the deli? Out of a backyard? This panel of specialists is excited about local food, but beyond passion, they are ready to share with you how they farm, how they buy, and how they serve with intention. You’ll walk away inspired by what’s possible! Meet the panelists: John Lee of Allandale Farms, chef JJ Gonson, Jeff Morin, Manager of City Feed and Willow Blish, volunteer co-leader of the Boston chapter of Slow Food. The evening will be moderated by Drew Love, FRESH’s Event Coordinator for Boston and Intern for the Real Food Challenge. Tickets: $10.   At this event, you will receive a free voucher to see FRESH at the Brattle Theatre June 18-23. More information: http://action.freshthemovie.com/p/d/freshthemovie/event/display-theater-event.sjs?event_KEY=21814#freshweek3

The Berkshire Botanical Garden, 5 West Stockbridge Road, West Stockbridge, Massachusetts, will hold a lecture and field study afternoon on Saturday, June 12, from 1 – 3 with Elisabeth Cary. After the first bloom of spring, as summer advances, the perennial border can often lose its lovely appearance. Learn how to keep the perennial border looking its best all season long by shaping perennials to produce more flowers, encouraging new growth, staggering bloom times, discouraging pests and encouraging vigorous plant health. Simple techniques for pruning, shaping, pinching, thinning, deadheading and staking perennials will be discussed and demonstrated. Weed control and mulching will be covered.

Elisabeth Cary is the Director of Education at the Berkshire Botanical Garden and has been gardening for over twenty years. She specializes in perennial, vegetable and mixed border gardens. She teaches woody plant identification for the horticulture certificate program and perennial and vegetable gardening for beginners.  The class is $18  for BBG members and $24 for non members.  You may register on line at www.berkshirebotanical.org, or by calling 413-298-3926.  Image below from www.thegardenerseden.com.

Take a walking tour of Mount Auburn Cemetery on Sunday, June 6, beginning at 2 pm, with Jim Gorman, a Lecturer at the Boston Architectural College and a Volunteer Docent at Mount Auburn. From the 1530′s onward, explorers and plant collectors reveled in the rich botanical diversity found in the newly discovered United States. Join Jim and help examine a sampling of trees and shrubs once craved for scientific, economic, ornamental and medicinal uses and listen as he recalls some illustrious plant collectors. $5 members; $10 non-members.  For more information, log on to www.mountauburn.org.  The image below may depict the Japanese maples planted at the Boston Public Library main branch courtyard and later moved to Mount Auburn.

Curated by Mashpee artist/musician Ej Mills Brennan, this exhibition at Highfield hall, 56 Highfield Drive in Falmouth, is presented under the auspices of the Native Arts Invitational, Northeast Woodland: Interpretations. In addition to her own multi-media works, she will feature the artwork of Native American artisans from throughout New England.

Environmental health and traditional native celebrations of the seasonal abundance of plant and animal life will serve as unifying themes for the works on display. The dates of the exhibit, June 2 – July 18, span the time frame leading up to, during and following the annual Mashpee Pow Wow, usually held during the July 4th weekend. Free admission. For more information, call 508-495-1878, ext. 313, or log on to www.highfieldhall.org.