Feb 22

Natural Facial Salve

This facial salve is a beautiful blend of astringent and healing herbs blended with oils, to create a deeply nourishing facial cream. It is made with only 9 all natural ingredients – including the flowers of calendula, chamomile, and rose – blended together to create a powerfully healing concoction. The salve is a truly beautiful and simple way to nourish your face and neck to prevent wrinkles, brighten your complexion and reduce pore size. You will be provided with all of the necessary ingredients to make a 2 oz. jar of salve as well as information on herbs and essential oils so you will be equipped on how to live a more holistic life beyond the workshop. Be sure to bring a notebook to take notes so you can create more in the future!
Tower Hill Botanic Garden,
11 French Drive,
Boylston, MA 01505,
(508) 869-6111.

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Feb 14

Tussie Mussies & the Language of Flowers

A Tussie Mussie is a hand-held bouquet made with fresh flowers and fragrant herbs. Each flower and herb in the bouquet carries a special message in the symbolic language of flowers. Made with roses, border carnations, rosemary and other herbs and flowers, tussie mussies are fragrant, beautiful and easy to make. Learn the secret messages flowers can convey and how the language of flowers has been used in the past. Students will be instructed on how to make a hand-held bouquet and then design a Tussie Mussie of their own. The finished Tussie Mussies can be decorated with colorful ribbons and a delicate tulle collar.
Tower Hill Botanic Garden,
11 French Drive,
Boylston, MA 01505,
(508) 869-6111.

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Feb 09

Botany for Gardeners: Plant Form and Function

Plants in essence are composed of roots and shoots. This basic body plan becomes the diversity of leaves, flowers, tendrils, bulbs, tubers, and fruits that we enjoy. Come to this workshop to learn how this happens, and what you as a gardener can do to help your plants deal with seasonal stressors such as cold, heat, drought and flooding. We will explore through hands-on experiences, the diversity of body forms in a selection of native plants and common garden residents. We will see how these forms are adaptations to particular growing conditions. This is the first of a three part series (Flowering Plant Life Cycle: March 22, 1-3pm; Plant Survival Strategies: April 11, 1-3pm).
Tower Hill Botanic Garden,
11 French Drive,
Boylston, MA 01505,
(508) 869-6111.

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Feb 06

Urban Tree Symposium: The Future of the Urban Forest

Join us as experts in the field explore the importance of our urban forests, as well as ways we can create sustainable urban forests for the future.
Tower Hill Botanic Garden,
11 French Drive,
Boylston, MA 01505,
(508) 869-6111.

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Mar 07

Cultivating Space: Women in Horticulture and Place-making

In this year’s “cultivating women” symposium, we highlight contemporary efforts by women to create, share, and preserve greenspaces for all and will showcase the importance of community spaces in this era of increasing urban and suburban density.
The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University,
125 Arborway,
Boston, MA 02130,
(617) 384-5209.

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Mar 12 to Apr 02

Design with Plants

As you survey your garden, do you feel like the plants just don’t hang together? Does planting design seem to be an innate sense that you just don’t have? Come and learn to think about plants in terms of their form and function first, and then learn some strategies to more successfully lay out your planting plan. The class will consist of lectures and classroom exercises. It is helpful if you come to class with a drawn plan of a garden area you are working on.
The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University,
125 Arborway,
Boston, MA 02130,
(617) 384-5209.

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Feb 26

Grafting Woody Plants: Fruit Trees

Grafting is the technique of joining parts of separate plants in such a manner that they unite and continue their growth as one. Learn basic principles of grafting with an overview of different types of dormant-season grafts. Arnold Arboretum propagator Sean Halloran will provide step-by-step instructions so that you can practice both cleft and side veneer grafts using apple root stock. Simple after-care will be required until planting out in springtime.
The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University,
125 Arborway,
Boston, MA 02130,
(617) 384-5209.

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Jan 25

Winter Tree Identification

Without their leaves, trees can be challenging to identify in the winter. However, if you consider a tree’s branching structure and buds, you can often determine its species. Former Arboretum horticulturist and now a high school teacher, Sue Pfeiffer will speak about the clues to look for and the keys available to help you definitively identify specific trees. Dress in layers for indoor and outdoor learning.
The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University,
125 Arborway,
Boston, MA 02130,
(617) 384-5209.

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Jan 28

Botany Blast: What is Biodiversity and Why Does It Matter?

Most of us have an intuitive sense of what counts as “biodiversity” and why it is important to live in a biodiverse world, but these questions have also powered decades of revelatory and complex ecological research. Join Putnam Postdoctoral Fellow Jake Grossman for an exploration of the world of biodiversity research. Our focus will be on how scientists define and quantify biodiversity and how biodiversity loss affects the way that ecosystems work. Jake will share highlights from his dissertation research, which entailed the use of experimentally planted “forests” to study the role of biodiversity in supporting tree growth, health, and nutrient use.
The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University,
125 Arborway,
Boston, MA 02130,
(617) 384-5209.

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Jan 23 to Mar 05

Garden Design Workshop for Home Gardeners

ou may have the desire to make a garden, but then grapple with how to start designing your home garden spaces. Why not get some help in designing a layout for an area of your yard in this beginner-level class? Learn the organizational components of a coherent garden and practice the process of design with award-winning designer Christie Dustman. You will leave class with a plan in progress from which to continue your design explorations. This class is primarily about garden spaces rather than specific plant selection. In the final class, Christie will present various ways to work with professionals to install your design or ways to construct your design yourself. You will be required to draw a base plan for your site (with tutelage in class) and will need to purchase some drawing tools and pay for large format copying.
The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University,
125 Arborway,
Boston, MA 02130,
(617) 384-5209.

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