Berkshire Botanical Garden ornamental vegetable garden.
Upcoming programs at Berkshire Botanical Garden
STOCKBRIDGE – Berkshire Botanical Garden presents the following upcoming programs. Wednesday, April 20, and April 27, 4 p.m. 5:30 p.m., “New England Spring Wildflower Primer,” takes place online. This 2-part series on wildflowers will present an overview of the native forest flora that bloom in the Berkshires in spring. The first presentation will discuss the flora in the mixed hardwoods, white pine, and hemlock forests that cover so much of Berkshire County. The emphasis of the presentation will be on herbaceous wildflowers, but we will also present some of the trees, shrubs, and ferns that commonly grow in these forest communities. The second presentation will highlight the flora that grow in rich hardwood forests under a canopy of sugar maple, white ash, and basswood. Spring wildflowers are especially abundant and varied in this forest habitat, and the presentation will showcase many of them, in addition to trees, shrubs, and ferns. Cost is 435 members, $45 non-members; On Saturday, April 23, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., “Planting Perennials the New Wave Way.” Naturalistic perennial plantings are all the rage, but adapting them to smaller scale gardens can be a challenge. Join artist-gardener Robert Clyde Anderson for an illustrated lecture that clarifies the main concepts behind the New Perennial Movement and offers techniques, based on his own experience, for combining three to five compatible perennials that become a living mulch for weed suppression and moisture retention. Specific plant combinations will be discussed as well as how-to planting and staging techniques that Robert has used over several seasons developing a mature, wet-meadow planting. Cost is $18. To register for the programs or for more information, visit www.berkshirebotanical.org. Botanical Garden is located at 5 West Stockbridge Road.
Springfield Garden Club scholarship and trip
SPRINGFIELD – The Springfield Garden Club is hosting a bus trip to the New York Botanical Garden on Wednesday, April 27. The bus will leave Forest Park at 7:30 a.m. and will leave the NY Botanical Garden at 3:30 p.m. Ticket prices are $63 for SGC members and $75 nonmembers. The cost of the trip includes the bus trip and admission to the garden. The tour is self-guided, and lunch is the responsibility of the attendee. Registration is on a first come, first served basis and complete payment is due at time of registration. For more information on this and other Springfield Garden Club events go to www.springfieldgardenclubma.org or visit them on Facebook.
The Springfield Garden club, in conjunction with the Springfield Parks Department, will hold an Arbor Day Tree Planting on Friday, April 29, 1 p.m. in the Memorial Grove at Forest Park. This will also honor the veterans of World War I.
Over 100 years ago, one pin oak tree was planted in Forest Park for each of the 150 men from Springfield who gave their lives fighting in World War I, known at the time as The Great War. A plaque placed on a boulder in the grove in 1921 by the Springfield Publicity Club commemorates the planting and the soldiers who gave their lives. Over time, some of the trees have died but due to the efforts of the Eagle Scout Geoffrey Klafeta of Troop 77, six were planted in 2018 to replenish some of the missing trees. Last year, the Springfield Garden Club added to the replenishment. With the tree to planted on April 29, the grove will be 150 trees strong again.
This year also marks the 150th anniversary of the founding of Arbor Day in the United States. To commemorate these anniversaries and to help re-establish a tree native to Springfield, MA, the Springfield Garden Club will offer 150 red mulberry seedlings to those who attend the ceremony. The public is welcomed to join the Springfield garden Club at the ceremony.
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