Boston Dance Theater (BDT) returns to the Garden this September for Plants: Solos for Native Species. On September 26, visitors are invited to experience immersive dance performances throughout the Garden, featuring 20-minute solo works inspired by native plant species. Four solo performances will loop throughout the day in different locations, allowing guests to discover each piece at their own pace and to come and go freely during regular Garden hours. Free with Garden Admission. For more information visit https://www.nativeplanttrust.org/events/plants-solos-for-native-species/
Evan Abramson, Principal, Landscape Interactions, presents a Massachusetts Pollinator Network monthy free webinar on September 29 at 7 pm Eastern. A first of its kind hybrid regional plan and open source design toolkit, this project demonstrates the opportunities that farms and working landscapes provide for building soil health, increasing soil carbon sequestration and restoring regional biodiversity. Register at https://grownativemass.org/Our-Programs/calendar
On September 17 from 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm, learn how to use iNaturalist to catalog flora and fauna, and collect vital community science data for our “BioBlitz” biological survey. Explore the impact of a new river restoration project and tell us your vision for the brook and the surrounding area! Cheesecake Brook is located at 256 Albemarle Road in Newton. Free but sign up HERE. And ignore street misspelling in poster below.
Sonja Waites launches her book The Amazing Lady P: The Inspiring Story of Pulbrook & Gould and their English-grown Flowers. Join the Garden Museum on September 29 to hear Sonja in conversation with Shane Connolly to recall the extraordinary success of Pulbrook & Gould, one of London’s most celebrated floral decorators, drawing on recollections from former staff, clients, and the suppliers of their distinctive English-grown flowers.
Founded in the 1950s by society hostess Susan, Lady Pulbrook and her Constance Spry-trained partner Rosamund Gould, the firm quickly became the leading choice for Society events: weddings, funerals, balls and private parties, with a client list that included the Royal Family. As passionate gardeners, their signature natural style drew on flowers sourced from country-house contacts and English growers at Covent Garden Market.
The human use of plant fibers has shaped entire landscapes — territories, economies, and identities. In Latin America, this history spans thousands of years and holds a complexity rarely captured in the literature: distinct peoples, distinct plants, distinct bodies of knowledge, each built and passed down within very specific ecological and cultural contexts.
This online course is a journey through Latin America told through its fibrous plants. We’ll cover botany, ethnobotany, history, textile uses, and extraction practices documented in scientific literature, historical sources, and audiovisual records. We will also discuss communities’ rights over their traditional knowledge of plant fibers, including the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the concept of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK). More information can be found on Google Docs HERE.
Class 1 — Tuesday, September 22, 2026: A Panoramic View of Pre-Colonial Plant Fibers in Latin America Which plants were used, by which peoples, in which territories. How fibers structured economy, spirituality, identity, and memory.
Class 2 — Wednesday, September 23, 2026: Botany, Ethnobotany, and Extraction Practices A deep dive into some of Latin America’s key fiber species — from Mexican henequén to Amazonian curauá. Ecology, geographic distribution, and textile uses. Extraction techniques documented in the literature and in reference videos.
Class 3 — Tuesday, September 29, 2026: Colonialism, Expropriation, and Rights What colonialism did to fiber knowledge. Concrete cases of appropriated and erased knowledge — and what protections exist today.
Class 4 — Wednesday, September 30, 2026: What Fibers Exist Where You Live? Ahead of this class, you’ll be asked to go outside, observe the plants around you, and bring back a photo or sample. In our final session, we’ll identify these plants together, trace their stories, and connect what’s growing near you to everything we’ve covered throughout the course.
Who this course is for Anyone curious about plants, history, and material culture. Artisans, designers, and fashion professionals who want to understand the origins of what they work with. Students and researchers in anthropology, biology, history, and law.
About the instructor Eduarda Bastian is a doctoral researcher in Botany at UFSC (PPGFAP – Laboratory of Human Ecology and Ethnobotany, Brazil), where she studies the traditional and contemporary use of plant fibers across the Global South. She is the founder of Fibershed Brasil, a nonprofit organization supporting and strengthening the work of traditional communities engaged in plant fiber and textile projects.
The Emerald Necklace Conservancy announces a brand-new, mobile-friendly website, https://www.emeraldnecklace.org/, full of exciting tools to make the Emerald Necklace parks even more accessible. Explore the Necklace’s parks with our informative, interactive map; discover each park’s history and hidden treasures; and learn more about the Conservancy’s work in these extraordinary landscapes over the past three decades—and counting!
With this new website comes a new look and feel for our organization—including a new logo that bridges the Emerald Necklace’s rich history with its dynamic future.
This important update was made possible with generous support from our communities, alongside hundreds of comments and thoughtful feedback from neighbors, advocates, and park users like you.
Join Master Gardener Chris Ferrero at Berkshire Botanical Garden on Saturday, September 26 from 1 to 3 p.m., to explore how to maintain perennial borders, foundation plots and vegetable gardens that have been created and tended over the years. This course will teach participants how to reshape their garden design and how to choose appropriate types of plants that can improve the gardening process.
Chris Ferrero is a gardening speaker, writer and consultant. Chris is a Cornell Master Gardener from Dutchess County, N.Y., where in addition to speaking and teaching classes, she has led demonstration garden renovations, organized regional events and served on teams as a perennials specialist known for particular expertise in shade gardening, flowering shrubs, pollinator-approved planting designs, and native plants as alternatives to invasives. $30 for BBG members, $45 for nonmembers. Register at https://www.berkshirebotanical.org/gardening-baby-boomers-10-ways-garden-smarter-we-get-older
The Garden Club of the Back Bay will hold its first meeting of 2026/2027 on Tuesday, September 22 at the Massachusetts Audubon Society’s Boston Nature Center & Wildlife Sanctuary in Mattapan, followed by a picnic lunch. This is a members only event. The Sanctuary is an oasis not far from the center of the city that is home to over 150 species of birds, 40 species of butterflies, and more than 350 plant species. We’ll explore a young Miyawaki Method mini-forest, as well as learn about an exciting new initiative to de-channelize the canterbury brook with a full restoration of the brook and its wetlands.
Bring your lunch and enjoy an optional picnic with fellow GCBB members outside if the weather cooperates, or inside if it doesn’t. If you are not yet a member of the Club but wish to become one, visit https://gardenclubbackbay.org/join
Over 5,000 glowing jack-o’-lanterns transform the Roger Williams Park Zoo into New England’s premier fall experience. Tickets sold online only. https://www.rwpzoo.org/jols/.
Roger Williams Park Zoo’s Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular: The Great Pun-Kin Trail, presented by Citizens, returns October 1 through November 1 with an all-new trail of clever carvings guaranteed to make you smile, groan, and laugh out loud.
This year’s theme celebrates the art of the pun, with thousands of hand-carved pumpkins bringing witty wordplay to life through pop culture references, playful characters and pun-believable scenes. From clever one-liners to delightfully cheesy dad jokes, there’s something to make every guest grin as they stroll The Great Pun-Kin Trail, where over 5,000 glowing jack-o’-lanterns transform the Zoo into New England’s premier fall experience.
Enjoy the magic of autumn at Roger Williams Park Zoo. All tickets are timed, available online only, and must be purchased in advance. Don’t miss New England’s “must-see” family-friendly event of the Halloween season!
Free nightly parking is available on a first-come, first-served basis, with optional premium parking available. Please remember to bring along your patience – the magical experience inside is worth every moment!
Pumpkin trail is open nightly from 6:00 – 10:30 pm, last entry at 10:00 pm. The Spectacular is open rain or shine, all tickets are non-refundable and cannot be exchanged for a different date.
