Upcoming programs at Berkshire Botanical Garden
STOCKBRIDGE – Berkshire Botanical Garden presents the following upcoming programs: Tuesdays, Oct. 1 through 22, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. “Ornamental Woody Plants.” Taught by Jenna O’Brien, this four-session course will focus on the bones of the garden with a survey of ornamental woody plants for residential landscape design. It will cover ornamental shrubs, small flowering trees, shade trees, and broadleaf and needle evergreens. Students will become familiar with the many garden-worthy woody plants that thrive in Zone 5. The course covers plant identification, selection, siting, cultivation, and possible design uses. Students should dress for outdoor field study. All students participating in this class as part of the Horticulture Certificate Program are required to complete a final project. Cost $215 members, $240 nonmembers; Saturday, Oct. 5 and Sunday, Oct. 6, “Make a Wander Book: Floral Dyes on Paper,” 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Capture the color and contour of BBG’s gardens in autumn in our dynamic, hands-on workshop. In this two-day intensive, brew dyes with plants harvested from the BBG gardens and learn three different ways to capture color on paper. On the second day, create a “wander book,” a small, folded book form sewn with your own dyed threads. Expect to immerse in the world of natural dyes and depart with a set of materials to inspire your creative practice. Along with the harvesting and preparation of dyes, participants will be offered a daily centering meditation and short writing prompts. A brief materials list will be provided upon registration. Participants should bring an apron and their lunch. Cost $170 members, $190 nonmembers; Saturdays, Oct. 5 through 26, 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. “Rendering.” This four-week course, will offer students the opportunity to pursue the process of creating a realistic or lifelike representation of an object or a scene. It’s all about how you use your tools—be it charcoal, paint, or a digital stylus – to illustrate light and shadow, texture, and color in your artwork. This course is the next step for gardening designers following drafting. Structured as a studio class, students will learn the softer side of drawing for design using the B range pencils, and practice illustrative renderings such as sections, elevations and plan obliques. Taught by Tom Smith of Springfield Technical Community College. Cost is $215 members, $240 nonmembers. To register or for more information, visit www.berkshirebotanical.org. Berkshire Botanical Garden is located at 5 West Stockbridge Road.
Wilbraham Garden Club meeting
WILBRAHAM – The first meeting of the Wilbraham Garden Club for the year 2024-2025 will be held on Thursday, Oct. 3, at noon at the St. Cecilia’s Parish Center on Main St. A Luncheon will be served and there is no Guest Fee for this meeting, so please bring a prospective new member. The speaker for the day will be Jacqueline Clark, who will speak on “Putting the Garden to Sleep”. Jacqueline is the owner of Garden Designs in Ludlow. Learn how to prepare gardens for the upcoming winter season, including what plants to cut back; how to do the mulching, soil amending, what containers, to use, tool tips and more. Jacqueline will also teach techniques for saving seeds, fall plant divisions and bulb planting.
Pollinator Plant Sale
WILBRAHAM – The Wilbraham Friends of the Library (WFOL) is holding a pollinator plant sale on Saturday, Oct. 5 from 9 a.m. to noon at the Wilbraham Public Library, 25 Crane Park. Cash or checks only. There will be a variety of pollinator friendly biennials, perennials, shrubs and vines available for sale at the library. Early Oct. is an excellent time to plant, the ground is warm enough to support root growth and there is plenty of time for plants to get established before winter sets in.
Proceeds from the sale will benefit both the Wilbraham Public Library and Wistariahurst Museum in Holyoke. For more information, contact the Friends at friends@wilbrahamlibrary.org.
Send items for Garden Notes to pmastriano@repub.com two weeks prior to publication.
