“On certain afternoons you can walk through the forest and hear the crunching of exploding ballistic seed pods.”

-   Tristram Seidler, Seed Ecologist

New Fall Courses & Late-Summer Events

Dear Members and Friends,

We invite you to celebrate with us the late summer and the early fall harvest time of fruits and seeds, and our other harvest — the many rewards of a personal connection with native plants. September is a wonderful time to plant, to complete conservation fieldwork projects, to sign up for classes and trips, to come to a September ROCK ON! festival, and to savor the sights and sounds of a glorious time in New England.

Back to Native Plant School. Your Fall/Winter Program Catalog arrives in the mail soon with many NEW programs this year. Learn about New England native shrubs with Boot Boutwell beginning September 5.You may wish to hone your writing with “Further Adventures in Creative Garden Writing,” beginning October 10. Or a series of September field trips to Rhode Island botanical treasures may suit you best. Perhaps the new “Yoga in the Garden” is your choice. Are you just getting started? Look for the * symbol on the Course Catalog index page for choices especially useful for beginners Want to go deeper? Check out the NEWLY REVISED Certificate Student offerings and join us for an optional orientation on September 26. Can’t wait for your catalog to arrive? See the entire listing online at http://www.newfs.org/courses.html.

"Balloon Stone" by Joe Wheelwright, part of the ROCK ON! exhibit at Garden in the Woods. Photograph by Gary Sloan. READ MORE about ROCK ON! below.

YOU ROCK! (We'll cook!)

Join the New England Wild Flower Society’s Executive Director Gwen Stauffer, Massachusetts State Representative and Society Trustee Jim Marzilli, Creative Living Magazine Publisher Joe Varney, and a great group of celebrated grill chefs at our “Goodwill from the Grill” BBQ benefit sale on Sept. 16-17. You’ll find our “celebrity chefs” wielding their spatulas and sharing special recipes as part of our ROCK ON! ROCK FEST weekend at Garden in the Woods. Bring the kids for a musical ROCK JAM, Make a mini-rock garden, savor late meadow bloom, and tour the Garden to view 37 ROCK ON! sculptures. On Sunday, September 17, Carol Stocker, famed Boston Globe writer, will be signing her book, “The Boston Globe Illustrated Gardening Almanac,” and speaking at 1 pm. Thanks to ROCK ON! presenting sponsors Whole Foods Market for providing giveaway goodies and barbecue supplies, and our special thanks to all of you, our members and friends, who make New England Wild Flower Society such a great organization.