Popular Flower Types

Periwinkle’s enchanting blooms grace gardens in shades of purple, blue or white. There are over 30 varieties of this reliable ground cover.

Violas, akin to pansies, grow as an annual in cool areas and as a perennial in warmer zones. Their bright colors add beauty to rock gardens or shade garden.

LUNENBURG — We’ve all learned to live our lives a little greener in recent decades. From reusable grocery bags to electric cars, many of us take pride in making choices to lead more sustainable lives.

Gardening should be no different.

Join New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill for a presentation entitled “Earth Friendly Gardening” at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 27, in the Wallace Community Room, Lunenburg Public Library, 1023 Massachusetts Ave.

Learn about the ways gardening impacts the environment and how you can be a more earth-friendly gardener in this in-person presentation at the Library by Mark Richardson from New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill.

Richardson joined the staff as Director of Horticulture for New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill in 2018. He served previously as Botanic Garden Director for New England Wild Flower Society, where he oversaw Garden in the Woods and Nasami Farm native plant nursery. He has a passion for ecological horticulture and native plants.

Prior to joining the staff at Tower Hill, Richardson wrote “Native Plants for New England Gardens”, a guide to over 100 native perennials, trees, shrubs, ferns, grasses, and vines with co-author Dan Jaffe.

Lydia Gravelle, Adult Services Librarian at the Lunenburg Public Library, said she chose this particular topic after seeing the wonderful things happening in the library’s Pocket Pollinator Garden, and the work of library volunteer Robin Venezia.

“I shared many conversations with Robin about sustainable gardening techniques, ways to naturally improve our green spaces, and how we can always learn more about the world around us,” said Gravelle. “I hoped that viewing these spaces here in our own front yard might inspire some home gardeners to learn more in a lecture setting with an expert from nearby New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill.”

Muir Haman, Library Director of the Lunenburg Public Library, adds that the last few years have highlighted the value the library’s outdoor spaces bring to “our lives, especially here at the library,” he said.

“We’ve offered more programs in our outdoor spaces and found programs that help explore the outdoors and local environment to be very popular,” Haman added.

The library is currently working to restore and refresh its Proctor Memorial Garden and installing demonstration education spaces, like the Pocket Pollinator Garden.

“Using our grounds to support our mission is a straightforward decision, though we are approaching it in an unusual way by focusing on local ecosystems, native species, pollinators, food resilience, sustainability and education,” he added. “Ecological design and ethics systems like Permaculture make obvious parallels to library missions and values, so we are glad to have the opportunity to share these ideas in a variety of ways.”

Registration is required for this presentation. For more information, or to register, visit lunenburglibrary.org or call 978-582-4140.

Source: sentinelandenterprise.com