Bringing the Rainforest Indoors

Wanda Macnair will discuss the different types of begonias and demonstrate the propagation of such, as well as discussing and demonstrating the growing of high humidity plants in enclosed containers. She will bring live material to the meeting for her demo.

Wanda Macnair is a horticulturist, columnist, and educator specializing in growing terrarium Begonias. She writes a column entitled “A Passion for Plants”, for the Lincoln County News of Maine, and has taught courses in growing houseplants at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education.

Mr. and Mrs. Macnair were awarded the Massachusetts Horticultural Society’s Gold Medal for their demonstration of the spirit of volunteerism, and their joint commitment to horticulture. They have been long-time members of the Nomenclature and Amateur Horticulture Committees for the New England Spring Flower Show. The Macnairs were featured in an article for Horticulture Magazine because of their work with the Nomenclature Committee for the New England Spring Flower Show.

They are active members of the Buxton Branch, American Begonia Society, The New England Chapter of The Gesneriad Society, and the Lexington Field and Garden Club. They are also members of The New England Cactus and Succulent Society, the New England Carnivorous Plant Society, the New England Rock Garden Society, and the Hosta Society.

Besides growing indoor plants, they grow perennial borders both in Cambridge, MA, and Bremen, Maine, along with a large vegetable garden.

All Somerville Garden Club meetings are free and open to the public. Meetings are usually held the second Wednesday of each month at the Tufts Administration Building, (TAB), 167 Holland Street, second floor, wheelchair accessible. Parking is available, and the building is a ten-minute walk from the Davis Square MBTA stop.