It’s plants and planets this week in Boston. So far, we count four separate sites to observe the Transit of Venus across the sun. At the Museum of Science they’ll have number of telescopes will be set up on the Museum garage roof and you’ll need a reservation.” Every 100 years or so, a pair of these transits occurs, separated by about 8 years. Scientists take advantage of these opportunities to learn more about the solar system. In 1761 and 1769, for instance, hundreds of expeditions—including one with a young James Cook—were sent throughout the world to observe the transit of Venus in an effort to predict the distance between Earth and the Sun. During the coming transit, some astronomers will attempt to learn more about Venus’s atmosphere based on how it appears when it is only halfway across the solar disk.

Tuesday

 Also on Tuesday at the Harvard Bookstore in Cambridge, the plant theme begins with the  director of the Manna Center for Plant Biosciences at Tel Aviv University Daniel Chamovitz for a discussion of his new book, What a Plant Knows: A Field Guide to the Senses. “How does a Venus flytrap know when to snap shut? Can it actually feel an insect’s tiny, spindly legs? And how do cherry blossoms know when to bloom? Can they actually remember the weather? “

 Over at the Arnold Arboretum Green house staff lead the From Seed to Tree session at 1 pm “Did you know that almost all of the new plants in the Arboretum begin their lives in the Dana Greenhouses? Get a behind-the-scenes look of the greenhouse growing process, from seed to sprout to seedling to tree. Meet at the Bonsai Collection. There is a 15 person maximum.”

 Thursday

The invasive plant fighter and gardneing enthusiasts at the Grow Native Massachusetts organization have been offereing programs at the Cambridge public library, including this one:

“The Rare Plants of Massachusetts with Bryan Connolly, Massachusetts State Botanist
From its calcareous cobbles to its coastal plains, Massachusetts has a broad diversity of eco-regions and is home to 1,814 species of native plants. Of these, 254 (or 14%) are vulnerable to extinction and protected by the Massachusetts Endangered Species Act. Even more are species of conservation concern. Tonight, we get a valuable overview of these many vulnerable plants and the threats they face—from habitat destruction to invasive plants to climate change.”