Boston Flora

Month: June 2011

  • Tuesday, June 28, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon – Joys of Butterfly Gardening

    Butterflies are welcome visitors to the gardens at Polly Hill Arboretum in West Tisbury, Martha’s Vineyard. Join Susie Bowman, teacher/naturalist at Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary and avid gardener, to learn how to attract more of these beautiful insects to your garden. She will introduce the basic needs of butterflies and how to plan or modify gardens to meet these needs. Susie will illustrate with images of island butterflies that frequent specific plants at the Felix Neck butterfly garden. The program will conclude with a walk to the Polly Hill homestead border. Butterfly-friendly plant list included!  $20/$10 for PHA members.  For more information, visit www.pollyhillarboretum.org.

  • Wednesday, July 13, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – From Bressingham Gardens to the Bressingham Garden at Elm Bank

    Beginning in 2002, Adrian Bloom began planting demonstration gardens in America, both to illustrate his design principles and promote his plants. In August 2007, he accepted an invitation to install a garden at Elm Bank. To that time, his largest American garden was about 4,000 square feet in size. Originally planned to be considerably smaller, the Elm Bank garden quickly grew to just over an acre in size, yet was largely built in a weekend by several hundred volunteers.

    Adrian will talk about his original vision for the garden and how he adjusted that vision to meet American – and New England – sensibilities and realities. He’ll talk about what he has learned in four years and where he sees this particular garden going. He’ll also share his experiences about plants that work well in our climate and planting combinations. After a break for refreshments, he’ll field questions from the audience.

    This Massachusetts Horticultural Society talk begins at 7 p.m. and will be held in the Hunnewell Building at Elm Bank in Wellesley. Seating is limited to 200 and pre-registration is suggested. The cost for members is $20; non-members are $25. Wine and light refreshments will be served.

    To reserve a spot for this lecture you may register online or call 617-933-4995.

  • Wednesday, July 13, 9:00 am – 11:00 am – A Garden Walk and Design Tutorial with Adrian Bloom

    Please join The Massachusetts Horticultural Society beginning at 9:00 a.m. for a continental breakfast in the James Crockett Memorial Garden (below) at Elm Bank. At 9:30 a.m., you’ll step into the Bressingham Garden for a hands-on look at the garden, led by its designer. Adrian will talk about the garden’s underlying design principles and the choice of specific materials, including ‘hardscape’ items. He’ll discuss his choices of color and texture. Now that the garden is entering its fourth season, he’ll also talk about changes to the garden and how the New England climate comes into play. All of this will be interspersed with a commentary on how all of this relates to an urban or suburban homeowner’s desire to create a memorable garden. Questions are encouraged.

    Please plan for at least one hour for this event, which will be held rain or shine. It is limited to 40 participants and pre-registration is a must. The cost, including continental breakfast, is $45. Preference will be given to Mass Hort members, but if space remains after July 11, the cost for non-members will be $55.

    To reserve a place for this event you may register online or call 617-933-4995.

  • Garden Club of the Back Bay Announces Annual Grant Recipients

    Thanks in no small part to the continued success of our recent Twilight Garden Party, The Garden Club of the Back Bay announces that the following organizations will receive a total of $20,000 in financial grants for 2011:

    The Commonwealth Avenue Mall Committee – $5,000 to be credited to the Hereford Street to Massachusetts Avenue  air spading project fund.

    The Friends of the Public Garden – $4,000 to continue the inoculation of elms at risk for contracting Dutch elm disease.

    The Esplanade Association – $2,500 for the Elliot Oval Landscape Restoration, planting new trees and treating trees already on site, near the newly restored Community Boating docks.

    Emerald Necklace Conservancy – $2,500 for a planned meadow to be developed with native species and wildflowers.

    Boston Nature Center/Massachusetts Audubon Society – $2,500 to support six full scholarships for its summer camp.  The children attending the camp range in age from 5 to 14 and are from the local neighborhoods of Mattapan, Roslindale, and Jamaica Plain.

    Charles River Clean Up Boat – $2,000, to help continue the project of keeping the Charles River trash-free.

    Urban Ecology Institute – $1,000 to help with its Grow Boston Greener tree planting initiative.

    The Boston Committee of the Garden Club of America – $500 to the Blossom Fund, which is accumulating funds over a five year period to be awarded to a deserving project on or about the Rose Kennedy Greenway.

    For more information on all these important organizations and to learn more about the work they do, visit their website links above.  In addition to the above grants, The Garden Club of the Back Bay will spend an additional $20,000 on planting, pruning, and treating the street trees in our neighborhood over the coming year.  Thank you to all our volunteers and contributors for making our horticultural endeavors happen!

  • Saturday, June 25 – Sunday, June 26 – “Blooming on the Neck” Marblehead Neck Garden Tour

    Enjoy a special opportunity to tour gorgeous gardens on exclusive Marblehead Neck on Saturday, June 25 from 10:00 am – 4:00 pm, and on Sunday, June 26, from 12:00 noon – 4:00 pm.  Tickets ($35) to this rain or shine event may be purchased online at www.marbleheadmuseum.org, or in person at the Marblehead Museum, 170 Washington Street, Marblehead.  Call the Museum at 781-631-1768 for more information. Tickets may be used for both days of the tour.  Proceeds benefit the Marblehead Museum & Historical Society. Photo view of Marblehead Neck from www.anurbancottage.blogspot.com.

     

  • Thursday, July 14, 10:00 am – 3:00 pm – Garden Party by the Sea

    The Osterville Garden Club invites you to stroll the grounds and glimpse seven gracious Osterville homes, each featuring a party vignette highlighted by lovely floral designs, on Thursday, July 14, from 10 – 3. Boutique and complimentary refreshments will be served under a tent. The cost is $35 per person. For ticket information, log on to www.ostervillegardenclub.org.  Photo from Pine Tree Nursery in South Chatham.

  • Tuesday, July 12, 1:30 – 4:00 pm – New England Trees in Decline: The Science Behind the Story

    David Orwig, Forest Ecologist at Harvard Forest, will speak in the Hunnewell Building of the Arnold Arboretum on Tuesday, July 12, from 1:30 – 4 pm, on the topic of New England Trees in Decline: The Science Behind the Story. Since 1907, research has been underway at the 3,000-acre property of Harvard Forest, one of the oldest and most intensively studied forests in North America. Scientists, students, and collaborators at the Forest explore topics ranging from conservation and environmental change to land-use history and the ways in which physical, biological, and human systems interact to change our earth. Join Dr. Orwig for this special opportunity to learn about tree decline in New England and to explore ways to reduce and avoid further problems. Dr. Orwig will present information that details ongoing tree decline resulting from a variety of stressors including native and exotic pests and pathogens. Conifer species will be highlighted, but ongoing hardwood tree problems will be included as well. An emphasis will be given to identification of the problem, the mode of tree decline, and appropriate treatment options when applicable. Discussion will include pests such as hemlock woolly adelgid, elongate hemlock scale, red pine scale, Sirex wood wasp, spruce diseases, emerald ash borer, Asian long-horned beetle, and oak decline on Martha’s Vineyard.  Note New Date: Postponed from April 5.
    Fee $20 Ecological Landscape Association and Arnold Arboretum members, $25 nonmember.  Co-sponsored by the Ecological Landscape Association and the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University.  Register online at https://my.arboretum.harvard.edu or by phone at 617-384-5277.

  • Wednesday, June 29, 7:00 pm – The Xeric Garden

    Wednesday Evening at Elm Bank continues Wednesday, June 29, with Mike Nelson speaking about the Xeric Garden. This rainy summer notwithstanding, watering restrictions – or even outright bans – have become a fact of life for gardeners. Water conservation doesn’t have to mean less garden or a less attractive garden. There are terrific plants, and especially grasses, that get all the moisture they need from Mother Nature. These plants combine into eye-pleasing landscapes that have the extra attraction of being low maintenance. We’ve invited Mike Nelson, who teaches agronomy, to come explore the ‘xeric’ – Greek for ‘dry’ – garden in New England.

    All “Wednesday Evenings” talks begin at 7 p.m. and are held in the Education Building at Elm Bank, 900 Washington Street, Wellesley. They end when the last question is answered. The cost to Mass Hort members is $10 per talk or $50 for the series of ten. The charge for non-Mass Hort members is $15 per talk. Refreshments and beverages are served at all talks.  For more information log on to www.masshort.org.  Reservations are not required.  Image below from Woldumar Nature Center.

  • Sunday, June 26, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm – City Spaces/Country Places

    Tower Hill’s 17th annual tour of exceptional private gardens this year will feature the gardens in Worcester and nearby Holden on Sunday, June 26.  Discover the gardeners’ unique perspectives, and return to your own garden with fresh ideas and inspiration.  As always, a ticket to “City Spaces/Country Places” includes FREE admission all day to Tower Hill Botanic Garden.

    “City Spaces/Country Places” is an important fund-raiser for the Worcester County Horticultural Society and helps to support the educational programs and the ongoing care and stewardship of the gardens at Tower Hill. You can show your support for the Garden Tour by purchasing a sponsor ticket at $125 or a patron ticket at $75. These tickets help Tower Hill meet its mission and must be purchased in advance. Order tickets in advance: Members $20, Non-Members $25.  Day of tour Members $25, Non-Members $30.  Call 508-869-6111 x 136 to order your tickets, or log on to www.towerhillbg.org and purchase securely on-line.

     

     

     

  • Wednesday, July 20 – Saturday, July 23 – Third Annual Nantucket Garden Festival

    The Nantucket Lighthouse School will sponsor the Third Annual Nantucket Garden Festival Wednesday, July 20 – Saturday, July 23.  For complete information log on to www.nantucketlighthouseschool.com.