Boston Flora

Month: April 2013

  • Garden Club of the Back Bay Completes Successful Magnolia Project

    The Garden Club of the Back Bay has celebrated its 50th anniversary by planting 50 ‘Moon Glow’ white magnolia trees in Boston.

    The Garden Club of the Back Bay has been helping our neighbors plant magnolia trees for almost our entire history. In 1963, Laura Dwight led the first magnolia planting along Commonwealth Avenue, creating the spectacular display of pink blossoms we still enjoy today. In 1995, we oversaw a second planting of more than 40 young ‘Leonard Messel’ magnolias, augmenting Back Bay’s spring display of flowering trees.

    On April 25 and 26, the trees were delivered and the planting process began. Ten of the trees were purchased by neighbors, and forty (!) were donated by the Club to not-for-profit institutions in Back Bay and throughout the City of Boston. Some of the recipients include Bethany House at 256 Newbury Street, the First Lutheran Church on Berkeley Street, the Friends of the Public Garden, Berklee School of Music, First Church in Boston, Bay State College, Fisher College, Forest Hills Cemetery, and Southwest Corridor Park.

    Below is a picture of Club Co-President Jolinda Taylor with the trees that were delivered, prior to distribution and planting.  Congratulations to all!

    Jolinda&Magnolias

  • Monday, May 13, 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm – Written in the Genes: Forest Tree Evolution, Growth, and Reaction to Climate Change

    Recent advances in genomics research are providing insights into the fascinating biology of forest trees. Using information from paleobotany and genome sequencing of the model tree Populus, Andrew Groover, Geneticist and Director of the Institute of Forest Genetics of the US Forest Service, will explain the evolution of trees, including their origins and the processes underlying speciation. He will show how trees make wood at the molecular genetic level. Then he will use information from population genetics to infer migration of Populus species during past periods of climate change and what forest species’ migrations might look like in the future. The program takes place Monday, May 13 in the Hunnewell Building of the Arnold Arboretum, beginning at 7 pm. Free, but registration requested at www.arboretum.harvard.edu.

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  • Wednesday, May 15, 8:00 am – 12:00 noon – Lexington Field & Garden Club’s Annual Plant Sale

    The Lexington Field & Garden Club’s Annual Plant Sale will be held rain or shine on Wednesday, May 15, from 8 am – noon at the Heritage Museum, 33 Marrett Road in Lexington.

    A variety of perennial plants from Club members’ own gardens as well as herbs and annuals will be available for purchase. Club members will be available to offer expert gardening advice. Gardening gloves, aprons, used tools and houseplants will also be sold.

    A special feature this year will be a table of choice plants, including dahlias (photo below courtesy of www.burpee.com.)  A professional knife sharpener will be there, so bring along your garden tools and come early for the best selections! For more information visit www.lexgardenclub.org.

    http://www.burpee.com/images/product/prod000191/prod000191_lg.jpg

  • Thursday, May 2, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Chickens in the Garden

    Chickens are a wonderful addition to any garden; they provide eggs, wonderful fertilizer, and lots of company! Learn the ins and outs of housing, feeding and tending chickens, and meet a couple of the ladies (hens).  The Massachusetts Horticultural Society continues its Thursdays at the Hort series at Elm Bank with Gretel Anspach, Lifetime Master Gardener and a Trustee of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, on Thursday, May 2, from 7 – 8:30.

    Cost – $10.00 for MHS members, $15.00 for non-members.  Register on line at www.masshort.org.

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  • Thursday, May 16, 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm – Natick Garden Club Auction

    Come one, come all to the annual Natick Garden Club Plant Auction on Thursday, May 16, beginning at 6:30 pm at the Natick Community/Senior Center, 117 East Central Street in Natick. The sale features plants from members’ gardens, plus door prizes raffled off during the evening. In years past these have included large hanging baskets, small rose bushes, specimen plants, gardening hand tools and hand care items, and service certificates for work in your home garden. Free admission. For additional information visit www.natickgardenclub.org.

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  • Wednesday, May 8, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm – Planting & Growing Vegetable Seedlings

    Join the talented members of the Somerville Garden Club as they share their expertise in four very distinct areas: planting and growing vegetable seedlings, creating long-lasting plant labels for indoor or outdoor use, making May wine from the herb Sweet Woodruff (see below,) and the art of botanical illustration with watercolors.

    Every demonstration will have its own table, allowing attendees to visit each at their own pace.  The Somerville Garden Club meets the second Wednesday of every month at the Tufts Administration Building, 167 Holland Street in Somerville. Each meeting begins with announcements, followed by a horticultural question and answer segment, a featured lecture or demonstration, and concludes with a raffle of donated plants and garden items.

    On site parking is available and the building is a short walk from the Davis Square Redline T station. The club meets on the wheelchair accessible second floor. All Somerville Garden Club meetings are free and the public is invited to attend.

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  • Saturday, May 11, 8:30 am – 11:30 am – Boxborough Garden Club Plant and Bake Sale

    The Boxborough Garden Club will host its annual plant and bake sale Saturday, May 11, from 8:30 – 11:30 at the UCC Congregational Church Lawn, 723 Massachusetts Avenue in Boxborough.  They will have perennials for sun and shade, herbs, shrubs, groundcovers, and annuals available for purchase.  Proceeds support an annual scholarship, town beautification projects, and club programs.  For more information visit their website at www.boxboroughgardenclub.org.

    http://www.auburngardenclub.org/Images/Plant_Sale-02.jpg

  • Tuesday, May 14, 9:00 am – Developing Theme Gardens

    Tuesday, May 14, 9:00 am – Developing Theme Gardens

    Betsy Williams presents “Developing Theme Gardens” at a meeting of the Community Garden Club of Duxbury on Tuesday, May 14, beginning at 9 am at the Duxbury Bay Maritime School, 435 Washington Street in Duxbury. The meeting is open to the public for a small fee of $5.

    Trained as a florist in Boston and England, Betsy brings her extensive knowledge of history and plant lore to Duxbury. Betsy will arrive with 6-7 completed arrangements, explain the mechanics of each, and raffle them off.  For more information email cgcduxbury@communitygardenclubofduxbury.org.

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  • Sunday, May 5, 1:00 pm – 4:30 pm – Dahlia Tuber & Plant Sale

    The Rhode Island Dahlia Society announces its Annual Tuber and Plant Sale on Sunday, May 5, 2013 from 1:00 to 4:30 p.m. at the Cold Spring Community Center, 36 Beach Street, North Kingstown, Rhode Island. All of the varieties offered at this sale are exhibition quality dahlias; most are not available at your local garden center. The tubers and plants are donated by local growers and Society members who hail from Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York and Connecticut. From giants to miniatures, there is something for everyone. Representative varieties of the 19 different forms of dahlias in an array of colors will be available. Come early for best selection! For more information, call 781-769-3854. Admission is free.

    The Rhode Island Dahlia Society generally meets the first Sunday of the month at 2:00 PM at the Cold Spring Community Center in North Kingstown, RI. Our Society welcomes new members and invites the public to visit Green Animals Topiary Garden in Portsmouth, RI to view the dahlia garden which we support in collaboration with the Preservation Society of Newport County.  Photo from www.blog.oregonlive.com.

    http://blog.oregonlive.com/kympokorny/2009/04/firepot.jpg

  • Tuesday, May 14, 10:00 am – Rolling Ridge, A Fletcher Steele Landscape of the Country Place Era

    The Garden Club of the Back Bay will embark on a field trip to Rolling Ridge, a Fletcher Steele designed landscape in North Andover, 25 miles north of Boston and situated on a half mile of lakefront property, with 38 secluded acres of woods and rolling hills. The field trip will take place Tuesday, May 14, leaving from Back Bay at 9 am. Members will receive a car pool notice in the mail. The gardens feature a double labyrinth nestled in the peaceful woods, an outdoor chapel on the edge of Lake Cochichewick, and the award winning landscape features historic fountains, walking trails, and meditation benches.  In the past, it was a country estate owned by wealthy New Yorker Ethan Allen, who, in 1915, commissioned renowned landscape architect Fletcher Steele to design and construct the gardens on the property. The commission was Steele’s first independent Country Place Era Estate project. The scenery and lake views were so important to Mr. Allen that he wanted the landscape and hardscape completed before beginning construction of the house (a forty room Georgian mansion). The features of the garden and hardscape are remarkably well-preserved and the intent of the use and design is readily apparent. It is said to be one of the best extant examples of a Fletcher Steele landscape.

    Our guide is Maureen O’Brien. She has studied in depth the Fletcher Steele garden at Rolling Ridge. She co-authored the Cultural Landscape Report (CLR) and authored a Treatment and Maintenance Plan for Rolling Ridge. Maureen has a certificate in Landscape Preservation from the Landscape Institute at the Arnold Arboretum at Harvard University and the Boston Architectural College. She is vice president and member chair of the New England Landscape and History Association (NELDHA), is on the Editorial Board for Perspectives, a landscape design and history publication with special emphasis on New England, and has been involved with a number of historic properties in Massachusetts. Coffee and scones will be served prior to Maureen’s talk, followed by a buffet lunch and walking tour. $15 for GCBB members, $20 for guests. For more information email info@bostonflora.com.

    http://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/photos/medium/58015673.jpg