Boston Flora

Month: July 2014

  • Friday, August 1, 11:00 am – 12:30 pm – Federal Reserve Bank Green Roof Tour

    The 18,000 sq ft. roof garden at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston was installed in 1976 and is considered one of the oldest, still original roof gardens in the country.

    The roof garden was designed by Robert Fager, ASLA who worked for the building architects, Hugh Stubbins & Associates. Frank W. Sellner was the landscape architect consultant for the project. He often told stories of interning for Beatrix Farrand and his work experience with Fletcher Steele!

    The garden is on the fourth floor, 90′ above the ground floor with sweeping views towards Boston Harbor and the Seaport District. The roof garden has many specimen trees. Organically grown edibles are incorporated into the seasonal plantings.

    The FRB property has over 200 trees and a 60′ roof top greenhouse all maintained by the Bank’s horticulture staff.  The street address is 600 Atlantic Avenue, and the cost of the tour is $15. Sponsored by The Landscape Institute at the Boston Architectural College, you may reserve a spot for the Friday, August 1 tour by emailing pce@the-bac.edu.

  • Saturday, July 26, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm – Flower Bouquet Workshop

    Come join Allandale Farm’s flower farmers Mal and Tana for a hands-on bouquet building workshop this Saturday, July 26 from 1 – 2:30. The class will include a walk through the flower fields on the farm, located at 259 Allandale Road in Brookline, planting advice to grow your own beautiful flowers, and instruction on proper harvesting techniques to ensure the longevity and growth of your cut flowers. The class will end with bouquet building instruction while you build your own flower arrangement to take home and enjoy. Class size is limited. Call 617-524-1531 to register, or email allandale@allandalefarm.com.

  • Wednesday, September 3 – Thursday, September 4 – Coastal Maine Overnight Trip

    Go on a mini-vacation with Tower Hill Botanic Garden to the Coast of Maine, September 3 – 4! Spend 2 full days, complete with most meals and a comfortable night’s lodging, traveling via luxury motor coach to Boothbay Harbor, Maine. This tour will visit Cabbage Island for a traditional clam bake dinner and spend the night at Cap’n Fish’s Waterfront Inn on the harbor. On day two, visit Coastal Maine Botanical Garden, complete with a guided tour and lunch. On the way home the tour stops at Pineland Farms, a wonderful public garden and farm market (pictured below.) Reservation deadline August 3. Tower Hill member price $325, nonmember $425, per person double occupancy. Single supplement $50. Register by clicking HERE.

  • Thursdays, August 7 – August 28, 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm – Sculpture Embraces Horticulture: An Intimate Tour

    As part of a small and informal group, discover the story behind Sculpture Embraces Horticulture, a site-specific sculpture exhibit created to highlight Blithewold’s exquisite landscape. We will view diverse exhibits, and Blithewold, through the eyes of Allison Newsome, the show’s curator, as well as one of the seven participating artists.

    As we go through the entire collection, Allison will share information about each artist, as well as give us a glimpse into the process of creating a large-scale sculpture installation.

    Please register early, as tour groups are kept small. Wearing comfortable footwear is encouraged. The tour lasts approximately 1.5 hours, after which refreshments will be served on the terrace. Tours will take place Thursdays, August 7, 14, 21 and 28, beginning at 3 pm. Blithewold Gardens & Arboretum is located at 101 Ferry Road, Route 114, Bristol, Rhode Island. Members $20, nonmembers $25. Register by calling 401-253-2707.

  • Saturday, July 26, 1:30 pm – 4:30 pm – New England Daylily Society Exhibition

    The New England Daylily Society will present a Daylily Exhibition at Tower Hill Botanic Garden, 11 French Drive, Boylston, Massachusetts, on Saturday, July 26, where daylily enthusiasts of New England show their best grown, best groomed daylily flowers. The show will feature hundreds of cut flowers of daylilies in their breathtaking variety of form and color. A limited selection of choice daylily plants will also be for sale. The exhibition is included with regular admission to the Garden. Entries accepted from 7:30 am – 10:45 am, and the show is open to the public from 1:30 pm – 4:30 pm. For information on exhibiting, email Show Chair Dan Pessoni at danthelilyman@aol.com.

  • Flower Arranging for the Twilight Garden Party

    Flower Arranging for the Twilight Garden Party

    Garden Club of the Back Bay members create arrangements to decorate the interior spaces of our Twilight Garden Party venues each year.  Below are samplings of this year’s bouquets:

    IMG_5283IMG_5286IMG_5306IMG_5309 IMG_5332

  • Equinox Art Photo Contest

    Help the Boston Green Space Alliance celebrate trails, parks, open space and protected working farms by sending photos of your best works of art.  Submissions will be accepted through September 26.  Email entries to equinoxart@greenspacealliance.org. Photo below of Appleton Farm from www.northshorekid.com.

  • Setting the Scene for the Twilight Garden Party

    Setting the Scene for the Twilight Garden Party

    This year’s successful Twilight Garden Party took place in June at the American Meteorological Society at 45 Beacon Street. The building has a lovely garden which was in need of seasonal sprucing after our long, cold winter, and the Garden Club of the Back Bay’s crack decorating team of Rita Christensen, Jackie Blombach, and Catherine Bordon, assisted by Jolinda Taylor, spent a day pruning, raking and planting.  Below are some pictures of their efforts:

    Bordon JackieRita Rita Meteorological

  • Brookline Artist Janet Echelman Commissioned by the Rose Kennedy Greenway

    Internationally renowned artist Janet Echelman will create a monumental, aerial sculpture to suspend over the Greenway from Spring 2015 to Fall 2015 as the signature contemporary art installation in the Greenway Conservancy’s Public Art Program.

    Echelman is known for her soft, billowing sculptures the scale of buildings that respond to the forces of nature – wind, water, and light. Her creation for Boston will be a knotted-fiber sculpture suspended hundreds of feet over the central section of the Greenway. The ultra-lightweight art moves gently with the wind in ever-changing patterns. In daylight, it casts shadow-drawings on the ground, and at night it becomes a beacon with dynamic colored light. The sculpture is Echelman’s first major Boston commission and will connect between existing buildings to form a visual linkage and focal point for civic life.

    This major contemporary public art project is made possible by a generous challenge grant from the Richard and Susan Smith Family Foundation. The project has also received initial grants from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the Fund for the Arts, a public art program of the New England Foundation for the Arts, with others pending.  Pictured below is an installation she created over the canals in Amsterdam.

  • Saturday, July 19, 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm – Fenway Garden Society Open Gardens

    On Saturday, July 19 (rain/heat date Sunday, July 20), from 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM, the Fenway Garden Society will present the 2014 FGS Open Gardens.

    Pick up your map at the flagpole (near the corner of Boylston Street and Park Drive, Boston.)  More than 25 Fenway victory gardeners will open their gates to visitors. Come to our historic park and view a spectrum of flower and vegetable gardens, picnic in the meadow, meet local artists, play bocce, learn new gardening tips and get inspired. Also, we’ll be setting up sprinklers for kids of all ages to run through…come on down!

    In the event of rain or excessive heat (over 85 degrees), Open Gardens will be rescheduled for July 20 — same time, same place!

    This event is open to the public – donations welcomed. For more information, please email kristen@fenwayvictorygardens.org.