Daily Archives: November 14, 2014

New This Year – On Line Wreath Store

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Our web designer Faith Crawford has set up a simple system for ordering Garden Club of the Back Bay wreaths on line.  Simply visit http://www.gardenclubbackbay.org/shop/.

Choose your size and option (fully decorated, with bow, etc.) and click on Select Options to specify bow color, accent color (if ordering a fully decorated wreath), and whether you will be using your wreath inside or outside.  We need to know this last detail so our decorations are suited to the space – we don’t use materials which easily dry out if the wreath will be indoors, or materials which are too delicate to withstand weather.  Then finish off your order with PayPal and you’re done.

If you’d rather pay by check, there is a wreath order form to print, as well, on http://www.gardenclubbackbay.org/products-page/. Just fill it out and mail it in.

We hope all orders for fully decorated wreaths will arrive prior to November 22, and orders for plain wreaths, or wreaths with bows, by Thanksgiving.  Thank you all for your support – every dollar earned goes right back into our community.

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Wednesday, December 3, 6:00 pm – Arthur Shurcliff: From Boston to Colonial Williamsburg

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Join historian and author Elizabeth Hope Cushing on Wednesday, December 3, at 6 pm in the Hunnewell Building at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, as she speaks of landscape architect Arthur Shurcliff’s early work in Boston and how this led to Colonial Williamsburg, his largest and most significant contribution to American landscape architecture.

In 1928, the landscape architect and preservationist Arthur A. Shurcliff (1870–1957) began what became one of the most important examples of the American Colonial Revival landscape—Colonial Williamsburg. But before this, Shurcliff honed his skills in Boston. An 1894 engineering graduate of MIT with an interest in landscape design, Shurcliff, on the advice of Frederick Law Olmsted and with the aid of his mentor, Charles Eliot, pieced together courses at Harvard College, the Lawrence Scientific School, and the Bussey Institute. He then spent eight years working in the Olmsted office, acquiring a broad and sophisticated knowledge of the profession. Opening his own practice in 1904, Shurcliff emphasized his expertise in town planning, preparing plans for towns surrounding Boston. He designed recreational spaces that Bostonians still enjoy today, including significant aspects of the Franklin Park Zoo and the Charles River Esplanade. Historian Elizabeth Hope Cushing will speak of Shurcliff’s early work in Boston and how this led to Colonial Williamsburg, his largest and most significant contribution to American landscape architecture.  Fee Free, but registration requested. You may register on line at https://my.arboretum.harvard.edu/Info.aspx?DayPlanner=1381&DayPlannerDate=12/3/2014. Seating is limited. A reception will follow the lecture.

The Esplanade Association is please to be a co-sponsor of this event along with the Library of American Landscape History, Boston Society of Landscape Architects, Friends of Fairsted, the and the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University.