Month: May 2015
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Saturday, May 23, 9:00 am – 1:00 pm – Westport River Gardeners Garden Fair
Westport River Gardeners invite you to their Garden Fair on Saturday, May 23, from 9 – 1 at Macomber House, 930 Main Street in Westport. Plants, perennials, annuals, herbs and compost will be offered, as well as a “garden shed”, raffle, and outside vendors.  Cash or check only, please. For more information call Kathy at 508-889-2517.
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Tuesday, June 9, 10:00 am – 3:00 pm – Beyond the Garden Gate
On Tuesday, June 9, 2015, The Hills Garden Club of Wellesley presents Beyond the Garden Gate, a tour of delightful residential gardens in Wellesley from 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. A variety of gardens are featured: a formal garden of over an acre consisting of allees and pathways, as well as a variety of specimen beds; a shade garden that encompasses the grounds of a beautiful Edwardian home; a quaint and abundant cottage garden on a compact space; and a sumptuous estate garden that features a pergola-covered patio, in-ground pool and walking paths. A boutique will sell garden-related items and container plantings at one of the gardens. Proceeds benefit Clock Tower Park in Wellesley (pictured.)
Tickets are $30 in advance and $40 the day of the tour
Contact HGCW.org to purchase tickets and for more information.
Phone Number: 781-237-8441.
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Thursday, May 28, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm – Grow Your Own Meadow
This isn’t a “meadow in a can” course. Interested in establishing a meadow or caring for an existing one? Join Kathy Connolly of the New England Wild Flower Society on Thursday, May 28 from 6 – 8 to discuss what a meadow is, the role of native species in a meadow, meadow ecology basics, and steps you can take right now to get started. After the lecture, you can purchase books and native seedlings grown especially for this event by the Society’s Nasami Farm Nursery. The class will take place at Nasami Farm in Whately, and costs $26 for NEWFS members and $32 for nonmembers. Register online at http://www.newfs.org/learn/our-programs/grow-your-own-meadow. Image from sitesystems-landscape.com.
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Thursday, May 21, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Rhododendrons for Our Garden and Yours
Let the Massachusetts Horticultural Society introduce you to the beautiful world of rhododendrons and azaleas on Thursday, May 21 from 7 – 8:30 in the Parkman Room of Elm Bank Education Building, 900 Washington Street in Wellesley. Learn how adaptable they are to all garden spaces and floral interests. Don Brophy, president of the Massachusetts Chapter of the Rhododendron Society will share his experiences gardening in Elm Bank’s sunny Rhododendron Display Garden, and in smaller, private landscapes. At Elm Bank, there is opportunity to focus on the “other†rhododendrons and to test many plants for sun tolerance. The garden today is a mix of old plants, newer mature plants, and even newer trial plants under evaluation.
Don Brophy currently serves as President of the Massachusetts Chapter of the Rhododendron Society. The Massachusetts Chapter has several programs in place, including the Display Garden at Elm Bank, educational lectures, truss shows and sales at Mass Hort’s Gardeners’ Fair, and a fall foliage show. Photo of ‘Surrey Heath’ from www.rhodoland.nl.
Lecture Fee: Mass Hort Members $10, Non-Members $15. Register online at http://www.masshort.org/eventdetail/171/422|427|433/rhododendrons-for-our-garden-yours?filter_reset=1.
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Monday, June 1, 3:00 pm – Annual Meeting of the Friends of Wellesley Botanic Gardens
The Annual Meeting of the Friends of Wellesley Botanic Gardens will take place Monday, June 1, beginning at 3 pm with a reception, followed by a lecture at 4 entitled The (Under)story of Coffea arabica. Botany Fellow Katie Goodall discusses how farmers support biodiversity and their own livelihoods by taking advantage of coffee’s capacity to be grown in the understory of managed forests. Explore how consumers can voice solidarity with farmer-led sustainable production efforts. The lecture is followed by Certificate of Botanical Art and Illustration Awards Ceremony. Free, but please call 781-283-3094, or email wcbgfriends@wellesley.edu to let them know you will be attending.
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Wednesdays, May 27 – June 10, 6:30 pm – 8:45 pm, and Saturdays, May 30 – June 6, 9:00 am – 1:30 pm – Native New England Shrubs
Shrubs vary widely in size, shape, color, bark, flower, and fruit. This New England Wild Flower Society course taught by Roland “Boot” Boutwell at Garden in the Woods will introduce you to almost fifty species of native New England shrubs, emphasizing plant identification, family characteristics, and historical plant uses. Bring a hand lens to each session. Weekend sessions are held in off-site locations; directions will be provided during the first class. Dates and times: Wednesdays, May 27, June 3, 10, 6:30-8:45 p.m.; Saturdays, May 30, June 6, 9 a.m.-1:30 p.m. There is another Native New England Shrubs course which begins September 10. Fee is $200 for NEWFS members, $250 for nonmembers. Register online at http://www.newfs.org/learn/our-programs/native-new-england-shrubs-1. Image of elderberry bush from www.nativeplantwildlifegarden.com.
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Wednesday, May 27, 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm – Walden Warming
On Wednesday, May 27, from 7 – 8 at Tower Hill Botanic Garden, Richard Primack will talk about his book Walden Warming: Climate Change Comes to Thoreau’s Woods. By combining Thoreau’s observations from 160 years ago with modern observations, Primack and his colleagues have used Concord as a living laboratory to study the impacts of a warming world.
Richard Primack is a Professor of Biology at Boston University and past President of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the international journal Biological Conservation and author of two widely used textbooks, Essentials of Conservation Biology and A Primer of Conservation Biology. 28 foreign language editions have been produced with local co-authors adding in examples from their own countries. He is also co-author of the book Tropical Rain Forests: An Ecological and Biogeographical Comparison. For the past 13 years, Prof. Primack and his colleagues have been investigating the effects of a warming climate on the plants and birds of Massachusetts, with an emphasis on continuing the observations made 160 years ago by Henry David Thoreau in Concord. Free with admission. To register visit www.towerhillbg.org.
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Tuesday, May 19, 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm – Eco-Gardening Tour in Sudbury
Learn eco-friendly gardening techniques that will help your garden to thrive. On Tuesday, May 19 from 6 – 7:30 in the evening, join The New England Wild Flower Society and Alicia Coleman on a tour of the gardens of Wolbach Farm, a beautiful 54-acre greenspace along the Sudbury River. We’ll see rain, butterfly, and bird gardens and discuss the use of rain barrels and composting as well as ways to incorporate native plants into your own property. $12 for NEWFS members, $20 for nonmembers. Please note that registration is through Sudbury Valley Trustees, http://www.sudburyvalleytrustees.org/events-calendar/eco-gardening.
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Garden Club of the Back Bay Announces 2015 Grants
At the Annual Meeting of The Garden Club of the Back Bay, held May 11 at The College Club of Boston, the membership voted to approve the following recommendations of the Executive Committee. Co-Presidents Jackie Blombach and Jolinda Taylor were pleased to announce that, in addition to $20,000 to be spent directly by our Club for Back Bay tree care (primarily pruning and inoculation), other not-for-profit organizations will benefit from our fund raising efforts throughout the year, primarily our Twilight Garden Party and Holiday Wreath Sale.
$5,000 to the Commonwealth Avenue Mall Committee for its tree care program, Dutch elm disease monitoring, and soil improvement.
$5,000 to the Friends of the Public Garden for inoculation against Dutch elm disease for certain Belgium elm street trees not located on the Mall, planted beyond Massachusetts Avenue.
$4,000 to The Esplanade Association for its tree care program and planning, including updating inventory and data manipulation.
$3,000 to the Boston Nature Center of the Massachusetts Audubon Society to support scholarships for summer camp for children ages 5 – 14 from local neighborhoods of Mattapan, Roslindale, Roxbury and Jamaica Plain.
$3,000 to the Emerald Necklace Conservancy for the planting of perennials in the Fenway.
$2,000 to the Charles River Cleanup Boat for general operating expenses.
$2,000 to the Trustees of Reservations/Boston Natural Areas Network in support of the MBTA Indigo Line/Fairmount Indigo Line Project, which will convert City-owned vacant lots along the rail corridor into parks and gardens. This donation will help convert a vacant lot at Windermere Road in Uphams Corner.
$1,500 to the Friends of Copley Square for treating trees with fertilizer and fungicide for root stress.
$1,000 to the Blossom Fund of the Boston Committee of the Garden Club of America in recognition of its 25th Anniversary.
We thank all our contributors and patrons whose generosity allows us to make these grants. We hope to see many of you at this year’s Twilight Garden Party on June 4.
