Daily Archives: May 11, 2017

Tuesday, May 16, 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm – Eco-tour of Lincoln Park

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Join tour guide Miles Connors on Tuesday, May 16 at 4 for a walking tour of Lincoln Park. The story of Lincoln Park in Lexington MA is one of land reclamation on what historically was a town dump. Today it is an evolving and powerful statement about a community’s ability to restore the landscape and create places of beauty and ecological value. The Lincoln Park Committee (a subcommittee of the Lexington Recreation Committee) stewards the 60-acres for the Town of Lexington as open space for the community.

Lincoln Park offers visitors a system of boardwalks and woodland trails through native gardens. There are upland woodlands, red maple wetlands, native wildflower meadows, ponds, streams, and other native plant communities. Established groves of Rhododendron and Leucothoe beneath white pine, American Beech with Mountain Laurel, native Azalea varieties with Dogwood for spring flower, and establishing Cypress along the pond edge all contribute to the native plant communities. These native plant communities provide a range of habitat to support wildlife, and a rich experience for visitors.

To maintain the native plant communities, there is a seasonal Maintenance Plan that is approved and implemented to enhance the ecological value of Lincoln Park each season. Site walks and oversight from a Landscape Architect and Arborists, combined with weekly stewardship from dedicated Horticulturalists, facilitate the ongoing maintenance. The Park has also implemented a comprehensive invasive plant management program designed to identify and manage common invasive plants, and raise public awareness of the negative environmental impact of invasive species.

Miles Connors is the Director of Parterre Ecological Services, a locally owned business specializing in restoration services to sustain our native plant communities through invasive plant management and native restoration strategies, necessary permitting, and planning. Miles holds undergraduate degrees in Environmental Planning & Policy and Biology and a Masters in Sustainable Landscape Planning & Design. Ecological Landscape Alliance members $23, nonmembers $33. See more and register at: http://www.ecolandscaping.org/event/eco-tour-lincoln-park/#sthash.02bfi3kY.dpuf

Saturday, May 20, 12:00 noon – 3:00 pm – From Sicily to the Arnold Arboretum: Sicilian Wildflowers in Art and Words

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From Sicily to the Arnold Arboretum: Sicilian Wildflowers in Art and Words brings together botanical artist Susan Pettee and writer Mary Taylor Simeti. Members of the Harvard Class of 1962, Pettee and Simeti, bring their creative vision and exploration of the wildflowers of Sicily to the Arboretum for this first look at an exciting watercolor illustration and research project that will eventually culminate in a book entitled The Garlands of the Gods: Wild Flowers from the Greek Ruins of Sicily. Working together for almost a decade, Pettee’s and Simeti’s sensibilities have evolved from sharing a passionate admiration for the Sicilian flora to an awareness of how climate change is affecting the flowering of these plants. The exquisite watercolor and rich, articulate text for each plant assume a more urgent relevance as the artists realize how the increased use of herbicides is threatening to alter forever the experience of visitors to the archeological parks of Sicily.

A graduate of Radcliffe College, botanical artist, Susan Pettee has had her art included in the American Society of Botanical Artists’ International Juried Exhibition and has participated in exhibitions with New England Society of Botanical Art, including the 2016 show at the Arnold Arboretum. Her work has appeared in Washington, D. C., Paris, Périgueux, France, and in the Berkshires, where Pettee currently lives.

Writer, Mary Taylor Simeti, is also a graduate of Radcliffe College. She has authored a number of books, including On Persephone’s Island: A Sicilian Journal and Pomp and Sustenance. Simeti writes travel and food articles that have appeared in The New York Times and various other American and British publications. She makes her home in Sicily, assisting on a family farm that produces wine, olive oil, and organic produce.

Talk and Presentation by Mary Taylor Simeti, Sicilian Flora from the Grand Tour to the Present, Saturday, May 20, Noon-1:00pm
Opening Reception with the artists, Saturday, May 20, 1:00-3:00pm
The show will be on view from May 12 – July 16 in the Hunnewell Building at 125 Arborway.

Saturday, May 13, 10:00 am – 3:00 pm – Lilac Sunday at the Arnold Arboretum: NEW SATURDAY RAIN DATE

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Due to forecasts of severe showers, the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University has elected to cancel all Lilac Sunday activities planned for Sunday, May 14, and will instead offer a modified slate of tours and family activities for the public on Saturday, May 13 from 10am–3pm. Although picnicking privileges—typically allowed only on Lilac Sunday—will be extended to Saturday, food truck vendors associated with Food Truck Festivals of America will not be participating in the event. Of the thousands of flowering plants in the Arnold Arboretum, only one, the lilac, is singled out each year for a daylong celebration. Mainly located on the edge of Bussey Hill Road in the heart of the landscape, the lilac collection at the Arnold Arboretum is among the premier collections of these plants in North America.  Be a part of this beloved Boston tradition on Saturday, May 13. Check https://www.arboretum.harvard.edu/news-events/lilac-sunday/ for the day-of schedule of events.

Design below copyright Mary Kocol.