Boston Flora

Category: Volunteer Opportunity

  • Tuesdays, September 30 and October 14, 1:00 pm – Friends of the Public Garden Public Garden Tour Program

    Tuesdays, September 30 and October 14, 1:00 pm – Friends of the Public Garden Public Garden Tour Program

    The Friends of the Public Garden is launching a Public Garden Tour Program in 2015 and is actively recruiting docents to lead the tours. We are looking for men and women who are passionate about the trees, plantings, sculpture, and history of the Public Garden and who want to share that knowledge and enthusiasm with others.

    Requirements for the docent program include: attending six trainings a month, which will be held in January and February 2015; committing to giving two tours per month between May and October, 2015; joining or renewing membership in the Friends of the Public Garden. Docents should be out-going and eager to engage in conversation with the public; a loud voice would also be desirable.

    Information sessions for the docent program will be held at the Friends office at 69 Beacon Street on Tuesday, September 30 and Tuesday, October 14 at 1:00 p.m. Please email docents@friendsofthepublicgarden.org or call 617-723-8144 to RSVP.  Photo by Elizabeth Jordan.

    PublicGarden_tree_slated_over_path_EJ

  • Saturday, September 27, 9:00 am – 12:00 noon – National Public Lands Day on the Greenway

    The Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy is excited to celebrate National Public Lands Day with a park-wide volunteer day on Saturday, September 27 from 9 – 12.  Help with projects along the Greenway, including weeding, planting and clean-up tasks.  Both individuals and groups are needed.  For more information, or to register, contact volunteer@rfkgc.org.

  • Sunday, September 14, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon – Whole Foods 5K for Project Bread

    Calling all runners! Project Bread wants you to join them at the Whole Foods Market 5K Road Race and Kids Fun Run on September 14, 2014 at 10:00 A.M. at Danehy Park in Cambridge (across from 87 New Street, parking available at the Fresh Pond Mall.)

    This year, Project Bread is thrilled to be a race beneficiary with CitySprouts! Register today, at www.wholefoodsmarket5k.com and help make a difference in your community.

    Not interested in running? No problem. You can volunteer! Shifts are available 8:00 A.M. – 12:00 P.M. For more information or to sign up, email volunteer@projectbread.org or call 617-723-5000.

  • Saturday, September 6, 7:30 am – 6:00 pm – Boston Parks Count

    On Saturday September 6, 2014, the Boston Public Health Commission, community stakeholders and over 300 volunteers will come together for the City of Boston’s first Parks Count.

    Parks Count will track park usage to better understand who is using Boston’s parks, what features the parks are being used for, and establish measures for new community programs and health initiatives. Each park will have its own designated meeting space.

    Parks Count volunteers will team up at entrances to each of the 10 selected parks and keep a running tally of visitors. As people leave the park, they will be invited to take a quick survey about park assets, interests and personal demographics. This information helps city and community officials understand why residents are using certain parks over others. Through this information, BPHC hopes to make a strong case to allocate more resources, initiatives and programs for Boston parks serving low-income and multi-ethnic residents.

    Help us make this first ever Boston Parks Count a success by volunteering! Please contact: Jose Masso at jmasso@bphc.org or visit www.bostoncares.org/parkscount to sign up. You do not have to be a Boston Cares member to volunteer.

    Volunteers will be paired up and will work in 2.5 hour shifts at select park entrances.

    Volunteers can choose for the following parks:

    1. Walker Playground (Mattapan)
    2. Ramsay Park (South End)
    3. Noyes Playground (East Boston)
    4. Healy Playground (Roslindale)
    5. Roberts Playground (Dorchester)
    6. Ringer Playground (Brighton)
    7. Smith Playground (Allston)
    8. Ross Playground (Hyde Park)
    9. Malcolm X (Roxbury)
    10. Billings Field (West Roxbury)

    To pick a park and sign up for a specific time, please visit www.bostoncares.org/parkscount. Shifts run from 7:30 am – 6 pm, and the project is co-sponsored by the Boston Public Health Commission, the Franklin Park Coalition, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, REACH Coalition, and the Harvard School of Public Health.

  • Saturday, August 30, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon – Composting Together

    Help the Boston Natural Areas Network construct a brand new composting system and learn the science and process of composting, on Saturday, August 30, from 10 – 12 at the Norton Stonehurst Community Garden, located on Norton and Stonehurst Streets in Dorchester.  Leave knowing how to build and maintain a healthy, balanced compost pile.  Registration required by contacting 617-542-7696 or by emailing info@bostonnatural.org. Photo from www.squawkfox.com.

  • Garden Club of the Back Bay’s Dirty Girls

    Garden Club of the Back Bay’s Dirty Girls

    We often emphasize how much money we raise and spend for tree care and neighborhood horticultural projects, but sometimes we don’t celebrate the many hands on hours our members contribute to beautification efforts.  Here are a handful of pictures taken this summer of our “Dirty Girls” helping at the Esplanade.  If you are interested in being on the email list for volunteer alerts, let us know at info@bostonflora.com.

    dirtygirls digging4dirty 2

  • Emerald Necklace Tree Project

    The Garden Club of the Back Bay is a contributor to the Emerald Necklace Conservancy, and we thought you might be interested in knowing a bit more about where our dollars are going.

    Contributions from many donors to establish the Olmsted Tree Society last year provided close to $1 million to begin the important work of assessing the condition of trees in the Emerald Necklace and planning to ensure their healthy future. Undertaken in collaboration with the Conservancy’s public partners, Boston Parks & Recreation, Brookline Parks and Open Space and the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, the initiative intends to preserve heritage trees in these historic parks, some of which are more than 100 years old. In addition, the project will protect healthy trees with selective pruning and soil enhancement; plant new trees where needed in the Back Bay Fens, Riverway, Olmsted Park, Franklin Park, around Jamaica Pond and along the parkways of the Necklace. Even more important, the effort will help educate the public about the critical relationship between trees and a healthy urban environment in order to sustain ongoing support for the project.

    In consultation with the Emerald Necklace Conservancy’s public partners, the Olmsted Tree Society advisors hired Kyle Zick Landscape Architects in June to lead the team of consultants who have completed the initial stages of the work. In little more than six months time, the Boston-based firm has identified and reviewed previous studies of conditions in the historic parkland; inventoried more than 7000 trees and 200 acres of woodland; developed accessible and comprehensive mapping using the latest Geographic Information System technology; and begun development of a comprehensive management plan including implementation strategies, timelines and cost estimates for the work that needs to be done.

    The recommendations will be shared with the conservancy’s public partners, Boston Parks & Recreation, Brookline Parks and Open Space and the state’s Department of Conservation and Recreation and work will be coordinated through those agencies.

  • 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:

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  • 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

  • Eliot Memorial Revitalization Project Update

    W thought we would share an update from the Esplanade Association on the Eliot Memorial project we here at The Garden Club of the Back Bay have helped fund during the past three years:

    “We have seeded the grass, installed stone dust around the memorial and added 6 new Shurcliff benches and 2 new curved benches. The 32-foot curved benches around the Memorial are proving very popular and are often occupied with people reading or waiting for Community Boating participants. The entry to Community Boating itself is now a welcoming spot with beautiful plantings and rationalized pathways resulting in less asphalt and more green.
    Our maintenance plans are already underway. The shrubs and groundcovers survived the winter well, though a few are being replaced. The grass has been seeded and is coming is well, although a few spots will likely need to be over-seeded later this summer. We plan to leave the short fencing up around the grassy areas until after the Fourth of July crowds.

    We believe that great parks help make communities great … Public spaces provide an important connection to nature for urban dwellers, both rich and poor.  A successful public space involves thoughtful design and an achievable maintenance strategy.  Once built, the space engages park users and provides a myriad of benefits to the physical and mental health of individuals and to the economic vitality of an area.

    We thank you again for your support of the creation of a great new gathering spot in the park.  This is one of the very few well-framed spaces on the Esplanade where small groups can gather and feel comfortable.  The area displays a wonderful balance of enclosure and openness which will get even better as the plants grow in.  The project also demonstrates critical aspects of proper horticultural maintenance that will inform our future efforts.”

    For more information about the Esplanade, visit www.esplanadeassociation.org.