Boston Flora

Tag: Blossom Fund

  • Monday, April 25, 9:30 am – Boston Committee Spring Membership Meeting- Olmsted Now: Boston’s Celebration of Olmsted’s 200th Birthday

    The Boston Committee of the GCA (of which The Garden Club of the Back Bay is an affiliate member) will hold its 2022 Spring Meeting on April 25 at Zoo New England at Franklin Park.

    We will begin the meeting at 9:30 am with member and guest registration and social time, 10:00 am business meeting and guest introductions followed by a panel presentation.  The format will be similar to past membership meetings with a bit of additional flair!

    A box lunch will be provided before we begin a guided tour of the Shurcliff Garden restoration at the Zoo that we are actively supporting with our Blossom Fund and member involvement. Price to be determined, but all members of Boston Committee Clubs will receive a separate notice with payment instructions. For further information, visit https://bostoncommitteegca.org/

  • Wreath of the Day, From the Archives – Charitable Repercussions

    Each year we donate many gift certificates to other not for profit organizations for auction or raffle, including certificates to each member and affiliate club in The Boston Committee of the GCA. The proceeds from their raffles benefit The Blossom Fund, which was created to fund public projects of horticultural impact in the Greater Boston area. Our cancellation this year puts the Committee in the position of having to raise additional funds through increased donations, so if you are able and so inclined, please visit their site and make a year end gift (and tell them we sent you!) Below is Milton Garden Club member Beverly Van Orman picking up her winning wreath in 2010, and a more recent example of a winner’s wreath. We confer which each gift certificate holder to determine color and decoration preferences, which are often quite a challenge. These orders are some of our favorites to execute.

    Thank you to Susan Sloan and Arthur Clarke, today’s generous Wreath of the Day post sponsors, who themselves are active in many of Boston’s charitable organizations, and understand well the challenges of today’s economy.

  • The Garden Club of the Back Bay Announces 2017 Grants

    At the Annual Meeting of The Garden Club of the Back Bay on May 8, the membership approved the following grants for fiscal year 2017. These grants, given to organizations whose mission closely tracks our own, are in addition to $20,000 allocated directly to neighborhood tree care.  We thank all our volunteers and supporters, who make the magic happen.  Image courtesy of www.tclf.org. The following list is in alphabetical order:

    Arnold Arboretum: $1,500 for the Campaign for the Living Collections, to collect and preserve plants of critical conservation value.

    Blossom Fund of the Boston Committee of the Garden Club of America: $500

    Boston Nature Center/Mass Audubon: $4,000, to support scholarships for their summer camp.  Children range in age from 5 – 14 and are from local neighborhoods of Mattapan, Roslindale and Jamaica Plain.

    Charles River Clean Up Boat: $2,000

    Commonwealth Avenue Mall Committee: $5,000 for its tree care program, including Dutch elm disease monitoring and soil improvement.

    Emerald Necklace Conservancy: $2,500, to the Olmsted Tree Society for planting a pathway tree.

    Esplanade Association: $5,000, for the 2017 critical tree maintenance program, allocated to pruning.

    Friends of Copley Square: $1,500 for treating trees for root stress, and for fertilizer and fungicide.

    Friends of the Public Garden: $5,000 for tree care and preservation of the historic elms planted on Commonwealth Avenue in the block west of Massachusetts Avenue.

    Food Project: $2,000 for building raised bed gardens for Boston residents and community centers.

    Mothers Out Front: $1,000 for educating the public on the effects of gas leaks on trees in the urban landscape.

  • Garden Club of the Back Bay Announces 2016 Grants

    At the Annual Meeting of The Garden Club of the Back Bay held at the College Club on May 16, the membership voted to award the following grants to a group of worthy recipients whose projects fulfill our mission to protect, beautify and educate.  In addition, we again commit $20,000 for tree care in our neighborhood.

    Commonwealth Avenue Mall Committee – $5,000 for its tree care program, Dutch elm disease monitoring, and soil improvement.

    Friends of the Public Garden – $5,000 for inoculation of certain mature  elm street trees not located on the Mall, planted beyond Massachusetts Avenue.

    The Esplanade Association – $4,000 allocated to tree pruning.

    Boston Nature Center/Mass Audubon – $3,500 to support scholarships for BNC’s summer camp program for children ages 5 – 14, from local neighborhoods of Mattapan, Roslindale, and Jamaica Plain.

    Emerald Necklace Conservancy – $2,500 to the Olmsted Tree Society for planting a pathway tree.

    The Food Project – $2,000 for its Build A Garden Program, building raised bed gardens for neighborhood residents and community centers in and around Dorchester.

    Charles River Clean Up Boat – $2,000 for continued operational expenses.

    Friends of Copley Square – $1,500 for treating trees for root stress, with fertilizer and fungicide.

    The Boston Committee of the Garden Club of America, Inc. – $500 to the Blossom Fund in support of the 9.2 mile Fairmount Indigo Corridor Planting Project.

    Please click on to the links above, where available, to read more about these organizations and specifically the projects which we are helping to fund.  The Garden Club thanks all our supporters who, through donations and patronage of our fund raising efforts, allow us to share our money and expertise in a substantial way.

  • Garden Club of the Back Bay Announces 2013 Grants

    At the Annual Meeting of The Garden Club of the Back Bay, members voted to approve the grant recommendations proposed by its Co-Presidents Jackie Blombach and Jolinda Taylor and by the Executive Committee of the Club.

    Our major focus in the coming year will be the completion of the Linden Project on Beacon Street.  Over 60 historic linden trees will be professionally pruned, at a cost of $35,000.  $5,000 of the total will be paid with a grant received from the City of Boston, with The Garden Club of the Back Bay contributing the balance.  In addition to our tree care project, we will give $5,000 to the Commonwealth Avenue Mall Committee for its tree, turf and soil project on the Charlesgate block of the Mall, and another $5,000 to the Friends of the Public Garden to continue the inoculation of elms against Dutch elm disease.

    Other organizations receiving Garden Club of the Back Bay grants this June are the Boston Nature Center of the Massachusetts Audubon Society – $2,000 to support scholarships for its summer camp for children aged 5 – 14, $2,000 to City Roots/Urban Ecology Institute for a project in partnership with Roslindale Wetlands and the Boston Parks and Recreation Department’s Urban Wilds Initiative, $2,500 to the Esplanade Association for the Eliot Garden Project, and $1,000 each to the Charles River Cleanup Boat and The Friends of Copley Square, and $500 to The Boston Committee of the GCA, in support of a grant made by the Blossom Fund to The Friends of Christopher Columbus Park for a landscape design plan to beautify a neglected circle adjacent to Christopher Columbus Park.

    Finally, $1,000 has been set aside to honor the victims of the Marathon bombing through a donation to a healing garden at one of the area’s hospitals or rehabilitation centers. In the next few weeks members of the Club will visit potential grantees and assess where the donation will have the most impact.  We will report back when a decision is made.

    Thanks go to all our supporters, those of you who buy a ticket to our Twilight Garden Party on June 4, or a holiday wreath in December, for without your generosity, these worthy expenditures of $56,000 could not be made.

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  • Request For Proposals for Boston Committee Grant

    Established in 1989, The Boston Committee of the Garden Club of America is a consortium of 14 garden clubs in the greater Boston area, from Buzzards Bay to the South, and coastal Maine to the north, with a total membership of 1,100 individuals. The Garden Club of the Back Bay is an affiliate member of The Boston Committee.

    Over the past years, the Boston Committee has awarded $110,000, through its Blossom Fund, to various not for profit groups in the City of Boston, for the purpose of beautifying our urban spaces. The Fund has been most effective when used to leverage larger grants. It has been at the forefront of projects such as the construction of the Blackwell Path at the Arnold Arboretum, which allows access to the Arboretum from public transportation. The Blossom Fund has helped with the construction and planting of a butterfly garden and maple tree allee at Massachusetts Audubon Society’s George Robert White Nature Center, in Mattapan. It has provided money for the restoration of the Kelleher Rose Garden on the Emerald Necklace. The Esplanade Association purchased irrigation equipment, the Charles River Conservancy restored the landscape surrounding the Eliot Bridge, and a garden was established at the Neighborhood Charter School, all with the help of the Blossom Fund.

    Now, the Boston Committee is soliciting proposals for a project in the vicinity of the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway. We expect to award a single grant for $50,000, with the potential to collaboratively raise additional funds in the future.

    The Committee members agree that innovation, positive community impact, and horticultural achievement must be the hallmarks of a successful Greenway proposal. Sustainability and future maintenance are important considerations. The grant will not be awarded for general fund drives, endowments, or for operating or staffing costs. The successful applicant must work with us to raise additional monies in the final year of the fund drive. Importantly, applicants must be an exempt organization under the IRS code.

    Complete details may be obtained by email. Contact Michele Hanss, current Chairman of The Boston Committee, at m.hanss@comcast.net. Applications are due February 10. We have received notice that applications may be forthcoming from the Friends of Christopher Columbus Park, The Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy, the Boston Aquarium, and the Boston Harbor Walk. After a full review and interviews, member Clubs will vote for the winning application, to be announced at our Annual Meeting in the fall of 2012, after which we will embark on the final year of fund raising. We encourage all groups in or around the Greenway to submit applications.

  • Garden Club of the Back Bay Announces Annual Grant Recipients

    Thanks in no small part to the continued success of our recent Twilight Garden Party, The Garden Club of the Back Bay announces that the following organizations will receive a total of $20,000 in financial grants for 2011:

    The Commonwealth Avenue Mall Committee – $5,000 to be credited to the Hereford Street to Massachusetts Avenue  air spading project fund.

    The Friends of the Public Garden – $4,000 to continue the inoculation of elms at risk for contracting Dutch elm disease.

    The Esplanade Association – $2,500 for the Elliot Oval Landscape Restoration, planting new trees and treating trees already on site, near the newly restored Community Boating docks.

    Emerald Necklace Conservancy – $2,500 for a planned meadow to be developed with native species and wildflowers.

    Boston Nature Center/Massachusetts Audubon Society – $2,500 to support six full scholarships for its summer camp.  The children attending the camp range in age from 5 to 14 and are from the local neighborhoods of Mattapan, Roslindale, and Jamaica Plain.

    Charles River Clean Up Boat – $2,000, to help continue the project of keeping the Charles River trash-free.

    Urban Ecology Institute – $1,000 to help with its Grow Boston Greener tree planting initiative.

    The Boston Committee of the Garden Club of America – $500 to the Blossom Fund, which is accumulating funds over a five year period to be awarded to a deserving project on or about the Rose Kennedy Greenway.

    For more information on all these important organizations and to learn more about the work they do, visit their website links above.  In addition to the above grants, The Garden Club of the Back Bay will spend an additional $20,000 on planting, pruning, and treating the street trees in our neighborhood over the coming year.  Thank you to all our volunteers and contributors for making our horticultural endeavors happen!

  • Thursday, April 14, 10:30 am – Boston Committee Spring Meeting & Luncheon: The Artful Garden

    The Boston Committee of The Garden Club of America invites members of its constituent fourteen clubs to its Spring Meeting and Luncheon on Thursday, April 14, beginning with registration at 10:30 am at The Country Club, 191 Clyde Street in Brookline.  The featured speaker will be Sheila Brady, a partner at the renowned landscape architecture firm Oehme, van Sweden and Associates, pioneers of the New American style.  Ms. Brady will talk about the new book The Artful Garden: Creative Inspiration for Landscape Design by James van Sweden and Tom Christopher.  Whether it’s a ten-foot-square city terrace or a ten-acre expanse, the same principles of design apply.  Ms. Brady will discuss the connection between the path in a garden and the horizon of an iconic painting, the syncopation of jazz and the free form of nature, the intrigue of a good novel, and the mystery of a thoughtfully sculpted landscape.  Copies of the book will be available at the meeting by pre-order, at a cost of $35, with proceeds benefiting The Blossom Fund.  The cost of the lecture and luncheon is $50, lecture only $25.  Please make your check payable to The Boston Committee of the GCA and mail to Diane Cullen, 52 Willow Street, Dover, MA 02030 before April 8, 2011, and note on the memo portion of your check your Garden Club affiliation.  All reservations will be held at the door.  Garden Club of the Back Bay members will receive written invitations and a car pool notice in the mail.

  • Wednesday, September 15, 10:00 am – The Boston Committee: What We Do

    Michele Hanss, Chairman of The Boston Committee of the Garden Club of America, and Past Chairman Beverly Van Orman, will present an illustrated program on the work of The Boston Committee at the opening fall meeting of The Garden Club of the Back Bay on Wednesday, September 15, beginning at 10 am at The College Club, 44 Commonwealth Avenue.

    The Boston Committee of The Garden Club of America, a not for profit organization,  was formed to achieve the following purposes:  To educate the general public regarding regional environmental concerns and horticultural practices; to assist individuals and organizations in the design and beautification of public parks and grounds and in the planting of green areas; to meet with representatives to exchange views on issues and concerns of the region; to encourage civic achievement in the environment and in horticulture by presenting awards for design, restoration of public areas, or for other related purposes as part of its public interaction.  Through its Blossom Fund, The Boston Committee continues to provide seed money to Boston area not for profit organizations for their garden and/or preservation projects (such as the Kelleher Rose Garden, pictured below.)  The Garden Club of the Back Bay is an affiliate member of this worthy organization, and has for many years assisted in raising funds and directing contributions, but we feel many members are still a bit in the dark about the goals and projects.  This meeting will fill in all the information gaps, and is a fitting beginning to The Garden Club’s 2010/2011 program year.

    An optional lunch ($20 members, $25 non-members) will follow the meeting, and reservations made prior to September 10 are essential.  Contact info@bostonflora.com to reserve.  Garden Club members will receive written notice of this event.

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