Boston Flora

Tag: Commonwealth Avenue Mall

  • Wednesday, October 10, 6:00 pm – Friends of the Public Garden Members Reception

    The Friends of the Public Garden invites you to a Members Reception Wednesday, October 10, at 6 pm, at the Union Club, 8 Park Street in Boston.  This is a time to socialize and to hear David Dearinger, member of the Friends Sculpture Committee, talk about the unlikely transience of large public sculptures in Boston, including some of the ones that do (or did) grace Boston’s Public Garden and Commonwealth Avenue Mall. David is the Susan Morse Hilles Curator of Paintings & Sculpture at the Boston Athenaeum, and a specialist in nineteenth-century American sculpture.  The event is free but please rsvp as space is limited.  Email no later than Friday, October 5 at info@friendsofthepublicgarden.org.  Call 617-723-8144 for information.  Your membership can be renewed at this event.  Motor Mart Garage is the reception sponsor – thank you.

  • The Garden Club of the Back Bay Announces 2012 Grants at Annual Meeting

    The Garden Club of the Back Bay Announces 2012 Grants at Annual Meeting

    The Annual Meeting of The Garden Club of the Back Bay, Inc. took place Monday, May 14, and $66,000 in grants and expenditures were unanimously approved by the membership. Co-President Jackie Blombach is pictured below announcing the grants to the attendees.

    Thirty thousand dollars has been set aside for street tree care, including planting, pruning, and inoculating.  In addition to this amount, the following organizations will benefit from our Club’s fund raising successes, including our holiday wreath project and our upcoming Twilight Garden Party:

    $5,000 to The Friends of Copley Square, for treating with fertilizer and fungicide the diseased trees (the ones not being removed) for root stress due to canker stain and compacted ground conditions.

    $5,000 to The Friends of the Public Garden, to continue the inoculation of elms against Dutch elm disease.  The street trees to be treated are not on the Commonwealth Avenue Mall, but are located on Commonwealth Avenue beyond Massachusetts Avenue.

    $5,000 to The Esplanade Association, for the Eliot Memorial Demonstration Garden.

    $5,000 to the Commonwealth Avenue Mall Committee, for its Historic Elm Preservation Project.

    $3,000 to the Emerald Necklace Conservancy, to help pay for plant material for the completion of Mother’s Rest, at Boylston Street and The Fenway.

    $3,000 to City Roots/Urban Ecology Institute, for plant materials (trees and shrubs) for a project underway in Allston/Brighton, which also includes a citizen science and education component.

    $3,000 to the Boston Nature Center of the Massachusetts Audubon Society, supporting some level of scholarships to twenty children for the summer camp.  The children range in age from 5 to 14 and are from the local neighborhoods of Mattapan, Roslindale, and Jamaica Plain.

    $2,000 to the Charles River Clean Up Boat, helping keep our beloved river trash free.

    $500 to the Ellis Neighborhood Association, to inoculate an historic elm tree in the South End against Dutch elm disease. This contribution will cover half the expense of the treatment, with the other half being paid by the Ellis Neighborhood Association.

    $500 to The Blossom Fund of The Boston Committee of The Garden Club of America, for our five year fund raising effort to be awarded next year to a project in or around The Rose Kennedy Greenway.

    Additionally, we are purchasing four tree fences to be installed in the neighborhood, three in front of The First Lutheran Church on Berkeley Street, and one in front of The French Cultural Center of Boston, on Marlborough Street, at a total cost of $4,000.

    We congratulate all our grant recipients, and thank our supporters for giving us the ability to beautify Boston.

  • Thursday, December 1, 8:15 pm – Commonwealth Avenue Mall Tree Lighting

    Since 2003, the Mall has been successfully lit without public funds thanks to the efforts of chairperson Mimi La Camera, the lighting committee, and many neighborhood supporters. Following the Boston Common Lighting, the Commonwealth Avenue Mall will be lit.  Picture from www.3rdhouseparty.typepad.com.

  • Wednesday, October 5, 6:00 pm – The Future of Trees in the Public Garden, Boston Common and Commonwealth Avenue Mall

    The Friends of the Public Garden invites all members to a Members Reception on Wednesday, October 5, beginning at 6 pm at the Union Club, 8 Park Street, Boston.  There will be time to socialize and to celebrate Henry Davis, a distinguished arborist who has spent over four decades working with the Friends to care for the trees in our three parks.  Hear Henry’s insights on The Future of Trees in the Public Garden, Boston Common and Commonwealth Avenue Mall.  The event is free to members, but please rsvp, as space is limited.  Email by Friday, September 30 at fopg@gis.net, or call 617-723-8144 for information (or to join, if you have not already done so.)  Membership can be renewed at this event as well.

  • Friends of the Public Garden Doggy Survey

    The Friends of the Public Garden is working to put together a snap shot of how people utilize the Public Garden, Boston Common and Commonwealth Avenue Mall for their pets. The Friends is asking dog owners to participate in the discussion by taking a brief survey regarding their use of the parks. Questions are designed to gauge how often dogs use each space and which spaces are used most often. Friends is also interested in hearing what dog owners have to say about an off-leash pilot program. The survey is available online at www.surveymonkey.com/s/KKSQFJ9.  For a printed copy, call the Friends at 617-723-8144.  Provide your email address at the end of the survey to be entered into a drawing to win a $20 gift certificate for Fish & Bone- Urban Pet Essentials.

  • Protect Sunlight in Public Parks

    The Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay has informed us of a Petition to Support H. 1169, An Act Protecting Sunlight in Certain Public Parks, sponsored by Representatives Martha Walz and Byron Rushing. To read the bill, go to www.malegislature.gov/Bills/187/House/H01169.  This bill seeks to expand and clarify the current laws that protect the sunlight on the beloved Boston Public Garden and the Boston Common by limiting new shadows.  Specifically, the bill would prohibit any new construction or building remodeling from blocking sunlight and casting new shadows on six additional public parks.  The goal of the bill is to allow reasonably-scaled development near the parks while protecting sufficient sunlight for the health of the park environment and the enjoyment of its users.

    The five Boston parks and one Cambridge park will be protected by the bill are:

    * The Back Bay Fens
    * Christopher Columbus Park
    * The Commonwealth Avenue Mall
    * Copley Square Park
    * The Esplanade
    * Magazine Beach Park

    You can sign the petition immediately (through May 22) by logging in to https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/sunlight2.  However, if you have already signed the petition, please do not do so again.  If you have any questions concerning this legislation, you may email Sue Prindle at sprindl@verizon.net.  Photo from www.gardenvoice.com.

  • Garden Club of the Back Bay Holiday Wreaths – “Green Spending”

    Why should you buy from us? Yes, we know you could order from local florists (at a significantly higher price, we might point out), or from the nurseries or groceries stores (at perhaps a slightly lower cost, with a corresponding drop in quality.) Purchasing our wreaths comes with the satisfaction of knowing you are supporting many wonderful local organizations, in addition to our own.

    Each year we make grants to not for profit groups which are making a difference in our lives. In addition to the Friends of the Public Garden and the Commonwealth Avenue Mall Committee, we donate to the Emerald Necklace Conservancy, the Charles River Clean Up Boat, the Boston Nature Center of the Massachusetts Audubon Society, the Esplanade Association, COG, and to City Roots/The Urban Ecology Institute. This is by no means the complete list of beneficiaries (click on to our Projects page on the menu above for details) but we give approximately $20,000 annually to area groups accomplishing great works which we do not have the expertise or manpower to do ourselves. The dollar amount of these grants is dependent upon our earnings, so we urge you to be generous and allow us the opportunity to enhance your holiday environment with our fresh balsam wreaths.  We also directly pay for the planting, pruning, and inoculation of the street trees in our neighborhood – another $20,000 annual expenditure, give or take a thousand.  As Everett Dirkson used to say,  and I paraphrase, “A million here, a million there, and pretty soon you’re talking real money.”  Click HERE for an order form.

  • Friends of the Public Garden Video

    The Garden Club of the Back Bay is pleased to announce that three of our current and past members are featured in a newly released video which beautifully recounts the history of the Friends of the Public Garden and its tradition of Park stewardship.  Past President Margaret Pokorny is interviewed, and you will glimpse vintage pictures of the late Stella Trafford, and at least one photo of member Patti Quinn.  Interviews with Henry Lee and Antonia Pollak are impressive.  Shots of the Commonwealth Avenue Mall in the 1970’s are frightening – we can barely imagine how our parks were degraded during those years.  To view the eleven minute movie, click on to http://fopg.wordpress.com/2010/11/12/our-history-through-film/.

  • Tuesday, December 15, 11:00 am – Massachusetts Joint Committee on the Environment Hearing

    As you probably know, Representatives Marty Walz, Byron Rushing, and  Senator Anthony Petruccelli sponsored a bill to prevent additional shadows from being cast on the Charles River Esplanade, Christopher Columbus Park, Commonwealth Avenue Mall, Copley Square Park, Magazine Beach Park, or Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway (House Bill No. 853: An Act protecting certain public parks). This legislation is critical in protecting our historic parks from being thrown in shadow cast by excessively tall buildings.

    The Massachusetts Joint Committee on the Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture is holding its an important hearing on this bill on December 15 at 11 am in State House Room A2. It will be critical that we collect as much written and oral testimony as possible. We hope you will join in supporting this bill as forcefully as possible.

    Send letters in support of the legislation to the Massachusetts Joint Committee on the Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture Committee Co-Chairs Senator Anthony Petruccelli (address Room 413-B, State House, Boston, MA 02133, phone: 617-722-1634) and Representative William Straus (address Room 473-F, State House, Boston, MA 02133, phone: 617-722-2210).

    Send emails to: Massachusetts Joint Committee on the Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture Committee Co-Chairs Anthony.Petruccelli@state.ma.us and Rep.WilliamStraus@Hou.State.MA.US with copies to Rep.MartyWalz@Hou.State.MA.US and Rep.ByronRushing@hou.state.ma.us

    We know this is the worst possible time of year to try to influence public policy, but we hope everyone will recognize the importance of this issue.  A copy of the legislation is posted on the web at http://www.mass.gov/legis/bills/house/186/ht00pdf/ht00853.pdf.

  • Garden Club of the Back Bay Holiday Wreaths – Supporting the Community

    There is still time to order a magnificent holiday wreath from The Garden Club of the Back Bay – you may print an order form and mail it in with your check, or you may order online and pay through PayPal.  All the information and directions are available by clicking here.  Why should you buy from us?  Yes, we know you could order from local florists (at a significantly higher price, we might point out), or from the nurseries or groceries stores (at perhaps a slightly lower cost).  Purchasing our wreaths comes with the satisfaction of knowing you are supporting many wonderful local organizations, in addition to our own.  Each year we make grants to not for profit groups which are making a difference in our lives.  Besides the Friends of the Public Garden and the Commonwealth Avenue Mall Committee, we donate to the Emerald Necklace Conservancy, the Charles River Clean Up Boat, the Boston Nature Center of the Massachusetts Audubon Society, the Esplanade Association, and to City Roots/The Urban Ecology Institute.   This is by no means the complete list of beneficiaries (click on to our Projects page on the menu above for details) but we give between $15,000 and $18,000 annually to area groups accomplishing great works which we do not have the expertise or manpower to do ourselves.  The dollar amount of these grants is dependent upon our earnings, so we urge you to be generous and allow us the opportunity to enhance your holiday environment with our fresh balsam wreaths. Thank You!