Boston Flora

Tag: Elm Bank

  • Sunday, March 20, 1:30 pm – American Rhododendron Society DeBurlo Lecture

    The Massachusetts Chapter of the American Rhododendron Society is hosting the DeBurlo Lecture, featuring speaker Donald Hyatt, in the Hunnewell Building at Elm Bank on Sunday, March 20, beginning at 1:30 pm.  The lecture will last roughly one hour, with ARS providing time for questions and refreshments.  This event is free to MHS members.

    Although professionally a mathematics and computer science teacher in Fairfax County Public Schools in Northern Virginia for 33 years, Donald Hyatt has always maintained a strong interest in plants. He lives in the family home his late parents built in 1950, and maintains a lovely mature garden that he started when he was only 3 years old.

    Don’s educational background includes a Bachelors degree in Horticulture with double major in Biochemistry, but he also earned a Masters degree in Computer Science. He served as the Computer Systems Lab Director at the highest ranked school in the US, the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, VA, from the time school opened in 1985 until he retired in 2002. During his teaching career, Don received a number of tributes as an educator. A team of students he coached won a million dollar supercomputer for their school, and numerous other students won national and international awards in various science and Internet competitions. Don was personally honored as a Teacher of the Year finalist in Fairfax County.

    After retiring, Don has focused his efforts on varied horticulture interests including the documentation and preservation of rare native azalea populations in the Southern Appalachians. Don has served on the national boards of the ASA (Azalea Society of America) and the ARS (American Rhododendron Society). He has received national awards from both organizations including the Distinguished Service Award from the ASA, and both Bronze and Silver Medals from the ARS. He is a frequent speaker at national and international plant conferences, has authored a number of articles on azaleas and rhododendrons, and is recognized as an accomplished botanical illustrator and photographer.

    Recently, Don has been championing the local opposition to what many see as an ill-conceived decision by certain administrators at the U.S. National Arboretum who plan to destroy the magnificent azalea display (pictured below) on the historic Glenn Dale Hillside planted in 1947 by the Arboretum’s first Director, Benjamin Y. Morrison.  If you plan to attend, please rsvp to Susan Harding at dsh1965@comcast.net.

  • Monday, June 20 – Tuesday, June 28 – Bressingham England Tour

    Renowned plant expert and garden designer, Adrian Bloom invites Massachusetts Horticultural Society members and friends to join this outstanding trip June 20 – June 28 highlighted by two days at his magnificent Bressingham Gardens. It will be a remarkable opportunity to learn design techniques, plant selection, etc. from one of the foremost horticulturists in the world.

    Adrian, his wife Rosemary, and the Bressingham staff will be providing unprecedented access and inspiring insight into the 17 acres of gardens at Bressingham, England. They are eager for their guests to gain greater understanding of what lies behind the Elm Bank Bressingham garden, and how important its future can be to MassHort’s success. It will be an unforgettable experience, and the visit will be a landmark in the development of the gardens at Elm Bank.

    In addition to Bressingham, other highlights are visits to Beth Chatto’s garden and nursery; the historic city of Cambridge and the Cambridge Botanic Garden; one of the premier plant fairs in the world at Cottesbrooke Hall (pictured below); the Royal Horticultural Society’s flagship garden at Wisley; and Savill Gardens in Windsor. Joe Kunkel and Barbara Emerson are making the arrangements for the tour.

    PRICING DETAILS:

    The tour is priced in English Pounds and is £1300 double occupancy. (As of early December that was about $2000.) The Single Supplement is £267. Air travel is on your own. Breakfast is provided every day in the hotel as well as other meals as described in the itinerary. All tips, garden entry fees, and land travel are included.

    Initial deposit is $250/person and the deadline has been extended to January 31, 2011. Final payment due March 1, 2011. If final payment is not received by March 1, 2011 deposits are forfeited. Deposits will be returned in the unlikely case the minimum number of participants is not reached.

    Checks should be made out to Have Green Thumb and sent to PO Box 304, Manchester, MA 01944. Credit cards will be accepted and processed by the American company, Blooms of Bressingham, NA.  If you would like more information, please contact Barbara Emerson at Barbara@HaveGreenthumb.com.

  • Saturday, November 13, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm – A Horticultural History Tour

    The Massachusetts Horticultural Society is proud to announce a day-long series of lectures focused on the history of horticulture and landscape design in New England and beyond, to take place Saturday, November 13, from 9 – 4 at the Hunnewell Carriage House, Elm Bank, 900 Washington Street in Wellesley.

    The symposium will be hosted by John Furlong, FALA, emeritus director, Landscape Institute, Arnold Arboretum, faculty member of the Boston Architectural College, Distinguished Radcliffe Instructor, and recipientof the  Gold Medal and emeritus trustee, Massachusetts Horticultural Society.

    9:00 AM – Actor and interpreter Gerry Wright, as Frederick Law Olmsted, presents a biography of the landscape architect who was influenced by the natural landscapes of New England throughout his life. In 1850, at age 28, he traveled to England and was smitten with the countryside and a “democratic park” in Birkenhead. Olmsted’s two styles of landscape architecture were the creation of the “pastoral” and the “picturesque”. Beyond the creation for beauty, there was a sense of “service deeply rooted in his planning of public places.” New York City’s Central Park, Harvard’s Arnold Arboretum and the country estates on the Charles River in Wellesley and Dover are among the legacies of Olmsted and his firm.

    At 10:30, Allyson Hayward, garden historian, popular lecturer for The Garden Club of the Back Bay and author of Norah Lindsay: The Life and Art of a Garden Designer will deliver a new talk on two important New England estates, the Hunnewell estate, known as Wellesley, and Elm Bank, the Cheney/Baltzell estate which is now the home of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. Today, these landscapes reveal a layering of New England’s garden history. Ms. Hayward will take you on an armchair tour of these exciting gardens with an illustrated lecture tracing the landscapes dating from 1850 to the present. You will revel in the beauty of the initial vision of Horatio Hollis Hunnewell and his Italian Garden and Pinetum at Wellesley. The lecture will continue with images of Elm Bank from its Victorian grandeur to its transformation into a 1920s grandiose playground for Boston society, complete with theme gardens that portrayed the owners’ sense of taste and style.

    11:30 AM – David Barnett, PhD., President and CEO of Mount Auburn Cemetery, will present Wilson’s China: A Century On, published by The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, 2009. Wilson was the Arnold Arboretum’s principal plant collector from 1906 and following Sargent’s death he was appointed the self-styled ‘Keep” of the Arboretum. In addition to introducing over 1,200 plants, Wilson was a popular author and lecturer and a MassHort Trustee. His remarkable achievements are a continuing inspiration to botanists, horticulturists and landscapers. The slides have been loaned to MassHort through the courtesy of the English authors, Tony Kirkham and Mark Flanagan, respectively Head of the Arboretum at Kew and Keeper of the Royal Gardens in Windsor Great Park.

    Following lunch, at 1:30 PM, you will hear Elizabeth S. Eustis, a garden historian and guest curator, former Trustee of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, past President of the New England Wild Flower Society and faculty member of The Landscape Institute. She will speak on Romanticism in the Landscape, the subject of a 2010 exhibition that she co-curated for the Morgan Library in New York, Romantic Gardens: Art, Nature and Garden Design, with a catalog published by David R. Godine. Following the transition from formal classicism to more naturalistic garden design, Romanticism added a new emphasis on emotional and spiritual response to the landscape. The pervasive influence of Romanticism inspired artificial ruins, garden cemeteries, wild gardens, and contributed powerfully to the public parks movement. This talk will be extensively illustrated by recent photographs and historic works of art.

    3:00 PM – Meg Muckenhoupf is the author of Boston’s Gardens & Green Spaces, Union Park Press, 2010, which is a guide to the Arnold Arboretum, The Boston Public Garden, Mt. Auburn Cemetery, the Olmsted sites, Elm Bank and Boston’s historic and newer parks. Beautiful photos. You will discover delightful new spots to visit.

    Registration is $65 for MHS members, $75 for non-members, and the price includes lunch. You may register on-line at www.masshort.org/horticultural-history-tour or call 617-933-4995.

  • Thursday, September 30, 10:00 am and Friday, October 1, 9:30 am – Ikebana Demonstration and Workshop

    Eikou Sumura, a Sogetsu master instructor from Tokyo, Japan, will present a flower arranging demonstration and workshop sponsored by The Japan Society of Boston. The demonstration will take place Thursday, September 30, beginning at 10 am at New Bridge on the Charles, 5000 Great Meadow Road in Dedham.  The workshop will be held Friday, October 1 beginning at 9:30 am at Elm Bank, in the East Wing, 900 Washington Street, Wellesley, Massachusetts.  For more information, including directions, call 508-270-6759, or log on to www.ikebanaboston.org.

  • Wednesdays, October 6, 13, 20 and 27, 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm – Wednesday Evenings at Elm Bank

    Wednesday Evenings at Elm Bank will resume in October. The series has proven so popular that the Massachusetts Horticultural Society is putting the finishing touches on a four-topic fall session to be held October 6 through 27. Three of the four topics are: Preparing the Garden for Winter (cleaning up, when to water and mulch, when to prune, when to divide), Fall Lawn Care (to rake or not to rake? Renewing, re-doing and rejuvenating a lawn after a long, hot New England summer), and Everything You Need to Know About Bulbs (how to select, when and how to plant, and how to design with spring bulbs). Each session begins at 6:30 p.m. and concludes at 8 p.m. or when the last question has been answered. Sessions are $8 for members, $10 for non-members. Refreshments are served. Elm Bank, 900 Washington Street in Wellesley, is the home of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society in Wellesley. For more information, log on to www.masshort.org.

  • Wednesday, August 25, 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm – Tree Care in Tough Times

    As the final talk in the Massachusetts Horticultural Society’s Wednesdays in the Garden series, arborist Paul Fletcher will discuss caring for your trees in a time of drought, Asian longhorn beetles and winter moths (see damage below).  His advice should not be missed.  The event takes place Wednesday, August 25 at Elm Bank, 900 Washington Street in Wellesley, beginning at 6:30 pm.  Refreshments will be served.  $8 for Mass Hort members and $10 for non-members.  Please bring cash or a check.  For directions, log on to www.masshort.org.

  • Wednesday, August 18, 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm – Perennial Color, Spring Through Fall

    Go on a journey through the growing season with past Garden Club of the Back Bay speaker Suzanne Mahler as she talks on Perennial Color, Spring Through Fall. It’s not just a dazzling photographic display of the hottest new perennials and the tried and true favorites for both sunny and shady sites; it’s also what-you-can-do-now advice for making next spring your best gardening season ever. Suzanne’s talks are noted for their detailed handouts and sound horticultural practices. The event will take place at Elm Bank, 900 Washington Street in Wellesley, on Wednesday, August 18, from 6:30 – 8, and refreshments will be offered. $8 for Mass Hort members, and $10 for non-members. Please bring cash or check. For directions and more information, log on to www.masshort.org.  Gaillardia grandiflora ‘Fanfare’ is pictured below.

  • Wednesday, August 11, 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm – Gardening in the Shade

    Noted horticulturalist and all-around great speaker Laura Eisner offers terrific advice about Gardening in the Shade, tonight at Elm Bank, 900 Washington Street in Wellesley. According to Yankee Magazine, there are 25 billion trees in New England, and at any given time, some of them are shading your garden. Laura will shed some light, so to speak, on how to achieve great color, texture and form in a shaded environment. Shade gardening isn’t limited to hosta: she’ll discuss specific cultivars and techniques that will allow you to achieve a dazzling multi-season display. $8 for Mass Hort members, $10 for non members, and please bring cash or a check. Refreshments will be offered. For more information log on to www.masshort.org.

  • Friday, August 27, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm – The Art of Water in the Garden

    Spend the evening with Anthony Archer Wills on Friday, August 27, beginning at 7 pm, for an illustrated lecture entitled “The Art of Water in the Garden,” sponsored by Garden Design School.  The event will take place at Elm Bank, home of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society in Wellesley, and will be a terrific “prequel” to The Garden Club of the Back Bay’s “Water” themed lecture series for 2010/2011.   Mr. Wills is a world-renowned water garden designer, true artisan, and pioneer.  Anthony Archer-Wills works earth and water to create environments that indulge the imagination, and delight the senses.

    Inspired as a schoolchild watching water well up from the ground in the woods, and influenced by Roberto Burle Marx of Brazil, who used architectural materials, curving water shapes and mass plantings on a large scale to “paint the landscape,” Anthony began designing water gardens in the 1960s.

    A true pioneer and artisan, he developed new water gardening techniques while completing his first large-scale projects for Safari Parks in England, and Bear Park in Scotland. By the mid-1970s, his techniques were adopted worldwide as the industry standard for building water gardens.

    Anthony has gone on to create more than 2,000 water features in Great Britain, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Switzerland, South America, Argentina and Turkey, as well as the United States.

    He is the author of The Water Gardener, Water Power and Designing Water Gardens, which have been published in five languages. Pre-registration is required.  Admission is $75.  For more information, or to register, call 513-867-0437, email info@gardendesignschool.com, or log on to www.gardendesignschool.com.

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  • Saturday, August 7, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm – Massachusetts Marketplace Festival

    Join the Massachusetts Horticultural Society for the Annual Massachusetts Marketplace Festival on Saturday, August 7, from 10 to 4, at Elm Bank Horticulture Center.  The event will feature the finest products from the region’s fields, farms, gardens and kitchens, with over 60 vendors offering new and locally produced food products, crafts, garden ornaments and gifts.  There will also be a plant sale and garden tours.  Admission is $6 for adults, $4 for MassHort members, and $2 for children under 12.  Tickets are available on site the day of the event.  Massachusetts Marketplace Festival is produced by MassHort with in-kind support from the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources and the Massachusetts Specialty Food Association.  For more information, log on to www.masshort.org, or call  617-933-4981.

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