Boston Flora

Tag: Emerald Necklace

  • Tuesdays, June 2 – June 30, 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm – Evening Garden Strolls

    The Emerald Necklace Conservancy’s popular Evening Garden Strolls begin with a visit to the Kelleher Rose Garden. Tucked behind a yew hedge in the Back Bay Fens is a serene and inviting garden with more than 1,500 roses surrounding a recently restored 1930’s-era fountain and statuary. You’ll walk beneath trellises blanketed with climbing roses (Don’t miss the delightfully scented Mr. Lincoln!) and enjoy the sights and scents of nearly 200 varieties of roses. As an added bonus, you’ll have the opportunity to see (and talk with) rosarians and volunteers in action as they prune, deadhead and tend to the garden. The Stroll continues on to the oldest continuously operating WWII Victory Gardens in America. Covering just over 7 acres, the 500 gardens are an eclectic mix of flowers, herbs and vegetables, each one offering a style and design all its own. You’ll follow meandering paths that pass by everything from Japanese-inspired gardens to a chef’s array of herbs and edibles.

    The Strolls are led by Conservancy Docents who share the fascinating stories of these special places. You’ll learn about a very special rose that resides in the Kelleher and why Victory gardeners still occasionally dig up bricks in their spaces. The Strolls begin at 6 pm on June 2, 9, 16, 23, and 30, starting at the Kelleher Rose Garden in the Back Bay Fens. Free.

  • Sunday, June 7, 8:00 am – 2:00 pm – The Emerald Necklace Walk

    Beginning in Franklin Park, this free six-hour National Park Service walking tour on Sunday, June 7 from 8 – 2  will examine Olmsted’s masterpiece of linear park design, The Emerald Necklace. Pastures, ponds and parkways were woven into the city’s fabric and combined both state-of-the-art engineering with artistic sensibility. The walk will end in the Back Bay Fens where people can ride the “T” back to Franklin Park or anywhere they wish. Bring a lunch. REGISTRATION is required – please visit http://www.nps.gov/frla/planyourvisit/walks-and-talks.htm.  We don’t need to emphasize that comfortable shoes are a must.

  • Saturday, May 23, 11:00 am – 12:30 pm, and Sunday, May 31, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm – History and Landscape of the Fens

    From foul muddy flats to the parkland of today, the Fens has undergone many transformations in the last 125+ years.  Join Emerald Necklace docents as they talk and walk this historic landscape.  The May 23 and May 31 tours include stops at the Kelleher Rose Garden with its 1,500 roses and recently restored fountain and statuary, and a stroll along the paths of the oldest continuously operating WWII Victory Garden in the country.  Meet at the Shattuck Visitor Center, 125 The Fenway, at 11 am if you attend on May 23, or at 1 pm if you attend on May 31.  Free.  For more information contact info@emeraldnecklace.org. Image from www.bostoncommittee.org.

  • Saturday, May 9, 11:00 am – 12:30 pm, and Sunday, May 17, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm – Historic Treasures of the Back Bay Fens

    What do a 17th-century Japanese Temple Bell, an historic bridge made of Roxbury puddingstone, and a tree once thought extinct have in common? They all reside in the Back Bay Fens.  Learn about these and other treasures on a guided walking tour of the Back Bay Fens that is sure to bring out the history detective in you.  The tours, presented by the Emerald Necklace Conservancy, will take place Saturday, May 9 from 11 – 12:30, and Sunday May 17 from 1 – 2:30.  Free and open to the public – meet at the Shattuck Visitor Center, 125 The Fenway.  Contact 617-522-2700 or email info@emeraldnecklace.org for more information. Dan Tobyne photo below.

  • Saturday, May 30, 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm – Green Spaces: Paintings from Olmsted’s Parks

    The Emerald Necklace Conservancy will present an exhibit of watercolor and gouache paintings by artist Lynette Lombard titled Green Spaces: Paintings from Olmsted’s Parks.  The exhibit will be mounted in the Shattuck Visitor Center, 125 The Fenway, and will be on view Saturdays and Sundays beginning May 3 from 11 – 4.  An artist reception and talk will be held on Saturday, May 30, from 2 – 4, and is free and open to the public.  In her artist statement, Lynette writes that, while painting on site during the summer of 2014, “I was struck by the variety of Olmsted’s visual rhythms and serpentine movements to create paths of light and dark, which weave a drama in my work.” She received her MFA from Yale University School of Art and is a Professor of Art at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois.  For more information contact info@emeraldnecklace.org, or call 617-522-2700.

  • Sunday, May 3, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm – A Walk with Mr. Olmsted Through the Historic Back Bay Fens

    See the Back Bay Fens through the eyes of the man who designed and built it.  Join Frederick Law Olmsted, as portrayed by Gerry Wright, along with an Emerald Necklace docent, as they lead a walk through the historic landscape on Sunday, May 3.  Learn how Mr. Olmsted transformed an area described by a 19th century city engineer as “The foulest marsh and muddy flats to be found anywhere in Massachusetts” into the first link in his chain of parks we know today as the Emerald Necklace.  Hear the story of a remarkable life from the man himself. Meet at 1 pm at the Shattuck Visitor Center, 125 The Fenway.  Free and open to the public, presented by the Emerald Necklace Conservancy.

  • Wednesday, May 13, 11:00 am – 2:00 pm – Party in the Park

    Please join the Emerald Necklace Conservancy for the 12th Annual Justine Mee Liff Fund Luncheon at Pinebank Promontory overlooking Jamaica Pond on Wednesday, May 13.  A cocktail reception begins at 11:00 am, followed by the luncheon at 12:30.  The 2015 Liff Spirit Award will be presented to Mark Volpe, Managing Director, Boston Symphony Orchestra.  Tickets begin at $450, and may be purchased on line at www.emeraldnecklace.org/party-in-the-park/ by April 24, or you may call 617-522-2700.  Complimentary valet parking and trolley service will be available.

  • Tuesday, March 3, 6:30 pm – Emerald Necklace Night at Symphony

    Please join The Emerald Necklace Conservancy on Tuesday, March 3 at Symphony Hall in Boston for a special event to benefit the Justine Mee Liff Fund for the Emerald Necklace. Generously hosted by the BSO, the evening will feature a pre-concert dinner reception and raffle followed by a performance of Stravinsky, Debussy and Brahms. Dessert reception at intermission. Tickets are $150 and $250 (preferred seating) available online at https://25749.thankyou4caring.org/party-in-the-park/night-at-symphony?erid=526776&trid=1f1d5801-d8e9-44bb-bee6-b82e767de6f9 or by contacting Emma Rose Kiefer at 617 522 2700.

  • Thursday, February 26, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Frederick Law Olmsted and the Massachusetts Legacy

    Alan Banks of the National Park Service will be at the Massachusetts Horticultural Society on Thursday, February 26, from 7 – 8:30, to present on the firm Frederick Law Olmsted founded over a century ago which was involved in over 1,200 landscape architecture projects throughout Massachusetts, ranging from expansive 500-acre public parks to intimate private gardens. One of its greatest achievements is a six-mile “emerald necklace” of ponds, parks, and parkways that winds its way through Boston. This one-hour slide lecture will sample this rich landscape legacy and explore the ideas that shaped some of the most treasured lands in Massachusetts – including the work of the firm for the Baltzell family at Elm Bank.

    Alan S. Banks oversees the historical interpretation of Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site in Brookline, Massachusetts. During the last 23 years he has researched and developed a variety of landscape walking tours, slide lectures and presentations on the Olmsteds and their work across the country. In 2010, he was an invited speaker at the Appalachian Institute at Biltmore Estate in North Carolina and later that year he traveled to Milwaukee to speak on Olmsted-designed, Lake Park. Last year he was the keynote speaker at the regional meeting of the American Society of Landscape Architects in Atlanta. He also recently was seen on Olmsted and America’s Urban Parks, a documentary screened on PBS across the country featuring Kevin Kline and Kerry Washington.

    Lecture Fee: Mass Hort Members $10, Non-Members $15. The lecture will take place in the Parkman Room of the Elm Bank Education Building, Washington Street in Wellesley. Register online at http://www.masshort.org/eventdetail/140/422|427|430|433/frederick-law-olmsted-the-massachusetts-legacy?filter_reset=1.

  • Thursday, November 13, 5:30 pm – 8:30 pm – 18th Annual Boston International Fine Art Show Gala

    The 18th Annual Boston International Fine Art Show Gala Preview will be held Thursday November 13, 2014 at the Cyclorama, Boston Center for the Arts, 539 Tremont Street, Boston, to benefit the Friends of the Boston Park Rangers Mounted Unit. The 18th Annual BIFAS will continue to feature the best in historic, modern, and contemporary fine art, with 40 galleries from the United States, India, Europe, and Canada. The Friends were established in 2008 in order to preserve the Mounted Unit. Boston was under fiscal pressure and the six horses that patrol the nine parks of the Emerald Necklace were going to be cut. Thanks to generous donations, the horses today still provide a safety net in our parks. This year the friends must raise $100,000 in donations to ensure continuation of the Mounted Unit. Your participation will help us achieve this goal! For more information on the horses or to purchase tickets (at $125 and $250 levels) please visit www.SaveBostonsHorses.org. Enjoy exquisite cuisine, fine wine compliments of Dark Horse, and music, while being among the first to select from a dazzling array of fine art.

    The show will continue throughout the weekend with special receptions, lectures, and dealer booth talks. Opening on Friday at 1:00pm and running until 8, Saturday from 11am-8pm, and Sunday from 11am-5pm. To see the special receptions and programs going on please visit www.FineArtBoston.com.