Boston Flora

Tag: Fletcher Steele

  • Friday, August 1, 11:00 am – 12:30 pm – Federal Reserve Bank Green Roof Tour

    The 18,000 sq ft. roof garden at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston was installed in 1976 and is considered one of the oldest, still original roof gardens in the country.

    The roof garden was designed by Robert Fager, ASLA who worked for the building architects, Hugh Stubbins & Associates. Frank W. Sellner was the landscape architect consultant for the project. He often told stories of interning for Beatrix Farrand and his work experience with Fletcher Steele!

    The garden is on the fourth floor, 90′ above the ground floor with sweeping views towards Boston Harbor and the Seaport District. The roof garden has many specimen trees. Organically grown edibles are incorporated into the seasonal plantings.

    The FRB property has over 200 trees and a 60′ roof top greenhouse all maintained by the Bank’s horticulture staff.  The street address is 600 Atlantic Avenue, and the cost of the tour is $15. Sponsored by The Landscape Institute at the Boston Architectural College, you may reserve a spot for the Friday, August 1 tour by emailing pce@the-bac.edu.

  • Monday, September 16, 9:30 am – 3:00 pm – Rolling Ridge Preservation Round Table and Workshop

    Monday, September 16, 9:30 am – 3:00 pm – Rolling Ridge Preservation Round Table and Workshop

    Rolling Ridge and the New England Landscape Design and History Association are excited and pleased to invite you to a Preservation Round Table and Workshop on the Fountains and Gardens of renowned landscape architect Fletcher Steele at Rolling Ridge, North Andover, Massachusetts on Monday, September 16, from 9:30- 3 pm.

    They are gathering some of the experts to help put Fletcher Steele and Rolling Ridge on the Massachusetts garden history map. As a destination place with a hidden gem up to this point, but it can be a showplace of the genius of one the nation’s great landscape architects. Two of Steele’s designs are designated National Historic Landmarks: Naumkeag in Stockbridge, Massachusetts and the Amphitheatre in Camden, Maine.

    Of the 500 plus gardens Fletcher Steele designed, Rolling Ridge ranks in the top three according to Robin Karson, author of Fletcher Steele, Landscape Architect. The garden rooms, the fountains and the layout reflect the genius of Steele in one of his earliest designs. Yet years of New England weather have deteriorated the concrete and stopped the water flow. Five presentations from Steele experts will illuminate Steele at Rolling Ridge, lead us on a tour the garden and fountains and tell of plans for restoration.

    Come see this historic gem, view the plans and ideas for restoration and share in the conversation on the future of this significant landscape. Register online at www.rollingridge.org.  The $75 fee includes a delicious lunch, presentations and tour. Rain or shine.  Garden Club of the Back Bay members enjoyed a memorable tour and lunch last spring at Rolling Ridge, and everyone attending saw the need for an influx of money, time and expertise to put Rolling Ridge back on the map.  The Club enthusiastically endorses this effort.

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  • Wednesday, July 17, 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm – The Stoddard Garden Talk with Matt Mattus

    Many years ago, garden blogger Matt Mattus worked several summers as Mrs. Stoddard’s gardener. He’ll relive his experiences there and what he learned from working in a Fletcher Steele designed garden. He claims to remember every plant!  There will be plenty of time for questions following the Wednesday, July 17  talk, which begins at 6:30 pm,  and a chance to visit the current library exhibit, “When Fletcher Steele came to Worcester”, an exhibit that focuses on the Stoddard Garden designed by Fletcher Steele in the late 1940’s.  The library will be open that evening from 5PM to 8PM.  The talk is free with garden admission.  Register at www.towerhillbg.org.

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  • Tuesday, May 14, 10:00 am – Rolling Ridge, A Fletcher Steele Landscape of the Country Place Era

    The Garden Club of the Back Bay will embark on a field trip to Rolling Ridge, a Fletcher Steele designed landscape in North Andover, 25 miles north of Boston and situated on a half mile of lakefront property, with 38 secluded acres of woods and rolling hills. The field trip will take place Tuesday, May 14, leaving from Back Bay at 9 am. Members will receive a car pool notice in the mail. The gardens feature a double labyrinth nestled in the peaceful woods, an outdoor chapel on the edge of Lake Cochichewick, and the award winning landscape features historic fountains, walking trails, and meditation benches.  In the past, it was a country estate owned by wealthy New Yorker Ethan Allen, who, in 1915, commissioned renowned landscape architect Fletcher Steele to design and construct the gardens on the property. The commission was Steele’s first independent Country Place Era Estate project. The scenery and lake views were so important to Mr. Allen that he wanted the landscape and hardscape completed before beginning construction of the house (a forty room Georgian mansion). The features of the garden and hardscape are remarkably well-preserved and the intent of the use and design is readily apparent. It is said to be one of the best extant examples of a Fletcher Steele landscape.

    Our guide is Maureen O’Brien. She has studied in depth the Fletcher Steele garden at Rolling Ridge. She co-authored the Cultural Landscape Report (CLR) and authored a Treatment and Maintenance Plan for Rolling Ridge. Maureen has a certificate in Landscape Preservation from the Landscape Institute at the Arnold Arboretum at Harvard University and the Boston Architectural College. She is vice president and member chair of the New England Landscape and History Association (NELDHA), is on the Editorial Board for Perspectives, a landscape design and history publication with special emphasis on New England, and has been involved with a number of historic properties in Massachusetts. Coffee and scones will be served prior to Maureen’s talk, followed by a buffet lunch and walking tour. $15 for GCBB members, $20 for guests. For more information email info@bostonflora.com.

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  • Friday, July 31, 6 – 9 pm – Garden Party at Naumkeag

    Delight in a festive evening amongst the gardens of Naumkeag – a National Historic Landmark and one of the most beautiful views in New England! Stroll through the world-famous gardens sparkling with fireflies. Feast on hors d’oeuvres and sip on cocktails while watching the sun set behind the Berkshire Hills. Bid on the best of the Berkshires at the silent and live auctions. All proceeds support restoration of Naumkeag’s historic kitchen.

    Naumkeag was the summer “cottage” of the Choate family who began summering in Berkshire County in the 1870s. Designed by McKim, Mead & White in 1885, this forty-four-room, shingle-style house is filled with original furniture, ceramics, and artwork collected from America, Europe, and the Far East. Joseph Hodges Choate (1832-1917) was a prominent New York attorney. Between 1899 and 1905, he served in England as U.S. Ambassador to the Court of St. James.

    Naumkeag is famous for its eight acres of terraced gardens and landscaped grounds surrounded by forty acres of woodland, meadow, and pasture that stretch to the Housatonic River Valley. The gardens and landscaped grounds, first designed in the late 1880s by Nathan Barrett, were transformed and expanded between 1926 and 1956 by Fletcher Steele and Mabel Choate. Separate garden “rooms” include the Afternoon Garden, Tree Peony Terrace, Rose Garden, Evergreen Garden, Chinese Garden, Arborvitae Walk, and Linden Walk. Perhaps the most famous feature of the landscape is Steele’s Blue Steps, a series of deep blue fountain pools flanked by four flights of stairs climbing up a gentle hillside and overhung by birch trees.

    Fees: $100 per ticket for members, $140 non-members (includes one year individual membership); $250 for a non-member couple (includes one year family membership)
    Notes: Call for event details and reservation information. Tickets must be purchased in advance.
    Telephone: 413-298-3239 x3000
    E-mail: westregion@ttor.org