Meet horticulturist and Arnoldia Editor Nancy Rose in the locust collection (west of Meadow Road and north of the ponds) to learn about Robinia pseudoacacia, a member of the pea family, at the Arnold Arboretum on Thursday, July 19 at 5:30 pm. The nearest gates are the Arborway or Forest Hills Gates, with parking along the Arborway, or the Centre Street Gate, where parking is limited. Part of Tree Mob! (trademark) For more information visit www.arboretum.harvard.edu.
Join The Friends of Forest Hills Educational Trust on Thursday, July 12 from 6 – 9 pm (rain date Thursday, July 19) for a moving memorial ceremony inspired by Buddhist rituals. Inscribe a lantern with a personal message to friends or family and float it across Lake Hibiscus at sunset. Bring a family picnic. Enjoy Grand Master Tsuji’s Samurai Taiko drummers, gospel music by Ron Murphy, Irish music by guitar/fiddle duo The Whiskey Boys, and traditional Japanese dance by students of Showa Institute. Photo below by JM Lobert at www.flickeflu.com.
In this breathtaking ceremony of remembrance, visitors to this lush, Victorian landscape make paper lanterns and set them afloat on the peaceful waters of a small lake. This ritual is based on the traditional Japanese Bon Festival, a time when a door opens to the world of the ancestors, allowing us to send messages to the other side. People enjoy picnics on the grass and a multi-cultural program of music and dance. They decorate their lanterns with calligraphy and notes to those who have died. At sunset, a candle is lit in each lantern, and the glimmering lanterns are set afloat. Drifting and flickering with the wind, the lanterns symbolize the soul’s journey when life ends. Admission is free, with a $10 donation per lantern. Parking is $10, and people are encouraged to take the T. No lighting after dark, so bring a flashlight to assist your departure. For more information, log on to www.foresthillstrust.org.
 
Explore one of Boston’s hidden treasures: a 250 acre Victorian cemetery and arboretum listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and dedicated to nature, art and remembrance. Every Sunday in October, tour Forest Hills (95 Forest Hills Avenue in Boston) with an expert guide. On October 2, historian Elise Ciregna will present A Library of Life Stories. There are more than 100,000 people buried at Forest Hills. Hear some of their stories and view their monuments – some lavish and dramatic, and others modest or mysterious. On October 9, social historian Dee Morris explores some fascinating families and their Neighbors. Forest Hills is made up of many family lots, with entire families laid to rest next to one another. These lots are next to other ones, creating a neighborhood of Victorian families. October 16 brings A Visit With E.E. Cummings. Tour guide Jonathan Clark explores the work and themes of innovative poet E.E. Cummings, whose playful style and daring typography (ee cummings, anyone?) made him one of the most influential poets of the 20th century. The Women of Forest Hills will be the topic on October 23. Dee Morris leads visitors through the stories of some of the most celebrated and fascinating women of 19th and 290th century Boston. A hotbed of feminism and firsts in the Victorian era, Boston gave rise to such pioneers as suffragette and abolitionist Lucy Stone, historian-author Annie Haven Thwing, and others both notable and notorious. Visit the graves of artists, politicians, School Board activists, even spirit mediums. Finally, on October 30, there will be the Victorian Spiritualism Tour, just in time for All Hallows’ Eve. Spiritualists believed that death was a transition to a new form of existence. People who had “crossed over” could be contacted through seances and spirit guides. Visit some of the religious leaders and practitioners, as well as skeptics, of this controversial 19th century movement. Each program is $9, and Forest Hills has free parking and is accessible by T. For directions and more information, visit www.foresthillstrust.org.
Join the Forest Hills Educational Trust on Sunday, October 24 beginning at 1 pm for the 10th anniversary of the contemporary sculpture path. Discover 28 works of temporary and permanent public art exhibited in the grand Victorian landscape of Forest Hills Cemetery. At 1 pm there will be light refreshments, self-guided tours, and a family art tour. At 1:15, see the unveiling Standing Ceres, and live music at the lake. Many people mourned the loss of Kahlil Gibran’s sculpture of the goddess of harvest when it was stolen from Forest Hills in 2008. Celebrate the return of Ceres, and welcome a new sculpture donated by the artist’s family. Poetry readings commence at 2 pm, a flute concert in the pine forest with flutist Peter H. Bloom begins at 3, and finally, at 3:30, there will be a walking tour with participating artists, a complete list of whom may be found at www.foresthillstrust.org. All events are free, and there is a rain date of October 31, just in case.
Join Anthony Sammarco for a tour on Sunday, June 27 highlighting the lives of intriguing collectors and generous philanthropists buried at Forest Hills Cemetery, 95 Forest Hills Avenue, Boston. The Jordans of Jordan Hall, Forsyth of the Forsyth Dental Clinic, and Carney of Carney Hospital are just a few of the men who made vast fortunes and then became patrons of the arts, science, and social causes. Many wealthy women were also active philanthropists, such as Pauline Agassiz Shaw, founder of the North Bennet Street School and supporter of the American kindergarten movement, pictured below.
Meet at Main Gate. Wear comfortable shoes and bring water; this is a 2-hour walk (with frequent stops) over varied terrain. Admission: $9. For more information, log on to www.foresthillstrust.org.
Discover the horticulturists of 19th century Boston, who developed many of the fruits, flowers and trees that we enjoy today, during a tour led by author and historian Anthony Sammarco at Forest Hills Cemetery, 95 Forest Hills Avenue, Jamaica Plain, on Sunday, May 16, beginning at 2:00 pm. The walking tour is sponsored by The Forest Hills Educational Trust, and there will be a $9 fee to attend. Sample some of the edible creations of these pioneering horticulturists, including Bartlett’s Pear and Downer’s Late Cherry. For more information, call 617-524-3354, or log on to www.foresthillstrust.org. Postcard below painted by Catharina Klein (1861 – 1929).
Explore the Arnold Arboretum, off path and up hill, with Chris McArdle of the Appalachian Mountain Club. The three hour walk will be followed by a bagel lunch in Jamaica Plain. Meet at the Visitor Center on the Arborway. Park on the street or take the T to the Forest Hills stop. Call Chris at 617-480-3351 if the weather is bad and you’re unsure if the walk will take place. Registration is not required for this trip. $1 for non- AMC members, and sorry, no dogs on this outing. For more fabulous walks in the area, log on to www.outdoors.org.
The second of the Isabella Stewart Gardner’s Landscape Visions Lecture Series will take place Saturday, November 21, in the Tapestry Room of the Museum, beginning at 1:30 pm. Alan Ward, landscape architect and principal, Sasaki Associates, will present American Rural Cemeteries: Interpreted Through the Lens. Boston has two iconic garden cemeteries: Mount Auburn and Forest Hills. The Rural Cemetery Movement in America began with the founding of Mount Auburn Cemetery in 1831, and spread from there across the country. Often the first designed public landscapes in American communities, rural cemeteries represent major shifts in cemetery landscape concept and form, and continue to resonate with the modern sensibilities they helped shape. Tickets: $15 General Public; $12 Seniors; $5 Members; FREE for Students. To purchase tickets, log on to www.gardnermuseum.org, or call 617-566-1401. Image: Halcyon Lake in spring, Mt. Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Photo by Alan Ward.The Landscape Visions Lecture Series is made possible by a bequest from Jeanne Muller Ryan
Forest Hills’ founder, Henry A.S. Dearborn, was a civic leader with expertise in law and politics, as well as in landscape design and horticulture. The first president of the Massachusetts Horticulture Society, Dearborn, along with others, helped shape the rural garden cemetery movement in the United States. Join Anthony Sammarco, author of more than 50 books on Boston history, for a walking tour celebrating Dearborn and other prominent 19th century horticulturists buried at Forest Hills Cemetery.
Meet at Main Gate. Wear comfortable shoes and bring water; this is a 2-hour walk (with frequent stops) over varied terrain. Admission: $9. For more information, and to register, log on to www.foresthillstrust.org.
