Boston Flora

Tag: Grace Elton

  • Tuesdays, January 23 – February 13, (snow date February 20), 6:00 pm – 9:15 pm – Master Tree Steward Program

    Tower Hill Botanic Garden will present the Master Tree Steward Program on Tuesdays, January 23-February 13 (snow date February 20), 6-9:15pm (every session is mandatory for the completion of the class)

    Tower Hill Members $100, Non-member $120 4-Week Series (includes learning materials)

    Registration closes December 31st.

    Instructors: Trained Forestry and Horticultural Professionals:

    Jan 23rd: Intro – Grace Elton, CEO Tower Hill & Ruth Seward Exec Director, WTI
    Cut it Out: Basic Tree Pruning Techniques – Derek Lirange, Community Forester, WTI

    Jan 30th: Tree Biology: Dr Kelly Bellin, College of the Holy Cross
    Tree Planting & Establishment Care – Kathryn Aroian, Deputy Liaison MA ALB Eradication Team USDA, APHIS.
    Soil & Plant Nutrition: Derek Lirange, Community Forester, WTI

    Feb 6th: Community & tree Pests – A.J. Elton, Forester
    Tree Health Assessments – Rick Harper, UMASS Amherst

    Feb 13th: Fungal Diseases – Grace Elton, CEO Tower Hill Botanic Garden
    Tree Identification – Derek Lirange

    To complete this program, participants must commit to at least 20 hours of volunteer time in the urban forest of Worcester or at Tower Hill Botanic Garden, as well as organize one pruning outing project to demonstrate leadership.

    Learn the skills essential to urban and community forestry and become tree stewards in your community. Topics covered will include basic pruning techniques and safety, tree identification and biology, proper tree planting and establishment care, tree pests and diseases, tree health assessment and urban soil challenges.

    SKILL LEVEL: ALL LEVELS
    Classes scheduled every week on Tuesday starting 1/23/2018 and ending 2/13/2018 at 6:00PM. Register online at https://towerhillbg.thankyou4caring.org/pages/event-registration-form—master-tree-steward-program

  • Tower Hill Botanic Garden Announces Appointment of Grace Elton as CEO

    Tower Hill Botanic Garden is pleased to announce that Grace Elton will become CEO of the Boylston-based nonprofit this spring.

    Elton has been the director of horticulture at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Richmond, Va., since 2011, where she has established herself as a forward-thinking leader of one of the nation’s premier gardens.  Among Elton’s achievements at Lewis Ginter are a new apiary with demonstration beehives, partnerships to grow hops for a local brewery and expansion of a vegetable garden which contributes produce for an area food bank, and the planting of Lewis Ginter’s first native plant garden.

    A Florida native, Elton was first turned on to the importance of plants as a child living in Everglades National Park, where her parents worked. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Interdisciplinary Studies with a specialization in public garden management from the University of Florida and a Masters in Public Horticulture from the Longwood Graduate Program of the University of Delaware. After experiences interning at London’s Royal Botanic Gardens Kew and Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania, Elton returned to the UK to work with five separate gardens as a recipient of the Garden Club of America’s prestigious Martin McLaren Horticulture Scholarship.

    Prior to joining Lewis Ginter, Elton served as adjunct professor and arboretum supervisor at the Ambler Arboretum of Temple University.  Currently, she serves on the Board of the American Public Gardens Association, the leading association for professionals in public horticulture.

    Elton will succeed interim CEO Suzanne Maas. Maas has led Tower Hill since the departure of Kathy Abbott, who in May 2016 returned to her roots in Boston to work on waterfront and harbor issues.

    Elton will join Tower Hill during a period of tremendous growth for the organization, which welcomed 137,000 visitors and celebrated its 30th year at its Boylston location in 2016. This year is the 175th anniversary of Tower Hill’s parent organization, the Worcester County Horticultural Society. Tower Hill is also offering more programs and welcoming more members than ever before. Elton will take the reins as the organization moves closer to implementing the first phases of its new Master Plan, which calls for more gardens and programs for visitors to enjoy.

    Tower Hill Botanic Garden is a nonprofit organization dedicated to connecting plants and people. Its mission is to inspire the use and appreciation of horticulture to improve lives, enrich communities and strengthen commitment to the natural world. The Tower Hill property includes 15 gardens, an historic apple orchard, a restaurant, gift shop, conservatories, library, and art galleries, as well as year-round programs for all ages.