Boston Flora

Tag: Green Animals

  • Saturday, May 11, 10:00 am – Green Animals Plant Sale

    Welcome Spring! We’ll soon be working in our gardens, and what better place to get wonderful new plants and gardening tips for your home or garden than the annual Green Animals Plant Sale, sponsored by The Preservation Society of Newport County. Head on over to Green Animals at 380 Corys Lane, Portsmouth, Rhode Island on Saturday, May 11 for some great deals on Mother’s Day gifts, topiary, bedding plants, hanging baskets, perennials and more. The sale starts at 10 a.m.–get there early for the best selection! For more details, log on to www.newportmansions.org, or call 401-683-1267. Green Animals is not open for tours on Friday, May 10, in preparation for the sale. Admission is free for plant sale only, but visitors will need a ticket or Preservation Society membership to tour the topiary garden. This event will happen rain or shine.

  • Friday, April 16 – Season Opening of Green Animals Topiary Garden

    The Preservation Society of Newport County has announced the season opening of Green Animals Topiary Garden. On Friday, April 16 they will bring back the Stroll the Gardens & Grounds ticket introduced last year, allowing visitors to enjoy the outdoors at all open properties, and to bring a picnic. Green Animals will be open through October 31. For ticketing information visit http://newportmansions.org. The annual Easter Egg Hunt and Brunch at Rosecliff has been canceled, as has the Green Animals Children’s Party and Weekend of Coaching, due to the pandemic.

  • Saturday, September 28, 10:30 am – 12:00 noon – Dahlias with Dan

    Green Animals in Portsmouth, Rhode Island is home to much more than fanciful topiaries. In fact dahlias have been an important part of the garden since its early days. On Saturday, September 28 from 10:30 – noon, learn from Chief Horticulturist Dan Christina all the tips and tricks that make growing dahlias an obsession for so many gardeners. Free with garden admission, but space is limited so call 401-847-1000, ext 178, to put your name on the list. For details visit http://newportmansions.org/learn.

  • Thursday, August 2, 8:00 am – 5:30 pm – Trip to The Blue Garden in Newport and Green Animals Topiary in Portsmouth

    Enjoy a presentation and an exclusive tour of the privately owned Blue Garden with Director Sarah Vance, followed by time for lunch and strolling on your own in downtown Newport. After lunch, we’ll travel to the Green Animals Topiary Garden before heading home. The field trip, sponsored by Tower Hill Botanic Garden, will take place Thursday, August 2. Group will leave from Tower Hill at 8 am and return by 5:30. If you wish to meet the group in Rhode Island, call 508.869.6111.

    The Blue Garden was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., and the Olmsted firm from 1910-1918 for Arthur Curtiss and Harriet Parsons James for their Newport estate, Beacon Hill House. Blasted from the surrounding ledge, this garden room is a classical form with formal beds planted with blue and white flowering perennials, annuals, and vines. The garden is framed by evergreen trees that enclose the space and buffer the transition from the formal symmetry of the garden to the windswept, rocky landscape. The 125-acre James estate was eventually divided into smaller residential properties, one of which included the Blue Garden. The property was purchased in 2012 by Dorrance Hamilton, a resident of Newport who had a deep interest in horticulture and preservation. Only the pools, runnel, and part of a pergola remained; the architecture and remaining features of the spaces had disappeared, subsumed under a thick covering of invasive trees and vines. Thanks to the vision and generosity of Dorrance Hamilton, the garden was restored using original drawings and photographs from the archives of the Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site in Brookline, Massachusetts.

    The Green Animals Topiary Garden, located in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, is the oldest and most northern topiary garden in the United States. The 7-acre estate overlooks the Narragansett Bay. It contains a large collection of topiaries including eighty sculptured trees. Favorites include teddy bears, a camel, a giraffe, an ostrich, an elephant and two bears made from sculptured California privet, yew, and English boxwood. There are over 35 formal flower beds, geometric pathways, rose arbor, grape arbor, fruit trees, and vegetable and herb gardens. A greenhouse is used extensively to provide seedlings used on the estate. The 1859 Victorian Brayton house museum contains a small display of vintage toys and the original family furnishings.

    Tower Hill Member $125, Non-member $150; includes transportation, admissions and guided tour of the Blue Garden. Register at www.towerhillbg.org.

    Image result for the blue garden Sarah Vance

  • Sunday, July 14, 4:00 pm – 8:00 pm – Children’s Party at Green Animals

    On Sunday, July 14, from 4 – 8, children and adults alike are invited to frolic in the whimsical and historic topiary garden overlooking Narragansett Bay, 380 Cory’s Lane in Portsmouth, with music, rides, food and fun. Festivities include pony rides, bounce houses, crafts and games, clowns, a magician and circus acts. For complete information and directions, visit www.newportmansions.org.

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  • Sunday, May 5, 1:00 pm – 4:30 pm – Dahlia Tuber & Plant Sale

    The Rhode Island Dahlia Society announces its Annual Tuber and Plant Sale on Sunday, May 5, 2013 from 1:00 to 4:30 p.m. at the Cold Spring Community Center, 36 Beach Street, North Kingstown, Rhode Island. All of the varieties offered at this sale are exhibition quality dahlias; most are not available at your local garden center. The tubers and plants are donated by local growers and Society members who hail from Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York and Connecticut. From giants to miniatures, there is something for everyone. Representative varieties of the 19 different forms of dahlias in an array of colors will be available. Come early for best selection! For more information, call 781-769-3854. Admission is free.

    The Rhode Island Dahlia Society generally meets the first Sunday of the month at 2:00 PM at the Cold Spring Community Center in North Kingstown, RI. Our Society welcomes new members and invites the public to visit Green Animals Topiary Garden in Portsmouth, RI to view the dahlia garden which we support in collaboration with the Preservation Society of Newport County.  Photo from www.blog.oregonlive.com.

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  • Saturday, May 12, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm – Green Animals Topiary Garden Season Opening

    Green Animals, a small country estate in Portsmouth was purchased in 1872 by Thomas E. Brayton (1844-1939), Treasurer of the Union Cotton Manufacturing Company in Fall River, Massachusetts. It consisted of seven acres of land, a white clapboard summer residence, farm outbuildings, a pasture and a vegetable garden. Gardener Joseph Carreiro, superintendent of the property from 1905 to 1945, and his son-in-law, George Mendonca, superintendent until 1985, were responsible for creating the topiaries. There are more than 80 pieces of topiary throughout the gardens, including animals and birds, geometric figures and ornamental designs, sculpted from California privet, yew, and English boxwood. Green Animals is the oldest and most northern topiary garden in the United States. Mr. Brayton’s daughter Alice gave the estate its name because of the profusion of “green animals.” She made the estate her permanent residence in 1939. Upon her death in 1972, at the age of 94, Miss Brayton left Green Animals to The Preservation Society of Newport County. Today, Green Animals remains as a rare example of a self-sufficient estate combining formal topiaries, vegetable and herb gardens, orchards and a Victorian house overlooking Narragansett Bay. Green Animals is located at 380 Cory’s Lane in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, and you may read more and get directions at www.newportmansions.org.  Photo from www.thephotogardenbee.com.

  • Sunday, May 15, 1:00 pm – 4:30 pm – 2011 Annual Dahlia Tuber & Plant Auction

    The Rhode Island Dahlia Society announces its Annual Tuber Auction and Plant Sale, to be held Sunday, May 15, from 1 – 4:30 at the Cold Spring Community Center, Beach Street, Wickford, North Kingston, Rhode Island. Many Greater Boston Area residents are members and will be attending. Most of the varieties offered at this sale are exhibition quality dahlias and are not available at your local garden center. The tubers and plants are donated by local growers and Society members who hail from Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut. From giants to miniatures, there is something for everyone. Representative varieties of the 19 different forms of dahlias in an array of colors will be available. Free admission.  For more information, call 781-769-3854 or visit http://www.RhodeIslandDahliaSociety.org.

    The Rhode Island Dahlia Society generally meets the first Sunday of the month at 2:00 PM at the Cold Spring Community Center in North Kingstown, RI. The Society welcomes new members and invites the public to visit Green Animals Topiary Garden in Portsmouth, RI to view the dahlia garden it supports in collaboration with the Preservation Society of Newport County.

  • Wednesday, March 16 – Sunday, March 20 – The Boston Flower & Garden Show

    Leave behind the gray days of winter and rejoice in the 2011 show, entitled A Burst of Color: Celebrating the Container Garden. Boston’s biggest horticultural happening provides the tools and inspiration to kick off the season in style.  Hours are 9 am – 8 pm Wednesday, March 16 through Saturday, March 19 and 9 am – 6 pm on Sunday, March 20.   A complete schedule of lectures and demonstrations will be posted at www.thebostonflowershow.com, but some highlights include a talk by Tovah Martin on The New Terrarium, a lecture by Ellen Ecker Ogden  on The Complete Kitchen Garden, and a charmingly entitled “Growing Your Groceries in Containers” by Teresa O’Connor and Jayme Jenkins.   The show plays host to amateur competitions as well, coordinated by The Massachusetts Horticultural Society along with The Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts.

  • Wednesdays, June 16 – July 21, 10:00 am – Great Newport Landscapes, 1840 – 1940

    The Preservation Society of Newport County and Rhode Island School of Design Continuing Education present a six-week landscape course, led by John R. Tschirch, Architectural Historian of the Preservation Society, beginning June 16 through July 21.  Each session will begin at 10:00 am at 424 Bellevue Avenue in Newport.

    This course will examine the landmark landscapes of Newport, created during the 19th and early 20th centuries, when the city was one of the most fashionable summer resorts in the nation. Known as the “Eden of America,” Newport and its environs have a rich garden design and horticultural heritage. Lectures and site visits will consider Newport landscapes by leading figures in American design and planning, horticulture, the history of plant and tree collection and propagation, species identification, garden architecture and sculpture, preservation practices, and stylistic elements of Victorian and Gilded Age period landscapes.

    June 16: The Picturesque 19th Century Landscape in Newport
    June 23: Kingscote: A Victorian Landscape in Newport
    June 30: Frederick Law Olmsted and Sons: Masters of American Landscape Architecture
    July 7: The Breakers Cutting Garden: Caring for the Gilded Age Landscape
    July 14: The Elms: A Classical Revival Garden
    July 21: Green Animals: An American Original

    Admission for each lecture: Preservation Society members $10, general admission $15.  Advance registration is required.  You may register on-line at www.newportmansions.org, or call 401-847-1000, ext. 154.  If you wish to register for the entire lecture series as part of a RISD Continuing Education course, please contact RISD at 401-454-6209.

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