Boston Flora

Tag: historic gardens

  • Tuesday, May 30 – Thursday, June 1 – Triennial Garden Symposium

    Join Mount Vernon for a unique opportunity to go behind the scenes and learn more about historic gardens and landscapes! The Triennial Garden Symposium, May 30 through June 1, features renowned speakers specializing in historic landscape exploration, preservation, and public interpretation. The symposium includes a private reception on the piazza, tours of the Mansion and newly opened Library, an elegant dinner in the Ford Orientation Center, and more behind the scenes experiences.

    This conference offers a broad scope of historic garden and landscape topics. Experts will examine, discuss and evaluate a wide variety of topics including, but not limited to: 18th-century bulbs, the search for lost gardens, maintaining plants throughout the winter, and the gardens of 18th-century Virginia. Tickets to this symposium are $250. The ticket includes meals and a private reception on the Mansion piazza.

    Featured experts include:

    Nicholas Luccketti is the Principal Archaeologist with the James River Institute for Archaeology in Williamsburg.

    Kent Brinkley is a Virginia native and an award-winning landscape architect, lecturer and author of The Gardens of Colonial Williamsburg, whose professional career spans over thirty years.

    William D. Rieley serves as the Landscape Architect for The Garden Club of Virginia, a position he has held since 1998.

    Scott Kunst is the owner of Old House Gardens, the country’s premier source for heirloom flower bulbs.

    Fiona McAnally examines issues of food policy, supporting groups such as the Tennessee Fruit and Vegetable Association and the Tennessee Food Policy Council, while pursuing her interests in southern garden history, food history, and agriculture.

    Wesley Greene founded the Colonial Garden and Garden Shop where costumed employees interpret 18th-century plants, tools and cultural technique and sell heritage plants, seeds, bulbs and garden related items.

    Jack Gary is the Director of Archaeology and Landscapes at Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest, where he leads an interdisciplinary team of archaeologists and scholars in order to discover the site’s hidden landscapes.

    Peter J. Hatch is a professional gardener and historian with 38 years of experience in the restoration and interpretation of historic landscapes.

    Dean Norton has researched 18th-century landscape design and gardening practices at Mount Vernon for more than 35 years.

    For more information on registration and lodging options contact Melissa Wood at 703-799-5203 or email mwood@mountvernon.org.  Image from www.uncc.edu.

  • Sunday, July 5, 1:00 p.m. – Highfield Hall Estate Walk

    The story of Highfield Hall coincides with the arrival of the railroad in Falmouth on July 18, 1872. The ability to reach Cape Cod from Boston or from New York by train transformed the area from a quiet farming and fishing community to an exuberant summer community. Middle class families stayed in inns, many of them homes converted to lodgings to handle the explosion of summer visitors. Wealthier families built seaside estates in areas such as Quissett, Chapoquoit and Penzance.

    Among the newcomers escaping the heat of the city were the Beebes of Boston. James Madison Beebe, wealthy from various dry goods and manufacturing businesses, and his wife, Esther E. Beebe, first converted the Thomas Swift House on Shore Street to a summer home they called Vineyard Lodge. They subsequently bought more than 700 acres of land on the hill above the railroad station, more than half of which has been preserved as Beebe Woods.

    After the death of their father in 1875, his children built two grand residences on the hill. Brothers Pierson and Franklin and sister Emily built a lavish “summer cottage” in the Queen Anne stick style modeled after the British Pavilion in the great 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition. Highfield Hall was completed in 1878, and its sister mansion, Tanglewood, where the J. Arthur Beebes took up residence, was finished in 1879. Thus began over fifty years of Beebes living and entertaining in their “summer cottages” at Highfield. In its heyday, the hill must have been a bustling scene. The miles of carriage trails, riding trails, gardens, two huge homes, and numerous outbuildings required a small army of servants to maintain. The Beebes even started a farm on Shore Street to provide produce for their Falmouth and Boston residences.

    Join docents on the first Sunday of each month ( in addition to July 5, you may attend on August 2, September 6, October 4 & November 1) at 1p.m. for a special estate walk of the Beebe property. Learn about the building of Highfield Hall and its sister mansion, Tanglewood, explore the grounds and gardens, and hear about the Beebe family members who lived a lavish Victorian lifestyle during the late 19th and early 20th century. $5 donation suggested. Walks will not be held in the event of rain.  Reservations are encouraged, but not required, by calling 508-495-1878 or emailing registrations@highfieldhall.org.  For directions and more information, log on to www.highfieldhall.org.