Boston Flora

Tag: Horatio Hollis Hunnewell

  • Wednesday, October 1, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon – A Walking Tour of the Hunnewell Estate

    On Wednesday, October 1 (rain date Wednesday, October 8), beginning at 10 am, David Dusenbury, Superintendent of the Walter Hunnewell Estate property will lead a walking tour of the horticultural and botanical features of this historical property, including the Pinetum, started in 1866 by Horatio Hollis Hunnewell, founder and creator of the estate.  There are more than 350 specimen conifers in the Pinetum, including spectacular mature specimens of Sargent’s weeping hemlock, cedar of Lebanon, and dawn redwood.  Other highlights include the lakeside topiary of the Italian Garden, the massive weeping beech in front of the residence, and the Hunnewell rhododendrons, said to be the oldest cultivated specimens in the United States.  Meet at the Wellesley College Botanic Garden Visitor Center to walk over to the Hunnewell Estate.  The rain date will be used in case of thunderstorms or torrential downpours only.  Please dress appropriately for the weather, including suitable footwear.  Note that there will be a moderate amount of walking over uneven paths.  Courtesy of the generosity of Wellesley alumna Luisa Hunnewell, DS ’94, Wellesley is able to share her wonderful landscape with the Friends.  $20 for WCGB Friends, $30 for nonmembers.  Call 781-283-3094 to register.

     

  • Saturday, May 19, 1:30 pm – 4:00 pm – Walk Through the Hunnewell Pinetum

    Enjoy the glories of spring on Saturday, May 19 as the Wellesley College Friends of Horticulture lead a walk to the shores of Lake Waban where the College property borders the Walter Hunnewell Estate. There David Dusenbury, Superintendent of the property, will lead us on an approximately 90 minute walking tour of the historic Pinetum. The Pinetum, or collection of pine trees, was started in 1866 by Horatio Hollis Hunnewell, founder and creator of the estate, originally called Wellesley after his wife, Isabella Welles Hunnewell. The cultivation and care of this world-class tree collection has continued through four generations of the Hunnewell family to the present day. Wellesley’s pines have a history and pedigree worthy of any family tree. The 10-acre area includes more than 350 specimen conifers representing approximately 150 varieties ranging in age from a few years to 140-plus. Features include spectacular mature specimens of Sargent’s weeping hemlock, cedar of Lebanon and dawn redwood, among others.  Meet at the WCBG Visitor Center at 1:30 pm to walk over to the Pinetum. Tour takes place rain or shine. Please dress appropriately for the weather, including suitable footwear. Thanks to Wellesley alumna Luisa Hunnewell for so generously sharing her wonderful landscape with the Friends of Horticulture. WCFH members $20, non-members $25. Visit http://www.wellesley.edu/WCFH to register.

  • Saturday, November 13, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm – A Horticultural History Tour

    The Massachusetts Horticultural Society is proud to announce a day-long series of lectures focused on the history of horticulture and landscape design in New England and beyond, to take place Saturday, November 13, from 9 – 4 at the Hunnewell Carriage House, Elm Bank, 900 Washington Street in Wellesley.

    The symposium will be hosted by John Furlong, FALA, emeritus director, Landscape Institute, Arnold Arboretum, faculty member of the Boston Architectural College, Distinguished Radcliffe Instructor, and recipientof the  Gold Medal and emeritus trustee, Massachusetts Horticultural Society.

    9:00 AM – Actor and interpreter Gerry Wright, as Frederick Law Olmsted, presents a biography of the landscape architect who was influenced by the natural landscapes of New England throughout his life. In 1850, at age 28, he traveled to England and was smitten with the countryside and a “democratic park” in Birkenhead. Olmsted’s two styles of landscape architecture were the creation of the “pastoral” and the “picturesque”. Beyond the creation for beauty, there was a sense of “service deeply rooted in his planning of public places.” New York City’s Central Park, Harvard’s Arnold Arboretum and the country estates on the Charles River in Wellesley and Dover are among the legacies of Olmsted and his firm.

    At 10:30, Allyson Hayward, garden historian, popular lecturer for The Garden Club of the Back Bay and author of Norah Lindsay: The Life and Art of a Garden Designer will deliver a new talk on two important New England estates, the Hunnewell estate, known as Wellesley, and Elm Bank, the Cheney/Baltzell estate which is now the home of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. Today, these landscapes reveal a layering of New England’s garden history. Ms. Hayward will take you on an armchair tour of these exciting gardens with an illustrated lecture tracing the landscapes dating from 1850 to the present. You will revel in the beauty of the initial vision of Horatio Hollis Hunnewell and his Italian Garden and Pinetum at Wellesley. The lecture will continue with images of Elm Bank from its Victorian grandeur to its transformation into a 1920s grandiose playground for Boston society, complete with theme gardens that portrayed the owners’ sense of taste and style.

    11:30 AM – David Barnett, PhD., President and CEO of Mount Auburn Cemetery, will present Wilson’s China: A Century On, published by The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, 2009. Wilson was the Arnold Arboretum’s principal plant collector from 1906 and following Sargent’s death he was appointed the self-styled ‘Keep” of the Arboretum. In addition to introducing over 1,200 plants, Wilson was a popular author and lecturer and a MassHort Trustee. His remarkable achievements are a continuing inspiration to botanists, horticulturists and landscapers. The slides have been loaned to MassHort through the courtesy of the English authors, Tony Kirkham and Mark Flanagan, respectively Head of the Arboretum at Kew and Keeper of the Royal Gardens in Windsor Great Park.

    Following lunch, at 1:30 PM, you will hear Elizabeth S. Eustis, a garden historian and guest curator, former Trustee of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, past President of the New England Wild Flower Society and faculty member of The Landscape Institute. She will speak on Romanticism in the Landscape, the subject of a 2010 exhibition that she co-curated for the Morgan Library in New York, Romantic Gardens: Art, Nature and Garden Design, with a catalog published by David R. Godine. Following the transition from formal classicism to more naturalistic garden design, Romanticism added a new emphasis on emotional and spiritual response to the landscape. The pervasive influence of Romanticism inspired artificial ruins, garden cemeteries, wild gardens, and contributed powerfully to the public parks movement. This talk will be extensively illustrated by recent photographs and historic works of art.

    3:00 PM – Meg Muckenhoupf is the author of Boston’s Gardens & Green Spaces, Union Park Press, 2010, which is a guide to the Arnold Arboretum, The Boston Public Garden, Mt. Auburn Cemetery, the Olmsted sites, Elm Bank and Boston’s historic and newer parks. Beautiful photos. You will discover delightful new spots to visit.

    Registration is $65 for MHS members, $75 for non-members, and the price includes lunch. You may register on-line at www.masshort.org/horticultural-history-tour or call 617-933-4995.