Boston Flora

Tag: Hyde Park

  • Save Crane Ledge Woods

    For decades, a 24-acre forest, known locally as Crane Ledge Woods (CLW) and designated as an urban wild, has been inaccessible and mostly unknown to the surrounding neighborhoods of southwest Boston – Hyde Park, Roslindale and Mattapan. Now a multinational property company intends to construct 10 buildings containing 270 rental units, 415 parking spaces and several roads on this land. From a beautiful green space of crucial wildlife habitats – shady forest, flower-filled meadows, rocky alcoves and vernal pools – the proposed project would turn Crane Ledge Woods into an immense urban heat island of impervious asphalt and concrete. This ecological devastation would rob our local wildlife of their homes.

    Crane Ledge Woods gets its name from Crane Ledge – a rock cliff offering a stunning view looking southwest across Hyde Park and the Stony Brook Valley far below. A forest of mature native trees and diverse plant life surround the towering granite cliff, preserving an inspiring sense of wilderness and keeping the area cool on hot days.

    The view across the valley gives visitors a rare sense of Hyde Park as it existed more than a century ago, when Crane Ledge was a site for weekend picnics known as Pine Garden. BPDA has defined CLW as one of Boston’s “Urban Wilds & Natural Areas”. Although the property is not under the protection of Parks & Recreation Department, the city has identified this land as a key opportunity to make progress on its own climate resilience, environmental justice and open space equity goals. Crane Ledge Woods is more than half the size of Chinatown – one of Boston’s hottest neighborhoods in the summer due to tree loss and over-development. There is not enough plantable space in the entire neighborhood to replace the trees that would be lost due to the project proposed for Crane Ledge Woods, and none of those trees would reach maturity in most of our lifetimes.

    For complete details of the proposed project, and information on The Crane Ledge Woods Coalition, visit https://www.savecraneledgewoods.org/

  • Now Through September – Meet the Neponset: A Photography Exhibit of the Neponset River Watershed in Hyde Park

    Meet the Neponset: A Photography Exhibit of the Neponset River Watershed in Hyde Park is an exhibit by area photographers of the Neponset River, Fowl Meadow, Mother Brook, and surrounding areas. The work will be on display now through September at the Bean & Cream Cafe, 680 Truman Parkway in Hyde Park. Hours are 8 am – 9 pm. Photographs are by Jim LaFond-Lewis (his photo below,) Martha McDonough, Tom Palmer, Lee Toma & others. You will be amazed at the majestic, hidden beauty to be found in our own backyards from the River to Mother Brook to the Mill Ponds to Fowl Meadow. You will get a glimpse not only of majestic scenes, but amazing flora and fauna. The photographers’ hope is that people will begin to realize what a gem we have and want to protect it for all future generations and of course to pressure the State to get rid of the toxins that are still there.

  • Sunday, August 21, 1:00 pm – 200 Years of Vanderbilt Landscape History

    “200 Years of Landscape History” tour led by a National Park Service Ranger starts at the visitor parking area of the Roosevelt-Vanderbilt National Historic Sites in Hyde Park, New York at 1:00 pm on Sunday, August 21.

    The tour concludes at the Formal Gardens where visitors may join Frederick W. Vanderbilt Garden Association volunteers between 1pm and 3:30pm for an additional 30 minute tour.

    Interpreter-guides will discuss the history of the gardens, Vanderbilt ownership and the on-going work by the Vanderbilt Garden Association which was formed in 1984 to rehabilitate and maintain the garden plantings.

    Park in the Vanderbilt Mansion visitor parking lot and follow the gravel path on the south side of the mansion to the formal gardens. Tours will be canceled in the event of rain. Please call 845-229-7770 or 845-229-6432 for status if the weather is questionable.

    Additional garden tours will be held September 18 and October 16.

    For more garden tour information please call or email Suzanne Gillespie at 845-473-5957, sgillespie@hvc.rr.com.  Photo from the Poughkeepsie Journal.

  • Saturday, June 26, 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm – Wine & Roses in the Formal Gardens

    The Frederick W. Vanderbilt Garden Association invites you to Wine & Roses in the Formal Gardens at the Vanderbilt National Historic Site, Route 9, Hyde Park, New York, on Saturday, June 26, from 5 – 7.  Enjoy wine and cheese, music, informal garden tours, floral arranging demonstrations, and door prizes.  Reservations are required. Tickets are $40 per person, $75 per couple.  Call Gail at 845-264-4356, email fwvga@marist.edu, or log on to www.vanderbiltgarden.org before June 22 to secure your place.

    http://www.classy-wedding-ideas.com/image-files/orange-wedding-flower-rose-in-glass.jpg

  • Sunday, April 26, 2 pm – Tulipomania: Banking with Bulbs During the Golden Age of Dutch Culture

    As part of the Bellefield Design Lectures at the Roosevelt-Vanderbilt National Historic Sites, Eric Haskell will present an illustrated talk.  Eric Haskell is an author and professor at Scripps College .  The event is in celebration of the Quadricentennial of Henry Hudson’s journey up the Hudson.  $50 ($45 for BFGA members) includes wine and hors d’oeuvres.  Event will be held at The Henry A. Wallace Center, home of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Hyde Park, New York.  Limited seating.  Advance purchase of tickets strongly recommended.  For more information contact Anne Symmes at infor@beatrixfarrandgarden.org, or call 845-229-9115, ext. 26.  To learn more about the Beatrix Farrand Garden Association visit www.beatrixfarrandgarden.org.