Boston Flora

Tag: magnolia

  • Saturday, July 11, 9:30 am – 3:00 pm – Gloucester Garden Tour

    This year on Saturday, July 11, Generous Gardeners welcomes you to Gloucester. Our primary fundraiser, this event began in 2013 to raise funds for flowers at the Fishermen’s Wives Memorial. Each year’s tour is in a different part of Gloucester, as generous garden owners open their private spaces to the public for one day.

    This year, tour the scenic, coastal, and historic eastern shore of Gloucester, a popular summer destination for affluent Boston families in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Many of the grand homes from that era with equally beautiful gardens still stand, and several are included on our tour. Each owner approaches gardening differently, so you will be treated to a range of formal designs to cottage gardens, and an amazing garden that is a garden tour in itself. There is a tea house, a classic orchid greenhouse, and spectacular ocean views. Tickets/booklets and wrist bands will be picked up at the Stop and Stop parking lot at 6 Thatcher Road near the CVS. Given the exclusivity of the tour area, there are four different parking locations to be shared when you pick up your ticket. Parking is on a first-come, first-serve basis and is not guaranteed.

    Rain or shine. No pets. Photography welcome. Tickets: $35. Purchase tickets at https://generousgardeners.org/staging/2026/02/04/2026-gloucester-garden-tour-tickets-on-sale-now/

  • 2024 Self-Guided Magnolia Walking Tour of the Back Bay

    In the spring of 2021, seeking to give something back to the community as the pandemic stretched on, Claire Corcoran and Stephanie Fletcher created a self guided walking tour of the iconic and beautiful magnolia trees of Boston’s Back Bay. They sought to provide a safe, interesting activity that would also allow them to tell the story of The Garden Club of the Back ay and the magnolias that line the neighborhood streets. Now, in 2024, they have updated the tour with more information, additional species and varieties of interest, and stories about the history of individual trees and their surroundings. They’ve even included some fascinating stories about special magnolias beyond the Back Bay! Don’t let this week’s bad weather deter you – there are lots of beautiful trees blooming still.

    The tour can be accessed anytime between now and the end of magnolia blooming season, so you can set your own time and pace. The link to the tour can be found HERE: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/magnolias-of-the-back-bay-self-guided-tour-2024-tickets-877440346697?aff=oddtdtcreator&mc_eid=4db6dda40e&mc_cid=e89833aa09

  • Plant a Magnolia

    Beautify your home and your neighborhood. The Garden Club of the Back Bay is celebrating its 50th anniversary by planting 50 magnolia trees in the Back Bay. We’re calling the project “50 for 50.”

    The Garden Club of the Back Bay has been helping our neighbors plant magnolia trees for almost our entire history. In 1963, Laura Dwight led the first magnolia planting along Commonwealth Avenue, creating the spectacular display of pink blossoms we still enjoy today. In 1995, we oversaw a second planting of more than 40 young ‘Leonard Messel’ magnolias, augmenting Back Bay’s spring display of flowering trees.

    In 2012-2013, we will celebrate our 50th anniversary by sponsoring the sale and planting of 50 ‘Moon Glow’ white magnolia trees. These specially grown nursery trees will be about 7′ tall when they arrive. Because these trees were purchased in bulk, they are available at a special, discounted price of $500 per tree, which includes planting by an arborist. The actual retail value is nearly double that price. The trees will be planted in the spring of 2013.

    Just 50 trees will be available for sale. The club will arrange for an arborist to plant the trees in front gardens with an open site. The club will also subsidize the planting of magnolias in other open sites in the neighborhood.  To view our brochure and print an order form, click here.

  • Saturday, February 12, 10:30 am – 12:00 noon – Magnificent Magnolias for Northern Gardens

    Magnolias are without doubt the most spectacular flowering trees that can be grown in temperate climates. Luckily for gardeners, the genus Magnolia is going through a “golden age” of new plant development. The result is rapidly expanding options for cold-climate gardens. Come to  the Berkshire Botanical Garden on Saturday, February 12 from 10:30 – noon and see some of these gorgeous new hybrids, some old favorites that still deserve planting, and see what beauty may result if you try growing your own magnolias from seed. Your garden (and your life) may never be the same!

    Stefan Cover works at Harvard University’s Museum of Comparative Zoology where he studies North American ants. He moonlights as a botanist/gardener with special interest in ornamental woody plants, especially magnolias. He runs the international seed exchange for the Magnolia Society and cultivates many of these lovely trees in his Zone 5B frost-pocket garden in Stow, Mass. $20 BBG members, $25 non members. To register, log on to www.berkshirebotanical.org.

  • Saturday, June 5, 11:00 am – 25th Annual Tower Hill Plant Sale

    It’s hard to believe that 25 years have passed since the first Plant Sale was held on the rough field and lawn in front of the Farmhouse.  That sale attracted nearly 400 visitors – pretty astonishing for the first sale at the brand new headquarters of the Worcester County Horticultural Society. At its peak, the sale has attracted as many as 3,100 visitors, expanding to become one of Tower Hill’s largest fundraisers.

    Because of the construction  at the core of the property, this year’s sale will be held in the grassy overflow parking field adjacent to the paved lots.  Some details remain the same: one of the many benefits of Tower Hill’s Plant Sale is the ability to select from the specialty offerings of more than a dozen participating Plant Societies, including Bamboo, Cactus & Succulent, Conifer, Daylily, Epimedium, Fern, Heather, Hosta, Indoor Gardeners, Lilac, Magnolia, Miniature Plants, Orchid, Rhododendron, and Rose.  These ardent devotees are wild about their specific plant interests and can offer great tips on care and growing.  Please note that a Tower Hill member discount card does not apply to sales in the plant society area, and most of the societies are able to accept only cash or checks.

    More than 12,000 plants will be available for sale:  unusual perennials, herbs and everlastings, shrubs and trees, including Cary Award Winners, natives, annuals, incredible edibles, and Tower Hill “Best Buy” plants – donated divisions from beautiful plants grown by members. Special Plant Sale T-shirts to commemorate the 25th anniversary will be sold, and there will be Plant Giveaways to our early arriving members.  Two silent auctions on the day of the Plant Sale feature a variety of choice, hard to find, specimen plants and garden ornaments.  Register first and enjoy the challenge of competing with other plant enthusiasts for the plants that spark your interest.  Tower Hill members enjoy the benefit of early admission at 9 a.m.  For more information, call 508-869-6111, or log on to www.towerhillbg.org.

    http://www.soonerplantfarm.com/_ccLib/image/plants/DETA-835.jpg

  • Garden Club of the Back Bay Holiday Wreaths – Magnolia and Lotus

    Magnolia leaves, some with a dusting of gold paint, set off the beauty of golden pine cones and lotus pods in this fabulous wreath created by Laurie Carter Noble.

  • Saturday, December 5, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm – Old South Church Holiday Arts & Crafts Fair 2009

    The Garden Club of the Back Bay awarded Old South Church the Magnolia Award in June, 2009.  They return the favor to  the neighborhood with the Annual Holiday Arts & Crafts Fair, taking place in the Gordon Chapel, 645 Boylston Street, on Saturday, December 5, from 10:00 am – 4:00 pm.  This year the juried show features New England artisans in glass, pottery, jewelry, photography, textiles, woodwork, watercolors, gingerbread art and more. See website, www.oldsouth.org,  for complete list of vendors. Also: Caroling, Historic Church Tours, Cookie Walk.

    http://www.itsanadventure.com/postimages/OldSouthChurch_102278_6_7.jpg

  • Saturday, May 30, 11-4 – 24th Annual Tower Hill Plant Sale

    One of the many benefits of Tower Hill’s Plant Sale is the ability to select from the specialty offerings of more than a dozen participating Plant Societies, including Bamboo, Cactus & Succulent, Conifer, Daylily, Epimedium, Fern, Heather, Hosta, Indoor Gardeners, Lilac, Magnolia, Miniature Plants, Orchid, Rhododendron, and Rose.  These ardent devotees are wild about their specific plant interests and can offer great tips on care and growing.  Please note that a Tower Hill member discount card does not apply to sales in the plant society area, and most of the societies are able to accept only cash or checks.  More than 12,000 plants will be available for sale:  unusual perennials, herbs and everlastings, shrubs and trees, including Cary Award Winners, natives, annuals, incredible edibles, and Tower Hill “Best Buy” plants – donated divisions from beautiful plants grown by members.  Two silent auctions on the day of the Plant Sale feature a variety of choice, hard to find, specimen plants and garden ornaments.  Register first and enjoy the challenge of competing with other plant enthusiasts for the plants that spark your interest.  Tower Hill members enjoy the benefit of early admission at 9 a.m.  Free Admission all day, and $1 parking fee.  For more information, call 508-869-6111, or log on to www.towerhillbg.org.