Boston Flora

Tag: Margaret Pokorny

  • Friends of the Public Garden Video

    The Garden Club of the Back Bay is pleased to announce that three of our current and past members are featured in a newly released video which beautifully recounts the history of the Friends of the Public Garden and its tradition of Park stewardship.  Past President Margaret Pokorny is interviewed, and you will glimpse vintage pictures of the late Stella Trafford, and at least one photo of member Patti Quinn.  Interviews with Henry Lee and Antonia Pollak are impressive.  Shots of the Commonwealth Avenue Mall in the 1970’s are frightening – we can barely imagine how our parks were degraded during those years.  To view the eleven minute movie, click on to http://fopg.wordpress.com/2010/11/12/our-history-through-film/.

  • Holiday Wreaths 2010 – Everything is Custom

    It’s that time of year again – The Garden Club of the Back Bay is accepting orders for holiday wreaths, to be created during the first full week in December, ready for delivery (where applicable) or pickup on Wednesday, December 8 and Thursday, December 9.  Order forms are just now being mailed to our loyal customer base, those of you who, during the past two seasons, have purchased from us, or who have added their names to our mailing list.  If you wish to receive an order form in the mail, send your address to info@bostonflora.com.  You will also be able to print the form from this website.

    In the coming weeks you’ll hear more about our wreaths right here, but we thought we’d start the discussion with the simplest of descriptions: Everything is Custom.  What that means is that each and every fully decorated wreath is designed to your specification.  Do you like a formal, Christmas look for an indoor space?  Are you planning to hang your wreath outside on a barn door?  Is the wreath going to a seaside cottage, or to a sleek, contemporary condominium?  We will work with you on color and accent choices, and no two wreaths (unless they’re a matched set) will be alike.  That means you won’t see “your” wreath on a neighbor’s door!  Also, while we are happy to publish pictures of wreaths from past years, don’t try to order an identical one – probably the ribbon isn’t available, or the individual decorator may not be available as a volunteer this season.  You will, however, be pleased – we guarantee it!  Below is a wreath made by Margaret Pokorny, one of a set  hung in a spacious lobby, designed for maximum impact.  The shot was taken in the workshop before delivery.

  • Saturday, July 17, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm – Peterborough Historical Society Art and Garden Tour

    The Peterborough Historical Society is sponsoring a Garden Art Tour on Saturday, July 17, from 10 – 4, rain or shine, featuring seven glorious gardens, including the garden of Garden Club of the Back Bay member Margaret Pokorny.  An autumn view of part of her garden on Parson Lane in Jaffrey Center is pictured below.  Other gardens in Jaffrey Center belong to Peg Castle (Fitzwilliam Road) and Sally Larsen (Harkness Road.)  On to nearby Peterborough to see Ann Lord’s garden (Sand Hill Road), Joyce Gregg’s (Wilton Road), Laura Trowbridge’s (Cornish Road), and Mary Lord’s (Middle Hancock Road.) Tickets are $17 in advance, $20 on the day of tour.  You may order online at www.peterboroughhistory.org, and online tickets may be picked up at the Historical Society, 19 Grove Street, Peterborough, NH during regular hours, Wednesday through Saturday, 10 – 4, or on the day of the tour, beginning at 10 am.  Day of tour tickets will be available at each individual garden.  Tickets must be presented at each of the gardens for admission.

  • Yurt Alert

    Kate Pokorny is a talented young artist living in New York who is, coincidentally, the daughter of Garden Club of the Back Bay Past President Margaret Pokorny.  Kate’s latest project can be followed on her new website, www.yurtalert.com.  In her own words:

    “As a longtime felter I didn’t have the space to make the soapy mess required for the process after I moved to New York City in 2006. I experimented with needle felting and came upon crochet, which, to me, seemed like something you could make anything out of. This was further reinforced when I watched Margaret Wertheim’s TED Talk and saw how crochet can be used to represent hyperbolic space and coral reefs.  I became very interested in oversized knit and crochet work by artists like Kwangho Lee, Claudy Jongstra, and Christien Meindertsma.

    I started crocheting a lot, and was making many small domes when I realized that the same form could be made much larger into a crocheted yurt. Historically, Mongolian nomads made felt for their yurts via a labor intensive process that still required an internal structure at the end of the day.  My project is to take that design a step further and make a locally-sourced (local to New Hampshire), self-supporting crocheted yurt out of hand-felted cording approximately 1.5 – 2 inches thick.”

    You can follow the process on line, leave comments and suggestions, and we can all place bets on when Amy Adams will buy the film rights.

    Me

  • Friday, May 29, 1 pm – Mayfest

    On Friday, May 29, The Learning Project Elementary School will present its annual Mayfest celebration on the steps of Trinity Church facing Copley Square.  The festivities begin at one o’clock with a program of singing by Learning Project students, grades K-6.  The highlight of the performance is the weaving of the traditional Maypole by the sixth graders.  Former Garden Club of the Back Bay co-President Margaret Pokorny built the Maypole for the Learning Project, and the program is a delight for all ages.  In the event the construction currently underway in front of Trinity Church is not completed by May 29, the program will be moved to the amphitheater in front of First Church, Boston, on the corner of Marlborough and Berkeley Streets, and the Maypole will be danced at the Clarendon Street Playground.  The public is encouraged to attend.  Log on to www.learningproject.org, or call 617-266-8427 for more information.