Boston Flora

Tag: Mount Auburn Cemetery

  • Tuesday, February 15, 1:00 pm – Conifers: Suviving Winter with Grace

    The “flowering plants” that get all our attention during the growing season have finally cleared the stage. It’s now time to see another group of plants shine.

    Mount Auburn’s conifer collection is notable for its diversity (nearly 80 different types) and depth (more than 1,500 plants). Some of the specimens are truly unique for their great age, impressive size or rarity.

    On Tuesday, February 15 at 1 pm, join Dennis Collins, Mount Auburn’s Horticultural Curator, for a walk to see and learn about some of the many conifers that make up this ancient and sometimes under-appreciated group of plants. $5 for Friends of Mt. Auburn, $10 non-members. Call 617-607-1982, or log on to www.mountauburn.org for more information, or to register.

  • Wednesday, January 19, 7:00 pm – Celebrating Tu B’Shvat: New Year for Trees

    Everyone is invited to Mount Auburn Cemetery on Wednesday, January 19 beginning at 7 pm to participate in this annual birthday of the trees during which we will explore the significance of trees and our relationships with them—in the world, in Jewish tradition, and in the history of Mount Auburn Cemetery. Natasha Nataniela Shabat, a Biblical Hebrew Teacher, will lead this interactive celebration in Bigelow Chapel. Please bring a poem or writing that reflects your own appreciation of trees; readings will also be provided. This celebration will also include traditional Tu B’Shvat nuts, fruits, and juice. Limited enrollment; preregistration required.
    Fee: $5 members; $10 non-members. Log on to www.mountauburn.org to register, or for more information.

  • Sunday, January 2, 1:00 pm – Cherubs and Angels of Mount Auburn

    Start the New Year with a walking tour of Mount Auburn Cemetery on Sunday, January 2 at 1 pm. Images of celestial beings are found throughout the Cemetery, proudly posing on pedestals or tucked into the decorations of many monuments. Can you find them? Join Mount Auburn Docent Rosemarie Smurzynski for an exploration of the grounds, seeking cherubs and angels in marble and granite.  Fee: $5 members; $10 non-members. Register online at www.mountauburn.org. Photo copyright 1998 by Kimberly Nyce.

  • Sunday, December 5, 1:00 pm – New England Champions

    Join Mount Auburn Cemetery Visitor Services Assistant Jim Gorman on Sunday, December 5 at 1:00 pm for a walk through Mount Auburn, an arboretum of national importance, to view its numerous trees that have been measured as the largest specimens of their respective species found within New England.  Rain or shine.  Admission is $5 for Friends of Mount Auburn, $10 for non-members.  Mount Auburn Cemetery is located at 580 Mount Auburn Street in Cambridge, and more information may be found at www.mountauburn.org, or by calling 617-876-4405.  Photo below of Camperdown elm by Monkeyfilter.

  • Thursday, November 18, 12:00 noon – Darwin’s American Champion: Asa Gray, Louis Agassiz, and The Debate over Evolution

    Following Darwin’s breakthrough on the theory of evolution in 1859, two of Harvard’s leading men of science squared off.  Biologist Louis Agassiz rejected evolution, keeping to his theory of multiple divine creations, while botanist Asa Gray (pictured below,) whose bicentennial is November 18, became Darwin’s chief champion in America.  Mount Auburn Cemetery Docent Robin Hazard Ray and Visitor Services Assistant Jim Gorman will discuss the  history of this conflict, and Gray’s research on the plants of eastern Asia that convinced him of Darwin’s theories, on Thursday, November 18, beginning at 12 noon.

    This program is part of Mount Auburn’s “Brown Bag Lunch Series.”  Bring your lunch and enjoy this lunch and learn opportunity.  During the fall and winter Mount Auburn staff and volunteers will present a series of free hour-long talks to shed light on the lives of those buried here.  All talks take place in Story Chapel.  Coffee and tea are provided, and the program is free.  Mount Auburn is located at 580 Mount Auburn Street in Cambridge, and for more information, log on to www.mountauburn.org, or call 617-607-1981.

  • Sunday, November 14, 1:00 pm – Monarchs of Mount Auburn

    Deeply rooted in our cultural history, the oak tree is often equated with strength and permanency.  Join Mount Auburn Visitor Services Assistant Jim Gorman for a walk to survey some of these aged monarchs (some of them even pre-date Mount Auburn) and recount oak facts and lore.  This rain or shine event will take place Sunday, November 14 beginning at 1:00 pm.  Admission is $5 for Mt. Auburn members, $10 for non-members.  Mount Auburn Cemetery is located at 580 Mount Auburn Street in Cambridge, and for more information you may call 617-607-1981. Picture below courtesy of Vulgare.

  • Saturday, October 9, 9:00 am – Walking Tour of Mount Auburn Cemetery

    Asa Gray’s central role in establishing Harvard as the botanical center of North America can be appreciated through the impressive landscape, history, and flora of the Mount Auburn Cemetery. Join Donald Pfister, Asa Gray Professor of Botany and Director of the Harvard Herbaria, for a Saturday, October 9 tour of Mount Auburn Cemetery, site of Gray’s grave and the Asa Gray Garden, and other sites of interest, including the monument to the lost members of the United States Exploring Expedition, Louis Agassiz’s grave, and numerous horticultural gems. Space is limited for this Harvard Museum of Natural History member tour. Pre-registration required. RSVP to members@oeb.harvard.edu, or call 617.496.6972 to learn more about membership in the museum.  The tour begins at 9 am, and there is a raindate of Sunday, October 10.  Part of the Asa Gray Bicentennial series. Photo below by KarenMarleneLarsen.

  • Sunday, June 6, 2:00 pm – America’s Arboreal Bequest

    Take a walking tour of Mount Auburn Cemetery on Sunday, June 6, beginning at 2 pm, with Jim Gorman, a Lecturer at the Boston Architectural College and a Volunteer Docent at Mount Auburn. From the 1530’s onward, explorers and plant collectors reveled in the rich botanical diversity found in the newly discovered United States. Join Jim and help examine a sampling of trees and shrubs once craved for scientific, economic, ornamental and medicinal uses and listen as he recalls some illustrious plant collectors. $5 members; $10 non-members.  For more information, log on to www.mountauburn.org.  The image below may depict the Japanese maples planted at the Boston Public Library main branch courtyard and later moved to Mount Auburn.

    http://www.frogsonice.com/photos/may-mt-auburn/japanese-maple.jpg

  • Thursday, April 15, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon – Mount Auburn Ecological Tree Care

    Enjoy a private Ecological Landscaping Association Eco-Tour of the beautiful 175 acre landscape of Mount Auburn Cemetery, 580 Mount Auburn Street, Cambridge on Thursday, April 15, beginning at 10 am.  Mount Auburn is one of the most historic landscapes in America and is on the leading edge of sustainable and environmentally sound land care practices.  This event features the more than 5,000 trees that are under Mount Auburn’s ecological tree care program.  $10 for ELA members, $15 for non members.  Paul Walker will lead the tour, and you may register on line at  www.eventville.com/catalog/eventregistration1.asp?eventid=1006114, or call 617-436-5838.  You may also email ela.info@comcast.net.

    http://www.gardenvisit.com/assets/madge/mount_auburn_garden_cambridge/600x/mount_auburn_garden_cambridge_600x.jpg

  • Saturday, November 21, 1:30 pm – American Rural Cemeteries: Interpreted through the Lens

    The second of the Isabella Stewart Gardner’s Landscape Visions Lecture Series will take place Saturday, November 21, in the Tapestry Room of the Museum, beginning at 1:30 pm.  Alan Ward, landscape architect and principal, Sasaki Associates, will present American Rural Cemeteries: Interpreted Through the Lens. Boston has two iconic garden cemeteries: Mount Auburn and Forest Hills. The Rural Cemetery Movement in America began with the founding of Mount Auburn Cemetery in 1831, and spread from there across the country. Often the first designed public landscapes in American communities, rural cemeteries represent major shifts in cemetery landscape concept and form, and continue to resonate with the modern sensibilities they helped shape. Tickets: $15 General Public; $12 Seniors; $5 Members; FREE for Students.  To purchase tickets, log on to www.gardnermuseum.org, or call 617-566-1401. Image: Halcyon Lake in spring, Mt. Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Photo by Alan Ward.The Landscape Visions Lecture Series is made possible by a bequest from Jeanne Muller Ryan

    Mt Auburn Cemetery Alan Ward lecture