Boston Flora

Tag: Nancy Wetzel

  • Saturday, July 21, 9:00 am – 8:00 pm – Historic Houses and Gardens in South Berwick, Maine

    Massachusetts Horticultural staff members April Daley and Maureen Horn are hosting a bus trip on Saturday, July 21, to South Berwick, Maine, where travelers will receive private group tours of two properties owned by Historic New England. The first is the 1785 Georgian mansion, Hamilton House, a National Historic Landmark, built on a bluff overlooking the Salmon Falls River and surrounded by classic gardens.

    The featured visit is to the Sarah Orne Jewett House, first owned by her family in 1819, on a festive day when the public is being invited especially into its herb gardens. Nancy Wetzel, the House’s Landscape historian, will speak to the group from Mass Hort on the historic importance of herbs and of community herbalists, as seen through the lens of The Country of the Pointed Firs and Mrs. Todd, the novel’s herb practitioner. Afterwards, she will guide us through the garden to provide a sensory experience of the herbs described by Jewett.

    Between house visits, we will stop in Kittery, Maine so that travelers can choose a place to enjoy lunch from a large array of restaurants.

    The tour will start at 9:00 in the Target parking lot on Route 30 in Framingham and return there at 8:00 p. m.

    If you have questions about the tour please contact the librarian, Maureen Horn, at 617-933-4912 or MHorn@Masshort.org. The cost is $110 for Mass Hort members and $130 for non-members.

    Registration will be complete only by an online reservation or check payable to the Massachusetts Horticultural Society by July 2.. Please mail your check to the attention of Maureen Horn at 900 Washington Street, Wellesley, MA 02482.

    Note: If there are fewer than 20 registrants by July 3 the tour will be cancelled.

  • Saturday, July 19, 10 – 11:30 a.m. – Herbs in The Country of the Pointed Firs

    Landscape Gardener Nancy Wetzel takes a fascinating look at medicinal herbs, the historic importance of community herbalists, and herb gardens through the lens of author Sarah Orne Jewett’s 1896 book The Country of the Pointed Firs. Visiting Historic New England’s Sarah Orne Jewett House at 5 Portland Street in South Berwick, Maine is a special treat, and to see the home in combination with this presentation is an extraordinary opportunity.  Writer Sarah Orne Jewett spent much of her life in this stately Georgian residence, owned by her family since 1819. The view from her desk in the second-floor hall surveys the town’s major intersection and provided her with material for her books, such as The Country of the Pointed Firs, which describe the character of the Maine countryside and seacoast with accuracy and affection. Registration is required – call 207-384-2454, or log on to www.historicnewengland.org for directions and more information.