Boston Flora

Tag: walking tour

  • Sunday, September 26, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm – Boston’s Community Gardens

    Enjoy this Ecological Landscaping Association walking tour through  eleven diverse and plentiful community gardens with our host, Betsy Johnson. Gardens include a wide range of sizes, designs, and plant material and are excellent examples of successful vacant lot restoration. The Sunday, September 26 tour will begin at 1 pm at the Berkeley Community Gardens on East Berkeley Street, between Tremont and Shawmut Streets in Boston.  The cost is $15 for ELA members and $20 for non-members.  Walk ins also welcome.  For more information, email ela.info@comcast.net, or call 617- 436-5838.

  • Saturday, August 28, 10:00 am – 12:30 pm – Edible Landscape Design and Maintenance, A Walking Tour

    The Ecological Landscaping Association will sponsor Edible Landscape Design & Maintenance, A Walking Tour, on Saturday, August 28, from 10:00 am – 12:30 pm, beginning at 493 Centre Street in Jamaica Plain.  Join tour guide Benjamin Crouch for a walking tour of EarthWorks urban orchards in Jamaica Plain.  Earthworks urban orchards are publicly accessible sites that grow fruit for community consumption (ranging from a handful to over 30 trees at a given site.)  The tour will begin at the Curley School in JP and will highlight five different sites, covering approximately 1 1/2 miles.  Each site will present a different application of edible landscaping.  Sites include two schoolyards, a pastoral pocket park, a community garden and an urban-wild park. The workshop is geared toward professionals and avid gardeners who would like to learn more about the various applications of fruit trees in the landscape.  You will look at the ecological functions of the sites, design and planting choices, innovations in and challenges to maintenance, and get to sample some of the fruit, including both antique and modern cultivars of apples, pears, plums, and peaches.  Registrations are limited.  For more information, call 617-436-5838, or email ela.info@comcast.net.

    http://farm1.static.flickr.com/33/54070471_1f5ffba40a.jpg

  • Sunday, June 27, 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm – Collectors & Philanthropists Tour

    Join Anthony Sammarco for a tour on Sunday, June 27 highlighting the lives of intriguing collectors and generous philanthropists buried at Forest Hills Cemetery, 95 Forest Hills Avenue, Boston. The Jordans of Jordan Hall, Forsyth of the Forsyth Dental Clinic, and Carney of Carney Hospital are just a few of the men who made vast fortunes and then became patrons of the arts, science, and social causes. Many wealthy women were also active philanthropists, such as Pauline Agassiz Shaw, founder of the North Bennet Street School and supporter of the American kindergarten movement, pictured below.

    Meet at Main Gate. Wear comfortable shoes and bring water; this is a 2-hour walk (with frequent stops) over varied terrain. Admission: $9.  For more information, log on to www.foresthillstrust.org.

    http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_UNvwuPPXlVU/R8yXHoy4zTI/AAAAAAAAAq0/I2Ty97pRxb8/s400/pa+shaw.jpg

  • Tuesday, June 23, 10:00 am – 12:00 pm – Edgartown: The Tree Tour

    Enough about the distinguished Federal and Greek Revival homes of Edgartown— have you experienced the tree tour?!  Join Polly Hill Arboretum collections and grounds manager Tom Clark for this informative and fun walking tour of the many glorious mature trees of Edgartown on Tuesday, June 23, beginning at 10 am. In the midst of the mantle of green that envelops downtown Edgartown, the hydrangeas and picket fences, many unique and fine specimen trees await discovery. Inspect the famous Pagoda Tree and so much more. Call 508-693-9426 to pre-register and for carpool and meeting location.  $15 for PHA members, $18 non-members.  Log on to www.pollyhillarboretum.org for more information.

    http://farm1.static.flickr.com/33/35861865_32eac20664.jpg?v=1235426954

  • Sundays, June 13, 20, and 27, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm – Bostons’s Gardens & Green Spaces Tours

    Join Meg Muckenhoupt, author of Boston’s Gardens & Green Spaces, and Maryglenn Vincens, founder of Boston Your Way Premium Private Tours, for three exclusive walking tours through Green Boston, past and present.  Inspired by Muckenhoupt’s beautiful new book, Muckenhoupt and Vincens will examine how Boston’s shifting landscape and coastline have shaped the city’s ever-expanding network of public spaces.

    Tours are $50 per person and are open to the public. Each tour is limited to 25 people. Reservations must be made by Friday June 4, 2010. Each ticket includes a signed copy of Boston’s Gardens & Green Spaces and complimentary tea at some of Boston’s finest cafés and restaurants.

    Week 1: The Big Dig: Boston Blasts, Builds, and Reconnects: Sunday, June 13, 1pm-3pm
    Week 2: Evolution of Boston Proper: From Puritan Functionality to Modern Day Leisure: Sunday, June 20, 1pm-3pm
    Week 3: The Fenway: Land Conflicts, Commitments, and Community Gardens: Sunday, June 27, 1pm-3pm

    To register, email: events@unionparkpress.com and send us the Boston’s Gardens & Green Spaces Tour Form.  You may also log on to www.unionparkpress.com/news-events/bostons-gardens-green-spaces-june-tour-series/ for more information.

    Boston’s Gardens & Green Spaces

  • Tuesday, November 10, noon – 1 pm – Walk to the Sea

    Join the Boston Harbor Association’s Vivien Li for a tour of the “Norman B. Leventhal Walk to the Sea” on Tuesday, November 10, from noon to one pm.  The mile long walking tour encompasses four centuries of Boston history, extending from Beacon Hill to Long Wharf.  Meet in front of the State House on Beacon Street.  The tour is free, but reservations are recommended.  You may call 617-482-1722. or email mail@tbha.org.

    The Boston Harbor Association  is a non-profit, public interest organization founded in 1973 by the League of Women Voters and the Boston Shipping Association to promote a clean, alive and accessible Boston Harbor. TBHA brings together diverse interests — harbor users, environmentalists, developers, waterfront businesses, and decision makers — to develop balanced solutions for maritime industrial activities, commercial development, environmental protection, and public access around Boston Harbor. For more information on their activities, log on to www.tbha.org.

    http://k41.pbase.com/u39/terraxplorer/upload/31960836.LongWharf.1.jpg

  • Sunday, October 25, 1 – 2 pm – The Native Plant Center: It’s Easy Being Green

    Learn about the energy saving and other ‘green’ technologies used in the design and construction of the New England Wild Flower Society’s new Native Plant Center at Garden in the Woods in Framingham on Sunday, October 25, beginning at 1 pm.  This walking tour of the new facility with Ron Wik addresses all ‘green’ attributes of the building, such as roof and wall insulation, use of local materials, radiant heating and other energy saving technologies. Find out how the Society is working towards LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification at the gold level for our newest, greenest structure. LEED Certification involves meeting a demanding suite of standards for environmentally sustainable construction, and Garden Club of the Back Bay members will hear more about this at our March meeting with Marie Stella.  The program is free, but registration is required.  Call 508-877-7630, or log on to www.newfs.org.

    Native Plant Center 7.09
    Click to view full-size image…

  • Saturday, September 19, 2:00 – 3:30 pm – Modest Spaces: Mount Auburn’s Beautiful Public Lots

    Join Dee Morris, Social Historian, on a walking tour of Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts on Saturday, September 19, from 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm.  As Mount Auburn developed, it set aside four public lots containing single graves. Victorians of  modest means were then able to afford a final resting place in pleasant proximity to generous family lots. Named after Saints, these lots embraced such notables as Peter Banner, the architect of Boston’s Park St Church, Thomas Grundy, a hardworking brass finisher from Stoneham, and the genteel Austin sisters of Garden Street in Cambridge.  Join Dee on this late summer stroll to learn more about some of the fascinating individuals buried in these public lots. Meet at the Entrance Gate.  $5 charge for Friends of Mount Auburn, $10 for non-members.  For more information, you may call 617-547-7105, or email friends@mountauburn.org. You may register in advance at www.mountauburn.org by clicking on to Calendar of Events.

  • Saturday, September 19 – Sunday, September 20, noon to 4 pm – Fifth Annual Fairy House Tour

    Sponsored by the Friends of the South End (Portsmouth, New Hampshire), this self-guided walking tour on Saturday and Sunday, September 19 and 20, features whimsical fairy houses built by families, children, garden clubs and local artisans. The tour will include Strawbery Banke, Prescott Park, the Governor John Langdon House and the Wentworth Gardner and Tobias Lear Houses. Excerpts from “Fairy Houses – The Ballet” will also be presented. Visitors are invited to build an entire Fairy House Village on Peirce Island using only natural materials. Advance ticket prices: Adults – $10, Seniors – $8, Children -  $4; Day of Event, Adults $15, Seniors $10, Children – $5. Free parking is available on Peirce Island. For up-to-date information, and to purchase tickets, visit www.fairyhouses.com.

  • Saturday, August 29, 1:30 – 3:30 pm – Oh Nuts!

    Spend an afternoon at the Arnold Arboretum in Jamaica Plain with Michael Dosmann, curator of living collections, as he discusses the natural history of many of the Arboretum’s notorious nut species.  Mr. Dosmann was a popular speaker at a Garden Club of the Back Bay meeting a few seasons ago, and you will enjoy this walking tour with him.  Dress comfortably with good walking shoes.

    Free, but advance registration is requested.  Log on to www.arboretum.harvard.edu.