Many excellent perennials thrive in the shade. A continuation of bloom with outstanding foliage is the dream of many gardeners. Exciting new cultivars will be featured including many rare forms of Polygonatum, Astilbe, Anemonella (below), Primula sieboldii and hardy Arisaema. This lecture at the Berkshire Botanical Garden in West Stockbridge, Massachusetts will focus on specialty perennials for the shade border. Learn from an expert propagator. Leo Blanchette is the owner and propagator of Blanchette Gardens in Carlisle, Massachusetts a nursery specializing in perennials. It features numerous rare and unusual varieties. He lectures through out the United States as well as in Canada and Japan. He was awarded the Silver Medal from the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, the Bronze Medal from the American Rhododendron Society and he has been featured in national gardening magazines.  The lecture will take place Saturday, November 21 beginning at 10:30 am, and will cost $20 for BBG members and $25 for non-members.  For more information, log on to www.berkshirebotanical.org.

The Cooley Gallery, 25 Lyme Street, Old Lyme, Connecticut is extraordinarily excited to announce a landmark new exhibition of pastel work by Laura Coombs Hills.  Portraits from My Garden will be the largest solo exhibition and sale of Hills’ unparalleled floral pastels in nearly seven decades.  You are cordially invited to the open house reception on Saturday, November 21, from 1-5 pm.  The show will run through January 2, 2010, and you can see a preview exhibition on November 12 at the Cooley Gallery booth at the Boston International Fine Art Show at the Cyclorama, 539 Tremont Street in Boston.  The exhibit is produced in conjuction with Vincent Vallarino Fine Art, LTD and Lepore Fine Art.

Sandra Lepore writes: “Rendering flowers in pastel became Hills primary artistic concern. Lizzie carefully cultivated and nurtured favorite specimens — peonies, lilies, larkspur, Van Fleet and tea roses, zinnias, and dahlias — at “The Goldfish.” Cut early in the morning, still glistening with dew, the blooms were carefully arranged in full sunlight for optimum vibrancy and contrast. Hills occasionally added an electric bulb to enhance the lighting effect. “It woke those lilies up,” she said, “[and] made them speak.”  Hills worked quickly, laying colors with her pinky poised for selective blending. She paid considerable attention to backdrops: employing scarves, tapestries, and fabrics she had collected on her various trips to Europe.

Beginning in 1921, Hills began an almost unbroken string of annual solo exhibits in Boston, each extremely successful from a sales standpoint. In her 1927 Copley Gallery exhibition, only five of forty-five floral pastels remained after noon on the first day.”  The image below is courtesy of Childs Gallery, Boston.

Join your neighbors and friends in lighting the Mall again this year.  Funded entirely by donations, it is the neighborhood’s gift to the City.  Donations are currently being solicited, large or small.  Make checks payable to Committee to Light Commonwealth Avenue Mall, and mail them to the Back Bay Association, 234 Clarendon Street, Boston, MA 02116.  Donations may also be made online at www.BackBayLights.com.  The Committee to Light Commonwealth Avenue Mall works with the Commonwealth Avenue Mall Committee of The Friends of the Public Garden and with the Boston Parks and Recreation Department.

On Thursday, November 20, from 6 – 10 pm, join celebrity hosts Matt Siegel of KISS 108 and Billy Costa of NECN’s TV Diner at the gala opening night celebration of Methuen’s Festival of Trees.  You are cordially invited to experience the Taste of the Festival.  Many of the area’s finest restaurants will offer their specialty dishes to the guests.  Tickets to this sumptuous event are $50 each.  For tickets and venue information, call 978-685-8878, or email info@methuenfestivaloftrees.com.

The Festival of Trees, an annual event, was begun to fund the restoration of the Tenney Gatehouse. It is a magical event held annually by the Methuen Festival of Trees, Inc., to celebrate the spirit of the holiday season. The Festival is dedicated to the richness and history of our community by developing partnerships with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the City of Methuen, the Methuen Historic District Commission, the Methuen Historical Society, and the people and organizations of Methuen. The proceeds from the Festival of Trees provide funding to preserve our heritage and the monuments that make Methuen so unique.

Visitors are invited to attend the Festival and view the 200+ trees donated by individuals, businesses, organizations, and school groups from Methuen and several Merrimack Valley communities.  The Festival opens November 21 and runs through December 5 (closed Thanksgiving Day).  Hours vary, so check www.methuenfestivaloftrees.com for a complete schedule.  Admission is $8 for adults, children 12 and under FREE.  Directions from Boston: Take Route 93 N, Exit 46 – go 3/4 of the way around the rotary. Bear right on to 113 W toward Dracut. Follow the signs to the Festival of Trees.  The image below shows a tree created by the Methuen Garden Club for a previous Festival entitled “Scents of the Season.”

]]> http://www.gardenclubbackbay.org/?feed=rss2&p=2322 0 http://www.gardenclubbackbay.org/?p=2322 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheGardenClubOfTheBackBay/~3/1vDtd8cTMg4/ http://www.gardenclubbackbay.org/?p=2213#comments Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:10:28 +0000 Garden Club http://www.gardenclubbackbay.org/?p=2213 Come to Old Sturbridge Village on Saturday, November 21, beginning at 10 am, for another in its Garden Thyme programs.  Roberta McQuaid will conduct a class entitled “Gifts from the Garden.”  Who doesn’t love a homemade gift?  Use the next month to get busy crafting simple, garden inspired gifts, including teas, sachets, potpourris, and the [...]]]>

Come to Old Sturbridge Village on Saturday, November 21, beginning at 10 am, for another in its Garden Thyme programs.  Roberta McQuaid will conduct a class entitled “Gifts from the Garden.”  Who doesn’t love a homemade gift?  Use the next month to get busy crafting simple, garden inspired gifts, including teas, sachets, potpourris, and the like.  Meet at the Visitor Center, and you will be led to the setting of this workshop.  For more information, log on to www.osv.org.

On Tuesday, November 24, beginning at 1 pm (the 150th anniversary of the publication of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species) a panel of scientists led by E.O. Wilson and Everett Mendelsohn will discuss Darwin’s legacy and talk about the frontiers of evolutionary and molecular biology, hosted by the Reading Odyssey and the Darwin Facebook Project.  Sponsors include National Geographic, Citrix Online and their HiDef Conferencing Division, Campaign Monitor, Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology, National Center for Science Education, Squarespace, Creation the Movie, and the New York Academy of Sciences.  The live lecture is free, although only 84 tickets remain as of today, so you may reserve your tickets at http://darwinlecture4.eventbrite.com.

Now here’s even better news:  you may watch it as a free webcast (1,870 spaces), a teleconference if you are so set up (171 spaces), or a Skype pass (161 spaces).  The deadline for signing up is November 17 for the live lecture, and November 21 for the teleconference free pass or Skype free pass.  You may sign up for the webcast right up to the end on November 24.

You may know E.O. Wilson as perhaps the most famous ant researcher of modern times, and the mentor of gardening guru Roger Swain.  This event will be a truly special and stimulating celebration of Darwin.

Garden Club of the Back Bay member Sue Hazard, along with Marianne Pawliki, invite you to a Special Holiday Sale with proceeds benefiting Mother Caroline Academy & Education Center (www.mcaec.org).  Exhibitors will include TBH (perennial botanical designs), Trillion (estate and contemporary jewelry), the Janet Egan Collection (silk jackets and tunics, and the Bali Bags featured below) and much, much more.  The times are Thursday, November 12, between 3 – 8 pm and Friday, November 13, between 10 – 4 pm, at 23 Marlborough Street, Boston, between Arlington and Berkeley Streets, 3rd and 4th floor.  To respond, or for more information, call 617-427-1177, or email sghaz@verizon.net.

Slow Food Boston will sponsor an evening called “Urban Farming Discussion with Two Experts” on Friday, November 13 beginning at 5:30 pm at the Fort Point Artists Community Store, 12 Farnsworth Street in Boston.  You may reserve your spaces by logging on to www.slowfoodboston.com/events.cfm.
Novella Carpenter lives in Oakland. I mean, really IN Oakland. As in downtown. But that certainly hasn’t stopped her from farming – and she has now written a memoir chronicling the transformation of her backyard from bare land to full-blown animal & veggie paradise!

The book, Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer, is newly released, and Slow Food Boston coaxed Novella out of sunny California to cool New England to read from it and talk more about her experiences. By doing so, they hope you will be inspired to make a little more out of available space on rooftops, outside windowsills or in yards.

In order to tie Novella’s work back to local issues, they’ve invited Belmont resident (& resident chicken expert) Joan Teebagy to join Novella. More people are opting to raise their own hens for eggs, and Joan teaches classes on the subject at Codman Farms in Lincoln. But be sure to check your town laws! As many of you may have read, there is an on-going battle in Arlington about residents rights to keep backyard chickens.

So come on Friday, November 13th at 5:30pm.  There will be some light nibbles, a little cider, and then enjoy the reading & discussions that commence. Advance RSVPs and a $10 donation to the Slow Food fund that supports local agriculture are duly requested!

Directions:
Made in Fort Point, the FPAC Store is located at 12 Farnsworth St, just off Congress Street and next to the new Flour Bakery.

The gallery space is a 5 to 10 minute walk from the South Station Red Line T, or the Court House stop on the Silver Line. There is also street parking in the area.

Nancy Schon is a great friend of the City of Boston and the Boston Parks Department.  You are invited to a special exhibit of the artwork of Nancy and Ellen Schon on Saturday, November 21 or Sunday, November 22, from noon – 5 pm, at 291 Otis Street, West Newton, Massachusetts.  Please visit www.schon.com and www.ellenschon.com for more information about these fine artists.

The Maynard Community Gardeners host noted landscape historian and designer Marie Stella for a discussion on Responsible Gardening for the 21st Century: The Sustainable Landscape.

Ms. Stella teaches in the Graduate program at The Landscape Institute, Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, and currently is an adjunct faculty instructor in landscape design at The New York Botanical Garden, and Tower Hill Botanical Garden. She also lectures frequently and leads local and foreign Garden History Tours.  She will be speaking to The Garden Club of the Back Bay in March, in a program co-sponsored by The Wellesley College Friends of Horticulture and the New England Wildflower Society, but this lecture will be on a different topic, so attending on November 17 will not be repetitive.

Her design firm, Kirin Farm Enterprises specializes in environmental landscapes and in initiatives to foster the preservation of open space.

Her latest design project is a Platinum certified LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) home and sustainable landscape.

This lecture is free and open to the public.  For more information, log on to www.maynardgardeners.org, or email info@maynardgardners.org.

On a hot July day in 1891, four wealthy women set off for ten days of “roughing it” on Great Brewster Island and kept a diary of their summer adventure on their “enchanted isle.”  Now in the collection of the Schlesinger Library at Harvard University, the diary is a snapshot of a time when the Harbor Islands played a prominent role in the lives of Boston-area residents.  Author Stephanie Schorow introduces us to the “Scribe, Autocrat, Aristocrat and Acrobat” and their delightful get away.

Stephanie Schorow is a long-time Boston-area reporter and writer. If she’s not working on a book project, she’s hammering away at articles for a host of publications and institutions, including the Boston Globe, the Boston Herald, Lifescript.com, MIT, Harvard and many others. She writes on health issues, history topics and cultural trends. She reviews restaurants for Globe North and music reviews for the Chicago Blues Guide. She also writes and takes photographs for travel features.

Ms. Schorow is the author of the nonfiction book, The Crime of the Century: How the Brink’s Robbers Stole Millions and the Hearts of Boston, published in February 2008 by Commonwealth Editions. Her book on the Boston Harbor Islands, East of Boston: Notes from the Harbor Islands, was published in July 2008 by The History Press.

$5 admission. The talk will take place at the Old South Meeting House, 310 Washington Street, on Thursday, November 19 beginning at 12:15 pm.  For more information, call 617-482-6439, or log on to www.oldsouthmeetinghouse.org.

]]> http://www.gardenclubbackbay.org/?feed=rss2&p=2277 0 http://www.gardenclubbackbay.org/?p=2277 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheGardenClubOfTheBackBay/~3/9l7fn3I1ru8/ http://www.gardenclubbackbay.org/?p=2730#comments Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:39:35 +0000 Garden Club http://www.gardenclubbackbay.org/?p=2730 The Cambridge Forum will sponsor The Road to Copenhagen: Mini Conference on Global Climate Change, Saturday, November 14 beginning at 9:30 am at the First Parish Church, 3 Church Street in Cambridge.  U.S. Congressman Ed Markey reflects on his ground-breaking legislation outlining the nation’s plan to reduce carbon emissions.  The latest data on polar ice [...]]]>

The Cambridge Forum will sponsor The Road to Copenhagen: Mini Conference on Global Climate Change, Saturday, November 14 beginning at 9:30 am at the First Parish Church, 3 Church Street in Cambridge.  U.S. Congressman Ed Markey reflects on his ground-breaking legislation outlining the nation’s plan to reduce carbon emissions.  The latest data on polar ice melt and sea level change will be outlined.  A group of researchers, political leaders, and local advocates join in the discussion.

As governments, scientists, and environmentalists prepare for the Copenhagen meetings to hammer out the next international agreements on global climate change, Cambridge Forum brings together a group of researchers,political leaders, and local advocates to discuss the issues that will be on the table in Copenhagen. Public health experts discuss the impact of warming on food production and movement of diseases. How is this global data relevant to local environmental groups? How can local groups co-ordinate their work, share best practices, and have a broader impact?

For more information, log on to www.cambridgeforum.org.

Explore the Arnold Arboretum, off path and up hill, with Chris McArdle of the Appalachian Mountain Club.  The three hour walk will be followed by a bagel lunch in Jamaica Plain.  Meet at the Visitor Center on the Arborway.  Park on the street or take the T to the Forest Hills stop.  Call Chris at 617-480-3351 if the weather is bad and you’re unsure if the walk will take place.  Registration is not required for this trip.  $1 for non- AMC members, and sorry, no dogs on this outing.  For more fabulous walks in the area, log on to www.outdoors.org.

A pastoral 4,200 acre estate in Tennessee’s Great Smoky Mountains, Blackberry Farm is one of America’s most celebrated luxury hotels with a restaurant that boasts the elite designation of “Relais Gourmand,” the highest mark of culinary excellence within the Relais & Chateaux Organization.  The property, a gastronomic wonderland, features orchards, a dairy, woods in which to forage, and heirloom vegetable gardens.  In addition to supplying the restaurant with amazing meats, veggies, cheeses, jams and more, Blackberry Farm offers the opportunity for guests to experience and better understand the relationship between the land, the food we eat, and the beauty of eating locally and seasonally.  In the farm’s first cookbook, chef/owner Sam Beall offers stories, photographs, and, of course, amazing recipes from this very special place.  Join him, Barbara Lynch, and the staff of Stir on Monday, December 7, Tuesday, December 8, or Wednesday, December 9 for an evening of food, wine and wisdom, at 102 Waltham Street in Boston.  The $145 cost includes a copy of Mr. Beall’s book.  Reserve now by calling 617-423-7847, or stopping by 102 Waltham Street in the South End (across the street from B&G Oysters.)  See more fabulous course offerings at www.stirboston.com.

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.

We wish to highlight reasons why supporting The Garden Club of the Back Bay through our 2009 Holiday Wreath Sale is so important to the Back Bay, the City of Boston, and the Greater Boston Area, so from now through the end of November, we’ll feature posts which focus on different projects funded by our loyal and generous customer base.

Today, let us consider the rather prosaic but important task of tree pruning.  It’s not glamorous – no one ever swoons over the thought of lopped off tree limbs.  Without periodic pruning, however, tree branches fall in storms,  tearing off bark and allowing pathogens to enter the trees, weakening and often ultimately killing them.  Tree limbs which are not pruned back hit pedestrians in the face, interfere with traffic, obscure traffic signals, and create misshapen and often ugly silhouettes.  Building shadows  force trees to lean toward the light, so growth is lopsided.  Pruning can give such trees a more graceful appearance.  The City of Boston naturally believes in pruning, but budgetary restrictions only allow pruning when a tree is in danger of toppling over and crushing personal property.

The Garden Club of the Back Bay came to the rescue a number of years ago, allocating a portion of our yearly budget to the task of pruning.  We hire an excellent licensed arborist, Bob Lorie,  to prune existing trees during street cleaning days when cars have been cleared from the streets. There are approximately 600 sidewalk trees in the Back Bay and most trees have been pruned at least once. We continue regular pruning of the smaller trees to get them above the height of traffic and to give them a good shape as they mature. We also offer pruning services for front yard trees at a group rate.  We hope you will consider purchasing one of our lovely wreaths.  Proceeds support our pruning efforts.  To order, and for more information, click here.

UMass Amherst’s excellent Environmental Institute is once again sponsoring a thought provoking lecture on Monday, November 16 in the Student Union’s Cape Cod Lounge beginning at 3:30 pm.  Riley Dunlap, Regents Professor of Sociology at Oklahoma State University, will be on hand to discuss Climate Change Denial and Conservatism: Exploring the Connections.

Historically conservatives have been less supportive than liberals of environmental protection, both among political elites such as members of Congress and the general public. However, by the early 1990s, following the downfall of the Soviet Union and the emergence of global environmentalism as exemplified by the 1992 “Earth Summit” in Rio, the American Conservative Movement mobilized overtly against environmentalism and environmental policy-making—substituting a “Green Scare” for the vanishing “Red Scare.”

Fearing the growth of national and especially international environmental regulatory policies, the movement mounted a concerted campaign against environmentalists, environmental scientists, environmental policy-makers and environmental regulations. Rather than attacking environmental protection efforts head-on, a strategy that produced a pro-environmental backlash in the Reagan years, conservatives attacked environmental science in order to undermine the evidence used by those pushing for new and stronger regulations. Conservatives applied the term “junk science,” for example, to discredit scientific evidence documenting problematic environmental conditions.

The conservative assault on mainstream science and scientists has reached new heights with anthropogenic climate change (ACC). Conservative think tanks (with support from the fossil fuels industry and conservative philanthropists) have spear-headed efforts to deny the reality and significance of ACC. Their activities range from supporting most of the small number of “contrarian” climate scientists to disseminating a vast range of material attacking the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), climate scientists and those who support efforts to reduce carbon emissions. The dissemination employs various fora (e.g., policy briefings for politicians and anti-IPCC conferences) and all forms of media from websites to videos to newspapers to television.

This free presentation will locate the current situation in historical context, and then focus on the link between conservative think tanks and the rapidly growing number of books espousing climate-change denialism (including those authored by contrarian scientists). It will also examine the degree to which these efforts have contributed to growing partisan and ideological polarization among the general public. National survey data will be used to demonstrate that over the past decade self-identified Republicans and conservatives have become less likely to view ACC as real and problematic, even as the scientific evidence for ACC has become stronger.

Each fall, Bay State African Violet Society holds a Re-potting Clinic at Tower Hill Botanic Garden in Boylston, MA.  For a nominal fee of $1.00 per plant, they will repot your African violet into a new pot with new soil.  They will also remove suckers and separate multiple crowns so you may go home with more plants than you brought in!.  It is a fun and informative session.  Admission to Tower Hill is free for this event, which takes place Sunday, November 15, from 11 am to 3 pm. For more information, log on to www.baystateafricanviolet.org.

Learn all about Tower Hill at the Annual Tower Hill Botanic Garden Winter Open House on Sunday, November 15, from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm.  Free admission.  For directions, log on to www.towerhillbg.org, or call  508-869-6111, ext. 110.

The American Rhododendron Society Massachusetts Branch will hold its Annual Founder’s Day Brunch and Seed Exchange on Sunday, November 15, from 10 – 2, at Tower Hill Botanic Garden, 11 French Drive, Boylston, Massachusetts.   The American Rhododendron Society Massachusetts Chapter is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to encourage interest in and to disseminate information about the genus Rhododendron focusing on Rhododendrons compatible with the climate in New England. Members’ experience ranges from novice to expert. Society activities include chapter meetings, flower and foliage shows, plant sales, garden tours, seed and cutting exchanges, and communication through printed and online publications.For information and registration, log on to www.rosebay.org.