The Garden Club of the Back Bay

Considering the weather we’ve been having lately, this event might not come to pass.  However, just in case, here is the information you need to attend the Franklin Park Snow Festival on Saturday, February 4, from 12 – 3: Sign in at the Franklin Park Golf Clubhouse. Come sled, snowshoe, build snowpeople (politically correct term these days, we guess,) and track animal prints in the snow! If you have cross country skis, a guided tour will begin at 1:30. Warm up with hot chocolate and board games in the clubhouse. Bring a sled if you have one, we’ll have plenty for those without. Wear warm clothes and mittens! RSVP and Questions? www.franklinparkcoalition.org / 617-442-4141.  We just couldn’t resist the picture below, although we can’t determine the original photographer.

For complete information, visit www.ecolandscaping.org.

The February meeting of The Garden Club of the Back Bay will take place Thursday, February 16, beginning at 10:00 am at The College Club, 44 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston. Lee Schneller Sligh will present an illustrated lecture entitled Historic Gardens of Japan. Lee Schneller Sligh is a Master Gardener volunteer and has designed and built more than 200 gardens in Maine since 1995 as owner of Lee Schneller Fine Gardens. Her revolutionary perennial garden design system is the subject of her new book, The Ever-Blooming Flower Garden: A Blueprint for Continuous Color (Storey Publishing, March 2009), which has been a continuous bestseller in independent bookstores and on Amazon.com. She lectures frequently and offers four-hour workshops teaching her design method. In addition to continuously blooming gardens, Lee specializes in Japanese-inspired and naturalistic gardens. She lived in Japan for four years, earned degrees in Chinese language and literature and in Asian history and worked for ten years as a Japanese technical translator before starting her gardening business.
Illustrated with striking photos from her travels throughout Japan over thirty years, this talk and slide show introduces very old gardens, some brought to light only recently through the efforts of archaeologists. The oldest Japanese garden discovered so far is a little-known stream garden in rural Mie Prefecture dating from the 4th century A.D., which was just discovered and excavated in the 1990s.  Japanese gardens are widely admired for the sense of intimacy and inner stillness they convey to the viewer, an effect achieved through the sensitive and simple arrangement of elements. These qualities seem ever more precious, both to the Japanese and to foreigner visitors, and make the Japanese garden a timeless refuge from our complicated and fast-paced modern lives.  Lee specializes in creating Japanese-inspired gardens with native New England plants, and travels frequently to Japan to tour and research gardens. Examples of her work can be seen at www.LeeSchneller.com.

Garden Club members will receive written notice of this meeting in the mail.  Non-members are cordially invited to attend ($10 meeting only, $25 with lunch following the meeting) with reservations.  Email info@gardenclubbackbay.org, or telephone 617-859-8865.

Join fellow conservation professionals, volunteers and board members for a morning of free topical workshops on Saturday, February 11, from 8:30 – noon at the Canal Club Facility, Trowbridge Road (off the Bourne Bridge Rotary), Quality Inn Hotel in Bourne, Massachusetts. Come hear about: * How to deal with property violations and fund stewardship * The new Massachusetts tax credit incentive for conservation donations * Developing good governance policies for your organization * Using new media to reach out to your members and others. Funding for the Convocation is provided by The Island Foundation of Marion, MA. Co-sponsored by The Compact of Cape Cod Conservation Trusts, Inc, Coalition for Buzzards Bay, Inc, & the Massachusetts Land Trust Coalition, Inc.  For more information, visit www.thecompact.net.

Plant a lovely winter garden for your table or window to enjoy indoors while winter still holds sway outside. European container gardens combine potted plants with fresh cut flowers in a decorative container. With proper care, the plants will last for many months and the fresh flowers can be replaced when desired. This Tower Hill Botanic Garden workshop, led by Betsy Williams on Saturday, February 18 from 10 – noon, costs $65 (THBG members) or $70 (nonmembers.) All materials included.  Register at www.towerhillbg.org.

Roberto Burle Marx (1909-1994, Brazil) is recognized as one of the most influential – if not the most influential – landscape architects of the 20th century. “Tablecloth/Toalha”, an exhibition at Rooster Gallery, 190 Orchard Street on New York’s Lower East Side, will be comprised of several late works, mainly executed during his stay in Constância at José Ramoa’s, an art dealer and collector with whom Burle Marx developed an intense friendship. The exhibition will be on display January 6 – March 4, with an opening reception January 26 from 6 – 8, so if you’re planning a trip to the Big Apple this winter, don’t miss this show.

The exhibition is titled after a 141”x59” painted tablecloth specifically designed to fit Ramoa’s dining table. Just like another tablecloth on display at Sítio Burle Marx in Guaratiba, Rio de Janeiro, this work clearly demonstrates Burle Marx’s originality as a multifaceted artist whose work cannot be exclusively categorized as landscape architecture. Lauro Cavalcanti – curator of the retrospective exhibition “Roberto Burle Marx 100 anos: A permanência do Instável” – stated that Burle Marx “…painted every day in the morning and in the afternoon he did his gardens” and did not enjoy the fact that his paintings were relegated to a secondary position.

Also on display will be 12 india-ink works on paper, dated from 1973 to 1990, which reveal Burle Marx’s loose proficiency. While dispensing color – something inherently his due to his activity as a landscape architect – Burle Marx still follows the same provocative abstract morphology that characterized South-American art during the second half of the 20th century, providing the viewer some hints on issues like urbanism and landscaping. Along with these works some never before seen letters and photography of Burle Marx and Ramoa will be available.

“Tablecloth/Toalha” is an exhibition that wants to show Burle Marx’s activity not only as a landscape architect, but also as a prolific and inventive artist. In the end, one might question whether it is the architectural grammar that is present on Burle Marx’s paintings or the pictorial language that is present in his landscape projects.

On Valentine’s Day, The Cambridge Entomological Club will host Christian Rabeling, Junior Fellow at the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology, as the speaker for its February meeting.  Christian’s studies include the evolutionary biology of social insects, genetic evolution and speciation of social parasites, and the natural history of ants.  CEC meetings are held the second Tuesday of the month from October through May. The evening schedule typically includes an informal dinner (6:15 to 7:15 PM) followed by our formal meeting (7:30 – 9:00 PM) in MCZ 101, 26 Oxford Street, Harvard University. The latter begins with club business and is followed by a 50 minute entomology related presentation. Membership is open to amateur and professional entomologists.  For more information, email CEC President Jessica Walden-Gray at jessisoutside@gmail.com.

A public showing of local area artists with complimentary appetizers & beverages to benefit the Greater Boston Food Bank will take place Wednesday, February 1 from 4:30 – 7 pm.  The Blue Glass Cafe at 200 Clarendon Street in Boston (John Hancock Tower)  has teamed up with Smile Boston Artist Bren Bataclan, Daruma, the Factory Inc. artists Minatsu Ariga (picture below) & Kotaro Morita, Faith Hyde & Marjorie Montemayor to support the Greater Boston Food Bank with The Smile Project. The Cafe is collaborating with the Greater Boston Food Bank to hold a can drive, as well as to provide donations on a weekly Smile Project item. The event is free – call 617-275-0250 for more information.

The Rhode Island Flower Show attracts more than 30,000 attendees annually, showcasing garden displays and 250 larger-than-life garden marketplace vendors. From Thursday, February 23 through Sunday, February 26, see demonstrations and lectures, with an emphasis on organic gardening and bring the kids for some family fun. Children under five receive free admission. For almost two decades the Flower Show has been the beacon for early Spring fun in Rhode Island.  Hours are 9 – 8 daily except for the final Sunday, when the Rhode Island Convention Center will close at 6 pm.  Tickets are $16 in advance, $18 at the door, and may be purchased through the website, www.flowershow.com.  Sponsored by the Rhode Island Horticultural Society.

This Tower Hill Botanic Garden demonstration, in conjunction with Flora in Winter, will take you on a vacation for your senses – travel an herbal highway featuring culinary delights such as herb butters, syrups and cordials; scented treasures such as potpourris; feel good body products like massage oil and body powder; and visual delights such as pressed flower bookmarks and miniature dried flower arrangements. You will learn how simple it is to surround yourself with beautiful and unique items of an herbal nature. Handouts will be given to each participant with project directions. THBG member price $5, non-member price $8, presented by Karen O’Brien of The Green Woman’s Garden. The event will be given twice, once from 11 – 12:30, and again from 1:30 – 3:00. Register online at www.towerhillbg.org.

With the abundance of local and raw milk, homeowners can now expand their domestic arts into the realm of cheese making. This Berkshire Botanical Garden program on Saturday, February 4, from 1 – 3 will introduce the craft of basic fresh cheese making, both concepts and process. Participants will watch and help local homesteader/farmer Dominic Palumbo, from Moon in the Pond Farm, make a simple “Farm Cheese.” The program will conclude with a tasting and tips for how to turn your wonderful cheese into the perfect treat for family or guests including how and what to serve it with. This program will be held off site.

Dominic Palumbo owns Moon in the Pond Farm, a NOFA (Northeast Organic Farmers Association) certified organic farm in Sheffield, MA. He produces organic eggs, milk, meat, wool, yarn and honey. Register on line at www.berkshirebotanical.org ($30 BBG members, $35 non-members) and directions will be sent.

This Berkshire Botanical Garden workshop on Saturday, February 4 from 9 – 12 is for everyone with an interest in honeybees and beekeeping. Learn how to start a honeybee colony, the seasonal management required to keep a healthy hive of bees and the role of pollinators and their relationship to flowering plants. Topics provide an overview of the beekeeper’s job, and will help new beekeepers, or those who are considering becoming a beekeeper, to make the correct choices for starting a backyard apiary. Equipment and tools used by the beekeeper will be discussed, and step-by-step instructions for starting a new colony of bees will be covered. At the end of the workshop participants should have a solid understanding of how to successfully begin as a new beekeeper.

Dan Conlon owns Warm Colors Apiary in South Deerfield, Massachusetts. Warm Colors maintains bee yards in western Mass for honey production, and to provide pollination services on area farms. As a full-time beekeeper, concerned with the decline of all bees, Dan focuses on management that improves Queen development & health, colony nutrition, and reduces the environmental risks threatening bees. He is President of the Massachusetts Beekeepers Association, and was recognized as the Eastern Apicultural Society’s 2004 Beekeeper of the Year, and the Massachusetts 2005 Beekeeper of the Year. Register online ($37 BBG members, $45 non-members) at www.berkshirebotanical.org.  Photo of Dan’s Russian Queen Bee Yard below from www.commonweeder.com.

Established in 1989, The Boston Committee of the Garden Club of America is a consortium of 14 garden clubs in the greater Boston area, from Buzzards Bay to the South, and coastal Maine to the north, with a total membership of 1,100 individuals. The Garden Club of the Back Bay is an affiliate member of The Boston Committee.

Over the past years, the Boston Committee has awarded $110,000, through its Blossom Fund, to various not for profit groups in the City of Boston, for the purpose of beautifying our urban spaces. The Fund has been most effective when used to leverage larger grants. It has been at the forefront of projects such as the construction of the Blackwell Path at the Arnold Arboretum, which allows access to the Arboretum from public transportation. The Blossom Fund has helped with the construction and planting of a butterfly garden and maple tree allee at Massachusetts Audubon Society’s George Robert White Nature Center, in Mattapan. It has provided money for the restoration of the Kelleher Rose Garden on the Emerald Necklace. The Esplanade Association purchased irrigation equipment, the Charles River Conservancy restored the landscape surrounding the Eliot Bridge, and a garden was established at the Neighborhood Charter School, all with the help of the Blossom Fund.

Now, the Boston Committee is soliciting proposals for a project in the vicinity of the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway. We expect to award a single grant for $50,000, with the potential to collaboratively raise additional funds in the future.

The Committee members agree that innovation, positive community impact, and horticultural achievement must be the hallmarks of a successful Greenway proposal. Sustainability and future maintenance are important considerations. The grant will not be awarded for general fund drives, endowments, or for operating or staffing costs. The successful applicant must work with us to raise additional monies in the final year of the fund drive. Importantly, applicants must be an exempt organization under the IRS code.

Complete details may be obtained by email. Contact Michele Hanss, current Chairman of The Boston Committee, at m.hanss@comcast.net. Applications are due February 10. We have received notice that applications may be forthcoming from the Friends of Christopher Columbus Park, The Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy, the Boston Aquarium, and the Boston Harbor Walk. After a full review and interviews, member Clubs will vote for the winning application, to be announced at our Annual Meeting in the fall of 2012, after which we will embark on the final year of fund raising. We encourage all groups in or around the Greenway to submit applications.

Mayor Thomas M. Menino, the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA), and the Mayor’s Office of Food Initiatives are launching a new project to update the Boston Zoning Code to support Urban Agriculture (UA) city wide. UA is small scale farming that makes healthy, fresh food more accessible and empowers Bostonians by creating economic opportunity. Examples of urban farming include rooftop greenhouse agriculture, aquaponics (fish farming), community farms, farm stands, composting, and other fresh food-producing endeavors. The kickoff and “visioning” meeting will take place Monday, January 30, from 6 – 8:30 pm at Suffolk University, 73 Tremont Street, 9th floor. The keynote speaker is Will Allen, Founder and CEO of Growing Power Inc. Will is a former pro athlete and 2008 McArthur Foundation Genius Grant recipient for his work on urban farming and sustainable food productions.

Please bring some form of ID (drivers license, credit card) to clear building security, or you may send your full name prior to January 27 to john.read.BRA@cityofboston.gov. You may call Tad Read, Senior Planner, at 617-918-4264 for more information.

Learn more about the history of the Back Bay Fens at a fascinating docent talk on Sunday, January 22,  from 1 – 3.  Meet at the Emerald Necklace Gatehouse, 125 The Fenway.  Free, no reservations required.

This is The Japan Year for The Garden Club of the Back Bay.  The Peabody Essex Museum will host a Japanese New Year event on Friday, January 27 from 6 – 9, including hands-on art activities for kids of all ages.  Supper by the bite.  Special performances and interactive storytelling will be part of the celebration.  To learn more, call 978-542-1539, or email elisabeth_buell@pem.org.

Mary Ellen Warchol and Denise Lemay of Stockbridge Farms present a luncheon and cooking class in on, at Tower Hill Botanic Garden on Sunday, January 29, from 2 – 3:30. Prepare and try a sumptuous four-course floral-based meal with renowned instructors Mary Ellen Warchol and Denise Lemay.  Flower cookery has been traced back to Roman times, and to the Chinese, Middle Eastern and Indian cultures. Today, many restaurant chefs and home cooks use flowers in their dishes. Explore this unique culinary addition to foods. The menu will include unusual items, such as lily soup! Take home the recipes, new tricks, and enjoy a meal.  THBG members $30, nonmembers $35.  Register online at www.towerhillbg.org.  Photo from www.healthygreenkitchen.com.

Instructor Sandra Tosches will lead a Tower Hill Botanic Garden class on Saturday, February 11, from 12:30 – 3:30 on gluten free baking.  Frosted nut brownies, cheesecake that makes its own crust, gingerbread with whipped cream, and peanut butter penuche fudge will become part of your repertory just in time for Valentine’s Day.  All recipes are tried and true favorites, even with non gluten free friends.  Bring your sweet tooth to taste all the goodies.  THBG member price $35, nonmembers $40.  Register at www.towerhillbg.org.

This Berkshire Botanical Garden program on Saturday, January 28 from 10 – 12 will provide an introduction to the basics of saving vegetable seeds. You’ll discuss issues of pollination, isolation, timing, spacing, harvesting, cleaning, drying and storage. We’ll explain terms such as hybrid and open-pollinated, “selfers” and “crossers,” and touch on the different requirements of annuals and biennials. Finally, we’ll talk about choosing the best varieties to start with.

Sylvia Davatz has been gardening organically for over 25 years and saving seed for 18. What started as an act of protest against decreasing variety selection and a narrowing within the seed industry quickly expanded, fueled by curiosity about potential for season extension in our area and a desire for greater self-sufficiency. She is a member of the Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah, Iowa, and offers seed of over 80 varieties through their annual yearbook. An additional 60 varieties are maintained in her garden for personal use. Three years ago she launched Solstice Seeds, a small seed company dedicated to offering locally adapted, regionally appropriate, Hartland-grown open-pollinated seed.  Register on-line ($22 BBG members, $27 non-members) at www.berkshirebotanical.org.

Believe it or not, there’s important woodlands restoration work to be done during the coldest months! An invasive vine that wraps itself around trees and kills them is easiest to cut in the winter (see bittersweet, below.)  The Franklin Park Coalition sponsors its annual Winter Volunteer Day Saturday, January 21, from 10 – 12. Wear old clothes and layers, heavy cotton or wool is best, nylon will snag on branches. If you have cold hands bring liners for under leather gloves. Meet at Valley Gates Parking Lot midway along the main park road. RSVP and Questions? www.franklinparkcoalition.org  or 617-442-4141.