The Garden Club of the Back Bay

Dr. Sarah Slaughter will present the keynote address “Designing Sustainable and Resilient Communities”. Dr. Slaughter coordinates the MIT Sloan School of Management Sustainability Business Laboratory and the Sloan Sustainability Initiative.  She works with municipalities and public and private organizations to improve infrastructure performance and reduce organizational risk. Her talk will give us insight into engineering innovations changing the way cities conserve vital water resources and withstand disasters.  Many cities already face dwindling water supplies, severe flooding, and unstable water tables.  In the face of growing risks, Dr. Slaughter’s international perspective has never been more timely or important.  Newton Marriott Hotel, 2345 Commonwealth Avenue.  Meeting begins at 5:30, followed by cocktails at 6 and buffet dinner.  Tickets $65 CRWA members, $75 non-members, $150 premier.  Additional $10 at the door. RSVP by Nov. 12 to Leigh Heffernan, 781-788-0007, x. 231, or visit www.charlesriver.org.

Download and print the 2008 Holiday Wreath Order Form here .

Order your Garden Club Holiday Wreaths and poinsettia plants online !

*(Orders for 2008 Holiday Wreaths are no longer accepted)

The Ellis South End Neighborhood Association’s Green Committee hosts a panel from Boston’s Urban Forest Coalition to discuss “Urban Forests: The Future of Boston’s Trees” on Monday, October 20th from 6 – 8:00 pm at the Lyric Stage located at 140 Clarendon St. in the South End. Thanks to the generosity of the Lyric Stage Company of Boston, admission is free.

Panelists include representatives from the Urban Ecology Institute, the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, and the City of Boston Park’s Department. Topics to be discussed are: the results of the Urban Ecology Institute’s Street Tree Inventory, particularly what it reveals about the South End, Back Bay, and Beacon Hill; the impending threat posed to maple trees by the introduced pest, the Asian Longhorn Beetle, which has been discovered as close as Worcester; and Grow Boston Greener Campaign, a collaboration between the City of Boston and its partner Boston’s Urban Forest Coalition to plant 100,000 trees in Boston by the year 2020.

The Ellis South End Neighborhood Association, founded over 50 years ago, is a non-profit membership organization dedicated to preserving the historic South End as well as ensuring that it remains a diverse, vibrant and safe community for residents and visitors. For more information, please visit www.ellisneighborhood.org.

An exciting flower arranging demonstration by a Master of the Ichiyo School, Anna Nakada, Past International President and teaching assistant to the Ichiyo headmaster will take place Tuesday, October 21 at the U. Mass Waltham Center, 240 Beaver Street in Waltham, beginning at 9:30 with coffee, exhibits, raffle, ginza, and a display of items from Angela Fina Pottery. The Ikebana International Meeting will begin at 10, and the demonstration will start at 10:15. $15 admission fee. For more information, contact Garden Club of the Back Bay member Kaye Vosburgh, newly elected President of Ikebana International Boston Chapter, at vosburghk@aol.com. No advance reservations are necessary.

Revisiting Paradise: Landscape Journeys from South Asia to the Mediterranean. Persian literary and graphic sources in combination with historic accounts of European travelers provide new insights into Safavid gardens and garden cities. The diversity of private, public, and royal spaces is revealed in the vibrant illustrations created by guest speaker, architect Mahvash Alemi. Alemi is a Garden and Landscape Studies Fellow for 2008-2009, Dumbarton Oaks Washington DC. Tickets $15, $12 Seniors, $5 Members of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. For more information call 617-566-1401, or log on to www.gardnermuseum.org.

Join members of the Wollaston Garden Club at Quincy House in Quincy, Massachusetts for a hands-on workshop on how to identify and prune plantings. After the workshop, enjoy free tours of the house and discover how the landscape has changed since 1770. Free admission. For more information, call 617-227-3957, ext. 256.

Follow farm routines and traditions passed down for generations, from helping put the animals to bed to listening to stories by the fire. Visitors get a sound sleep in the upper chamber of the manor house, sleeping in a bedrool (sleeping bags will do), as children did for centuries. Adults may bring air mattresses or pads. Spencer-Peirce-Little Farm, Newbury, MA. Registration required, $19 for Historic New England members, $26 for non members. For more information, call 978-462-2634.