The Garden Club of the Back Bay

On June 6, the Graffiti NABBers plan a major cleaning of Newbury and Boylston Streets to remove the winter visual clutter. If many participate, we can accomplish this goal in a couple of hours. If you need training, we’ll teach you our simple techniques. We’ll provide the materials. Rain Date: Sunday, June 7.
Meet outside the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay Office at 337 Newbury Street, between Hereford and Massachusetts Avenue. This cleaning is badly needed and will make a huge difference! This is fun and worthwhile! Meet your neighbors and make a difference! If you plan to participate, or for more information,  please contact anneswanson@verizon.net.

If you plan to be in the New York area this Memorial Day weekend, plan to join the Roosevelt-Vanderbilt National Historic Site group for the annual Vanderbilt Plant Sale, from 10 – 4 at the Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site, Route 9, Hyde Park, New York.  Purchase heirloom perennials, IES shade plants, and more.  Free Saturday workshops begin at 1 pm with Container Gardening, followed by Shade Gardening at 1:30, Proper Planting Techniques at 2, and Dividing Perennials at 2:30.  Proceeds go to the maintenance and rehabilitation of the Vanderbilt Gardens, funded entirely by the Vanderbilt Garden Association.  For more information call 845-229-6432, or email FWVGA@marist.edu.

The Garden Club of the Back Bay, Inc. invites you to our elegant Twilight Garden Party, Tuesday, June 2, from 6:30 to 9:30 pm at The College Club of Boston, 44 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston.  Our special guest will be Gerald Pomeroy, lead designer for the restoration of The College Club.  The Club’s Magnolia Award will be presented to Old South Church for its floral display along Boylston Street.  Piano music by Tony Malionek, open bar with our signature Pink Magnolia martini, and sumptuous hors d’oeuvres will be included in the ticket price.  Proceeds from this event will benefit the street trees and green spaces of Boston.  Attendance is strictly limited to 100 guests.  For ticket information, click on “Twilight Garden Party” at www.gardenclubbackbay.org.

Prudential Center owner Boston Properties this week opens a farmers’ market on the building’s cement plaza bordering Boylston Street.  The market, which will run on Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., is directly managed by 14 vendors, including six to eight farmers. Vendors who have signed on to the project sell products like Asian greens, mozzarella cheese, chocolates, bread, baked goods, and high-end desserts.  According to The Boston Globe, it has also sparked interest from Legal Seafoods, whose Prudential Center executive chef, Kevin Watson, has committed to buying fresh foods from the market to use in his cooking.  Sel De La Terre will be doing a version of their Boulangerie with salads, sandwiches, bread, pastry and produce from Frank McClelland’s new farm, and L’Espalier has also expressed interest.  Vendors include Bolton Flats Asian Greens, Taza chocolate, When Pigs Fly bread, Stillman meat, Gilson herbs (one of our Garden Club speakers from long ago), and many more who will be added as the season progresses.

It’s the middle of May, there has been ample rain, and so everything around your garden probably looks great about now.  But what about later on in the season?  And, what about the early spring when perennials are still green nubs and deciduous shrubs are bare?  That’s when flowering bulbs can make all the difference between a perennial border that draws compliments in May and June, and one that delights the eye from April through September.

Visit Elm Bank, home of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, where Brent Heath of Brent & Becky’s Bulbs, a world-renowned expert on bulbs, will explain how to most effectively incorporate bulbs into a mixed border. His program will include examples, using slides, of various approaches to this type of garden composition.  $10 members, $15 general admission. You may register on line and get directions by logging in to www.masshort.org.

This Wednesday evening at 6 p.m., Mass Hort is pleased to welcome Brent Heath, co-owner of Virginia-based Brent and Becky’s Bulbs.  Brent is a world-renowned expert on bulbs, and he’ll explain how to most effectively incorporate spring- and summer-flowering bulbs into a mixed border.

Brent’s program will include examples, using slides, of various approaches to this type of garden composition.  He’ll bring designs that offer color for spring and summer, showing how even modest investments can return years of bright, long-lasting blooms.  He’ll answer questions and offer hands-on advice on caring for and maintaining mixed borders.

If you were on the Greenway from mid-April through early May, you had the opportunity to see a spectacular canvas for Brent and Becky’s Bulbs.  They were extremely generous in donating approximately ten thousand daffodil bulbs that brought a blaze of color to the Greenway Gardens.

This sale offers hundreds of varieties of perennials, both those that are new to the market and old-time favorites. Let Historic New England’s gardening experts help you choose the right plants for your garden.  Free and open to the public. For more information and directions, call 781-891-4882, ext. 244, or log on to www.historicnewengland.org.

The annual fund raiser for The Friends of the Public Garden will take place Friday, May 29, beginning at 7 pm at The Taj, Boston.  A reception will be followed by dinner and dancing.  For more information call the office of The Friends of the Public Garden at 617-723-8144, or email fopg@gis.net.

We enjoyed author and noted garden historian Judith Tankard at our March meeting at the Wellesley College Botanic Garden, and we have the opportunity to hear her again on Sunday, June 7 at 2 pm, when she will give an illustrated lecture on The Gardens of the Arts and Crafts Movement, followed by a tea party and birthday cake celebrating Beatrix Farrand’s birthday.  Judith will also be available to sign her books, and attendees will enjoy a plant sale and garden boutique.  The lecture will be given at The Henry A. Wallace Visitor Center at the Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt Historic Site and the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum, 4097 Albany Post Road, Hyde Park, New York. There will be limited seating, so advance purchase of tickets is strongly recommended.  For more information contact Anne Symmes: info@beatrixfarrandgarden.org, or call 845-229-9115, ext. 26.  To learn more about Beatrix Farrand Garden Association visit www.beatrixfarrandgarden.org. Tickets are $25 ($20 for BFGA members).

One of the many benefits of Tower Hill’s Plant Sale is the ability to select from the specialty offerings of more than a dozen participating Plant Societies, including Bamboo, Cactus & Succulent, Conifer, Daylily, Epimedium, Fern, Heather, Hosta, Indoor Gardeners, Lilac, Magnolia, Miniature Plants, Orchid, Rhododendron, and Rose.  These ardent devotees are wild about their specific plant interests and can offer great tips on care and growing.  Please note that a Tower Hill member discount card does not apply to sales in the plant society area, and most of the societies are able to accept only cash or checks.  More than 12,000 plants will be available for sale:  unusual perennials, herbs and everlastings, shrubs and trees, including Cary Award Winners, natives, annuals, incredible edibles, and Tower Hill “Best Buy” plants – donated divisions from beautiful plants grown by members.  Two silent auctions on the day of the Plant Sale feature a variety of choice, hard to find, specimen plants and garden ornaments.  Register first and enjoy the challenge of competing with other plant enthusiasts for the plants that spark your interest.  Tower Hill members enjoy the benefit of early admission at 9 a.m.  Free Admission all day, and $1 parking fee.  For more information, call 508-869-6111, or log on to www.towerhillbg.org.

The Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) has scheduled a public meeting on May 27 to update the community on a number of safety improvements and maintenance projects along Storrow Drive, Soldiers Field Road, and the Charles River Esplanade. The meeting will be Wednesday, May 27, from 6 – 7:30 pm at 100 Cambridge Street, 2nd Floor, in Conference Rooms B/C/D. The work involves repairing and replacing guardrails, replacing damaged steel picket fence sections, improving drainage along sections of both parkways, repainting sections of historic Boston Pattern fencing, and replacing the equipment and surface at the fitness area near the Sherborn Street Pedestrian Bridge. Improvements also will be made to bicycle and walking paths. At the meeting, DCR also will discuss the proposed fence around Teddy Ebersol’s Red Sox Fields on the Esplanade.The projects, which will cost an estimated $4 million, began last March and are scheduled to be complete at the end of June. Funding for the projects comes from the $1.7 billion Energy and Environment Bond Bill signed by Governor Patrick in August 2008.  For more information, you may email mass.parks@state.ma.us.

Boston City Council President Mike Ross is bringing the war against climate change directly into our neighborhoods. He is working with a number of environmental and community organizers to sponsor a forum on May 27 at 6pm in the Boston Room of the Boston Public Library about ways neighbors can work together to save money and reduce consumption and waste.  This is a pilot program in the Back Bay that will focus efforts on the residences and businesses from Exeter St. to Dartmouth St. between Commonwealth Ave. and Boylston St.  All are welcome in this important conversation, and we urge you to learn more about how you can include your building, home or business in this effort. For more information, contact michael.ross@cityofboston.gov, or call 617-635-4225.

Visit private Concord-area gardens on June 5 and 6, from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m., rain or shine, sponsored by The Concord Museum.  The Concord Museum is a great place to start any visit to the historic town of Concord, Massachusetts. The Museum, founded in 1886, serves as a center of learning and cultural enjoyment for the thousands of visitors touring Concord each year, as well as for area residents of all ages.  Celebrate the 20th Anniversary of this special event.  Each of the eight private gardens reflects the individual interests and passions of the owners and their families and will inspire both new gardeners designing their first perennial bed and accomplished landscapers with acres of “garden rooms.”  The tour of Concord-area gardens is self-guided and self-paced, beginning each day at 9:00 a.m. and continuing until 4:00 p.m. Garden-goers should arrive at the Museum to pick up their maps prior to starting out.  Single-day tickets for either Friday or Saturday may be reserved in advance (through June 4) or may be purchased on the day of the tour.  Single-Day Advance Tickets: $25 Members, $30 Nonmembers; Single Day Tickets at the door: $30 Museum Members, $35 Nonmembers.  No refunds or exchanges; no photography. For more information call 978-369-9763, or log on to www.concordmuseum.org.

The Acton Garden Club presents Garden ‘Sites’ and Garden ‘Delights’ from 10 – 4 on Friday, June 12 and Saturday, June 13.  Explore seven unique gardens and enjoy outstanding fresh floral arrangements created by members.  To further tantalize you, there is a labyrinth to walk and an adult tree house.  Advance tickets $20, $25 day of tour.  For tickets and more information, log on to www.actongardenclub.org.

Come to the Clarendon Street Playground on the corner of Clarendon and Commonwealth Avenue on Saturday, May 30.  There will be food, drinks, games, balloons, entertainment, prizes, and fun for all.  The playground is in need of new toys – please bring a new, fun, weatherproof toy to leave that day.  Suggestions include sand shovels and pails, soft balls and bats, trucks, and push/riding toys.  To make the day a success, the Playground Committee of the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay needs volunteers.  Contact playground@nabbonline.com, or call NABB at 617-247-3961.

The Garden Club of Buzzards Bay is sponsoring a plant sale featuring club-grown annuals, perennials from members’ gardens, heirloom tomatoes, herbs, dahlias, unusual boxwood cultivars, groundcovers, succulents, and geraniums.  The sale will take place at St. Mary’s Church Parish Center, 783 Dartmouth Street, South Dartmouth, Massachusetts, and more information may be obtained by calling 508-991-2271, or emailing GCBBplantsale@yahoo.com.

David Holtzman of the Allston Brighton Community Development Corporation has announced a free program sponsored by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, the Allston Brighton Community Development Corporation, Allston Brighton Green Space Advocates, and The Brighton Allston Garden and Horticultural Society, entitled Healthy Lawns and Landscapes, taking place Thursday, May 28, 2009 from 6 – 8:30 pm at the Brighton Allston Congregational Church, 404 Washington Street, Brighton.  Learn how to have a beautiful lawn and landscape that’s healthy for people, pets and the environment.  Refreshments will be served.  Participants will each receive a free gift, and will have the opportunity to win a new compost bin.  Contact David at 617-787-3874, x. 217, or email dholtzman@AllstonBrightonCDC.org to sign up.  Please bring a canned item for the church’s community food pantry, if possible.

Pursuant to the terms of Article X of the By-laws of The Garden Club of the Back Bay, Inc., notice is hereby given of the Annual Meeting, to be held at 5 pm on Monday May 18, 2009.  Written notice of the location of the meeting will be mailed to the membership, and anyone wishing to inquire or members who wish to respond may email info@gardenclubbackbay.org.  Annual reports will be presented by the Co-Presidents and Treasurer, and new officers, directors, and committee chairs for the coming fiscal year will be presented by the Nominating Committee for election.  Following the business portion of the meeting, members will have the opportunity to socialize.

Kick off this year’s Tower Hill plant sale with Tower Hill’s annual Preview Party Sale and Silent Auction, where you’ll have first pick from the outstanding collection of trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals, herbs, “incredible edibles,” and Tower Hill grown plants, to name a few.  This year, a collection of painted clay pots by various notable Massachusetts artists will be auctioned.  Bid on such items as private consultations for your garden with renowned horticulturists, sailing on Cape Cod Bay, professional tree services, Red Sox tickets, Nantucket Garden Club Tour tickets, Hanover Theatre tickets, Worcester Country Club golf outing, and planted decorative containers.  See www.towerhillbg.org for even more enticing items.  Individual tickets $25.  To reserve, call 508-869-6111 x 136, or you may buy tickets securely online at www.towerhillbg.org with your credit card.

The Friends of the Public Garden, in partnership with The Boston Athenaeum, presents the 29th Annual Duckling Day Parade on Sunday, May 10, beginning at noon on Boston Common.  Parade participation requires a $25 donation per family.  This donation includes snacks, entertainment, and a toy for each child. Registration is available in advance on line at www.friendsofthepublicgarden.org.  Based on the book Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey, children and their families will retrace the steps of Mr. and Mrs. Mallard and their family of eight ducklings. Led by the Harvard University Marching Band, children relive the adventures of Mr. and Mrs. Mallard dressed as one of their favorite characters from the book.Pre-registration is encouraged, and on site registration begins at 10:30 a.m. on the Boston Common, at the base of the Shaw Memorial, opposite the State House.  The Friends of the Public Garden is a non-profit organization dedicated to the care and protection of the Boston Common, the Public Garden and the Commonwealth Avenue Mall. For additional information call 617-723-8144 or email fopg@gis.net.  Duckling Day happens rain or shine because ducks love water.