The Garden Club of the Back Bay

Saturday, October 3, from 11 – 5 at Westport Rivers Winery, 417 Hixbridge Road in Westport, Massachusetts, enjoy this year’s Harvest Festival. Rain or Shine, Admission is Free. Live Music with: Putnam Murdock 11-1pm.  Grape Stomp with Co-Owner/ Vineyard Manager Rob Russell at 1pm.  Face Painting for Kids with Gerri Rodrigues 12-3pm. Live Music with: The Bluegrass Invitation Band 2-4pm. Walking Vineyard Tours at 1pm & 3pm. Local Painter Betsey MacDonald, with works on display in the Russell Gallery. Artist meet and greet from 3-5pm. Golden Touch Farm, Alpaca petting pen. Dartmouth Orchards, sampling and selling; apples, mulled cider, jam, jelly, candy apples, apple butter, honey, haystacks, cornstalks, pumpkins, gourds, etc… Shy Brothers Farm, sampling and selling; locally made artisan cheeses from Paradise Hill Farm & Friends, fresh off the local Farmer’s Market circuit will be on hand with products and produce for sale. Gallo Family Foods, sampling and selling; locally made biscotti. Just Beer Inc. will offer samples of their brand new farm fresh brews.  If you would like to purchase anything from our local farmers while browsing their stands please do so, we hope to encourage your support of local food and agriculture. For a fee there will be beer and wine available by the glass and light fun food options available from Green Gal Catering. Discounted wine tastings will be taking place all day long and includes an etched logo wine glass. For more information please call us at 508-636-3423 ext.2 or email retail@westportrivers.com.  Westport Rivers will also  release one of the most sought after wines to the general public! Westport Rivers 2008 Riesling will be available for purchase in the Company Store. This limited release wine sells out consistently year in and year out and this vintage will be no different. This clean, crisp, off dry Riesling is out just in time for autumn and may not last until Thanksgiving. They held off on releasing this limited supply of 2008 Riesling and for months, and only made it available to Wine Club members because of the limited quantity on hand. They have satisfied their obligations to their Wine Club members and the retailers who support them by carrying the Riesling out in the marketplace. What they have left will go out on display and be available for sale at this HARVESTFEST event. So if not for the music, food, and family fun please do come down to visit this coming Sat. Oct. 3rd to get your case of 2008 Riesling while you can.

Best selling garden author and photographer Ken Druse presents Art May be the Best Revenge: From da Vinci to Duquette on Wednesday, October 7, beginning at 6 pm, at Tower Hill Botanic Garden in Boylston, Massachusetts.  Mr. Druse will be signing books during the reception, with the lecture following at 6:30, followed by a tour of the illuminated Sculpture Show with Ken Druse and Nancy B. Grimes.  The famed “Stone Show,” formerly in Hardwick, Massachusetts, is expanding and moving to Tower Hill Botanic Garden, becoming “The Sculpture Show.”  We detailed this event in a previous post (search and ye shall find).  The cost of this reception and evening is $20 for Tower Hill members, and $25 for non members.  For more information, or to buy tickets, log on to www.towerhillbg.org.

Craftsman Frank Hamm believes that anyone can build beautiful and functional furniture using just green tree limbs and saplings. Under his expert guidance, learn how to construct a terrific garden gate, trellis or side table in this half-day, hands-on workshop at Tower Hill Botanic Garden on Sunday, October 11, beginning at 1 pm. You will learn how to use straight, curved and forked branches for design and structural integrity. Create harmonious, sculptural forms by carefully coordinating the complex shapes of individual wood cuttings. Take home a terrific addition to your garden, home or yard. (Log on to www.frankhamm.com for ideas.) Bring a hand drill and small bits, measuring tape, hammer and saw if you have them. Dress for the weather.  Fee is $55 for Tower Hill members, $60 for non-members.  To register, log on to www.towerhillbg.org.

Consider the many ways to integrate bulbs into the home landscape including enhancing the perennial border, designing foundation plantings or naturalizing a woodland setting. Learn all about the cultivation of bulbs both minor and major. Review a wide variety of both traditional bulbs (daffodils, tulips, lilies and hyacinth) and learn about the more unusual ones including allium, colchicum, scilla, galanthus, camassia, and frittilaria. Watch a demonstration on planting. David’s wonderful bulbs will be on sale following the lecture. David Burdick has been a practicing horticulturist in Berkshire County for more than twenty years. He worked for nine years at BBG and an additional nine years at Windy Hill Nursery. He is a popular teacher for the Horticultural Certificate Program and is currently operates a specialty bulb and cut flower business Daffodils and More at Holiday Farm, Dalton.  This program will take place at the Berkshire Botanical Garden in West Stockbridge, Massachusetts on Saturday, October 10, from 10 – noon, and costs $16 for BBG members, $21 for non members.  For more information, log on to www.berkshirebotanical.org.

The theme of this year’s festival, “Keep it Local,” reminds us to celebrate all that autumn has to offer in New England. Taste freshly picked produce from our fields or pick your own, come enjoy live music each day, and meet some of our native furry critters. Visitors can: • Savor fresh Drumlin Farm food • See antique cars • Meet the wildlife! • Feel the beat with live music by the Ancient Mariners Saturday 11:00 am-3:00 pm and Mollie’s Misfits on Sunday 11:00 am-3:00 pm • Buy fresh and festive fall pumpkins, wool, and more at our country store • Enjoy a hayride around the farm—a fall Drumlin tradition • Watch local crafters creating their work, or try your hand at rolling your own beeswax candles • Participate in children’s activities and games • Learn about certified Bird Friendly®, Bird and Beans® coffee! Purchase tickets in advance by calling 781-259-2206. Admission prices are $8 adults/ $6 children for members, and $10 adults/ $8 children for nonmembers, children under age 2 are free. Event runs rain or shine. Check in faster by preregistering! Preregistration is good for either Saturday or Sunday. Drumlin Farm will be closed to general visitation for both members and nonmembers on October 3 and 4. Your ticket price provides critical support for Massachusetts Audubon’s education and conservation programs.

Upstairs on the Square in Harvard Square will be the site of a Food Preservation Talk and Afternoon Tea with Eugenia Bone, author of Well-Preserved: Recipes and Techniques for Putting Up Small Batches of Seasonal Foods.  Enjoy a casual discussion with Eugenia over afternoon tea.  All ticket holders will receive an autographed copy of the book.  $40.  For details and tickets, log on to http://www.ediblecommunities.com.boston/events/eugenia-bone-event.htm.

The Esplanade Association (www.esplanadeassociation.org) was invited to participate in a charity event that Lord & Taylor is holding on October 6th starting at 9 am at Boston and Greater Boston stores.  They are offering a number of groups a special shopping day at Lord & Taylor as a way to benefit each group’s cause. Lord & Taylor has given TEA 200 tickets to sell for their special shopping day for $5 each. That money goes directly to TEA. The tickets offer not only entry into the shopping day but also special coupon discounts of 20% and  15%  for sale and regular priced items, including 15% off cosmetics & fragrances (which is never offered) and 20% off one pair of Ugg boots if you want to purchase one. (Ugg boots are apparently very much in demand and don’t go on sale).  There will be special store give-aways, store raffles of $500 gift cards and prizes, music, AND this is an opportunity for people to help TEA.  If TEA supporters visit Lord & Taylor on October 6th and turn in their tickets, we will be eligible to win thousands of dollars in additional money.

Hundreds of orchid plants are for sale, including many hard-to-find varieties. Visit these antique greenhouses and enjoy gorgeous floral colors, shapes, and scents. Among the many varieties on display and for sale are cattleyas, laelias, oncidiums, Paphiopedilum, and Phalaenopsis. Their long lasting and showy blooms make orchids a dramatic addition to any indoor environment and this adaptable species can be grown in a variety of home conditions. The sale will take place from 10 – 4 at the Lyman Estate Greenhouses in Waltham, Massachusetts, and is sponsored by Historic New England.  For more information and directions, log on to www.historicnewengland.org, or call 781-891-4882 (Susanna Crampton).

The Cambridge Center for Adult Education is pleased to announce a series of flower arranging seminars with the acclaimed Cass the Florist.  Ever wonder how to turn a bouquet of flowers from the grocery store or flowers from the garden into an elegant centerpiece? This course will teach you how to create your own beautiful flower arrangements. You will learn the essential elements and principals of floral design while creating three different arrangements. You will learn how to care for flowers to achieve long-lasting freshness, and how to select appropriate containers and flowers for the look you want to achieve. Seasonal flowers and foliage will be used and seasonal themes emphasized. This is a hands-on course and at the end of each class you will have a stylish arrangement to take home to enjoy or give as a gift. A materials fee of $30 (cash or check only) is payable at the first class. Limited to 10.
Sec. 01: 3 Mondays, 6:30-8:00 pm. Oct. 19 & 26, and Nov. 2, Meets in Watertown; Address sent to registrants | $83
Course Code: FCAB–1
Price:83.00

To register, log on to www.ccae.org.

Maine’s Blue Ribbon Classic agricultural fair will take place this year Sunday, October 4 – Sunday, October 11.  The West Oxford Agricultural Society, presenters of the Fryeburg Fair, was incorporated on June 3, 1851.  Originally, nine Maine towns were included, with six New Hampshire towns added in 1888.  After moving from town to town for the first few years, a permanent fair site was purchased in Fryeburg.  After nearly 30 years it moved to its present location, north of town, with the purchase of 26 acres for $133.  The first fair was held there in 1885.  Dyring the next 100 plus years it has expanded to 180 acres and includes 100 permanent buildings, with over 3,000 camping sites.  Currently, about 300,000 people attend the fair annually.

Attractions include 4-H riding horse shows, sheepdog trials, poultry and flower shows, fleece and fiber shows, Society Pig Scrambles (no, we don’t know what that is), tractor pulls, woodsmen’s field days (watch people throw axes!), Christmas tree exhibits, lamb shows, dairy goat shows, llama shows, draft horse shows, blueberry dessert contests, and wreath making demonstrations, but this is just a drop in the bucket of the hundreds of activities scheduled.  For complete information, log on to www.fryeburgfair.com. Tickets are $8 Sunday through Friday and the last Sunday, and $10 on Saturday.  Parking on grounds is $5.  For information call 207-935-3268.

The 62nd Annual Warner Fall Foliage Festival opens at 6 pm on Friday, October 9, continuing through 6 pm Sunday, October 11.  The Festival is Warner’s invitation to share the natural splendor of New Hampshire’s vibrant autumn colors while enjoying food, entertainment, arts and crafts along the main streets of Warner, located 18 miles northwest of Concord, exit 9 off Route 89.  The Festival is organized and operated by hundreds of local volunteers.  All money raised is spent on community projects.

The Program includes open class corn competitions, The Moose Exhibit “Forever Locked – The Battling Bull Moose of Fowlertown,” arts and crafts farmer’s market, pie eating contests, music, parades, and the Granite State Cloggers.  For directions and more information, log on to www.wfff.org.

Tower Hill Botanic Garden’s grounds contain many beautiful native trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants that are at their most vivacious in the fall. Blueberries and chokeberries around the Wildlife Pond will be in vivid fall dress, and winterberries will be ripening for winter migrating birds. Fine native grasses will be at their ripest on Sunday, October 18, beginning at 1 pm, in the Systematic Garden. Witch hazels will be glowing yellow around the Wildlife Garden. Garden Designer Dori Smith, M. Ed, of Gardens for Life in Acton, Massachusetts,  will seek out the best specimens in the garden’s collections to show you. She will discuss the special characteristics of native plants that make them good choices for your gardens, and how to create a palette of plants that will please you and the wildlife, year round. Fee $20 for Tower Hill members, $25 for non-members.  To register, log on to www.towerhillbg.org.

Experience the gardens of Paris as close up as you can hope for without being there.  Wellesley College Botanic Garden docent and former Paris garden tour guide Maureen Bovet provides us with her unique view of Paris’ most beautiful parks and gardens.  Maureen will show us well known historic parks – Luxembourg, Parc Monceau (pictured below, photo courtesy of Marcel Germain), Jardin des Plantes, Medieval Garden of Cluny Museum, and Parc des Buttes-Chaumont – as well as several exciting new Paris gardens – Parc de Bercy, Promenade Plantee and Andre Citroen, with their innovative urban park designs.  She will discuss French garden design and plant cultivation, along with the fascinating history of these parks.  The program will begin with tea at 2:00 pm, and the lecture follows at 2:30.  WCFH members $10, non-members $13.  To register, or for more information, log on to www.wellesley.edu/SCFH, or email horticulture@wellesley.edu.

The Galapagos Islands have always attracted the imagination of potential visitors for its landscapes, fauna and high number of endemic species.  A booming tourism industry coupled with a resident population explosion from mainland Ecuador has forced the World Conservation Union to include Galapagos in the World Heritage in Danger List.  In his recent trip to these islands (another tourist?), Eduardo del Solar spent considerable time with Galagueno educators interested in conservation and reform.  For this Thursday, October 8 presentation at Mass Audubon’s Boston Nature Center, 500 Walk Hill Street in Mattapan, beginning at 6 pm, he will use his photographs and the website he created to talk about issues that face this incredible site.  For more information, log on to www.massaudubon.org.

Dee Morris tells tales of Victorian animals – beloved pets and faithful workers – and tours animal sculpture throughout Forest Hills Cemetery, 95 Forest Hills Avenue, Jamaica Plain, on Saturday, October 3 beginning at 2:00 pm.  The walk is for sociable canines and their owners, but people without dogs (poor souls) are also welcome.  Dogs receive delicious treats from the Walk sponsor, Polkadog Bakery, and a certificate.  $10 for Forest Hills Educational Trust members, $12 for non-members.  For directions and more information, log on to www.foresthillstrust.org.

The Woods of the World permanent exhibit consists of 178 unique woods from all parts of the globe and hangs from the walls and ceiling near the north entrance of Lyman Plant House, 15 College Lane, Northampton, Massachusetts.

The wood samples on display have a clear protective finish but are not stained. Aging will change the colors over time.

Deforestation, poaching and global warming are placing many tree species at risk. It is only through sustainable harvesting, reforestation and habitat preservation that many useful and beautiful woods will be available for future generations.  The hours are 8:30 – 4:00 daily, closed Thanksgiving Day and December 23 – January 2.

Try Something New, like skating on artificial ice, on Saturday October 3rd at the Greenway Conservancy’s second annual fall festival in Dewey Square Parks. Tickle all of your senses at this free all-ages event with a farmers market and cooking demonstrations, local art, a carnival ride, Greenway and Harborwalk tours, treasure hunt, and multi-cultural music. Get your body moving with hula hoops, Nordic pole walking, and a laughter class…where everyone gets an A+.  For more information, log on to www.hellogreenway.org.

The New England Wild Flower Society is sponsoring a family program entitled Seed Safari – Study and Collect Seeds, on Thursday, October 8, from 3:30 – 5:30 at the Garden in the Woods in Framingham.  Seeds explode like grenades, shoot like cannons, stick like glue, float like feathers, all in an effort to disperse themselves.  Bonnie Drexler shows how to collect seeds from around the Garden and study them, using all of your senses as well as powerful stereo-microscopes.  Make a seed display to take home and plant some pots of wildflower, shrub, and tree seeds to sprout in the spring.  $12 for members of NEWFS, $14 for non-members.  Pre-registration is necessary.  You may phone 508-877-7630, ext. 3303, or email registrar@newenglandWILD.org.  For additional information log on to www.newfs.org.

Join Leah Bloom and the Boston Center for Adult Education (122 Arlington Street, Boston) for this hands-on trip to the Farmer’s Market, followed by a tasting of unusual fruits and vegetables and cooking demonstration, where you’ll learn to cook several colorful dishes with a bounty of farm fresh ingredients.  The cost is $45 plus a materials fee of $18.  BCAE members pay $39 plus the materials fee.  For more information, and to register, log on to www.bcae.org.

Hear two authors speak at the Boston Public Library Abbey Room, 700 Boylston Street, on Tuesday, October 6, beginning at 6 pm.  Meet the two men who are concerned about the environment, and about leaving as little impact on the environment as possible.  No Impact Man (a book and a movie) is a deeply honest and riveting account of the year in which Colin Beavan and his wife attempted to do what most of us would consider impossible: buy nothing, waste nothing, and reduce their carbon footprint to zero – while living with a young child in a 9th floor Manhattan apartment. He’s known as the guy who went a year without toilet paper.

In a persuasive and provocative challenge to established environmental thinking, David Owen’s Green Metropolis: Why Living Smaller, Living Closer, and Driving Less are the Keys to Sustainability challenges much of the conventional wisdom about being green and shows how the greenest place in the United States isn’t Portland, Oregon or Snowmass, Colorado, but New York, New York.  For more information, log on to www.bpl.org.