The Garden Club of the Back Bay

Join  the Friends of Christopher Columbus Park on Friday, November 13,  from 7 pm – 11 pm,  at the Boston Marriott Long Wharf, 296 State Street, Boston, for a wonderful 6th annual Gala to raise money to support the Christopher Columbus Park.  There will be a cocktail hour, dinner, dancing, & a silent auction.  The ticket price is $150, and you may reserve by emailing info@foccp.org, or logging on to www.foccp.org/Gala.html.

Join Blithewold Mansion, Gardens & Arboretum for their annual Garden Design Luncheon at the Rhode Island Country Club with Guest speaker William Cullina, Plant and Garden Curator for the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens.  A well known author (Native Ferns, Moss & Grasses,  Understanding Orchids) and recognized authority on North American native plants, Cullina lectures to gardens and professional groups.  The lecture price of $75 for Blithewold members, $80  for non-members includes a delicious lunch, and be sure to enter the raffle for exciting prizes, including a Boston get-away.  The date is Thursday, November 12, beginning at 10 am, at the Rhode Island Country Club, 150 Nayatt Road, Barrington, Rhode Island.  For more information, or to register, log on to www.blithewold.org, or email jmurphyedu@blithewold.org.

The Museum of Science will sponsor a lecture on Thursday, November 12 beginning at 7 pm entitled From the Farm to Your Plate.  What we eat and drink has significant ecological consequences.  Where does our food come from and how does it get to us?  What are “food miles”?  Learn how the production, packaging, and transportation of food affect our environment.  Consider how food is produced and transported in other countries and what we can do to reduce the environmental impact of food packaging and consumption on the local and national level.  Free.  For more information, call 617-589-4250, or email forumrsvp@mos.org.

The Old York Garden Club invites to public to attend its November meeting beginning at 1:00 pm on November 11 at the Fellowship Hall of the First Parish Church, 180 York Street in Old York, Maine.  Award winning master designer Mike Spanos will wow you with his unique approach to floral design.  His program is entitled “Fun with Flowers”.  He is a contributor and featured designer to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and is in the  midst of opening a fine arts gallery featuring works in various mediums by local artists.

EcoLogic will hold its Annual Benefit on Thursday, November 19, from 6 – 9 pm, at the Boston Center for the Arts, Carol Dean Rehearsal Hall, 539 Tremont Street in Boston.  Come discover how EcoLogic is promoting environmentally-friendly agriculture and making a positive difference for rural farmers in Central America. Plus, experience the taste of New England as local chefs present delectable dishes made with sustainably-grown ingredients.  You will be joined by Frances Moore Lappé, author of Diet for a Small Planet, as well as one of EcoLogic’s field staff, who will speak about how our work with agroforestry is helping both the environment and poor farmers.  Admission: $50 ($40 for non-profit staff) www.ecologic.org/greenag.

Back Pages Books, an independent new and used book seller located at 289 Moody Street in Waltham, will host author Ann Clifford on Tuesday, November 10, from 7 – 8 pm.   The author discusses Waltham’s own Stonehurst: an American Masterwork by Henry Hobson Richardson and Frederick Law Olmsted.

Waltham’s Robert Treat Paine estate, also called Stonehurst, is a wonder of architectural genius.  Come for a discussion of the history of Stonehurst, Paine, Olmsted, and Richardson with Stonehurst director Ann Clifford, whose stunning book on the estate captures for the first time the beauty of this Waltham jewel in writing and images.  For directions and more information, log on to www.backpagesbooks.com, call 781-209-0631, or email info@backpagesbooks.com.

Your holiday wreath order is just a few clicks away.  View pictures of a sampling of wreaths and bows from years past, print additional order forms, and actually order on line through PayPal, simply by clicking on the On Line Wreath Store link on the top of the page.  We still prefer the good old fashioned check (we do pay a small fee on each transaction to PayPal) but recognize that for many the convenience of ordering securely on line is a benefit.  Remember that if you live in the suburbs, you’ll have to pick up your order on December 9 or 10 at The First Lutheran Church of Boston, 299 Berkeley Street (on the corner of Marlborough and Berkeley) in the Back Bay.  If you have any questions about the wreaths or delivery and pick up, email info@gardenclubbackbay.org and we’ll get back to you.

Come to Dover on Sunday, November 8, from 11:30 am – 3:30 pm, when the Friends of the Dover Town Library present their Annual Holiday House Tour.  For over 20 years, Dover residents have opened their homes to the tour participants to raise money for various programs of the Dover Library.  This year there are four beautiful houses on the tour.  Local caterers and florists who are supporting the effort are Dover Market, Chiara, DessertWorks, and the Sherborn Inn, as well as Perennial Design, Flowers by Forte, Flowers by Design, the Powisset Garden Club, Chicatabot Garden Club, and the Dover Garden Club. You may purchase tickets  ($35) on line at www.dovertownlibrary.org.

The Upton 4-H applied for funding from the Upton Cultural Council, a local agency which is itself supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, in order to present a free screening of the movie FRESH on Tuesday, November 10, beginning at 6:30 pm at the Nipmuc Regional High School Auditorium, 90 Pleasant Street, in Upton, Massachusetts.

FRESH celebrates the farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are re-inventing our food system. Each has witnessed the rapid transformation of our agriculture into an industrial model, and confronted the consequences: food contamination, environmental pollution, depletion of natural resources, and morbid obesity. Forging healthier, sustainable alternatives, they offer a practical vision for a future of our food and our planet.

Among several main characters, FRESH features urban farmer and activist Will Allen, the recipient of MacArthur’s 2008 Genius Award; sustainable farmer and entrepreneur, Joel Salatin, made famous by Michael Pollan’s book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma; and supermarket owner, David Ball, challenging our Wal-Mart dominated economy.

Please bring non-perishable items and  grocery store gift cards for donation to local food pantries, as part of the MA 4-H Cares About Community Statewide Annual Food Drive.

Volunteer Horticulture Opportunities occur at the Rose Kennedy Greenway about once a month. The Greenway Horticultural staff is seeking daytime volunteers for various projects, ranging from deadheading to other horticultural activities.  Please contact Jennifer Potter at jpotter@rosekennedygreenway.org or (617) 292-0020 for more information.  For more volunteer opportunities, click on to “Volunteer Opportunity” on the left hand side of the Garden Club of the Back Bay home page to access all posts relating to hands on projects.

• This Thursday, experience two of fall’s best offerings direct from local farms: pumpkins and hot apple cider. Stop by the Market from 12:30-2 pm to let your creative juices flow and decorate a pumpkin from market regular, Keown Orchards. While you’re there, warm your senses with a sample of hot cider.
  
  All participants and market guests will receive a complimentary Greenway tote bag to carry home your masterpiece or market purchases. Pumpkin artists are welcome to take their creations with them. Any unclaimed pumpkins will be displayed for the day and composted later at an area farm.
  When: Thursday, October 29th,
  12:30 pm-2:00 pm
  Where: Dewey Square Plaza  Cost: Free

As New England’s landscape becomes increasingly developed, backyards are becoming a “final frontier” in providing essential habitat for at-risk pollinator species that play an integral role in the health of our environment. On Tuesday, November 17, beginning at 10 am, Garden Coach and Habitat Naturalist Ellen Sousa will explain how to help sustain and restore pollinator populations in your own back yard, regardless of its size or location. Learn to choose the best plants to help feed and shelter pollinators, and some best practices for encouraging biodiversity in your backyard.

Ellen Sousa is a writer, educator and garden coach living in Massachusetts’ Worcester Hills on Turkey Hill Brook Farm, a small farm registered with the NWF as a Certified Wildlife Habitat. She has a certificate in Native Plant Horticulture & Design from New England Wild Flower Society, a BA in English from Clark University, and is certified as a Master Habitat Naturalist from Windstar Wildlife Institute. She writes regularly about habitat gardening for magazines such as Massachusetts Wildlife, BackHome, Mother Earth News and Birds & Blooms Extra. Visit her web site and New England habitat landscaping blog at THBFarm.com. The lecture will be held at Tower Hill Botanic Garden in Boylston, Massachusetts on Tuesday, November 17, from 10 am – noon.  Fee is $15 for Tower Hill members, $18 for non-members.  To register, log on to www.towerhillbg.org.

Gardening became a popular pastime in nineteenth-century France when exotic plants began arriving in quantity and rapid advances were made in hybridizing.  At the same time, vast renovations to its boulevards and parks turned Paris into an urban garden. The Impressionist painters recognized and appreciated the new interest in horticulture and hastened to picture it, as this lecture at the Berkshire Botanical Garden in West Stockbridge will show, as a sign of their modernity.  Colta Ives is Curator Emeritus of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York where she has prepared exhibitions on Manet, Degas, Gauguin, Bonnard, and Van Gogh (see catalog cover below).  She has cultivated a woodland garden in Monterey, Massachusetts for more than thirty years and holds an M.S. in Landscape Design from Columbia University.  She is currently designing gardens in the Berkshires, Westchester County, and New York City. The date is Saturday, November 7, from 10 – noon, and the cost for BBG members is $16, non-members $21.  For more information, log on to www.berkshirebotanical.org.

The Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts presents a Horticulture Morning on Monday, November 16, beginning at 10 a.m. at The Espousal Center, 554 Lexington Street, North Waltham, Massachusetts (off Route I-95/128, Exit 27A Totten Pond Road).  Cathy Felton, Current Native Plants Chairman and organic garden expert, will speak on Maintaining Your Landscape – Naturally, using native and dry condition plants in the garden.  A donation of $5, payable at the door, is suggested.  To call for information on cancellations due to snow or storm, call 781-391-0261.  You may also contact Betsy Williams (betsy@betsywilliams.com) or Rita DeLollis (rdelollis@aol.com) for more information on Horticulture Mornings.

One of the country’s top gardening professionals, Janet Macunovich, is coming to Wellesley this month.  If you’re looking for inspiration and practical, how-to advice on improving the look of your garden or landscape, you’ll want to come hear what Ms. Macunovich has to say.

On Tuesday, October 27, the Massachusetts Master Gardener Association will present Ms. Macunovich’s talk on ‘Improving the Older Garden’.  It will be held at Elm Bank, the headquarters of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, in Wellesley.

Ms. Macunovich is a noted professional gardener, author and educator recognized for her engaging how-to presentations, innovative hands-on workshops and down-to-earth writing and speaking style.  Her goal is to help people get more out of gardening and to better enjoy their landscapes.  To that end, she takes the mystery out of gardening and garden design. She replaces it with practicality and fun.

Since 1990, Ms. Macunovich has written nine books and hundreds of how-to articles.  She uses experiences from her own gardens, clients’ gardens and a 5,000 square foot garden she designed and maintains at the Detroit Zoo where she is a 21-year veteran of that park’s Adopt-A-Garden program.  She has taught at Cranbrook House and Garden Auxiliary, Detroit Garden Center, Perennial Plant Association, and Matthaei Botanical Gardens.  Through sage observation and a deep well of experience, Ms. Macunovich offers gardening and landscaping advice that represents a specific, realistic approach for anyone who enjoys tending a garden.

Her education in horticulture includes extensive coursework through botanical gardens, professional associations and universities. She is an Advanced Master Gardener through Michigan State University, and owner-operator since 1981 of the garden design and maintenance company Perennial Favorites. In Michigan, where she lives, she is known as “the lady with the flower house, the one with no lawn.”

The entrance to Elm Bank is located at 900 Washington Street (Route 16), Wellesley, one mile west of Wellesley College.  Ms. Macunovich’s talk will begin at 7 p.m.  Admission is $25 and advanced registration is requested.  You can email your request to sonjajohanson@comcast.net.This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

The Massachusetts Master Gardener Association, Inc. is a non-profit educational organization whose mission is to share knowledge and experience with the public through outreach programs in education, horticulture and gardening; to provide the Master Gardening Training Program to interested members of the public; and to provide graduates of the Master Gardener Training Program with educational and practical opportunities to extend their knowledge and interests in gardening and related topics.

For more information, please contact Betty Sanders at 508-359-9453.

Victorian Flower Arranging with Donna Morrissey

Presented by The Gibson House

Sunday, November 15

3:00 – 5:00 pm

The College Club, 44 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston

Assorted fine teas, iced tea, mint lemonade, petite tea sandwiches,

fresh fruit, mini scones, tea breads and tea cookies will be served.

Tickets are $65.00**

Seating is limited.  Reservations are required.

RSVP: 617-267-6338 or email info@thegibsonhouse.org.

Donna Morrissey is a Master Flower Show Judge and former Chairman for Judges Council of National Garden Clubs.

She is a Senior Associate of the Museum of Fine Arts and a Floral Designer and Design Instructor at the MFA.

Donna is a member of the Garden Club of the Back Bay and the Wareham Garden Club. She is a popular presenter of Floral Design Programs and Workshops and has her own floral design business, Chestnut Hill Celebrations.

The Gibson House Museum is the only museum in Back Bay, preserved as it was lived in by three generations of the Gibson family (1859-1954). The house opened as a museum in 1957, and tells the story of daily life in the Back Bay during the mid-nineteenth to early twentieth centuries.  The Museum also displays its collection of Victorian and Edwardian decorative arts.
The Gibson House Museum is located at 137 Beacon Street, Boston, MA 02116. For more information, log on to www.thegibsonhouse.org.
**The Gibson House is a Massachusetts not-for-profit corporation. All but $23.00 of the cost of your ticket is tax deductible.

Come to Russell’s Garden Center in Wayland, Massachusetts on Thursday, November 12, from 4 – 8 pm, and enjoy Ladies’ Night, the annual event everyone looks forward to.  For more information, log on to www.russellsgardencenter.com.

Garden History Consultant Christie Higginbottom’s illustrated program at Fruitlands Museum in Harvard, Massachusetts on Sunday, November 1 beginning at 2 pm will explore the role played by apples at the table and on the farm landscape in the past, and will look at the revival of interest today.  The program is free with admission to the Museum.  For more information, log on to www.fruitlands.org.

Confused about when and how to prune your trees and shrubs?  Chuck Sherzi, Certified Arborist and Horticulturist, will help you sort that out.  Chuck will cover pruning practices, tools, and techniques.  He has taught classes and workshops at the Landscape Institute and the Arnold Arboretum.  This program, on Thursday, November 5, beginning at 7 pm, will take place at the Medford Public Library, 111 High Street, Medford, Massachusetts, and is sponsored by the Medford Garden Club.  The program is free and open to the public.  For more information, email sbcummer@msn.com.

Get rid of the paint, the aerosol cans, the chemicals, the works, on either Saturday, October 31 at the UMass Boston Boston Harbor Campus, 100 Morrissey Blvd. or on November 21 at the Boston Public Works Yard, 315 Gardner Street in West Roxbury.  Log on to www.cityofboston.gov/publicworks/recycling/hazardouswaste.asp for directions and a full list of items accepted. No televisions or computers, please, and bring proof of residency with you.

This just in  from our friend Penny Cherubino at www.bostonzest.com.  The directions on the City’s web site are wrong (ah, the government!), but Penny has posted the correct information at : http://www.bostonzest.com/2009/10/boston-hazardous-waste-collection-days-fall-2009.html