The Garden Club of the Back Bay

This one-day event on Wednesday, August 11, from 9:30 – 4:30, hosted by the Great Cranberry Island Historical Society, will include eight stops across this two-mile island. It will feature visits to two nineteenth century sea captain homes, a garden recognized by the Smithsonian, a visit to the Heliker-LaHotan Foundation artist residency program, musical events throughout the day in a church built in the 1860′s, an art show, and access to a mile-long hiking trail leading to the back shore of the island with panoramic views of Acadia. There is a cafe at the Historical Society’s Cranberry House. Tickets for the tour (including round trip ferry, but not lunch) are $35 per person in advance ($20 tour, $15 reduced-fare ferry), or $49 the day of the tour ($25 tour, $24 normal ferry fare.)  For more information and directions call Morrie Newell at 847-732-1777, or log on to www.gcihs.org.  The website also has the ferry schedules to Great Cranberry Island from both Northeast Harbor and Southwest Harbor (Upper Town Dock and Manset Cranberry Isles Dock).

Insects provide a wealth of information about the environment in which they are found. In this class, to be held Wednesday, August 11 from 5:50 – 7  in the Hunnewell Building of the Arnold Arboretum in Jamaica Plain with Sue Pfeiffer, you will tune in to insects in the landscape, learn about their life stages, and see how paying attention to their actions and population numbers can guide horticultural maintenance. Sue, who has helped collect insects to assist integrated pest management efforts as well as visiting entomologists at the Arnold Arboretum, will give a brief overview of insect anatomy, their life cycles, and describe the major insect families and their identifying characteristics. She will demonstrate how to assess a population as well as various methods of attracting, capturing, and collecting insects. She’ll also show how to preserve and display some of these complex and delicate beauties. In the process you will gain an appreciation for these creatures, whether beneficial, damaging, or simply irritating. Note: this is not a class on integrated pest management.  Fee $20 Arnold Arboretum member, $25 nonmember.  To register, log on to www.arboretum.harvard.edu.

Over the years of working on her Roxbury farm, Patti Moreno, the Garden Girl, has revolutionized both the phrase and the concept of urban sustainability. During this Thursday, August 19 soiree, participants will have the opportunity to tour the farm, hear from Patti herself, and enjoy a five course dinner created from the harvest of the farm by Chef Nadine Nelson. Nestled quietly on Highland Park/Fort Hill, the Garden Girl’s farm is a tranquil and beautiful setting to enjoy a healthy meal under the setting sun. The menu for the dinner will be released a few days before the event. Limit 40 people. Garden Girl Farm, 88 Lambert St RSVP ($50 individual/$80 couple) at www.discoverroxbury.org.

In this continuation of Wellesley College’s free series of family explorations, come to the Butterfly Garden at Wellesley on Sunday, August 15, beginning at 1:30 pm, for a session with Wellesley College Visiting Scholar Katie Griffith.  Learn, observe and record pollinators seeking nectar rewards.  Photo below by Alice Russell.  Pre-registration is required.  Call 781-283-3094, or email horticulture@wellesley.edu.

Warren Leach, Co-Owner of Tranquil Lake Nursery in Rehoboth, will speak at Highfield Hall, 56 Highfield Drive in Falmouth, on Thursday, August 12 at 10 am.  Warren Leach is an award winning landscape horticulturist who creates enduring garden designs for customers’ homes or businesses.  He has written articles for American Nurseryman on national and spoken at regional events ranging from Brown University and Swarthmore College presentations at several prominent flower shows, to a guest appearance on PBS’s Victory Garden.  He will share how to think about the structure of your garden and the importance of having a plan.  By paying attention to palette, sequence and seasonality, you can develop a winning garden.  $5 suggested donation.  For information, log on to www.highfieldhall.org.

Since you will already be at Highfield Hall, 56 Highfield Drive in Falmouth on Thursday, August 12 listening to Warren Leach, stick around, since at 11:00 am  Judy Larocque, Garden Tutor, Judy’s Garden, will speak on Creating a Butterfly-Friendly Environment. Judy’s horticultural education began at the New York Botanical Gardens.  Since then she has worked at a number of well-known garden centers, including Lexington Gardens and Mahoney’s Garden Center, and teaches on gardening topics regularly at both the Falmouth and Sandwich Community Schools.  She will offer helpful tips on identifying butterflies in your back yar  – how to attract them and how to help them propagate. Judy will also cover the three part environment they need to thrive: for the catepillar stage, for nectar and rest, and for laying eggs.  Be prepared to be surprised as to which plants are most amicable to butterflies for each of these stages.  $5 suggested donation.  Log on to www.highfieldhall.org for more information.

The Master Gardeners of Monroe County and the Rochester Museum and Science Center in Rochester, NY will present a Gathering of Gardeners 2010: A Garden of Glamour on Saturday, September 11, from 8 – 4.  The programs feature nurseryman Bill Hendricks and garden consultant (and past Garden Club of the Back Bay speaker) CL Fornari.  All presentations take place in the Eisenhart Auditorium of the Rochester Museum & Science Center.

Bill Hendricks will speak about Shrubs for the Mixed Border – Great Complement to Perennials, and Dwarf Conifers, an Investment in Garden Treasures. CL Fornari’s topics are The Top 25 and Myths, Lies, and the Latest Dirt.  There will also be a raffle, book signings and sales, and a parking lot sale.

Bill Hendricks has been president of Klyn Nurseries in Perry, Ohio since 1987. He is a member of the American Nursery & Landscape Association and International Plant Propagator’s Society. Bill taught a plant material course at Cleveland State for 20 years, and provided review for publications including Handbook of Landscape Tree Cultivars and Landscape Plants for Ohio. He demonstrated his horticultural interest as early as age 9, starting a cactus & succulent collection ultimately including over 3,000 species as an ongoing hobby.

Bill has received several professional awards for his extensive contributions to the green industry, and is the source of numerous photos featured in professional horticultural publications. Klyn Nurseries has more than 430 acres of fieldstock and container plants, listing more than 1,600 varieties in its catalog.

CL Fornari is a Massachusetts free-lance garden consultant providing help with garden design, plant selection, and insect/disease concerns while concentrating on low-maintenance landscaping and least-toxic solutions to problems. A life-long grower of flowers, vegetables, shrubs and trees, she is a popular speaker at events like the New England Flower Show and Philadelphia Flower Show and has taught at the New York Horticultural Society.

She is the author of works including Your Garden Shouldn’t Make You Crazy, A Garden Lover’s Martha’s Vineyard, A Garden Lover’s Cape Cod, and Gardening in Sandy Soils, many illustrated with her photos. CL has served as a volunteer Master Gardener with the Barnstable Cooperative Extension Service and as a seasonal employee at Hyannis Country Garden working with annuals and propagation of perennials. She believes that the lessons learned in the garden are relevant to work, relationships, spirituality and personal growth. CL shares her plant and garden experiences at her website, gardenlady.com, authors the Whole Life Gardening blog, and hosts the “GardenLine” – call-in program on WXTK radio.

Tickets are $48, with a $5 discount if registration is postmarked by August 1.  You may download a registration form by logging on to www.gatheringofgardeners.com.  An optional box lunch is available for $11 (specify veggie wrap, tuna or turkey.)  All proceeds from this event will be used by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Monroe County to support future horticultural education programs.

Mark your calendars, call your friends, and order your advance tickets for the 2010 Merryspring Kitchen Tour on Wednesday, August 4.  This year’s Tour showcases innovative kitchen design and innovative garden cuisine that you won’t want to miss.  Because the Kitchen Tour is the major fundraiser of the year for Merryspring Nature Center, 30 Conway Road, Camden, Maine, your ticket purchase supports the park year round.   Merryspring is a non-profit, privately-owned 66 acre park and education center in Camden and Rockport, Maine, with nature trails and gardens open to the public every day, free of charge.  This member supported organization offers talks, classes and workshops throughout the year.  Advance price $25, $30 day of Tour.  You may visit any individual kitchen for $10.  You may order tickets by calling 207-236-2239, or by emailing info@merryspring.org.  For a complete listing of venues, log on to www.merryspring.org. Photo courtesy of Country Living magazine.

Join honorary chairs The Honorable Governor Deval L. Patrick and First Lady Diane B. Patrick, and The Honorable mayor Thomas M. Menino and First Lady of Boston Angela F. Menino, and The Esplanade Association on the banks of the Charles River to celebrate the Esplanade’s 100th year of nature, culture and recreation.  A spectacular evening on the Esplanade will support the vital programs and projects of The Esplanade Association, including Children in the Park, Kids Fishing Club, Dancing Under the Stars, Yoga on the Esplanade, Four Season Walking Tours, Esplanade 2020, Community Boating Dock Replacement, Tree Care and Turf Improvement, Park Amenities, Historic Granite Landings Restoration, Esplanade Collection (Tree Adoption, Bench Sponsorship and Flower Planting).

The Arthur Fiedler Achievement Award will honor Maestro Keith Lockhart, Conductor of the famed Boston Pops. Sponsorship opportunities ranging from $25,000 – $3,000 are available, and individual tickets are $750.  For more information, please contact June Mattioli at 617-227-0365, or email jmattioli@esplanadeassociation.org.

Part of every Shaker’s day was the family meal where the brothers and sisters all gathered at the same time to enjoy hearty and delicious fare. In keeping with tradition, it is Raven Hill Orchard’s goal to recreate this feeling of warmth and camaraderie. A typical Shaker meal might consist of soup, meat, bread, several kinds of vegetables, and at least one dessert. Pie and applesauce were often part of every meal.

In keeping with the Shaker Spirit, on July 31st and August 1st The New England Farm 2 Fork Project and Shaker Chef Sebastian Carosi will offer a multiple course Shaker Supper composed of sustainable local ingredients harvested at their peak.  The evening will kick off with a New England artisan and farmstead cheese social (Grafton classic cheddar, Pineland Farms jack, Vermont chevre) then take diners on a five course meal accompanied by traditional Shaker spiced concord grape drink and Shaker squash rolls with whipped local creamery butter.   There will be crisp local buttermilk soaked Maine barnyard chicken livers on toast with oak aged black vinegar cream, young rocket (arugula) and pickled orchard apple salad, country fried American bourbon red turkey breast with sour cream mashed potatoes, creamed corn misaquatash (and no, we don’t exactly know what that is), orchard smoked mountain trout, low bush blueberries, sabbathday heirloom herb rubbed Berkshire pork tenderloin with bacon fat spinach, chow chow, smoked ham hock, stewed heirloom Maine white beans, and some sugar therapy.  $45.  For reservations and directions, call 207-459-4271, or log on to www.thenewenglandfarm2forkproject.com.  Raven Hill Orchard is located at 255 Ossipee Hill Road in East Waterboro, Maine.

Martin Luttrell of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette has posted the following announcement, which may be found in full at www.telegram.com:

Shortly after earning her economics degree at George Washington University, Fitchburg native Emily V. Driscoll set her sights on science journalism, getting a master’s degree and setting to work as a documentary film maker.  And after producing a number of short-form documentaries as a member of a production company, she returned to Central Massachusetts to document the efforts to eradicate the Asian longhorned beetle.

Bugged: The Race to Eradicate the Asian Longhorned Beetle, is the first science documentary Ms. Driscoll has directed. It will be shown in Worcester and Fitchburg next month.  Ms. Driscoll, 29, said she began interviewing sources for the project in September and finished editing the 24-minute piece in June.

“I want to spread awareness of the Asian longhorned beetle in America, and the extraordinary efforts at eradication,” she said in a telephone interview from her home in New York City. “I want people to understand the gravity of the situation, and the efforts that go into containing it.”

The Asian longhorned beetle destroys trees by boring holes through them, and some officials are concerned that they are endangering trees and forests throughout New England. The infestation area in and around Worcester now covers 74 square miles, where more than 25,600 trees have been cut down.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has put up $41.5 million to expand the eradication project this year, and officials with that government department have said they are optimistic that eradication should succeed over the next 10 years.

Ms. Driscoll, who moved from Fitchburg to New York City while in elementary school, received her economics degree from George Washington University in Washington, D.C., in 2002, and her master’s degree in science journalism from New York University in 2007. She is now working toward a master’s in science documentary production at the Gallatin School, a school of individual study within NYU.   The film will be shown at the Worcester Public Library at 2 and 6 p.m. Aug. 4. Ms. Driscoll will not be present for those screenings, but will be on Aug. 6 in Fitchburg. That screening will take place at Riverfront Park, at a time to be announced.

INGREDIENTS is a feature-length documentary illustrating how passionate individuals around the country are working to revitalize the local food movement. Narrated by Bebe Neuwirth, the film takes us across the U.S. from the diversified farms of the Hudson River and Willamette Valleys to the urban food deserts of Harlem and to the kitchens of celebrated chefs Alice Waters, Peter Hoffman and Greg Higgins. INGREDIENTS is a journey that reveals the people behind the movement to bring good food back to the table and health back to our communities. The film will be shown on Thursday, July 29, at the Coolidge Corner Theatre, 290 Harvard Street in Brookline.For more information, please visit: http://coolidge.org/greenscreens .  The ticket price is $9.75.

Don Lubin and Ray Abair of the New England Wild Flower Society have offered this workshop annually since 1999, but never before in Maine. They begin with a review of our fern flora, the 68 species that are native to New England. After an introductory discussion, they display photographs, drawings, and frond silhouettes. Field ID techniques are reviewed.  An outdoor field session follows with a  visit to many ferns on the Delta Institute property, located in Bowdoin, Maine, then Lycopodiella club-moss (below)  and other taxa at a nearby quarry. Geared to students with some experience and comfort in fern taxonomy. Bring a bag lunch and a hand lens.  The class will be held Sunday, August 15, from 10 – 4:30, and will cost $72 for NEWFS members, and $85 for nonmembers.  Register at www.newfs.org.

Join scientist Jessica Rykken in collecting and examining bugs native to the Boston Harbor Islands on Saturday, August 7, beginning at 12:15 am. This trip to Spectacle Island will leave from 1 Long Wharf, and is free.  Recommended for adults and for children ages 10 and up (and the non-squeamish). For more information, log on to www.bostonharborislands.org, or call 617-223-8108.  You may also email Rebecca Smerling at rsmerling@islandalliance.org.

Landscape historian Marta McDowell talks about Charles W. Eliot II, one of the country’s pre-eminent landscape architects, who designed the Colonial Revival garden at Nickels-Sortwell House, on Sunday, August 8, from 3 – 4:30 at the Nickels-Sortwell House in Wiscasset, Maine.  For more information, call 207-882-7169, or log on to www.historicnewengland.org.  $5 Historic New England members, $10 non members – registration required. Co-sponsored by the Maine Humanities Council.

Rich, juicy summer tomatoes are perfect in entrees, sandwiches, and side dishes alike. Take advantage of the bounty of summer with terrific seasonal recipes using beefsteak, Roma, and cherry tomatoes. Prepare homemade marinara sauce, Provencal tomato tart,  oven-roasted tomatoes, fresh Italian salsa cruda,  Mexican salsa, and tomato-basil vinaigrette, while enjoying wines that go with the meals. Also, make several sandwiches, including marinated tomatoes and feta cheese on a French baguette. The $38 tuition ($20 for BCAE members) is in addition to a $16 materials fee for food. The class will take place at the Boston Center for Adult Education, 122 Arlington Street, and is scheduled for Friday, August 13,  from 6 – 9 pm.  To register on line, log on to www.bcae.org.

If vegetarian cooking conjures up images of tofu and paltry meat substitutions, Plenty will change those thoughts. Written by Yotam Ottolenghi, one of the UK’s most celebrated chefs, Plenty is based upon Ottolenghi’s weekly Guardian newspaper column “The New Vegetarian” and offers inspired, modern, flavorful and satisfying recipes.  While not a vegetarian (something that shocked many readers), Ottolenghi is the chef of an enormously popular restaurant in north London and is revered for his Mediterranean flavors and skillful, inventive way with ingredients.  Stir, at 102 Waltham Street in Boston, will hold three separate cookbook class sessions on August 10 – 12, beginning at 7 pm, and each participant will receive a copy of the book.  $155.  To reserve, call 617-423-STIR, or log on to www.stirboston.com.

There is a lot of concern today about invasive plants, but many were intentionally introduced because of their horticultural value. How do we define invasive and how did these plants get into our landscape? See examples in the Arnold Arboretum landscape and gain a better understanding of this issue. Led by Docent Marty Amdur on Saturday, August 7, from 1 – 2:30 pm, this program is free. No registration required.  For more information, log on to www.arboretum.harvard.edu.

Blithewold invites you beyond the garden gate to tour this charming local property on Sunday, August 8, from 2 – 4 pm. As part of a small and informal group, discover the Garden of Louis Raymond’s story and distinct collection of plants. See the landscape through the eyes of the owner and come away with new ideas and a fresh perspective. Each Intimate Garden Tour is unique, but all afford the opportunity to explore and ask questions.

Garden designer Louis Raymond has been at work on his own gardens, in Hopkinton, RI for thirteen years. The property is only an acre and a half, but appears much larger because it is almost five hundred feet deep and comparatively narrow. The 18th Century house is right out at the road, typical for its era, which handily leaves the majority of the property free for the gardens. They are Louis’s wild experiment, where he is free of the need for the realistic levels of practicality, economy, and functionality that typify his projects for his clients.

At home, untold hundreds of plants — tender and hardy, easy and challenging — fill the vast mixed borders and crowd around the dining terrace. Complex espaliers and hedges-to-be divide up the property, while bluestone and grass create a network of long pathways that bring it all somewhat closer to hand. It’s the project of a lifetime!

Check out how his garden has been doing at www.renaissancegardening.com/gar_louis.html
and at his blog, www.DirtOnTheKeys.blogspot.com.

*In the case of heavy rain, participants will be notified of cancellations by phone. If you do not hear from us a few hours before the program start, the program will run as scheduled.

Directions to the site will be mailed a few weeks prior to the tour. Light refreshments will be available. Registration is limited and required in advance.$30 Blithewold members, $35 non-members. For more information call 401-253-2707, or email jmurphyedu@blithewold.org.

Join the Massachusetts Horticultural Society for the Annual Massachusetts Marketplace Festival on Saturday, August 7, from 10 to 4, at Elm Bank Horticulture Center.  The event will feature the finest products from the region’s fields, farms, gardens and kitchens, with over 60 vendors offering new and locally produced food products, crafts, garden ornaments and gifts.  There will also be a plant sale and garden tours.  Admission is $6 for adults, $4 for MassHort members, and $2 for children under 12.  Tickets are available on site the day of the event.  Massachusetts Marketplace Festival is produced by MassHort with in-kind support from the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources and the Massachusetts Specialty Food Association.  For more information, log on to www.masshort.org, or call  617-933-4981.