The Garden Club of the Back Bay

On Wednesday, September 22, MassHort and the Perennial Plant Association are teaming up to offer a day-long seminar titled, Exploring Design, Plant Selection, and Maintenance of the Mixed Border. Some of the best writers and creative plantsmen in the business will be here, and you’re invited to listen, learn and ask questions.

The speakers include Adrian Bloom (of Blooms of Bressingham); Kirk Brown, national director for the Garden Writers Association; Kerry Mendez, author of The Ultimate Gardener’s Top Ten Lists; Laura Deeter, professor at the Agricultural Technical Institute (ATI), The Ohio State University; Roy Diblik, co-owner of Northwind Perennial Farm located in Burlington, Wisconsin; and Brent Heath, co-owner with his wife, Becky, of Brent and Becky’s Bulbs.

The Program Schedule:

8:00 am – 8:45 am – Registration

9:00 am – 10:00 am – Sustainability and the American Dream, Kirk Brown, Joanne Kostecky Garden Design of Allentown, Pennsylvania

The United States is currently the single largest user of energy on the planet. Since GIs returned from WWII, we have been a nation of extremely successful consumers. When the oil spigots run dry, the bright lights of retailing dim, and the bank account’s empty, will we be able to adapt our search for the biggest and best? Kirk Brownwill disucss how we can we prepare our children and grandchildren for a world that should leave us naturally richer and ecologically healthier.

10:00 am – 10:30 am -  Break and Visit to the Elm Bank Gardens

10:30 am – 11:30 am – Designing for Four Seasons of Color – Hit the Easy Button,  Kerry Mendez, Perennially Yours, Ballston Spa, New York

Kerry Mendez will show you the tricks of the trade for having the WOW factor in your garden month after month with smart plant selection, design tips, and surefire maintenance shortcuts. And because it will be low maintenance, you will finally be able to ‘ease’ back in the ‘easy’ chair. Kerry is a “passionate perennialist” with more than 20 years of hands-on experience. As a garden consultant, designer, writer, teacher and lecturer, Kerry specializes in low-maintenance garden and landscape design that includes perennials, ornamental grasses, flowering shrubs, bulbs, and no-fuss annuals.

11:30 am – 12:30 pm – Bulbs as Companion Plants,  Brent Heath, Brent & Becky’s Bulbs, Gloucester, Virginia

Brent Heath will illustrate the best of the best – the right bulbs for the right spots. He will show how to combine bulbs, perennials, annuals, ground covers and flowering shrubs to create just the feeling you want to generate four seasons of color in your garden.

12:30 pm – 1:30 pm – Lunch

1:30 pm – 2:30 pm – Bloom’s Best Perennials and Grasses: Expert Plant Choices and Dramatic Combinations for Year-Round Gardens
Adrian Bloom, Bloom’s Nurseries Ltd,  Norfolk, England

From his long experience on both sides of the Atlantic in using hardy perennials and grasses together and with other plants for year round effect, Adrian Bloom will highlight some plants of great value for gardeners. He particularly believes there is much in the phrase less is more which can apply to the early or beginner gardener, and will develop his theme through 12 specially selected perennials and grasses for year-round interest.

2:30 pm – 3:00 pm – Break and Visit to the Elm Bank Gardens

3:00 pm – 4:00 pm – Perennial Plant Communities: The Know Maintenance Approach™,  Roy Diblik, Northwind Perennial Farm, Burlington, Wisconsin

Roy Diblik’s thoughtful way to design perennial plantings welcomes fresh contemporary styles and plant diversity integrated with responsible maintenance concerns. Using a selection of regionally dependable perennials, endless natural plant patterns can be constructed, each relating to time and cost to maintain. Roy has been growing plants for more than 25 years. Recently, Roy was the plant purchasing coordinator for the Lurie Garden in Chicago’s Millenium Park, growing 11,000 of the plants at Northwind. He was also very involved in the installation of the garden. He also installed the Sullivan Arch Garden for the modern wing of the Art Institute in Chicago.

4:00 pm – 5:00 pm – Bringing Your Perennials Up Right,  Dr. Laura Deeter, ATI Ohio State University, Wooster, Ohio

The day’s final speaker will be Dr. Laura Deeter,  whose lecture is entitled Bringing Your Perennials Up Right. Are you the parents of unruly toddlers, aggressive or lazy teenagers, or are your babies closer to middle age and just aren’t the same anymore? Perhaps they simply aren’t living up to their full potential. Learn how to make your perennial babies work for you! Laura will provide a fun and lively romp through perennial maintenance!

Registration Fee: $95/person before September 14. $110/person after September 14.  This price includes lunch.  You may register on line at www.masshort.org, or call 614-771-8431.

An extraordinary ‘two-fer’ for a great cause. Adrian Bloom is in America with a new book, Bloom’s Best Perennials and Grasses: Expert Plant Choices and Dramatic Combinations for Year Round Gardens. On the evening of September 23, you can meet and talk with Adrian in the extraordinary Cape Cod garden of Paul Miskovsky. Paul’s garden was recently the subject of a cover article in the Boston Globe’s Sunday magazine and is rarely open to the public.

Tickets are $150 per person for an evening of cocktails, hors d’oeuvre and conversation. To register, contact the Massachusetts Horticultural Society’s  reservation line at 617-933-4995.

In these 3 workshops at the Boston Center for Adult Education that can be taken individually or as a group on Saturday, September 25, students will learn how to select and design fresh flowers for a wedding. This will help save money, add a personal touch, and provide a creative unique experience on your wedding day.

Whether a centerpiece or a full wedding: wearable flowers, church or ceremony flowers, table flowers, bridal bouquets, you will cover all basic techniques. Instructor Laurie Marino will also provide complimentary phone support for questions after class.

Planning for your wedding? Your choice of flowers will enhance the uniqueness of the day. This workshop will cover seasonal considerations, themes, colors, and styles.

Hand-tied bouquets are one of the most popular and modern styles today. Using fresh flowers, ribbon, and embellishments to construct a unique bridal bouquet. This design is also used for bride’s maids and maid of honor bouquets. Step by step instructions will assist you in taking home a beautiful and fragrant bouquet.

This workshop will also discuss cascades and traditional bouquets. Pictures, recipes and secrets of a pro’s will be shared. Each workshop is priced at $38 plus $20 materials fee ($33 if a BCAE member). For complete descriptions of each workshop, log on to www.bcae.org.

The Country Fair at Hancock Shaker Village on Saturday and Sunday, September 25 – 26 from 10 – 5 celebrates the bounty of the harvest with agricultural demonstrations, wagon rides, a fabulous Farmers Market, and huge tents full of the work of the best local and regional crafters and artisans. Come out to the farm and see all the Country Fair has to offer. At the Country Fair, vendors fill the Village with delightful fresh produce, finished farm products, and crafts of all sorts. The Farmers Market tents boast vegetables, flowers, maple sugar treats and hand-made cheeses. Artisans have furniture, Shaker style oval boxes, original paintings, candles and hand-woven textiles available for purchase. Plan plenty of browsing time for this amazing marketplace! Don’t miss the Food Tent with area restaurants and brews! Try your hand as a Shaker Baker in our Country Fair Pie Contest – in 2009, thirteen pies were entered, and this year’s judges include New Yorker writer Susan Orlean, Berkshire Living editor Lesley Ann Beck, Berkshire Eagle executive editor Tim Farkas, and RuralIntelligence.com co-founder Marilyn Bethany.  A display of quilts in the Round Stone Barn ell has become an integral part of the Country Fair each year.  Over 60 antique and newly made quilts are displayed in this juried show, fine examples of craftsmanship and tradition. You can submit a quilt for exhibition.   Adults – $17, Children 13 – 17 – $8, Children under 12 and Hancock Shaker Village Members Free.  For directions and more information, log on to www.hancockshakervillage.org.

With the help of hundreds of volunteers, business and corporate sponsors, and its dedicated staff and board members, Community Servings prepare and deliver 3,340 lunches and dinners each week to the homes of almost 700 individuals and families who are homebound with an acute life-threatening illness.  In June 2009, Community Servings planted seedlings for its first herb garden in 100 feet of planters along the side of its building at 18 Marbury Terrace in Jamaica Plain. Community Servings needs a volunteer to come a couple of times each week to help weed, water and pick the herbs from the garden. Hours are flexible. This is a great opportunity for those in a Master Gardening program or anyone interested in learning more about gardening!

The herb garden is a project developed in partnership with The Growing Connection, a grassroots project developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. The herbs and arugula grown are added to free home-delivered meals for critically-ill neighbors and their families.  If you are interested please contact the Ashley Boyd, Volunteer Recruitment Coordinator at 617-522-7777 Ext. 228 or at aboyd@servings.org.

Find inspiration with the New England Wild Flower Society on Wednesday, September 22, from 10 – 1, at Ellen McFarland’s four-season garden in Westwood, Massachusetts, beautifully designed by Gary L. Koller with a series of garden rooms surrounding the converted carriage house/ barn. Mature plantings of trees and shrubs provide a backdrop for the interplay of color and texture from masses of perennials. A landscaped swimming pool with cascading waterfall adds a soothing note midway through the garden. This garden combines the best in design, plantings, and hardscape, seasoned with works of art. Then travel to Dover where you are invited to “enter and forget from where you’ve come.” This is the intention of designer Kevin Doyle for his garden visitors. Set on a rocky rise in Dover, “Cairn Croft,” unfurls down a slope, infused with beauty, plant texture, and moments of surprise and fun. Explore a woodland path, pond, wetland, formal parterre and driveway courtyard enhanced by elements of sculpture and garden art. The fee is $32 if you are a member of NEWFS, and $38 if you are not a member. To register, and for more information, log on to www.newfs.org.  Painting below by Leif Nilsson.

The New England Wild Flower Society and the Trustees of Reservations team up on Saturday, September 25, from 9:30 – noon, for an instructive class and walk at Long Hill in Beverly, Massachusetts. Our plant choices now extend beyond color and form. We seek plants that won’t escape into the natural community and, at the same time, provide valuable nourishment and habitat for birds, mammals, and insects. Learn about ecologically sound substitutes for invasives such as burning bush, Norway maple (below), and yellow flag iris. Following the lecture, Andrew Keys and the Trustees Horticultural Staff will lead a walk through the 6-acre Sedgwick Gardens, identifying native trees and shrubs thriving within the ornamental gardens and along the woodland edge.$22 for members of NEWFS or the Trustees, and $26 for non-members.  To register, log on to www.newfs.org.

Explore the different habitats of Plum Island with the New England Wild Flower Society and Instructor Frances Marsh on Sunday, September 19, from 9:30 am – 2:00 pm, and learn what grows where and why. We will investigate the salt marsh, dune, and beach communities, concentrating on forty to fifty distinctive (to the botanist’s eye) plant species. And if we see a bird or two, we will look at them as well. Bring a 10x hand lens, Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide, lunch, water, and if you have them, binoculars.  $36 for NEWFS members, $41 for non members.  Register at www.newfs.org – class limited to 15.

As a follow up to The New England Wild Flower Society’s spring course, “Wildflowers of New England,” this class highlights flora in the last stages of the growing season.

What fruits have been produced by spring wildflowers and how are they dispersed? What flowers are blooming in the fall and why? Which pollinators are active? The program includes a walk in the Garden, a power-point presentation to further illustrate the key points, and samples for dissection and close observation. References for fruits and winter ID provided. Bring Newcomb’s Wild Flower Guide and a 10x hand lens. $36 NEWFS member/$42 nonmember.  For more information, log on to www.newfs.org.

The Ecological Landscaping Association will present a program on Saturday, September 18, from 10 – noon, at the Perkins School, 175 North Beacon Street in Watertown. Join Eco-Tour guide, Sonia Baerhuk, for a tour and presentation of large-scale construction projects at the Perkins School. Sonia will discuss proven techniques for successfully navigating the challenges of large-scale construction while creating and preserving ecological landscapes. This tour will include procedures for protecting trees and shrubs during construction and will discuss transplanting using the air-spading method.  $20 for ELA members, $25 for non-members. Walk-ins also welcome. For more information: ela.info@comcast.net or (617) 436-5838.

Two diverse Lexington properties offer a wonderful contrast in garden content and gardening styles. Jim Jones, past president of the Rock Garden Society, began gardening with something of a “one of each” mindset. “Reality set in after a while, but not before I had accumulated quite a collection of oddball plants.” Recently, his focus has shifted to a week-by-week distribution of bloom across the seasons, with the fall portion dominated by native species. Carolyn Plourde’s garden was designed as a place of beauty for herself and her family with hardscape, a waterfall area, and large plantings. Over time, it has been reworked and expanded in many ways. Learn about “gutter” gardening between sidewalk and road, and how a flock of chickens can add delight to the garden and eggs to your basket. This tour, to be held Friday, September 17 between 10 am and 1 pm, is sponsored by the New England Wild Flower Society, and costs $32 if you are a NEWFS member and $38 if you are not. Register at www.newfs.org and you will receive directions to the gardens.

Enjoy this Ecological Landscaping Association walking tour through  eleven diverse and plentiful community gardens with our host, Betsy Johnson. Gardens include a wide range of sizes, designs, and plant material and are excellent examples of successful vacant lot restoration. The Sunday, September 26 tour will begin at 1 pm at the Berkeley Community Gardens on East Berkeley Street, between Tremont and Shawmut Streets in Boston.  The cost is $15 for ELA members and $20 for non-members.  Walk ins also welcome.  For more information, email ela.info@comcast.net, or call 617- 436-5838.

The New England Wild Flower Society, with the Wellesley College Friends of Horticulture, announce the upcoming tour The Secrets of Sichuan, to take place May 14 – 29, 2011.  This unique expedition to explore the flora, fauna, and culture of Sichuan will be led by Ted Elliman, leader of NEWFS botanical forays to China for many years.

The rhododendron will be in flower during this visit.  This is good news because China, a global center of diversity for many plant groups, supports more than 400 endemic species of rhododendron. Most of these grow in the Hengduan Mountain region, where the tour will be based.  You may not see them all, but if this is your first trip to southwest China, you will probably see more than you ever have before.  Wild mountain nature reserves are the focus of the journey.  Natural areas on the itinerary include Emei Shan, a revered and sacred 10,000 foot mountain with spectacular flora, Tanghiahe Nature Reserve, with dense broadleaved forests and a rich bird fauna, and Wanglang Nature Reserve, where subalpine conifer forests of spruce, larch and juniper grow up through understories of tall rhododendron and a sparkling array of forest wildflowers.  In Wanglang, at 11,000 feet elevation, the high elevation wildflowers will be blooming at and above timberline.  Tangjiahe and Wanglang are also home to wild populations of giant panda.

A major highlight will be a two day visit to Jiuzhaigou National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site of incomparable beauty, that is another great place to view and photograph spring wildflowers.  Jiuzhaigou is a valley complex of crystalline lakes and streams, connected by a superbly designed network of boardwalk trails.  Accessible parts range in elevation from 7,000 to 11,000 feet, and it is an ideal place to explore on foot.  Frequent shuttle buses provide ready access to the boardwalk trails.  Other stops will be Leshan, where a seated Buddha image 200 feet tall, carved from red sandstone, overlooks an auspicious river confluence, Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province, and Sanxingdui Museum.  For a complete itinerary, log on to  http://www.wellesley.edu/WCFH/Courses/Sichuan%20Brochure.pdf.  Trip fee is $3,945 per person, double occupancy, plus air fair of $1,195 from New York, round trip, through Betchart Expeditions, Inc.  Call Renee Apostolou at 800-252-4910 for additional information.

The Harold Parker State Forest is a large conservation area near Andover,  Massachusetts. This New England Wild Flower Society class, led by Don Lubin and Raymond Abair, will visit a southern section near a large pond, hills, and swamps, and see more than two dozen ferns and club-mosses. We anticipate the hybrid Ground Cedar club-moss, Ebony spleenwort (below), perhaps Fragile fern and a Woodsia, and a few hybrid Dryopteris. Wear long pants, and bring a lens if you have one. The date is Sunday, September 26 from 11 – 3, and the fee is $32 for NEWFS members and $36 for nonmembers.  To register, log on to www.newfs.org.

This September 25 and 26  in Washington, D.C., The Cultural Landscape Foundation will hold What’s Out There Weekend—the prototype for an annual, nationwide series of interpretive tours that focus attention on our country’s rich and diverse heritage of designed landscapes. The public will be able to visit any or all of 25 sites around Washington, D.C., to get free tours from expert guides.

The goal of the weekend’s activities is to raise awareness about the importance of Washington, D.C.’s astonishing and diverse historic designed landscape heritage and to educate the public about the individuals who designed them and the unique narratives behind their creation, ongoing care, and management. The landscapes span over 200 years of design, from L’Enfant’s Plan for the city to Dan Kiley’s plaza at the National Gallery of Art. Throughout the weekend there will be public guided tours, including a unique event at the U.S. Capitol Grounds; an insider’s view of some of Northwest D.C.’s most prominent estate landscapes and an introduction to Congressional Cemetery, one of our nation’s oldest designed cemeteries. TCLF’s What’s Out There Weekend partners, the National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution and D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation, will support sites all over the city, from the National Mall to Theodore Roosevelt Island National Memorial to Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens.

The What’s Out There Weekend initiative dovetails with the web-based What’s Out There, the first searchable database of the nation’s designed landscapes. What’s Out There Weekend extends the focus of the What’s Out There database, by creating a rich series of inspiring and educational events.

TCLF is proud to have the support of the National Park Service, the Smithsonian Institution, Dumbarton Oaks, and the Washington, D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation in hosting this first What’s Out There Weekend. TCLF also wishes to thank our Media Partner, Room & Board, and PNC Bank for their support.  For a complete list of sites, and registration information, log on to www.tclf.org.

The fields are overflowing! And thanks to the work of Chefs Collaborative and their RAFT Grow-Out, certain chef’s kitchens are the happy recipients of wonderful heirloom varieties of produce.

Chef Greg Griffie at 606 Congress has risen to the challenge of creating a five course vegetarian meal with wine pairings included. Slow Food Boston supporters will be gathering at the restaurant at 6PM on Wednesday, September 15th for this lovely meal. Can I hear a ‘Hurrah’ for local produce?

Cost for the evening will be $45 including the wine, with beer and cocktails available for an extra charge. There is limited seating, and registration and prepayment are required. If you’ve had the pleasure of attending one of the previous Slow Food meals at 606 Congress, you know that it will be sure to amaze your senses – so sign up today, on line at www.slowfoodboston.com!

Directions:
606 Congress is located in the Renaissance Hotel at 606 Congress Street in the Seaport area. There is lots of parking, and the Silver Line lets off just a few blocks away. Feel free to contact them with questions by phone: 617.476.5606 or on Facebook.

In conjunction with the American Horticultural Society’s 17th Annual Gala, taking place this year on Saturday, September 25 from 6 – 10 pm at River Farm in Alexandria, Virginia, the AHS is proud to announce its second annual online auction, “One on One with Great American Gardeners.” This is your chance to bid on an opportunity for you and three friends to spend time as exclusive guests of a prominent American horticulturist, botanic garden director, or landscape designer.  One such local experience will be hosted by Michael Dosmann at the Arnold Arboretum here in Boston. Visit www.ahs.org/auction for a sample of available experience options and more information about the auction.  The deadline to bid is October 25, 2010.

If you are interested in attending the gala, which includes an elegant formal dinner under the stars and silent auction, call Courtney Capstack at 703-768-5700, ex. 127, or email ccapstack@ahs.org.  The gala’s honorary chair is Laura Dowling, celebrated White House florist and owner of Interieurs et Fleurs in Old Town, Alexandria.  Laura and her floral arrangements have been featured on broadcasts on  Home and Garden Television and the Fox network morning news show, and in international publications such as the Journal di Dimanche (Paris).  The event is black tie, advance reservations only.  All proceeds from the gala and online auction benefit the stewardship of River Farm and the American Horticultural Society’s outreach and educational programs.

Trees are the dominant plant type of New England, with forests covering most of the land area. This six session New England Wild Flower Society and Arnold Arboretum survey course beginning Tuesday, September 28, taught by Karen Sebastian, addresses identification and natural history of individual species as well as forest ecology. Since understanding today’s forests requires familiarity with their history, we will review the changing landscape from the Ice Age through European settlement. Students learn to identify native New England trees and their habitats, to recognize different aged stands (pioneer, second growth, and other growth) and become familiar with forest communities of the northeastern temperate region. We’ll consider the natural conditions and human disturbance factors that produce different forest associations. Weekend field trips take us to a variety of forest types off-site. Bring a bag lunch and water for the field trips.  The fee is $176 for members of NEWFS or the Arboretum, and $204 for nonmembers.  For the complete schedule, log on to www.newfs.org.

Pete and Jen’s Backyard Birds, 159 Wheeler Road in Concord, will host a farm tour on Wednesday, September 1 as part of the Eastern Mass CRAFT program.  This is your chance to see the farm and how the owners manage their pasture dance throughout the many fields. Pete and Jen are small scale local growers of pasture-raised, premium quality meat and layer chickens, pigs, some sheep, and a few rabbits. They began with a first small flock of chickens in 2002 and have since expanded due to the growing interest and demand for high-quality, humanely raised meat and eggs. They currently sell most of their products by pre-order, through their mini-store in Concord, and to select restaurants in Boston.

Their goal is to grow healthy, happy and tasty animals for the local community while respecting the land and their wonderful animals. The tour is free and all questions are welcome and encouraged.  For more information, log on to www.peteandjensbackyardbirds.com.

Learn the art and craft of mosaics using natural colored pebbles. This Berkshire Botanical Garden two day workshop on Saturday and Sunday, September 11 and 12, will cover mosaic techniques on a 3 dimensional object. Consider materials, including adhesives, grout, mosaic materials and base surface. Participants will explore various design concepts for producing both abstract and patterned designs. Following a demonstration, complete a flower pot mosaic using techniques learned. (Students will let projects set overnight and complete them the following day. For those unable to attend the follow up session, instructions and material will be provided to finish at home.)

Judy Boschetti is an Educator at Berkshire Botanical Garden. She instructs youth activities at the Garden and is a serious home gardener. She is experienced in a wide range of garden crafts including mosaic making.  The cost ($40 for BBG members, $45 for non members) includes materials.  Bring heavy rubber gloves.  This workshop is suitable for beginners.  To register, log on to www.berkshirebotanical.org.