2012 marks the 100th Anniversary of the original gift of cherry trees from Japan to the United States in 1912. Planted at the Tidal Basin of the Potomac River in the nation’s capital and supplemented with more cherry trees over the years, the blossoming cherry trees of Washington DC have become a national treasure and attract hundreds of thousands of viewers to the “Cherry Blossom Festival” along the Potomac each spring. Japan will mark this Centennial with new gifts of cherry trees to Washington and to a number of other American cities, Boston among them. The Consulate General of Japan in Boston will arrange ceremonial cherry tree plantings in many Boston parks and public places. To accompany the new cherry trees, planning is now underway for a rich festival of Japanese cultural events in Boston, beginning in March 2012 and spanning more than three springtime months. Highlights of this festival include the events listed below. Many, many more festival events will be added during the coming weeks and months. For detailed information, schedules, details, and ticketing, please keep checking this website: www.japansocietyboston.org.

An Evening of Kabuki Dance
March 27: Paramount Theater, Boston
A spectacular presentation of classic dance pieces from the
Kabuki repertory, featuring Kabuki star performer Kotoji Bando.
(Presented by The Japan Society of Boston)

Anime Boston
April 6-8, Hines Convention Center, Boston
New England’s Largest Annual Celebration of
Japanese animation, comics and pop culture.
A not-to-be-missed festival and trade show of Anime art and publications.
Thousands attend, many in incredible anime costumes!

Boston Gagaku Concert
“From Centennial to Millennial Spring”
April 9, Boston Symphony Hall, Boston
The Kitanodai Gagaku Ensemble and
Members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra
will perform music by Tchaikovsky, and Gagaku
traditional Japanese Court Music.

Japan Society Annual Dinner
April 18, Westin Boston Waterfront Hotel, Boston
The Japan Society of Boston’s single largest annual gala event.
Keynote Speaker: Mr. Kazuo Inamori (Chairman of Japan Airlines and Founder/Honorary Chairman of Kyocera Corporation). Other guests of honor will include Japan’s internationally acclaimed wheelchair marathoner Ms. Wakako Tsuchida.

The Kioi Sinfonietta
May 1, Sanders Theater, Cambridge
Japan’s celebrated chamber orchestra will present a single concert appearance at Harvard’s beautiful Sanders Theater
(Presented by The Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies, Harvard, & The Japan Society of Boston).

The Beauty & Mystery of Japanese Textiles
May 2, Remis Auditorium, The Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Reiko Sudo, Japan’s brilliant textile designer and founder
of the world famous NUNO textile shop will speak on the transformation of traditional Japanese textiles into
contemporary works of art.
(Presented by the MFA and The Japan Society of Boston as the 2012 Rad Smith Program in Japanese Art)
________________________________________

Many other “Sakura Festival” events in Spring 2012 will include exhibits, performances, demonstrations, receptions, concerts, film programs, and symposia.

Join the Philadelphia Horticultural Society at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, 12th and Arch Streets in Philadelphia, for the 2012 Philadelphia International Flower Show.  This year, the theme is Hawaii: Islands of Aloha.  Complete information and ticket purchase capabilities may be found at www.theflowershow.com. The 2012 Philadelphia International Flower Show will introduce visitors to a tropical experience that blends next-stage digital technology with the natural beauty and rich culture of the Hawaiian Islands. Guests will have fun, learn, and be wowed by real-time floral competitions, the world’s largest lettuce wall, internationally renowned speakers, and a new layout of displays.

Guests will enter the Show beneath dynamic projections of crashing waves and one of the most exciting displays of white orchids ever assembled. Towering palms, bamboo, green walls, and a plant canopy will immerse visitors in the Hawaiian rainforest.

A 25-foot-high waterfall will splash down into Pele’s Garden, an island of exotic flowers and plants where performers will conjure volcanic flames and the Fire Goddess. The islands will be celebrated in showcase gardens that highlight their culture through flowers and landscapes, performances and art.

Gardeners of all skill levels will find an ocean of ideas in the 150 free presentations held throughout the week, as well as dozens of educational displays that explore the latest gardening techniques and trends.

Shoppers will find an array of take-home products to get the garden started and wonderful gifts in the Marketplace, Meadowbrook Farm Store and Flower Show Shoppe. A Hawaiian Village will offer authentic crafts and products from the islands.

American history is replete with visionary, inspired and willful patrons who supported and shaped beloved and nationally significant estates, parks, plazas and other civic amenities across the country.

The Cultural Landscape Foundation announces the 2012 Landslide®: Landscape and Patronage call for nominations. Landslide, the annual thematic compendium of threatened and at-risk landscapes, in 2012 will focus on those people and/or organizations and the sites they helped create. The goal is to celebrate their accomplishments and inspire new generations of patrons and philanthropists. The landscapes that surround us everyday shape our communities and the people living in them — help bring attention to these sites and the individuals who shaped their creation by nominating an at-risk cultural landscape.  Deadline is May 31! Submit a nomination on line at www.tclf.org.  Below is a photo of A.D. Taylor and John D. Rockefeller, Jr. at Forest Hills Park, Ohio.

Garden Club of the Back Bay member Susan Ashbrook brought this Copley Square competition to our attention. SHIFTBoston is asking artists, architects, urban planners, sculptors, lighting designers, and landscape architects around the world to envision a new approach to activating Copley Square in Boston with a lighting installation. In their GLOW Competition, SHIFT is looking for proposals which will make the space one of the greatest squares in the world to visit at night. Teams are invited to enter, and winners will be given two months to work with a professional from Boston Light Source to develop lighting specifications for their proposal. In April, a jury will review the three final proposals and select the one that is most technically feasible and suitable to the overall program goal. The winning proposal will be featured as part of the upcoming Fairmont Copley Plaza Anniversary celebration and planned for installation in 2013. Entries are due by February 3, 2012. All eligible entries will be promoted on the SHIFTboston blog and website and will become part of the SHIFTboston GLOW book in 2012. The international jury includes the following:

- Ana Bassat: Architect, Principal of b720; Barcelona, Spain
- Helmut Bien: Director of Luminale and Luminapolis.com; Germany
- Bill Kenney: General Manager of Copley Place Simon Property Group; Boston, MA
- Mark Loeffler: Lighting Designer, Director of Atelier Ten; New Haven CT
- Otto Piene: Painter, Artist, Lighting sculptor; Groton MA
- Nader Tehrani: Principal of NADAAA, Boston MA
- Paul Zaferiou: Lighting Designer, Principal of Lam Partners; Boston MA

The Garden Club of the Back Bay has taken no official position on the appropriateness of additional lighting in Copley Square, but is in conversation with The Friends of Copley Square, The Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay, and local government officials reviewing the proposed competition.

Garden Club of the Back Bay representative to The Friends of Copley Square, Bev Christians, has reminded us to remind all our readers of the tree situation at Copley Square.  She and fellow Club member and representative Rita Christensen have been working hard with the Friends group to find a solution to the dead and dying trees.  Bev writes:

A number of Garden Club members who are concerned about the diseased trees in Copley Square have asked about joining the Friends of Copley Square at this time of year when charitable contributions are made.  Please note that the Friends have set up a designated account to receive monies for tree care and replacement.  When you join, mark the check memo “Tree Fund.” Thus far, Garden Club memberships in FOCS have paid for fertilizer and biotic stress treatment to fortify blighted trees.Your memberships truly count, especially right now.  Mail your check for $50 for individual membership or $500 Singleton Society (special events) to Friends of Copley Square,  P.O Box 170124, Boston, MA 02117-0084.  

Visit www.friendsofcopleysquare.org to join or donate on line with PayPal, if you prefer.  Copley Square has, in the past, been a site for First Night ice sculptures, and in the dead of winter, the tree damage goes unnoticed.  When spring arrives, however, the extent of the problem will be readily apparent.  Please give generously.

You have many wreath buying options during the holidays, and may wonder why you should spend, say, $30 for a standard wreath with a bow when you can buy a wreath with a bow at the supermarket for less.  Our good friends Penny and Ed Cherubino, who among their many talents maintain www.BostonZest.com, created a video of our Wreath Co-Chair, Margaret Pokorny, who demonstrates how to make a bow.  We must point out a few important facts.  First, the fabric ribbon we use, a minimum of 2 1/2″ wide, is of the highest quality and is wired on the edges.  You really cannot create our bows with paper ribbon, and if the ribbon isn’t wired, you’ll have something very floppy in hand.  Second, while Margaret makes this look easy, a certain amount of hand strength is needed to twist the loops together tightly.  It may take Margaret five minutes to make a bow – it takes most of us a bit longer.  Ribbon costs vary widely, but we assure you, we’re not making a big profit from the sale of bows.  As you can see from our wonderful wreath pictures, however, the bows are a major design statement, and we won’t send out any wreath with a substandard bow.  That’s why you pay what you pay.  To order, click here.  To view the terrific video, click below to visit this YouTube address:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Od4RWBu6sw

This season’s Leaf & Yard Waste Collection in Boston begins Monday, October 17 and continues through Friday, December 2.  Place leaves or waste in large, paper leaf bags or open brrels marked “Yard Waste.”  Remember that branches must be cut to a three foot maximum length, 1 inch maximum diameter, and be tied with string.  Place leaves and yard waste out behind your building on your recycling day.  For more information, call the Mayor’s 24 hour hotline, 617-635-4500.  Check the City of Boston website as well:  www.cityofboston.gov/publicworks.

Susan Ashbrook alerted us to a very interesting blog, The Captive Reader, and three postings of gardening classics which are well worth examining.  Some listings and reviews will be well known to many, such as Anna Pavord’s excellent The Curious Gardener: A Year in the Garden, while others are ripe for discovery, such as Weeds: A Cultural History, and Four Hedges by Clare Leighton.  Find links to all three garden book installments at http://thecaptivereader.wordpress.com/2011/09/26/a-gardening-reading-list-part-iii/.

Penny and Ed Cherubino over at Boston Zest have called our attention to a fabulous on-line service by Yankee Magazine.  Read how you can pinpoint areas of peak color – the map is updated every fifteen minutes! Amazing.  Link to http://www.bostonzest.com/2011/09/tracking-fall-foliage-with-yankee-magazine.html for the full story.

The North Quabbin Garlic and Arts Festival at Forster’s Farm,  60 Chestnut Hill Road in Orange, Massachusetts is a celebration of the artistic, agricultural and cultural bounty of the region. The purpose of the festival is to unite North Quabbin people whose livelihoods are connected to the land and the arts, and to invite both local residents and those who do not live in the region to experience the richness of an area that is often overlooked. The festival emphasizes what is homegrown and high quality, as well as what helps preserve and support the environment. The festival is an engaging, fun and educational celebration for all ages. Everyone involved-organizers, vendors, volunteers, performers, attendees, a supportive community-makes the festival what it is and we are grateful and look forward to celebrating the richness of our communities for many years to come.

The Agricultural Vendors at the Festival offer amazing, locally grown and produced products that celebrate the bounty of the North Quabbin and surrounding regions. Through on-going demonstrations and workshops you’ll learn to grow your own garlic, experience live honeybees, make an herbal tincture, or delight in a flower garland or wheat weaving. Celebrate this feast of the land, honor the good work of farmers, and rejoice in the harvest season. Don’t forget your shopping bag!

The food vendors at the festival celebrate the bounty of the harvest through their delicious garlic infused creations. Individuals and restaurants that sell food at the festival are committed to culinary creativity and local agriculture. Some vendors are community organizations that raise funds through this event. Many vendors use organic and local ingredients. There is a ‘no polystyrene’ policy, and highlight biodegradable utensils and plates which are composted after the festival. Compostables from past festivals are now fertile soil rather than filling landfills!  The trash is transformed into compost – last year 10,000 people generated only three bags of garbage.

The wood fired oven at the Garlic and Arts Festival was built 4 years ago for use at the festival and for the local community. It is used for baking loaf and flat breads like foccacia and pizza and for preparation of many other types of dishes. It can roast and even grill using the coals from the fire in the oven.

The oven is built to an ancient Italian design fundamentally the same as larger ovens that still exist in the Pompei archeological site. There are many thousands of similar ovens in Italy today where backyard cooking and roasting is very popular. There have been similar ovens in many parts of the world for millenia along with other forms such as the pit and open topped ovens in Central and South Asia.  Garlic painting below by Julian Merrow-Smith.

A complete list of demonstrations, games, activities, chef demonstrations, family stage productions, and workshops, along with directions, can be found at www.garlicandarts.org.

]]> http://www.gardenclubbackbay.org/2011/09/01/saturday-october-3-sunday-october-4-10-am-5-pm-north-quabbin-garlic-arts-festival/feed/ 0 http://www.gardenclubbackbay.org/2011/08/21/whole-kids-foundation-school-garden-grant-program/ http://www.gardenclubbackbay.org/2011/08/21/whole-kids-foundation-school-garden-grant-program/#comments Sun, 21 Aug 2011 12:45:39 +0000 Garden Club http://www.gardenclubbackbay.org/?p=8672 Beginning August 17th, Whole Kids Foundation School Garden Grant Program will be accepting online applications for school garden grants! In partnership with FoodCorps, Whole Kids Foundation will grant 1000 schools $2000 each to build or expand their school garden. To kids (and many adults!), gardens are magical places where they can see things come to [...]]]>

Beginning August 17th, Whole Kids Foundation School Garden Grant Program will be accepting online applications for school garden grants! In partnership with FoodCorps, Whole Kids Foundation will grant 1000 schools $2000 each to build or expand their school garden.

To kids (and many adults!), gardens are magical places where they can see things come to life. Experiencing that process for themselves helps kids understand that food comes from plants, and not out of a box or off a truck. With that in mind, the goal of the garden grant program is to support schools wanting to establish or grow their gardening programs so they can offer their students the great experience of gardening.

Learning about the process of growing food helps children develop a deep understanding of the connection between healthy eating and a healthy body. Like anyone who gardens, kids are proud of the fruits of their labor and are more apt to eat the fresh veggies they’ve grown. School gardens also offer an opportunity to integrate math, science and health curriculum into a dynamic, interactive setting. Plus, teaching kids to garden helps them learn about complex topics like sustainability and conservation, food systems and community awareness.

If you’re interested in getting a garden in your local school and want to find out more about the online application process, visit the Whole Kids Foundation School Garden Grant Program page for a downloadable PDF with complete grant information.

Then, when you’re ready to apply online, you’ll follow three steps:

Step 1: On your first visit, you’ll be asked to provide your email address and create a password. If you want to complete your application in two sessions, when you return simply click the Login button on the right side of the page.

Step 2: The second section of the application requires information about the applying entity: the school, district, or nonprofit organization to whom the grant will be paid.

Step 3: The final section of the application is to learn more about the garden project for which you are applying, what groups are involved, how students will be engaged and the details of your garden plan including timeline and budget.

Grant applications will be accepted through December 31, 2011. Applications will be reviewed and recipients will be notified in February 2012. There is a limit of one garden grant per school.

What do you think? Would a school garden grant help bring momentum and passion for healthy food, agriculture and nutrition into your local school?

]]> http://www.gardenclubbackbay.org/2011/08/21/whole-kids-foundation-school-garden-grant-program/feed/ 0 http://www.gardenclubbackbay.org/2011/08/19/tuesday-august-23-100-pm-300-pm-herbal-tea-workshop/ http://www.gardenclubbackbay.org/2011/08/19/tuesday-august-23-100-pm-300-pm-herbal-tea-workshop/#comments Fri, 19 Aug 2011 12:25:14 +0000 Garden Club http://www.gardenclubbackbay.org/?p=8655 Ever wonder which herbs work well in blends together–for both taste and function? How do you combine cultivated and wild herbs to make a healing tea for colds & flu? For mineral content? For soothing the stomach? Which herbs taste best, and how do you make them the most effective? Learn the art of tea [...]]]>

Ever wonder which herbs work well in blends together–for both taste and function? How do you combine cultivated and wild herbs to make a healing tea for colds & flu? For mineral content? For soothing the stomach? Which herbs taste best, and how do you make them the most effective? Learn the art of tea blending from Holly Bellebuono of Vineyard Herbs, sample some of her delicious signature teas, and enjoy an afternoon tea-time of healing camaraderie, on Tuesday, August 23 from 1 – 3 at the Polly Hill Arboretum in West Tisbury.   $45/$40 for PHA members, please pre-register. 508-693-9426.  Photo from www.makemychai.com, which provides daily tea news.

Thanks in no small part to the continued success of our recent Twilight Garden Party, The Garden Club of the Back Bay announces that the following organizations will receive a total of $20,000 in financial grants for 2011:

The Commonwealth Avenue Mall Committee – $5,000 to be credited to the Hereford Street to Massachusetts Avenue  air spading project fund.

The Friends of the Public Garden – $4,000 to continue the inoculation of elms at risk for contracting Dutch elm disease.

The Esplanade Association – $2,500 for the Elliot Oval Landscape Restoration, planting new trees and treating trees already on site, near the newly restored Community Boating docks.

Emerald Necklace Conservancy – $2,500 for a planned meadow to be developed with native species and wildflowers.

Boston Nature Center/Massachusetts Audubon Society - $2,500 to support six full scholarships for its summer camp.  The children attending the camp range in age from 5 to 14 and are from the local neighborhoods of Mattapan, Roslindale, and Jamaica Plain.

Charles River Clean Up Boat – $2,000, to help continue the project of keeping the Charles River trash-free.

Urban Ecology Institute - $1,000 to help with its Grow Boston Greener tree planting initiative.

The Boston Committee of the Garden Club of America – $500 to the Blossom Fund, which is accumulating funds over a five year period to be awarded to a deserving project on or about the Rose Kennedy Greenway.

For more information on all these important organizations and to learn more about the work they do, visit their website links above.  In addition to the above grants, The Garden Club of the Back Bay will spend an additional $20,000 on planting, pruning, and treating the street trees in our neighborhood over the coming year.  Thank you to all our volunteers and contributors for making our horticultural endeavors happen!

Boston Natural Areas Network (BNAN) and its affiliate, The Trustees of Reservations are pleased to announce that Valerie Burns has been chosen as the 2011 recipient of The Emerald Necklace Conservancy’s Liff Spirit Award. The award honors the vision, wisdom, humanity and joy that Justine Mee Liff brought to her work as Boston Commissioner of Parks and Recreation from 1996 until 2002. It is presented annually to an individual or individuals whose leadership, commitment to cities, passion for public places and ability to inspire others, best reflects Justine’s spirit and legacy. Burns received the award at the 8th Annual Party in the Park in the Back Bay Fens on Wednesday, May 18, 2011.

As president of Boston Natural Areas Network (BNAN), Burns demonstrates a strong commitment to conserving and expanding urban green spaces and encouraging community members to advocate and work for all the city’s parklands. “It is an honor to receive this award,” says Valerie. “As Justine did in her work, it is important to celebrate the beauty, joy and community that Boston’s parks and green spaces bring to our city.”

BNAN’s mission is to improve, preserve and expand special kinds of urban open space such as community gardens, urban wilds, and greenways, always guided by local residents. The organization involves over 20,000 individuals and families each year in the stewardship of these green spaces. In 1995, BNAN introduced an initiative under Burns’ direction called, Greenways to Boston Harbor, which created the Neponset River Greenway and the East Boston Greenway that has leveraged to date $43 million in public funding for new parklands in the neighborhoods of Dorchester, Mattapan, Hyde Park and East Boston.. These two greenways, moving towards completion, now provide 9 miles of walking and biking trails and almost 100 acres of parks as the expansion of public parks in parts of the city underserved by open space. BNAN is also the leading organization for community gardens in Boston, providing services to all 150 community gardens and owns and protects 43 gardens.

Boston Natural Areas Network is a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing together local residents, partner organizations, public officials and foundations to preserve, expand and enhance urban open space, including community gardens, greenways and urban wilds. For more information about the organization, becoming a member or the calendar of events, visit www.bostonnatural.org.or call 617-542-7696.

The 2011 American Hosta Society National Convention will take place June 22 – June 25 right here in Massachusetts, hosted by the New England Hosta Society.  This year’s theme is Hostas and Heritage.  There will be optional bus tours to hosta gardens in four states – Wednesday, see the garden of Bernie and Sue Apter and the garden of Carol Brashear and Bill Meyer, in Connecticut, along with O’Brien Nurserymen Display Garden and Nursery and the garden of Kathie Sisson.  Friday’s main tour in Massachusetts includes Bob and Diane Adams’ Oakenstone Gardens, Mary Arnberg’s garden with roughly 500 varieties of hosta, the Cochato Nursery and Display Gardens, and Paula Lehtola’s “Deer Buffet”.  Saturday will bring you to New Hampshire to the garden of Cheryl and Rick Cravino aptly named HostaAmour, the garden of Roger Kinchen, and Chuck and Sue Andersen’s Mason Hollow Nursery.  There are also three gardens on display following the official end of the show – Sunday brings a chance to see the Hanover, Massachusetts garden of Gerry and Rindy Bennet, the garden of Rick Goodenough, and the Plymouth, Massachusetts garden of Rosemary and David Parks.  There will be seedling and sport competitions (called “First Look”), lectures and classes, auctions, ice cream socials, a judged hosta show entitled One if by Land and Two if by Sea (show schedule available for download on web site, www.hosta2011.org), the ultimate hosta supermarket, with nationally known hosta vendors, and all this within a short drive of Boston – in beautiful Marlborough, Massachusetts, at the Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel.  Fee to attend is $225, and you may register on line.  Make reservations at the hotel, if you are not inclined to drive back and forth, no later than May 28 by calling 888-543-9500 and mention “American Hosta Society” to receive the convention room rate.

Our gardening friend Kim Smith sent an interesting link to us, which we now share with you, a new resource—the Butterflies of Massachusetts website, www.butterfliesofmassachusetts.net. Created by Sharon Stichter, Butterflies of Massachusetts “offers a comprehensive review of the current status of butterflies in the state. It is designed as a resource for all those interested in these charismatic insects, including butterfly enthusiasts, conservationists, biologists, land managers, and wildlife professionals.”  Ecologically speaking, the Appalachian Mountains and Atlantic coastal plain are largely self-contained, allowing unrestricted north-south movement of individual butterflies and migratory populations. The information found on the new Butterflies of Massachusetts website represents many years of data compiled by Sharon Stichter and the Massachusetts Butterfly Club.  Below is a common checkered-skipper.

Celebrate the grand opening of the Emerald Necklace Visitor Center at 125 The Fenway, Boston, on Saturday, April 30 and Sunday, May 1.  All events are free and open to the public.  At noon, Mayor Thomas M. Menino will cut the ribbon along with special guests.  From noon until 3:30, a very special Art in Bloom floral arrangement inspired by the Back Bay Fens will be on display, courtesy of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.  From 12:30 until 2, Gerry Wright will appear in his “other” persona, Frederick Law Olmsted, and the Park Rangers Mounted Unit “Adopt a Horse” program will be featured.  At 2, 2:30 and 3, there will be screenings of Stories from the Emerald Necklace, a documentary film depicting the variety of visitor stories found in the Necklace.  Also, between 12:30 and 1:15, artist Dustan Knight will talk about the creative process as Dustan works in watercolors to capture the special Art in Bloom floral arrangement on paper.

From 12:45 – 3 pm, you may meet the gardeners at the Fenway Victory Gardens and visit the newly renovated Special Needs Garden, as well as participate in hands-on workshops.  From 1 – 2:30, Alan Banks, Supervisory Park Ranger, will lead an interpretive walk through the Back Bay Fens beginning at the Visitor Center entitled “Garden in the Machine.”  For the athletes, join a fun run with 3, 5 and 7 mile options led by Mark Lowenstein, author of Great Runs in Boston, with a route starting at the Visitor Center, continuing along the Necklace out to Jamaica Pond, and returning to the Visitor Center, starting at 1:15 pm.

Over at the Wentworth Institute, Frederick Law Olmsted, a one-man play written by performed by Gerry Wright, will begin at 3 pm, followed by a short reception, and at 4:30, in the same venue, there will be a screening of The Olmsted Legacy: America’s Urban Parks documentary.  If you prefer, at 3 pm you may join Conservancy president Julie Crockford and City Councilor Mike Ross for a bike ride to Franklin park, and stay for the 4 pm Weeds as Feed walk led by a Franklin Park coalition naturalist.  For complete times and directions, log on to www.emeraldnecklace.org/visitorcentergrandopening/.

Visit the Arnold Arboretum, Boston Nature Center, Forest Hills Cemetery, Franklin Park Coalition and the Franklin Park Zoo,  Thursday, April 28 to Sunday, May 1 for Birds and Bards: A Festival Celebrating Birds, Poetry, and Nature. Spend the weekend exploring birds, poetry, and nature in over 1000 acres of green space along Boston’s Emerald Necklace. The festival includes activities for children and adults, most of which are free!

For complete event listings and information, log on to www.arboretum.harvard.edu/news-events/birds-and-bards.

More than thirty of the country’s leading dealers offer their finest pieces at America’s most celebrated venue for authentic garden antiques, the New York Botanical Garden’s 19th Annual Garden Furniture Show and Sale, on Friday, April 29 – Sunday, May 1.  Blithewold Home will be making its debut at the show. During the three-day event, fountains, statues, benches, urns, sundials, birdbaths, and botanical prints beckon novice collectors and garden designers alike. Throughout the weekend, antiques experts offer informative tours and talks.  For complete show details, log on to www.nybg.org.

The Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay has informed us of a Petition to Support H. 1169, An Act Protecting Sunlight in Certain Public Parks, sponsored by Representatives Martha Walz and Byron Rushing. To read the bill, go to www.malegislature.gov/Bills/187/House/H01169.  This bill seeks to expand and clarify the current laws that protect the sunlight on the beloved Boston Public Garden and the Boston Common by limiting new shadows.  Specifically, the bill would prohibit any new construction or building remodeling from blocking sunlight and casting new shadows on six additional public parks.  The goal of the bill is to allow reasonably-scaled development near the parks while protecting sufficient sunlight for the health of the park environment and the enjoyment of its users.

The five Boston parks and one Cambridge park will be protected by the bill are:

* The Back Bay Fens
* Christopher Columbus Park
* The Commonwealth Avenue Mall
* Copley Square Park
* The Esplanade
* Magazine Beach Park

You can sign the petition immediately (through May 22) by logging in to https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/sunlight2.  However, if you have already signed the petition, please do not do so again.  If you have any questions concerning this legislation, you may email Sue Prindle at sprindl@verizon.net.  Photo from www.gardenvoice.com.

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