By Carol Stocker
Landscape architects and historians from around the country converged on the Boston Athenaeum Saturday night to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Library of American Landscape History, the foremost publisher in the genre, which is headquartered in Amherst. The non-profit has published a cannon of 26 books on the history of landscape design in this country, working with the University of Massachusetts Press. They include the award winning "A Genius for Place: American Landscapes of the Country Place Era," by Robin Karson, LALH's founder and executive director, who briefly addressed the gathering.

Also in attendance were Iris Gestram, executive director of the National Association for Olmsted Parks in Washington, director Mark Zelonis of the Indianapolis Museum of Art, Bob Cook, former director of the Arnold Arboretum, Meg Winslow, archivist for the Mount Auburn Cemetery, and Lee Farrow Cook of the Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic National Park Service site, named Fairsted.

Nancy Turner, the LALH's founding president, was honored. "I met Robin when she came to write about my Fletcher Steele garden," recalled Turner in an interview. The famous Boston landscape designer had had an office on Louisburg Square, but had retired to Pittsford, N.Y., near her estate, and created his last garden there for her. Karson documented it in her great book, "Fletcher Steele, Landscape Architect." Written shortly after Steele's death in 1971, the book documented many of his gardens before they were lost. Steele gardens were generally high maintenance and seldom survived their owners, "but Mabel Choate preserved her Naumkeag," said Turner. She referred to the The Trustees of Reservations' Steele garden in Stockbridge, famed for its series of white Art Deco staircases and waterfalls framed by birch trees..

Turner now lives in Connecticut. Does her own Pittsford garden still exist? "I don't know. I never went back to look. There has been a tremendous increase in the cost of maintenance." She smiled. "Gardens are like sand castles. It survives in Robin's book," she said as she flipped though the book's pages, which featured photos of her well planted granite staircase, orchard, and a series of terraces that led to a round reflecting pool. "It's very quiet, a placid place that reflected the final year of Fletcher Steele's life."

It was after completing this survey of Steele's rapidly vanishing gardens that Karson decided there needed to be an organization that published books on American historical landscapes. She was able to start one with Turner's support, and has kept it going for 20 years, during which she has assembled the most important authors of books on landscape architecture in this country.

New books include "Community by Design; The Olmsted Firm and the Planning of Brookline," by Elisabeth Hope Cushing, Roger G. Reed and Boston University professor Keith N. Morgan, who was at the party. After designing Central Park, Olmsted deserted New York for Brookline, which had proudly anointed itself "the richest town in the world." Little has been previously published on the importance of Brookline as a laboratory and model for the Olmsted firm's work. This book will detail how his son and namesake saw the town as a grounds for experimenting in the new profession of city planning.

It will be followed next year by a study of another important locally based designer. "Arthur A. Shurcliff and the Making of the Colonial Williamsburg Landscape," by Elizabeth Hope Cushing, will spotlight this under-appreciated force in the Colonial Revival house and garden movement. His projects included aspects of the Charles River Esplanade, the Franklin Park Zoo, and, at the end of his life, the iconic gardens at Colonial Williamsburg.

Next year will also see the LAHL's publication of "The Best Planned City in the World: Olmsted, Vaux, and the Buffalo Park System," by Francis R. Kowsky, cq writing about Buffalo, N.Y. "We try to focus the study on individual places," explained Karson. It will be the first in a series edited by Ethan Carr called "Designing the American Park." Another new series will deal with environmental design.

Interest in the history of American landscape architecture has blossomed in the last three decades, said Carr at the gathering. He linked it to the resurgence of interest in New York's Central Park and it's history. That park, which sunk to an all-time low in the 1970's, is now in the best shape of its history, thanks in part to LALH board member Elizabeth Barlow Rogers, the founder of the powerful Central Park Conservancy.

Boston's Emerald Necklace, another Olmsted masterpiece, has also enjoyed rejuvenation and scholarly attention. The Frederick Law Olmsted Papers Project will soon publish Volume Eight of Olmsted Sr's letters, dealing with the 1880's when the Emerald Necklace was created, said Carr, who is the editor.

The U. Mass professor is also the editor of one of LALH's prizewinning books, "Mission 66: Modernism and the National Park Dilemma." And what is the dilemma? "Too little money, too many visitors," said Carr succinctly. "And too many cars."

By Carol Stocker
The New England Landscape Design and History Association (NELDHA) announces the launch of the Self-Guided Walking Tour of parks, gardens and green spaces in Boston. The first of three tours - the South End - is now on the NELDHA website. The Back Bay tour is in the production stage, with the Prudential Center Gardens/Christian Science Plaza to follow.

The South End tour takes the visitor to a neighborhood of historic residential and institutional properties. The tour includes a sampling of the historic garden squares for which the South End is well known, along with newer parks, gardens and green spaces. Four of the parks have “Friends” organizations, which contribute to park maintenance, sponsor seasonal events and thereby add to neighborhood vitality. The tour route is a circuit beginning and ending at the Back Bay MBTA Station on Dartmouth St. and takes the visitor to 11 South End sites.

The South End Tour is free and may be downloaded from the NELDHA website at www.neldha.org/walking-tours. The South End webpage offers two tour versions. The brochure version offers the visitor a compact overview of the area. The detailed version includes more information about each site with links to neighborhood organizations and includes plant lists for 4 of the 11 sites. Maps accompany both tour versions.

The New England Landscape Design and History Association is an independent non-profit membership organization. NELDHA’s mission is to further the education of landscape designers, historians, preservationists and conservationists, to promote their professions, and to communicate to the public NELDHA’s commitment to landscape design, history, conservation, preservation, and stewardship of the land. Go to www.neldha.org for more information.

The Trustees of Reservations (The Trustees) has announced the completion of a three-year, sustainable landscape restoration of the Crane Estate’s “Grand Allée” located on Castle Hill – a National Historic Landmark – in Ipswich. Thanks to the generosity and hard work of talented staff, community partners, donors, and volunteers, The Trustees were able to carefully remove and replant more than 700 deteriorating, overgrown trees; reinvigorate an underground, rainwater collection cistern for sustainable irrigation; and restore the beautiful, classical sculptures lining the undulating, half-mile-long, “front lawn” of the Crane Estate. Since 1949, when the Crane family gifted Castle Hill to The Trustees, the Allée has become a popular and impressive backdrop for open-air concerts, weddings, historic house and landscape tours, community events, a children’s summer camp, and other recreational activities held year-round at the Crane Estate. Now, this signature landscape feature once again sweeps to a panoramic view of Cape Ann and benefits from a healthier, more sustainably managed landscape.

The Grand Allée is the only known, designed landscape of its size and kind still in existence in North America – and one of only a few remaining worldwide – combining grand scale with decorative arts. It is one of the largest landscape features created by renowned Boston landscape architect Arthur Shurcliff, who is best known for his design of Colonial Williamsburg and the Charles River Esplanade. Shurcliff modeled the dramatic design after the beautiful Italian and French gardens of Renaissance Europe.

“There is no other Allée or formal landscape vista in America that can compare to the Grand Allée at Castle Hill,” says David Beardsley, Director of The Crane Estate. “The national significance of this property and its unique landscape and architectural features illustrates the importance of The Trustees’ careful role in its preservation for the public to enjoy.”

The Trustees decided to undertake the massive Allée landscape restoration project nearly 100 years after its original installation, when the plantings as well as the architectural and decorative elements had begun to rapidly decline. The aging trees were prone to storm damage and, at their mature size, had outgrown Shurcliff’s design intent, obscuring his carefully planned views and sightlines of the landscape and sculptures bordering the hedgerows.

“The restoration has also served as a living laboratory, modeling a thoughtful, sustainable stewardship approach while preserving the historic integrity of this important National Historic Landmark,” adds Bob Murray, Crane Estate Superintendent and Project Manager for the Allée restoration. In an effort to be as sustainable as possible, trees were carefully removed with cranes to minimize site disturbance. The bio=mass from the harvested trees was salvaged locally for reuse, and was either cut for lumber or wood chipped for energy production. Some of the chips were also composted and used as mulch for the project. Organic practices were used to promote a healthy, soil ecology by amending the soil with “bio-stimulants” that promote root development and enhance nutrient uptake to help build a more resilient landscape. In addition, The Trustees restored a cavernous underground cistern and rainwater harvesting system, itself a part of the original design of the Crane Estate. The re-use of this historic infrastructure allows the Trustees to meet all of the irrigation needs of the project, eliminating the need to use potable water.

The restoration project was completed in memory of David Crockett, a former member of The Trustees of Reservations’ Board of Governors and Ipswich resident whose tireless efforts on behalf of Castle Hill and the Crane Estate were critical in preserving this property. His commitment to the care of the Crane family’s extraordinary gift to The Trustees set the standard by which the property has been – and will continue to be – privately managed for the public to enjoy.

Caring for the 2,100-acre Crane Estate property is ongoing. Over the years, The Trustees have conducted extensive restoration of other interior and exterior features of the Great House and surrounding landscape features on Castle Hill, including the Bowling Green, which was awarded $50,000 from The National Trust for Historic Preservation and American Express Partners in Preservation program. The Allée restoration effort, however, represents one of the broadest, most expansive restoration and fundraising efforts ever undertaken on the property. In 2010, The Trustees launched a $2 million dollar campaign to restore this historically significant feature and welcome additional donations to complete the project. All donations are being matched by a generous donor, making individual support go twice as far. To donate, please visit http://www.thetrustees.org/alleeproject.

The crown jewel in its collection of106 properties located throughout the state, twenty of which are located on Boston’s North Shore, The Crane Estate – consisting of Castle Hill, which includes the Crane mansion or "Great House" and the Inn at Castle Hill; Crane Beach; and The Crane Wildlife Refuge – is one of only a few remaining estates intact from the Country Place Era. Like any National Historic Landmark, Castle Hill requires ongoing care and maintenance so that it can continue to be enjoyed more than 300,000 visitors from New England and beyond each year.

Chicago industrialist Richard T. Crane, Jr., purchased approximately 1,380 acres in 1910, the beginning of what would become the Crane Estate. A contemporary of Cornelius Vanderbilt, Crane was captivated by the beauty of the landscape, and, over time, worked with eight leading architects, landscape architects, and artists to shape his summer family retreat. In 1928, he crowned the estate with a grand mansion designed by renowned Chicago architect David Adler. Today, the Crane Estate encompasses 2,100 acres, and is open to the public, offering educational and cultural programs and activities, including SummerQuest, recognized as one of Massachusetts’ best summer programs for children. The Crane Estate also offers opportunities for year-round recreation and wonderful sites for private functions.

The Trustees of Reservations are the nation’s oldest statewide land conservation organization founded by open space visionary Charles Eliot in 1891 to “hold in trust” and care for special places of scenic, cultural and natural significance. Supported by members, donors and thousands of volunteers, The Trustees own and manage 106 spectacular “reservations” located on more than 26,000 acres in 75 communities throughout Massachusetts. Most are open year-round for public use and enjoyment. The Trustees work to foster healthy, active, and green communities locally across Massachusetts by providing hundreds of year-round programs, events and engagement opportunities for all ages. Most property entry fees, programs and events are free-of-charge or discounted for members. Accredited by the Land Trust Accreditation Commission, The Trustees are an established leader in the conservation movement and model for other land trusts nationally and internationally. One of the largest nonprofits in Massachusetts, The Trustees employ 150 full-time, 49 regular part-time, and 400 seasonal staff with expertise in ecology, education, historic resources, land protection, conservation, land management, and planning. To find out more or to become a member or volunteer visit www.thetrustees.org.

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum announced today that Michael Van Valkenburgh has been commissioned to redesign its Monks Garden, the cloistered garden adjacent to the historic building and connected to the exterior gardens which surround the Museum’s new wing designed by Renzo Piano. Mr. Van Valkenburgh is founder and president of Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, one of the nation’s leading landscape architecture firms with offices in Cambridge, MA and Brooklyn, NY.

“The Monks Garden is the heart of the Museum’s outdoor spaces—visible from within both the new wing and the historic building and steeped in history and meaning. Among the world’s leading landscape architects, Michael Van Valkenburgh’s work combines an artist’s perspective and a love of plants in the making of a garden,” said Anne Hawley, Norma Jean Calderwood Director of the Museum.

Reflecting on the potential for the garden to expand the experience of the Museum, Mr. Van Valkenburgh said, “I share with Isabella Stewart Gardner a love of horticulture and art. The redesign of the Monks Garden is a wonderful opportunity to bring these two interests together. I look forward to working with the Gardner staff to create a memorable and enduring garden and a place Bostonians will hopefully cherish.”

His work has earned multiple honors, including the American Society of Landscape Architects’ (ASLA) Design Excellence Award for the Alumnae Valley Landscape Restoration at Wellesley College, a 2008 ASLA Design Honor Award for the Boston Children’s Museum Plaza, and a 1994 Preservation Honor Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation for the Harvard Yard Restoration. Recent work includes Teardrop Park in New York City, Bailey Plaza at Cornell University, and Brooklyn Bridge Park, in Brooklyn.

As part of the historic campus, the Monks Garden now holds a special place of higher visibility and prominence for the visitors thanks to the reorientation of the Museum’s front entrance and the addition of a wing which includes a transparent first floor as well as the expanded exterior gardens that will open to the public this summer. Historically, the Monks Garden was a warm season destination for visitors although it was visible from the Chinese Loggia, East Cloister, and the former Gardner Café.

The Monks Garden has been a part of the Museum since its opening in 1903 and still bears the same footprint as it did in Gardner’s day but the plantings have changed over the last century. Originally Isabella Gardner installed the Monks Garden in an Italianate style with tall, vertical evergreen trees in rows along part of the main walk and along the edge of the brick wall. Over time she added a large pergola covered with vines and the beds along the pergola were planted with flowers.

Following her death, the Garden was replanted by the Museum’s first director Morris Carter whose most significant changes were accomplished in 1941 when he notes simply “Monks Garden completely rebuilt by W. C. Curtis, Sudbury.” Curtis, not well known today, created a Japanese-style garden with New England wildflower beds. By the 1970s, the Monks Garden was reconceived as part of a campus plan by Sasaki Associates and it was re-graded and a layered planting of trees, shrubs and ground covers was installed along the wide bluestone path edged by wooden benches. This is the look that contemporary visitors will remember of the Monks Garden. As recently as the 2000s, the Monks Garden included overgrown rhododendrons and Bradford Pear trees. Today, the Garden boasts three older trees: a Katsura tree, a honey locust, and a pine. The site was prepared for the redesign as part of the construction of the Piano-designed wing.

For the new design, the Gardner Museum has asked Van Valkenburgh to create a space that will offer year round interest while also harmonizing with the interior spaces of the historic building and the new Piano-designed wing. The new Garden will be a destination for quiet contemplation, strolling, relaxing and informal gatherings.

Mr. Van Valkenburgh’s firm was chosen after a search that involved national and international candidates. Working with Charles Waldheim, Consulting Curator of Landscape, and Robert Campbell, architecture critic and consultant, the Gardner Museum’s new building committee with the Director Anne Hawley selected top candidates from a list of nominees. The committee visited gardens by these candidates before choosing MVVA for the commission.

The newly designed Monks Garden is expected to open to the public in 2013.

Michael Van Valkenburgh

Mr. Van Valkenburgh is the founding principal of Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Inc., Landscape Architects (www.mvvainc.com), a firm of 55 staff members, with offices in Brooklyn, NY and in Cambridge, MA. Throughout his work as a designer, professional, and educator, he has championed the experiential possibilities of the living landscape and the potential for landscape methodologies to influence urban development in ways that promote social and environmental sustainability. In addition to leading MVVA, he is currently the Charles Eliot Professor in Practice of Landscape Architecture at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design. Van Valkenburgh is a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects and a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome. He was the recipient of the 2010 Arnold W. Brunner Memorial Prize in Architecture, the 2003 National Design Award in Environmental Design awarded by the Smithsonian Institution’s Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum, and the 2011 American Society of Landscape Architects Design Medal.

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum • 280 The Fenway Boston MA 02115 • Entrance on Evans Way • Hours: Wednesday through Monday, 11 am-5 pm and until 9 pm on Thursday • Admission: Adults $15; Seniors $12; Students $5; Free for members, children under 18, everyone on his/her birthday, and all named “Isabella” • $2 off admission with a same-day Museum of Fine Arts, Boston ticket • Info Line: 617.566.1401 • Box Office: 617.278.5156 • www.gardnermuseum.org

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum—a work of art in totality—is at once an intimate collection of fine and decorative art and a vibrant, innovative venue for contemporary artists, musicians and scholars. Housed in a 1902 building, modeled after a 15th century Venetian palazzo, and a 2012 wing, designed by Renzo Piano, the Museum provides an unusual backdrop for the viewing of art. The Collection galleries installed in rooms surrounding the verdant Courtyard contain more than 2,500 paintings, sculptures, tapestries, furniture, manuscripts, rare books and decorative arts featuring works by Titian, Rembrandt, Michelangelo, Raphael, Botticelli, Manet, Degas, Whistler and Sargent. Visit the Gardner Museum online at www.gardnermuseum.org for more about special exhibitions, concerts, innovative arts education programs, and evening events.

Show Director Carolyn Weston confirmed that the Boston Flower & Garden Show will return to the Seaport World Trade Center in 2013. Meanwhile, here's a few of the organizations and companies that helped make this year's show, First Impressions, which closed Sunday, a success: the Massachusetts Horticultural Society (www.masshort.org) Mahoney's Garden Centers (www.mahoneysgarden.com), the 2012 Newport Flower Show Exhibit (www.newportflowershow.org), Peter R. Sadeck, Inc., www.petersadeck.com), Magma Design Group Inc (www.magmadesigngroup.com), Massachusetts Master Gardeners (www.massmastergardeners.org), Ahronian Landscaping & Design (www.ahronian.com), the Bonsai Study Group (bonsaistudygroup@comcast.net), Cass School of Floral Design (

People always ask me, "Is The Flower Show worth going to this year?" And I always say, "Yes!" I love the Boston Flower & Garden Show. It's one of the classiest and best in the nation (and I've been to a lot of flower shows in other places).

This grand old Boston tradition runs through Sunday at the Seaport World Trade Center. It's a great place to find some spring gardens in full bloom after the teasing unseasonably warm March weather we have enjoyed.

The 137-year old non-profit show met its demise in 2009 for financial reasons but was resurrected the following year by the Paragon Group, event marketers and producers, under the guidance of Carolyn Weston, who directed the old show. The operation has been a success. Thank you, Paragon Group.

The many display gardens by landscape professions showing their wares are designed on the theme: "First Impressions: Adding Wow Factor to Outdoors Spaces." Mahoney's has an entrance exhibit illustrating front yard garden panache and orange tuplips flanked by Jameson Landscape and an outstanding garden by Heimlich Nurseries, which has supported the show for generations with it annual large flowering landscapes. Newer participants include Markus Specimen Tree, Crystal Brinson, Ahronian Landscaping & Medway Garden Center, the Garden Design School, Quintessential Gardens, and Liquid Landscape Designs, which features some unusual rock and glass mashups. Peter Sadeck won the Allen C. Haskell award for his spectacular green archway featuring live parrots. The Newport Flower Show exhibit also had great showmanship.

The clever miniature gardens viewed through a peephole like display window are also enchanting. Gloria Freitas Steidinger of the Easton Garden Club won in this catagory for her miniature creation of "Shangrila." As usual, this feature was organized by Debby Hogan and her husband, noted landscape designer and nurseryman Warren Leach, who will be speaking at 11 a.m. Thursday.

There are dozens of other continuous lectures. I am particularly looking forward to Saturday's 1 p.m. lecture by Mike & Angie Chute on gardening with the new low maintenance roses.

Flower arranging also has a strong presence. Professional florists in one invitational have made living hats from flowers and foliage fashioned after those bizarre forward tilting caps called "fascinators" you saw at Kate and WIll's Royal Wedding last year.

The flower show's Ikabana display is completely serene and inspiring. There are also several competitive amateur flower shows, including two by members of the Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts, and a garden photography competition, all run by the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, under the title: Blooms! This also includes a children's education section that will include a scavenger hunt and horticultural activities near the Mass. Hort. desk, trustee Betsy Madsen pointed out.

Mass. Hort. provides many volunteers, and showcases hobby gardeners' plants in its amateur section, including a wonderful cotton plant with bolls of ripe cotton grown by Elaine and Sidney Koretsky of Brookline.

The New England Flower Show, which has employed thousands of local volunteers over its many decades, has deep roots in the community. Two charismatic volunteer leaders who died in the last year were honored among the Mass. Hort. exhibits. Chestnut Hill's wonderful Corliss Knapp Engle, who died in November after a lifetime of horticultural contributions, had a garden photography award named after her, which was won by Debbie Ross of Winnetka, Il., for her photograph of lodge pole pine.

There was also a write-up about the many contributions of long-time Weston resident Susan Beth Emery Dumaine, who died in February in Kentucky where she had retired. She was whip smart, energetic and funny. Among her many local horticultural contributions, Dumaine for many years ran (and policed) nomenclature at the flower show so all plants were correctly labeled. It was painstaking work.

Fittingly, Mass. Hort. Executive director Kathy Macdonald was on hand at the show where she praised a new high tech form of plant labels being used here and at the Elm Bank headquarters. "You scan the plant labels (called hortycodes) with your smart phone and and it tells you about the plant and there's even an audio link with the correct pronunciation." I think Susan Dumaine would have loved it.

For more information about the Flower Show visit http://www.bostonflowershow.com.

BOYLSTON, Mass. - Tower Hill Botanic Garden's Executive Director, John Wheaton
Trexler, has announced that he plans to retire March 15, 2012, following nearly
28 years as Executive Director of the Worcester County Horticultural Society [WCHS].
Mr. Trexler will be named Executive Director Emeritus at his retirement.

The Worcester County Horticultural Society, which owns and operates Tower Hill Botanic
Garden, will launch a national search for Trexler's successor. WCHS Board President,
Christopher Reece announced that a search committee would be named shortly.

Mr. Reece announced that Trexler is leaving the Horticultural Society after successfully
completing four capital projects/campaigns totaling more than $30 million. These
projects include the construction of more than 50,000 square feet of buildings,
30 acres of garden, and four miles of trails. The most recently completed projects
are the Limonaia (a display greenhouse) and the Winter Garden. Mr. Reece said, "John
has been extraordinarily successful in working with the Board of Trustees and with
major donors to see that the Board's vision became reality."

When Trexler joined WCHS in 1984, the Board had decided to move from its downtown
Worcester property to acquire at least 50 acres of land and to develop a public
garden. On April 1, 1986, after researching 25 different sites, the Society purchased
Tower Hill Farm in Boylston. Today, Tower Hill Botanic Garden comprises year-round
displays of the finest plants available for cultivation in central New England,
showcased within remarkably diverse landscapes. Elegant statuary, rustic and classical
structures, fine stone walls, and miles of woodland trails enhance the natural features
of this beautiful 133-acre property.

Trexler oversaw the development of Tower Hill during the first 25 years of the Society's
50 year Master Plan. The result of that effort includes a magnificent complex of
buildings and 21 diverse gardens and natural landscapes. Trexler is particularly
proud of his oversight of the WCHS library, which holds over 6000 books and periodicals
spanning seven centuries.

"The Staff and Board will miss John's focused and passionate dedication to the grand
vision of Tower Hill Botanic Garden, but we are committed to maintaining the excellence
that John has established for Tower Hill during his long and successful tenure,"
said Mr. Reece.

Thanks to a generous grant from The Champlin Foundations, Green Animals Topiary Garden in Portsmouth, Rhode Island will get a face lift and infrastructure improvements this spring.

The $115,780 grant will allow the replacement of the diseased boxwoods in the parterre with new disease-resistant boxwoods. The old boxwoods suffer from a soil-borne fungus caused by excessive moisture. To help relieve that problem, the project also includes the installation of French drains along upper garden paths to deflect excessive rain water, and a new dry well to collect the rain water, which will then be used to irrigate a section of lawn.

Additional improvements include rebuilding a barrier-free ramp to the garden to improve handicapped access; installing a micro-spray irrigation system; digging a new back-up well to ensure a reliable source of water in dry season; and installing steel edging to better define paths and increase visitor safety.

Using the same trenches that will be dug for irrigation, workers will also install landscape lighting with electrical outlets. This will also improve visitor safety and allow the potential to offer special events on the property at night. It will also allow gardeners to replace gas-powered hedge trimmers with more environmentally-friendly electric trimmers.

More than 14,000 people visited Green Animals in 2011. The property will re-open for the 2012 season on May 13.

The small country estate overlooking Narragansett Bay in Portsmouth was purchased in 1872 by Thomas E. Brayton. It consisted of seven acres of land, a classic white clapboard summer residence, farm outbuildings, pasture and a vegetable garden. Mr. Brayton hired Portuguese gardener Joseph Carreiro, who created the formal gardens and most of the present topiary between 1905 and his death in 1945. His son-in-law, George Mendonca, took over as superintendent and continued to develop new topiary and gardens until his retirement in 1985. Today, The Preservation Society of Newport County continues the meticulous maintenance of this historic estate, which includes more than 80 topiaries.

The Preservation Society of Newport County, Rhode Island is a non-profit organization accredited by the American Association of Museums and dedicated to preserving and interpreting the area’s historic architecture, landscapes and decorative arts. Its 11 historic properties—seven of them National Historic Landmarks—span more than 250 years of American architectural and social development.

German-born landscape architect Wolfgang Oehme, who died Dec. 15 at his Maryland Home, influenced many American gardens, including my own. He did more than anyone else to introduce four season textural gardens to Americans that employed seed heads and ornamental grasses. The miscanthus, pennisetum, black-eyed Susans and Autumn Joy sedums that compose drifts in my garden came from his influence, from interviewing him, reading his books and visiting his gardens.

His trademarks include large drifts of meadow-like plants, including many natives, ornamental grasses and low maintenance perennials that continues to provide visual interest long after they finished blooming. He teamed up with then urban planner James van Sweden to form the seminal successful landscape design firm Oehme, van Sweden & Associates in 1977.

Mr Oehme (pronouced EHR-ma) trained in Germany and brought a European aesthetic to American parks and gardens. You can see his gardens at Battery Park City and Hudson River Park in New York, and at the Treasury Department, the National Arboretum and the Federal Reserve building in Washington.

-CAROL STOCKER

Peerless pioneering landscape architect Carol R. Johnson of Cambridge, who recently suffered severe fractures from a bike accident in France, was back in the saddle last week to address 120 members and friends of the Boston Committee of the Garden Club of America. Johnson is chairman emeritus of Carol R. Johnson Associates of Boston, the landscape architecture firm that she began over 50 years ago as one of the first woman owned design firms in the US.

Johnson share stories about her encounters with historic figures including Walter Gropius, President Lyndon Johnson, Buckminster “Bucky” Fuller, the Shah of Iran and Carolyn and Ted Kennedy as she explained her design concepts for some of her most innovative projects. Johnson has served as mentor to generations of landscape architects. She is also a Gold Medal awardee of the American Society of Landscape Architects and a lecturer at the Harvard’s Graduate School of Design.

Another inspiring figure of international note, Arabella Dane of Boston, was awarded the organization’s prestigious Boston Bowl for her achievements. She is former president of the American Horticulture Society and the World Association of Flower Arrangers, a three time master judge for the Garden Club of America (horticulture, flower arranging, and photography), and a prized lecturer and mentor.

Boston University was also recognized at this meeting with a Beautification Award for more than $4 million worth of landscape enhancements to Commonwealth Avenue completed 3 years ago in conjunction with the city and the state.

Connie Oliver, Garden Club of America vice president, also attended the gathering, held at the Country Club in Brookline. The Boston Committee supports horticulture and landscape preservation within the city and is part of the GCA.

--CAROL STOCKER

New England Wild Flower Society has announced the winners of its annual awards program which recognizes organizations and individuals that have demonstrated creative vision and exceptional achievement in furthering the goals of New England Wild Flower Society to conserve native plants and their habitats. Thirteen individuals and organizations were recognized at the Society’s annual meeting, held Sunday, November 6, at Garden in the Woods, 180 Hemenway Road, Framingham, MA. A special tribute was also paid to the many donors who for more than 20 consecutive years have made financial contributions to the Society.

Following a State of the Society Report given by Executive Director Debbi Edelstein, Dr. Tristram Seidler gave a fascinating presentation entitled The Bees of New England: Native Plants’ Best Friends. After the presentation, the awards were given.

Dr. C. Barre Hellquist of Adams, MA, was recognized with the Society’s 2011 Conservation Award for extensive research of Polamogeton and other rare and endangered aquatics and for monitoring invasive aquatic species throughout New England. He has named and described the globally imperiled Potamogeton ogdenii (Ogden’s pondweed). He has coauthored, with Garrett E. Crow, Aquatic and Wetland Plants of the Northeast and has contributed to Flora Conservanda in both the 1996 and upcoming editions. Barre has served on the regional advisory committee of the New England Plant Conservation Program (NEPCoP) since the 1990s and has shared his wisdom with numerous other conservation agencies in New England and beyond. Although his work is also national, including Yellowstone National Park, as well as international, including Australia, New England Wild Flower Society credited Dr. Hellquist’s great accomplishments in New England. Melissa Cullina has described him most colorfully as the “Aquatic Jedi Master.” His canoe has been on almost every pond, river, stream and bog in New England.

Irina Kadis and Alexey Zinovjev of Randolph, MA, were given the Education Award for educating the public about fragile habitats and environmental threats in Massachusetts through their website, botanical inventories, guided walks, publications and photography. Botanist Irina Kadis and Entomologist Alexey Zinovjev, have dedicated considerable time and talent to raising awareness about native plant communities, particularly in southeastern Massachusetts. Through plant inventories, publications, educational programs, guided walks, and a website, they teach the public, inform concerned citizens, and influence policymakers. Their salicicola.com website, which means “dwelling on willows”, is maintained by Alexey and features more than seven thousand of his superb photographs, all edited by Irina and presented in a searchable database. The site provides scholarly articles, botanical checklists, and an invasive plant database, organized by county. There is even a fun, though challenging, quiz to try. Results of their work prompted Friends of Myles Standish State Forest to create the Pine Barrens Community Initiative (PCBI) to further prevent degradation of this fragile habitat. With state approval and grant funds, Alexey and Irina support PCBI by propagating native plants for restoration projects, encouraging property owners to remove invasive plants and informing the community on environmental topics.

Carol Lemmon of Branford, CT, accepted the Connecticut State Award for completing many yearly rare plant population searches, and for willingly taking on management activities that benefit rare plants in Connecticut. NEPCoP and the Connecticut Botanical Society have benefited from Carol’s contributions for many years. Her professional career with the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station included work with milkweed and butterfly habitats. Carol has managed the site for the only known population of Aesclepias viridiflora (green comet milkweed) in New England. Without her efforts to preserve the site and eliminate invasive plants, the population would very likely be extirpated. Carol is cofounder and former president of the Connecticut Butterfly Association which has created a butterfly garden at Lighthouse Park in New Haven. She is also involved in the reclamation of Killingworth Bog.

Maine State Award winner Glen Mittelhauser of Gouldsboro, ME, was recognized for the collaborative publication of The Plants of Acadia National Park, and for extensive contributions to education about and conservation of the native environments of Maine coastal islands. Glen Mittelhauser coordinated the publication of The Plants of Acadia National Park, the collaborative effort of the Friends of Acadia, The Garden Club of Mount Desert, and the University of Maine Press. The guide includes descriptions of 862 plants, a reference for the novice or botanist. Another collaborative guide, The Cyperaceae of Maine, which identifies the 215 species of sedges, is presently at press. Glen has created bio-geographical studies of flora of Maine island groups from Inner Sand Island to Franklin Island, guiding visitors to the island’s native habitats. In addition, he has researched nontoxic methods of invasive control on the islands to encourage hospitable breeding sites for seabirds. He is the founder and director of the Maine Natural History Observatory, which advances the scientific knowledge of Maine’s flora and fauna through research, monitoring and collaboration. He is a member of NEPCoP’s Maine Task Force and the Maine Botanical Advisory Group.

The Massachusetts State Award went to Dr. Robert Bertin of Paxton, MA, for exemplary research on the flora, floristic change and alien species in central Massachusetts and for teaching the next generation the importance of plant biology and ecology. He is a Professor of Biology at the College of the Holy Cross and an avid field researcher. He has published on the flora of Worcester County, and has systematically sampled vegetation, collecting thousands of herbarium specimens. Through this work, he has reported several dozen rare plant populations and many new county records. He is also working on a flora of Franklin County. His other research interests include reproductive biology of plants and the biogeography of invasive species. He is an exemplary teacher (his students love him), and an excellent field botanist and researcher with a broad and deep knowledge of plants. He has been both recording secretary and vice president of the New England Botanical Club, has served on NEPCoP’s Massachusetts Task Force, and is currently on the editorial board of the journal, Rhodora. Dr. Bertin was simultaneously nominated this year by two people.

The New Hampshire State Award went to the New Hampshire Natural Heritage Bureau of Concord, NH, for creating The Nature of New Hampshire: Natural Communities of the Granite State, which describes the complex ecosystems and enhances understanding of the state’s habitats with clear and understandable text and beautiful photography. The Natural Heritage Bureau has also compiled brochures about the ecosystems of twenty different bio-diversity sites within the state. The biologists in the New Hampshire Natural Heritage Bureau foster a cooperative and common sense approach to protection of resources and plant diversity as they work with land managers and land users throughout the state. Donald Kent, Administrator of the New Hampshire Natural Heritage Bureau, accepted the award.

The Rhode Island State Award was given to Paul Dolan of Foster, RI, for enthusiasm and personal commitment to the delivery of environmental education which inspires stewardship and understanding of ecosystems throughout Rhode Island. PAUL DOLAN is the Deputy Chief of the Division of Forest Environment at the RI DEM. He is admired as a capable and effective forester, an understanding administrator, an inspired teacher and an experienced public servant. Environmental organizations and educators recognize him as a leader and a hands-on partner in promoting forest stewardship in both rural and urban areas. Paul is active with the RI Environmental Educators, the Society of American Foresters, and RI Wild Plant Society (especially in understanding the building of a beaver dam for the Rhode Island Wild Plant Society Flower Show exhibit in February, 2011). He has made significant contributions to the preservation of our native plants and their habitats, while spreading forest stewardship and ecosystem values to young and old. He leads field trips to study trees all around our state, on his own property and often on this own time. He devotes tremendous efforts to find funding for scholarships for educators and programs for school children. His commitment never ends. He is always on the job.

Sharon Plumb of Berlin, VT, was given the Vermont State Award for strategic and effective work in the field of invasive species control throughout the greater Vermont community. She is the Invasive Species Coordinator for the Vermont Chapter of the Nature Conservancy. But it is for her work above and beyond that title for which she is most praised by her colleagues. She has singlehandedly lead numerous significant efforts related to invasive plants, including the launching of the iMap Invasives Database in Vermont and establishing a successful, voluntary code of conduct with Vermont’s nursery industry. Sharon co-chairs the Vermont Invasive Exotic Plant Committee, is establishing a citizen science monitoring website with partners, is involved in many networking, educational and grant initiatives related to invasive species, and has developed numerous guides and other publications relating to invasives, among other notable achievements. Sharon is considered a regional expert on the subject of invasive species and frequently shares that knowledge at scientific symposiums and nursery industry meetings.

The Kathryn Taylor Award was given to Ellen Sousa of Turkey Hill Brook Farm, Spencer, MA, for converting a traditional home landscape to a biodynamic garden designed to attract pollinators and provide wildlife habitat, using plants native to the Northeast. The Kathryn S. Taylor Award for Private Gardens is awarded for a garden of any size displaying significant use of wildflowers and temperate North American native plants. The award was created in honor of Kathryn (Kitty) Taylor, president of the Society from 1948 until 1973. Turkey Hill Brook Farm is home to a wide variety of wildflowers and native plants. The garden is designed as a habitat garden: a place that provides food, shelter, and housing for birds, pollinators, amphibians and other at-risk wildlife species. Ellen designs for more than beauty. She wants biodiversity; healthy plant communities; and stable, functioning ecosystems. Her thoughtfully planted garden is registered as a Certified Wildlife Habitat and as a Monarch Waystation. Ellen earned her Certificate in Native Plant Studies through New England Wild Flower Society in 2008. She recently completed a book, The Green Garden: The New England Guide to Planning, Planting and Maintaining the Eco-friendly Habitat Garden.

Landscape Design Award went to Magma Design Group, Samantha and Neil Best, of Pawtucket, RI, for inspiring design that utilizes native trees, shrubs and perennials to create a species-rich sanctuary for people and wildlife in a beautiful, backyard woodland. In the last few years, they have won many awards for their exhibits at the Rhode Island Flower Show. Thoughtful plant selection and creative masonry are two hallmarks of their gardens. Neil and Samantha Best, principals of the company, sum up their philosophy well: “Magma is the fundamental building block of the earth. Its movement is fluid, deliberate, and often energetic. What it leaves in its wake are creations that inspire awe.” The primary garden which merited the Landscape Design Award was a private residential one in Hope, Rhode Island. All of the judges who visited the site were impressed and delighted by this exemplary design which included native trees, shrubs, perennials, and grasses. The garden makes a lovely transition between the lawn adjacent to the house and the woodland, with a charming, winding path and small dining and relaxing area tucked away behind mostly native shrubs and perennials. The plants were chosen to give year-round interest, with trees and garden vignettes forming focal points from the living areas of the house and garden. The bunchberry, beginning to reproduce itself, was particularly delightful to see, as it is so often a challenge to get that species to thrive in a garden.

Two Service to the Society awards were given. One to Ray Abair of Middleboro, MA, for long service to the Sanctuary Committee and Plant Conservation Volunteers (PCVs), including botanical inventories and management projects, surveying for ferns and fern allies, and fern id consultation, and for more than 15 years of teaching for the Education Department. He is involved in botanical inventories and management projects on all sanctuaries, especially at the Hobbs Fern sanctuary, where he and Don Lubin are conducting long-term research on the sanctuary’s exceptionally diverse fern flora. Ray has also developed an extensive trail system for the property. Ray is one of New England’s outstanding fern experts and is often consulted by botanists on fern identification. The other Service to the Society award was presented to Peter Brem of Framingham, MA, for outstanding efforts through the years from guided tours to cart tours, and an array of carpentry and other volunteer projects for the Horticulture Department – all accomplished with a smile. Peter is the mastermind behind the invasive plant jail design and his tour groups are always charmed by his friendly humorous manner. Staff horticulturist Nate McCullin refers to him as “The Beast” who keeps going and making tangible, important differences here at Garden in the Woods.

The mission of New England Wild Flower Society is to conserve and promote the region’s native plants to ensure healthy, biologically diverse landscapes. Founded in 1900, the Society is the nation’s oldest plant conservation organization and a recognized leader in native plant conservation, horticulture, and education. The Society’s headquarters, Garden in the Woods, is a renowned native plant botanic garden in Framingham, Massachusetts, that attracts visitors from all over the world. From this base, 35 staff and more than 1,000 volunteers work throughout New England to monitor and protect rare and endangered plants, collect and preserve seeds to ensure biological diversity, detect and control invasive species, conduct research, and offer a range of educational programs. The Society also operates a native plant nursery at Nasami Farm in western Massachusetts, which grows plants for retail customers and for landscaping and restoration projects, and has eight sanctuaries in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont that are open to the public.

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is seeking a talented landscape designer to hold the inaugural Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Fellowship in Landscape Studies in 2012. The biennial three-month residential fellowship will recognize emerging design talent and focus on the role of landscape design in the contemporary city. The Fellowship will offer designers peer-reviewed recognition of design innovation and a supportive environment to develop the disciplinary and professional capacity for sustained inquiry into topics of contemporary urban landscape.

“The rich cultural, artistic and academic setting offered by the Museum and the Boston area has long been a source of inspiration,” said Anne Hawley, Norma Jean Calderwood Director of the Museum. “The Landscape Fellowship represents a singular opportunity for exploration and interaction with a vibrant landscape community.”

Charles Waldheim, principal of Charles Waldheim/Urban Agency, and Consulting Curator of Landscape at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum says the ideal candidate will be an emerging design student whose work articulates the potential for landscape as a medium of design in the public realm.

“We want to recognize and foster emerging design talent in landscape from across the design disciplines,” Waldheim said. “We seek applicants whose work embodies the potential for landscape as a medium of public works in the contemporary city.”

The Museum invites applications from talented designers at or near the beginning of their careers in a range of disciplines, who are working on the design of public landscapes. Landscape architects and designers from a range of design professions will be considered including architecture, engineering, urban design and planning, as well as horticultural and garden arts candidates who can demonstrate a significant engagement with the landscape medium.

A jury comprised of international figures in landscape architecture and allied design disciplines will judge the competition. A short-list of five finalists will be invited to interview with the jury which will recommend a winner and runner-up to be announced in February 2012.

The selected candidate will receive a residency from June 1, 2012 to August 31, 2012 including a monthly stipend of $5000 and an apartment/studio space in the new museum wing designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Renzo Piano.

For more information and instructions on how to nominate candidates or apply for the 2012 Gardner Museum Fellowship in Landscape Studies, please visit the Fellowship webpage:
www.gardnermuseum.org/landscape/fellowship

Or contact landscapefellowship@isgm.org or call 617 278 5160.

The Fellowship Jury includes:
Julie Bargmann, University of Virginia
Alan Berger, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Anita Berrizbeitia, Harvard University
Julia Czerniak, Syracuse University
Walter Hood, University of California, Berkeley
Anuradha Mathur, University of Pennsylvania
Jane Wolff, University of Toronto

Deadlines:
December 15, 2011 - Deadline for Receipt of Applications
January 19, 2012 - Finalists Announced
February 2-4, 2012 - Finalist Interviews and Jury Selection
February 9, 2012 - Gardner Museum Fellow Announced
June 1-August 31, 2012 - Gardner Museum Fellow in Residence
June 7, 2012 - Gardner Museum Fellow in Discussion with Charles Waldheim

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum • 280 The Fenway Boston MA 02115 • www.gardnermuseum.org • Modeled after a 15th-century Venetian palazzo surrounding a courtyard garden, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum houses one of the most remarkable art collections in the world, featuring works by Rembrandt, Michelangelo, Raphael, Degas, and Sargent, as well as changing contemporary and historic exhibitions, classical concerts, lectures and special events. The museum will open it’s new wing designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Renzo Piano in January 2012. For more information on the new wing, please visit www.buildingproject.gardnermuseum.org. Also, visit the Gardner online at www.gardnermuseum.org for more about special exhibitions, concerts, innovative arts education programs, and evening events.

WELLESLEY, Mass. – The Davis Museum at Wellesley College presents Global Flora: Botanical Imagery and Exploration, an exhibition linking the history of botanical imagery with the adventure of exploration and effects of globalization on our contemporary world, is on view now through January 15, 2012 in the Morelle Lasky Levine '56 Works on Paper Gallery, the exhibition is free and open to the public. To complement the exhibition, the Davis will present two public programs: an evening opening celebration (Oct. 19), and an Interdisciplinary Gallery Walk (Nov. 9).

According to Elaine Mehalakes, Kemper Curator of Academic Programs and curator of Global Flora, the 28 works in this exhibit—from engravings that date back to the 1500’s to contemporary still lifes—are not only exquisitely detailed depictions of flora and fauna, but also tell a story about the intricate relationships that have evolved alongside botanical art. “Botanical imagery has long been admired for its beauty and appreciated for its scientific significance, but its history is a more complex one, tied to the political, imperial, and cultural aspirations of an increasingly interrelated world,” said Mehalakes.

“From the Age of Discovery through the Age of Enlightenment, botany was at the forefront of scientific knowledge. Botanists and artists sailed with explorers, facing identical dangers. Suffering heat, cold, ticks and leeches, lack of food, and even sabotage, these botanist travelers ventured into uncharted territories, often made more dangerous by political situations,” she said. “Some expeditions, supported by colonial governments keen on gaining further knowledge of the lands they possessed, faced animosity from local peoples. The publications on view in this exhibition hint at the links between botany, climate, geography, culture, economy, and history.”

Botanical imagery reveals several centuries of change in the world, reflecting a journey through exploration to knowledge, and from isolation to globalization. The natural world has changed considerably due to the acquisitive nature of human beings with an attraction to the exotic. In the process of collecting and recording specimens from distant parts of the globe, botanists contributed to the international dispersal of flora. Transferring or propagating plants in botanical gardens back home naturally led to the spreadof species, while publishing books on a region’s plants provided a means of organizing, simplifying, and containing the life of that place. Naming was another means of claiming, with native plants being labeled for foreign naturalists. Colonial gardens and colonial floras, or botanical books, were powerful symbols of imperialism and control.

Drawn from the Davis collections and Wellesley College Library’s Special Collections, the prints and illustrated books on view also demonstrate the changes from the 16th century to the present in techniques used to depict botanical imagery—from woodcuts, engravings, and mezzotints to lithographs, cyanotypes, and inkjet prints; from the hand-colored to the color printed; and from the compact to the lavishly outsized. They display variations in format and purpose, though with equal attention given to accuracy, from floral still lifes imbued with symbolic meaning to precise depictions of individual plants with their component parts labeled for scientific classification.

Featured works in the exhibition include:

Two engravings from Belgian artist Jacob Hoefnagel’s Archetypa Studiaque (1592), a series of fifty-two prints intended as a source book for artists, which includes a number of plants that were depicted for the first time.

The dramatic Rafflesia patma, from Carl Ludwig Blume’s Florae Javae (1835-48), is a yard-wide flower with a smell like rotten meat, and a plant that well met the nineteenth century, or any age’s, hunger for the strange and unusual.

Robert John Thornton's rare Temple of Flora (1807) is a conglomeration of botanical science, classicizing manner, poetry, homage and national pride. Employing mezzotint and aquatint techniques, the plates depict specimens in settings suggestive of their native contexts. A live specimen of the plant shown in The Night-Blooming Cereus print is on view in the Wellesley College Margaret C. Ferguson Greenhouses. Also known at the “Queen of the Night,” the Cereus is a unique short-lived bloom visible only at night.

American artist Bertha Jacques’ interest in creating botanical prints came out of a desire for preservation. Many of the plants she depicted were endangered. Nasturtiums, as seen in her hand-colored drypoint from 1937, were originally found in Mexico and Peru. They were among the first New World plants brought to Europe and quickly traveled to the North American colonies as well, and are growing in the Wellesley Greenhouses.

Isabella Kirkland’s Taxa series (2006) examines the effects of humankind on nature, including introduction and invasion, decline and extinction. Each plant and animal in these still lifes is depicted with painstaking accuracy and at life size, after thorough research and observation from life or of preserved specimens. Kirkland’s compositions allude to Dutch seventeenth-century still life and botanical paintings, combining these traditions while giving the subject matter significance for the twenty-first century. Visitors are welcome to view actual plant specimens depicted in these works at the Wellesley College Botanic Gardens. www.isabellakirkland.com/paintings/taxa.html

The botanical prints, maps, and landscapes in this exhibition describe places such as Egypt, Greece, southern Africa, Indonesia, and the Himalayas, and culminate with contemporary prints evidencing an interconnected world, through the depiction of plant and animal life that has spread across the planet. These compositions include invasive species and rarities that make their way into personal collections. Revealing several centuries of change in our natural world, Global Flora reflects a journey through exploration to knowledge and from isolation to globalization.

Global Flora is generously supported by Wellesley College Friends of Art, and the Claire Freedman Lober ’44 Davis Museum Endowment Fund.

EXHIBITION EVENTS

Global Flora: An Interdisciplinary Gallery Walk
Wednesday, November 9 | 6 p.m.
Morelle Lasky Levine ’56 Works on Paper Gallery
Free
Exhibition curator Elaine Mehalakes is joined by Kristina Jones, Director of Wellesley College Botanic Gardens, and Ruth Rogers, Curator of Special Collections, to discuss botanical imagery on view, from historical, artistic, and scientific perspectives.

Art in Science
A companion exhibit to Global Flora on view October 19 – January 15 | 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Wellesley College Botanic Gardens Visitor Center
Free
From early books on medicinal herbs and documentary paintings by plant explorers to the teaching tools used and studies done by Wellesley College and Friends of Horticulture students, botanical illustration has been vital in furthering knowledge. This companion exhibit highlights the use of botanical imagery in the study and communication of scientific concepts. Visitors are encouraged to visit actual and related specimens of featured plants in both the Global Flora and Art in Science exhibits in the Ferguson Greenhouses and outdoor gardens, which include: pitcher plants, orchids, several Arum species, tropical Rhododendron, and an entire house devoted to ferns. www.wellesley.edu/WCBG/Welcome/welcome.html

DAVIS MUSEUM GENERAL INFORMATION

Location: Wellesley College, 106 Central St., in Wellesley, Mass.
Museum Hours: Tuesday–Saturday, 11 am-5 pm, Wednesday until 8pm, and Sunday, noon-4 pm. Closed Mondays, holidays, and Wellesley College recesses.
Admission is free and open to the public.
Telephone: 781-283-2051
Website: www.davismuseum.wellesley.edu
Parking: Free and available in the lot behind the museum. Additional parking is available in the Davis Parking Facility.
Tours: Led by student tour guides and curators. Free. Call 781-283-3382
Accessible: The Davis, Collins Café and Collins Cinema are wheelchair accessible and wheelchairs are available for use in the Museum without charge. Special needs may be accommodated by contacting Director of Disability Services Jim Wice at 781-283-2434.

ABOUT THE DAVIS MUSEUM

One of the oldest and most acclaimed academic fine arts museums in the United States, the Davis Museum is a vital force in the intellectual, pedagogical and social life of Wellesley College. It seeks to create an environment that encourages visual literacy, inspires new ideas, and fosters involvement with the arts both within the College and the larger community.

ABOUT WELLESLEY COLLEGE & THE ARTS

The Wellesley College arts curriculum and the highly acclaimed Davis Museum and Cultural Center are integral components of the College’s liberal arts education. Departments and programs from across the campus enliven the community with world-class programming – classical and popular music, visual arts, theatre, dance, author readings, symposia and lectures by some of today’s leading artists and creative thinkers – most of which are free and open to the public.

Located just 12 miles from Boston and accessible by public transit, Wellesley College’s idyllic surroundings provide a nearby retreat for the senses and inspiration that lasts well after a visit.

Since 1875, Wellesley College has been a leader in providing an excellent liberal arts education for women who will make a difference in the world. Its 500-acre campus near Boston is home to 2,400 undergraduate students from all 50 states and 75 countries.

WASHINGTON – The National Park Service and the Garden Club of America recently renewed a formal partnership based on conservation and management of native plants.

National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis said, “The Garden Club of America has supported national parks and the National Park Service since before there was a National Park Service and the formal renewal of this partnership will serve us well into the future.”

Jarvis said the Garden Club of America has played “an integral role in our efforts to restore federally listed threatened and endangered plant species and remove exotic plants from parks.

The Garden Club of America goes back to 1913 and members were supportive in not only creating national parks but in creation of the National Park Service in 1916. Jarvis said, “They supported Minerva Hamilton Holt in her decade-long quest that resulted in the creation of Joshua Tree National Monument and they’ve generally supported creation of new parks and fought against efforts to exploit park lands for commercial gain.”

All that while, Garden Club of America members also supported work in conservation and plant management. Through the formal partnership, national parks work with the local Garden Club of America clubs to inventory, map, monitor, propagate, and transplant threatened or endangered plants; pull invasive plants; and conduct valuable research projects.

"Garden Club of America members are excited about continuing our partnership with the National Park Service,” said Joan George, President of the Garden Club of America. “This ongoing relationship has enhanced our ability to achieve mutual goals."

Examples of current National Park Service/Garden Club of America projects include surveys of rare plants at Acadia National Park, removal of invasive plants at Congaree and Cuyahoga Valley national parks, and restoration of Texas trailing phlox (Phlox nivalis ssp texensis) in Big Thicket National Preserve.

The National Park Service and the Garden Club of America have also partnered with the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center to initiate the Be PlantWise Program, which gives gardeners tips on how to manage their gardens to preserve the unique qualities of neighboring wild lands.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases make hundreds of thousands of people sick every year, and the numbers are growing at an alarming rate. Lyme disease is the most commonly reported tick-borne infection in the United States with children between the ages of 5 to 14 being especially hard-hit. They are at the highest risk for tick-borne illnesses.

To protect yourself, your family, and pets from tickss:

· Evaluate your property (or hire a professional lawn care or landscape firm to do so) and determine if you have areas where ticks may hide.

Trim low-lying bushes to let in as much sunlight as possible. This will help keep your yard from becoming a shelter for small mammals that may act as a host for ticks.

· Remove woodpiles, brush, leaves, and debris.
· Keep grassy areas mowed (ticks like to hide in tall grass).
· Fence off hedgerow areas so children and pets cannot access them.
· Check pets regularly for ticks (horses and dogs can also get Lyme disease and dogs and cats can carry ticks into your home).
· Be sure to check yourself and family members for ticks each time you go outside.
· Wear light colored socks and pants to help spot ticks.
· Tuck your pants into your socks.
· Talk to your lawn care or landscape professional about spraying areas with high concentrations of ticks.
· Use tick repellent.

Lyme disease can mimic many diseases, including multiple sclerosis, chronic fatigue syndrome, and fibromyalgia. Most cases of Lyme disease can be cured with antibiotics, especially if treatment begins early in the course of illness. However, a small percentage of patients with Lyme disease have symptoms that can last for months or even years. For more information about geographic incidence or the efficacy of repellents, visit the Lyme Disease Association, Inc., lymediseaseassociation.org.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases make hundreds of thousands of people sick every year, and the numbers are growing at an alarming rate. Lyme disease is the most commonly reported tick-borne infection in the United States with children between the ages of 5 to 14 being especially hard-hit. They are at the highest risk for tick-borne illnesses.

To protect yourself, your family, and pets from tickss:

· Evaluate your property (or hire a professional lawn care or landscape firm to do so) and determine if you have areas where ticks may hide.

Trim low-lying bushes to let in as much sunlight as possible. This will help keep your yard from becoming a shelter for small mammals that may act as a host for ticks.

· Remove woodpiles, brush, leaves, and debris.
· Keep grassy areas mowed (ticks like to hide in tall grass).
· Fence off hedgerow areas so children and pets cannot access them.
· Check pets regularly for ticks (horses and dogs can also get Lyme disease and dogs and cats can carry ticks into your home).
· Be sure to check yourself and family members for ticks each time you go outside.
· Wear light colored socks and pants to help spot ticks.
· Tuck your pants into your socks.
· Talk to your lawn care or landscape professional about spraying areas with high concentrations of ticks.
· Use tick repellent.

Lyme disease can mimic many diseases, including multiple sclerosis, chronic fatigue syndrome, and fibromyalgia. Most cases of Lyme disease can be cured with antibiotics, especially if treatment begins early in the course of illness. However, a small percentage of patients with Lyme disease have symptoms that can last for months or even years. For more information about geographic incidence or the efficacy of repellents, visit the Lyme Disease Association, Inc., lymediseaseassociation.org.

Agapanthus is bulb that produces alium like flower balls of clear blue in summer. Unfortunately it hasn't been winter hardy here - until now. Retired professional gardener John Bartlett has sucessfully tested the agapanthus variety 'Nikki' for winter hardiness in Milton in an exposed sunny area with heat retaining rocks in the soil. He grew the plants from seed from England. For more information, write John Barlett, 16 Burwell Road, West Roxbury, MA 02132.

Known as "lilies of the Nile" (though they're native to South Africa), the showy perennials in the genus Agapanthus have been avidly collected and grown since they were discovered by Dutch explorers in the 17th century. The few species in the genus have been hybridized intensively, yielding hundreds of interesting and dramatic cultivars. Despite their huge popularity among gardeners, however, they are not commonly used in New England because of their lack of winter hardiness.

Selected by R J Fulcher in 1998, 'Nikki' was named after his second daughter. It has deep blue flowers and has proved to be a very popular cultivar over the years in England.

Gloucester- Historic New England (formerly SPNEA) has completed its landscape restoration project at Beauport, Sleeper-McCann House here. Staff developed an overall plan for the landscape and hired the landscape architectural firm Reed Hilderbrand in 2009. The interpretive period for the landscape at Beauport focuses on the late 1920s through the early 1930s. This period was selected because it best represents the integrity of Sleeper’s original intentions, while presenting the landscape at the time Helena Woolworth McCann (second owner of the property) was first attracted to Beauport. The "Beauport restoration blog" has more information.

Beauport is one of thirty-six house museums owned and operated by Historic New England, the oldest, largest, and most comprehensive regional heritage organization in the country. For more information visit www.HistoricNewEngland.org.

This weekend marks the grand opening of Maine’s greenest public building, the Bosarge Family Education Center at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens. Tours and programs continue all weekend.

The Platinum LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) structure is expected to generate as much or more energy than it consumes, achieving net-zero-energy status. Its multi-zoned landscape with rain gardens is a model of sustainable design. Signage, including an electronic dashboard showing energy use in real time, helps visitors understand what makes this super-green project special, and provides ideas they can use at home.

The 8,000-square-foot Education Center and adjacent Visitor Center are the hub of the 250-acre waterfront property, which offers spectacular ornamental gardens including children’s and sensory gardens, miles of trails, art exhibits, events, and programs.

Almost immediately after the Gardens’ 2007 opening, the 9,500-square-foot Visitor Center’s uses exceeded available space. The new Education Center will fill the bill with large, flexible areas for classes and programs, studios, and offices.

Funding came from the Bosarge Family Foundation, which donated $2 million, including a $1.5 million matching challenge, which the Gardens not only met but exceeded. The total cost for the Center and its landscape is $4.2 million.

While the Education Center represents the latest science, the design is based on a seemingly whimsical premise: If a plant designed a building. The thinking behind the metaphore posits that a building designed by a plant would function efficiently, generating more energy than it uses without fossil fuels. It would shape itself to fit the character of its bioregion and maintain, or even add to, its ecosystem. It would only produce waste that another system could use. It would conserve water by on-site capture and recycling. And it would adapt to changing environmental conditions. The Education Center does all this.

Among the many professionals involved in the project were Scott Simons Architects, Portland, Maine; Maclay Architects, Waitsfield, Vermont; landscape architect Herb Schaal; Fore Solutions green-building consultants in Portland: and Bensonwood, which constructed the building’s components in New Hampshire and brought them to the Gardens.

To learn more, call 207-633-4333, visit www.MaineGardens.org, or visit the Gardens, off Barters Island Road in Boothbay, Maine.

I went to the South District Meeting at the South Shore Country Club in Hingham last month and met the new Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts president, Heidi Kost-Gross, who is serving for the 2011-13 term. She said she will focus on community beautification, flower arranging, and the environment.
Here are some upcoming garden tours offered by GCFM clubs...
June 10/11, Carlisle GC, eight private gardens. contact janecwilliams@aol.com
June 12, 11:30-4p.m., Dover Library House and Garden Tour, visit www.friendsofdoverlibrary.com
June 25, Dennis GC, Discovering the Gardens of Dennis, $15, contact jnjstewart@verizon.net
July 2, 10 a.m.- 4 p.m., Danvers GC House and Garden Tour, $20, contact 978-774-5352
July 14, Osterville CG "Party by the Sea", 7 gardens, refreshments, $35 (I have been to this and it is a good one.) www.ostervillegardenclub.org

Litchfield, Conn. - Jan S. Ohms, one of the Dutch flower bulb sector's most respected elder statesmen, died Friday, May 27, after a brief illness. He was 85. Mr. Ohms was CEO of three American direct mail order gardening companies: Van Engelen, Inc.; John Scheepers, Inc.; and John Scheepers Kitchen Garden Seeds, LLC, all of Bantam, Conn.

His was a fascinating and varied career that ranged from service in the Dutch underground during World War ll, to service in the U.S. Air Force as an intelligence officer during the Cold War, to his more than sixty year involvement in horticulture and flower bulbs in the U.S. and Holland. Mr. Ohms was known throughout the industry as a keen businessman who believed that highest quality held the key to success.

"Jan Ohms was one of the last great men standing," said Eric Breed, a Dutch flower bulb expert in Lisse, the Netherlands. "I first met him in 1983. He was one of a generation of giants, the post-war bulb sellers who built profitable businesses and a world industry on the principal of high quality and customer loyalty."

"He was of the old school," said Frans Roozen, technical director of the International Flower Bulb Center in Hillegom, the Netherlands, and himself one of the fourth generation of a flower bulb family. "He was very knowledgeable about flower bulbs and generous with that knowledge, but people and relationships were most important to him."

Jan Simon Ohms was born August 4, 1925 in Stamford, Conn. to Hendrik Jan Ohms and the former Johanna Dirkzwager, citizens of the Netherlands. In 1929, the family returned to Noordwijk, the Netherlands. There, in the heart of the Dutch flower bulb district among the dunes along the North Sea, Mr. Ohms grew up working in the family's flower bulb nurseries and bulb fields. He earned a specialized degree in Ornamental Horticulture from the Rykstuinbouwschool in Lisse, Holland. When the Germans invaded the Netherlands in May 1940, the teenaged Mr. Ohms continued his horticultural studies while also serving with the Dutch underground fighting against the Nazi occupation.

Thanks to his Connecticut birthplace, Mr. Ohms enjoyed dual citizenship. After the war, he returned to the States and enrolled in the University of Connecticut. There, he was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, and also a member of the undefeated 1948 All-American Soccer Team, under coach Jack Squires. Mr. Ohms made the winning assist in the National Championship game that year. He graduated with a degree in Landscape Architecture and Agricultural Economics.

After college, Mr. Ohms served in the U.S. Air Force and with Voice of America as an intelligence officer.

Mr. Ohms married Faith van Slingerlandt in 1952. Following his service in the U.S. Air Force, Mr. Ohms moved his young family to Stamford, Conn. and started a private flower bulb company, Jan S. Ohms Inc., that sold flower bulbs to large private estates up and down the eastern seaboard. He had become the third generation of his family to carve a career in the Dutch flower bulb business.

In the 1970s, Mr. Ohms expanded his business when he acquired the fledgling Van Engelen flower bulb company. The launch of the famous Van Engelen wholesale flower bulb catalog soon followed this move. Mr. Ohms ran that catalog with the help of his wife Faith. In 1991, Mr. Ohms entered the retail mail order business when he bought the John Scheepers flower bulb company and its classic Beauty from Bulbs retail catalog. It was not only a smart business move, but a very personal acquisition, as the company had been founded in 1908 by Mr. Ohms' uncle, John Scheepers.

Today, the Van Engelen and John Scheepers flower bulb companies are among the largest importers of Dutch flower bulbs in the U.S. Over his lifetime, Mr. Ohms is credited with supplying close to a billion flower bulbs to botanical, public and private gardens across the United States.

Well-known for the quality and diversity of his flower bulb collection and personal expertise, Mr. Ohms served the industry in many capacities over the years. He was a horticultural judge for the New York Flower Show and for New York City's former International Flower Show and the Newport Flower Show, among others. In 1995, Mr. Ohms was honored by the Netherlands Royal General Bulbgrowers Association (KAVB) in Hillegom, NL, and Konijnenburg & Mark, Noordwijk, NL, when the Triumph Tulip 'Jan Ohms' was named in honor of his "outstanding achievements in the promotion and usage of Dutch flower bulbs in the U.S."

In 2002, Mr. Ohms saw the realization of a lifelong dream when the first issue of the John Scheepers Kitchen Garden Seeds catalog rolled off the presses. Mr. Ohms had long felt there would be a demand among gourmet gardeners for a full line of upscale and unusual flower, vegetable and herb seeds from around the world.

In 1991, Mr. Ohms welcomed daughter Jo-Anne van den Berg-Ohms into the business. She became president of John Scheepers, Inc. in 1994. "Our business not only represents my father's legacy, it's his vision. Our team has 25 years of experience working together and we will continue to run the three companies with the high standards and ethical practices my father would expect," said Ms. van den Berg-Ohms.

Mr. Ohms leaves behind his wife of 58 years, Faith van Slingerlandt Ohms; his sister Cornelie Verdonk, of Noordwijk, the Netherlands; four daughters, Jo-Anne van den Berg-Ohms of Bantam, Conn., Kristin McNamara, of Ridgefield, Conn., Jamie Johann, of Litchfield, Conn. and Key Largo, Fla., and Wendy Hughes, of Stratford, Conn.; three grandchildren, Ryan Johann, Kaitlyn McNamara and Faith AnNa Hughes; and four step-grandchildren, Maarten van den Berg, Jochem van den Berg, Kristin Comer and Megan Seff.

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Retired Houghton Mifflin garden book editor Frances Tenenbaum of Cambridge and Martha's Vineyard was honored at The Horticultural Society of New York's annual black tie Dinner Dance in New York City Tuesday. Also honored at the 109-year event were Stephen Orr, gardening editorial director for Martha Stewart Living Magazine, architects and interior designer David Easton and writer-director Alex Timbers. Accepting the award for Tenenbaum were her daughter, Jane Tenenbaum, a book designer in Cambridge, and author Phyllis Meras of Martha's Vineyard. During her long career, Frances Tenenbaum edited dozens of titles, including books on Tasha Tudor, republished classics such as Celia Thaxter's "An Island Garden" which Houghton had first published 100 years before. She also wrote a dozen books and edited the dreary Taylor's Encyclopedia of Gardening into a best selling reference series. "We are honoring Frances for her remarkable contrition as an author and lifelong gardener. The books she edited as well as wrote fill the Society's library," said executive director Sara Hobel. "Before Frances, the only garden writers known in America were British."

The Garden Club Federation of MA is currently accepting scholarship applications from qualified high school seniors, college students, and graduate students for 11 different scholarships. And its parent organization, National Garden Clubs, Inc.(NGC), is offering additional scholarships to college juniors, seniors, and graduate students sponsored by the GCFM.

Scholarships are available for students majoring in agronomy, biology, botany, city planning, conservation, environmental studies, floriculture, forestry, horticulture, land management, landscape design, and allied subjects. Three of the scholarships require that the student attend the University of Massachusetts, while the rest are unrestricted. In 2010, GCFM awarded eleven $1,000 scholarships, and the two Massachusetts students sponsored by the GCFM received NGC scholarships.

Applicants must reside in Massachusetts, have a minimum grade average of B (3.0 on a 4.0 scale), exhibit good character, and demonstrate financial need. Applications and financial aid forms can be obtained at gcfm.org/Education/Scholarships/GCFMA.aspx. The deadline for submitting applications is March 1, 2011.

For further inquiries, please email gcfmscholarship@aol.com or contact the GCFM scholarship secretary,
Kathie Jones, at 413-458-2886.

Every year National Garden Clubs awards additional scholarships of $3,500 each. These are available to Massachusetts college juniors, seniors, and graduate students who are sponsored by GCFM. To be eligible, applicants must have at least a 3.25 GPA (on a 4.0-point scale) and be majoring in agriculture education, agronomy, botany, biology, city (rural and urban) planning, economics, environmental conservation, floriculture, forestry, horticulture, land management, landscape design, plant pathology/science, wildlife science, and/or other related or allied subjects. A comprehensive list of majors and application requirements is available at gardenclub.org/Youth/Scholarships.aspx.

Students wishing to apply for NGC scholarships should also apply for the GCFM scholarships. NGC application forms are available at www.gardenclub.org/Youth/Scholarships.aspx and are also due March 1, 2011. Please mail NGC applications to the GCFM scholarship chairman, Leslie Frost, at 31 Lowell Street, Andover, MA 01810-2929.

On Jan. 1, Edward “Ned’’ Friedman became the new director of Harvard’s Arnold Arboretum in Jamaica Plain, only the eighth in its 138-year history. Friedman is a tenured professor of organismic and evolutionary biology at Harvard.
In outreach to the public, he has initiated a New Director’s Lecture Series at the Arnold Arboretum

All lectures are free and take place in the Hunnewell Lecture Hall, 125 Arborway, Boston, MA 02130.

Advance registration is required. Contact Pamela Thompson, 617.384.5277. http://calendar.arboretum.harvard.edu/index.php

Here is a lecture schedule and an interview by garden writer Carol Stocker with Ned Friedman:

Restoring Hawaii’s Marvels of Evolution

Robert Robichaux, University of Arizona

Monday, February 7, 6:30–8:30pm

Botanist Robert Robichaux of the Hawaiian Silversword Foundation and University of Arizona discusses recent efforts to restore Hawaii’s marvels of plant evolution.

Evolving in splendid isolation over millions of years, Hawaii’s native plants exhibit patterns of diversity that are unrivaled elsewhere on Earth. Especially striking are the many examples of adaptive radiation, in which original immigrants to the islands evolved into dazzling arrays of plants exhibiting great variation in form and habitat preference. Yet, Hawaii’s native plants face an uncertain future. Many native plants, such as the exquisitely beautiful silverswords and lobeliads, now teeter on the edge of extinction.

The Good, the Bad, and Occasionally the Dead: Humanity’s Relationship with Earth’s Nitrogen

Alan Townsend, University of Colorado, Boulder

Monday, February 28, 6:30–8:30pm

Hear about the occasionally odd, often dramatic history of humanity’s relationship with phosphorous and nitrogen.

How do we live the lives we want while maintaining healthy ecosystems that can support future generations? These challenges will define the coming century, and one of them lies at the heart of the most fundamental of human needs: the need to eat, the good these chemical elements do and the harm they cause, and ultimately, the reasons to have hope for a better future.
Our Constitution’s Intelligent Design

U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III

Monday, March 28, 6:30–8:30pm

**FOR MEMBERS ONLY** Join online at arboretum.harvard.edu/membership or call 617-384-5767.
In 2005 Judge John Jones presided over the landmark case of Kitzmiller v. Dover, and thereafter rendered an opinion holding that it is unconstitutional to teach the concept of intelligent design as an alternative to the theory of evolution. In the aftermath of that ruling, Judge Jones, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, was subjected to intense criticism. Judge Jones will highlight some of the lessons he learned from these experiences, including the development of his passion for judicial independence, and a belief in the need for better civics education, particularly related to our three branches of government

Recommended reading related to this talk:

· Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District (available online), Monkey Girl by Edward Humes,

· 40 Days and 40 Nights by Matthew Chapman,

· The Battle Over the Meaning of Everything by Gordy Slack

· The Devil in Dover by Lauri Lebo.

Ned Freidman spoke to us of his passion for bringing more scientific research to the grounds of the 265-acre Arnold and about the new lecture series he has started.

Q. We know you are a research scientist, but are you also a gardener?

A. I love to garden. I am almost competitive about gardening. My wife and I canned 80 quarts of tomatoes this year from just nine plants. We make jam from our fruit trees. We live now in Boulder, Colo., where the season is short but the sunlight is intense. I also grow hops and brew my own beer there.

Q. What kind of tomatoes do you grow?

A. Celebrity, Sweet 100’s. No heirlooms or anything unusual because my wife is a botanist, too, and she studies Solanum plants, which are related to tomatoes, and we don’t want to transmit any plant diseases to her research projects.

Q. What have you done at the University of Colorado?

A. I’m a plain old garden variety professor studying the evolutionary origins of flowering plants (mostly trees) and how they reproduce. We’ve come up with some big surprises.

Q. What are your goals for the Arnold Arboretum?

A. The new Weld Hill building will open with a spectacular set of labs as a base for bringing undergraduates and post-docs and plant researchers to the Arboretum. They’ll be able to do microscopy and molecular biology right at the Arboretum. My job will be to get the new research building on Weld Hill up and running, but also to get science out of the building and into the schools and community.

Q. How?

A. I want to do outreach to public school teachers about the history of evolution. I want to get a National Science Foundation S.T.E.M. grant (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) for our graduate students to partner with science teachers in the public schools. I will do more on adult education, too. I will have a monthly community night when I will bring in someone very special from around the world for Boston. We’ll do it in an evolutionary way.

Q. Do you actually take care of the trees?

A. We have talented arborists for that, and we’re well-staffed, with 75 employees. But I hope they’ll let me up in the bucket for a bird’s eye view.

Q. Do you worry about the Asian long horned beetle?

A. I was visiting when they found those four infected trees in the hospital parking lot across the street. I don’t know where they came from. I was so impressed by the way the staff snapped into action. They knew what species the beetles preferred and the date that each tree had been previously checked. They checked all the trees again, and the beetles hadn’t spread to the Arboretum, but the trees there are so attentively checked by a full staff that it would never go undetected. We wouldn’t be playing “catch-up.’’ But we want to continue to educate our neighbors to keep an eye on their own trees.

Q. Given all the new threats to trees today by changing climate and imported pests and diseases, what kind of tree would you plant for the future?

A. My favorite tree is the ginko. I did my dissertation on it. It’s tough, pollution- and pest-tolerant, it has beautiful gold coloring in the fall. There’s a stretch of streets linked with ginkos in Yokahama and they look beautiful. Goethe wrote a tremendous love poem to a much younger woman about the ginko leaf. It’s a mysterious and romantic plant.

Q. Are you as cheerful as you seem?

A. I’m very cheerful. I have always felt I’ve been the luckiest person in the world because I get to spend my life with plants.

--CAROL STOCKER

The Massachusetts Horticultural Society announces Jan 6 that it has named Katherine K. Macdonald as the organization’s new executive director. She brings both public company and not-for-profit management experience and was president of KMAC Marketing. Prior to that, she was vice president of marketing for Thompson Island Outward Bound, a non-profit focused on experiential education.

“We are thrilled. Kathy is a talented strategist with experience in both the non-profit and for- profit sectors. She has a proven track record of being able to transform mission and vision into actions,” said Betsy Ridge Madsen, president of the board of trustees of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. “Mass Hort has moved through some challenging times to achieve institutional stability. Because of her combination of business acumen and non-profit spirit, we are confident that Kathy’s leadership will successfully drive and expand the organization’s educational miss

Macdonald spent six years with Thompson Island Outward Bound where she was responsible for generating $3 million of annual revenue that supported the core mission. She also helped develop an environmental program that combined Outward Bound’s philosophy with environmental studies, to encourage teambuilding and environmental stewardship. Her business career spans more than twenty five years, and includes entrepreneurship, technology start ups, the Xerox Corporation, and the hospitality industry. Most recently, she was president of KMAC Marketing, which provides strategic planning and marketing assistance to profit- and not-for-profit organizations.

“I see an extraordinary opportunity to leverage the turnaround that is already underway at Mass Hort as a launching pad for the organization’s renaissance,” Macdonald said. “Mass Hort has been part of the environmental movement since 1829, and now is the time to make its voice heard in the contemporary conversation. My goal for Mass Hort is straightforward: to use the organization’s considerable resources to meet society’s changing needs. To that end, I believe Mass Hort must sharpen its focus on sustainability, protecting natural resources, health, and environmental stewardship.”

“Mass Hort is here today because of the hard work, perseverance and tenacity of many people,” said Macdonald. “The Society’s trustees and staff, Master Gardeners, donors, and its many volunteers have seen the organization through a difficult period. I see my job as delivering on the promise of Mass Hort on their behalf.”

Macdonald holds an MBA from Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College and a bachelor’s degree from Central Connecticut State University. Long active in civic affairs in Wellesley, Macdonald has been an elected Town Meeting member for 24 years. She has served on multiple committees, including the Advisory/Finance Committee, the Wellesley Housing Development Corporation, and the Community Preservation Committee. She has managed several initiative campaigns including one, in 2002, for the Massachusetts League of Women Voters that focused on campaign television advertising. Macdonald and her husband Kevin have lived in Wellesley for more than 30 years. They have two adult children, Brian and Bridget.

Headquartered at the historic Elm Bank Reservation in Wellesley and Dover, Mass Hort welcomes visitors. Mass Hort’s Blooms! at the Boston Flower and Garden Show, an annual Boston tradition, is held in March at The Seaport World Trade Center. Katherine K. Macdonald named New Executive Director of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society Visit www.MassHort.org to learn more.

By Carol Stocker. In Worcester, MA, more than 28,000 trees have been removed due to the
invasion of the Asian longhorned beetle (ALB), turning Worcester’s once
canopied streets into stark naked roadways. Experts think a small ALB
infestation discovered and controlled this past summer in Boston may have
been from beetles that escaped out of Worcester, potentially on firewood or
brush.
Thirty-five percent of firewood is brought from another location, increasing
risk of invasion from forest pests. With winter here, people across the country are engaging in a centuries-old tradition of buying or gathering firewood to fuel home fires. In a recent
poll conducted by The Nature Conservancy, one in twenty Americans said they
moved firewood long distances (i.e., more than 50 miles, a distance widely
accepted as moving it “too far”). Moving firewood can increase the risk of
new invasive pest infestations that kill trees. To prevent the spread of
these pests, the Don’t Move Firewood campaign recommends buying firewood
that was cut locally, preferably within the same county or region of where
it will be burned.
“DCR is pleased to join the Nature Conservancy in urging everyone not to
move firewood across regions in Massachusetts and especially across state
borders,” said Department of Conservation and Recreation Commissioner Rick
Sullivan. “Invasive species have devastated forests in other parts of the
country, and we thank residents and visitors alike for helping prevent that
from happening in Massachusetts.”
Transporting firewood can potentially create new infestations of invasive
insects and diseases, which can lurk in firewood at any time of the year.
These tree-killing pests cannot move far on their own, but when people move
firewood that harbors them, they unwittingly enable these pests to start an
infestation far from their current range. Past invaders have devastated
native species of trees such as the American chestnut, hemlock, and American
elm- tree species, which have been part of American forests and city streets
for centuries prior to invasion of foreign pests.
“These new poll results tell us that when people learn why they shouldn’t
transport firewood long distances, the vast majority are willing to buy it
where they burn it,” said Leigh Greenwood, Don’t Move Firewood campaign
manager, The Nature Conservancy. “People have the power to save their trees.
They can help stop the spread of destructive pests by not moving firewood
and communicating this message to others.”
The poll results indicate that only 34 percent of the respondents who use
firewood have heard that they should not move firewood long distances;
however, once they are aware of the problem, 80 percent would be willing to
buy the wood in the area where they plan to burn it. In regions of the
country hardest hit by invasive pests, the number of people who have heard
the message to not move firewood has increased from 38 percent in 2007, when
the poll was previously conducted, to 59 percent in this year’s poll
results. In these same regions, from 2007 to 2010 the poll indicates there
has been a 13 percent increase in the number of people that say they never
move firewood.
“For the protection of our farms and working landscapes, particularly of our
maple sugaring industry, we urge residents and visitors to refrain from
moving firewood over long distances, especially in and out of Asian
longhorned beetle regulated areas this winter season,” said Massachusetts
Department of Agricultural Resources Commissioner Scott Soares. “We thank
The Nature Conservancy for their continued effort in getting this important
message to the public.”
“Burning a wood fire in the winter has a lot of different uses – a primary
heat source, a place for a family gathering, or part of a romantic evening
by the fire,” said Greenwood. “When firewood comes from a well managed local
forest, it’s a great alternative to using fossil fuels like oil and natural
gas. We just ask that when using firewood for these purposes, people help
protect their local trees by not risking the accidental movement of insects
and diseases that can wipe out entire forests.”
Following are tips from the Don’t Move Firewood campaign:
• Obtain firewood near the location where you will burn it – that
means the wood was cut in a nearby forest, in the same county, or at a
maximum of 50 miles from where you'll have your fire.
• Don’t be tempted to get firewood from a remote location just because
the wood looks clean and healthy. It could still harbor tiny insect eggs or
microscopic fungal spores that will start a new and deadly infestation of
forest pests.
• Aged or seasoned wood is not considered safe to move, but
commercially kiln-dried wood is a good option if you must transport
firewood.
• If you have already moved firewood, and you now know you need to
dispose of it safely, burn it soon and completely. Make sure to rake the
storage area carefully and also burn the debris. In the future, buy from a
local source.
• Tell your friends and others about the risks of moving firewood – no
one wants to be responsible for starting a new pest infestation.
To learn more about how to prevent forest pests from destroying forests, log
onto www.dontmovefirewood.org.
The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around
the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and
people. The Conservancy and its more than one million members have been
responsible for the protection of more than 18 million acres in the United
States and have helped preserve more than 117 million acres in Latin
America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. Visit us on the Web at
www.nature.org

The Beacon Hill Garden Club's $55,000 donation, its largest donation to any organization, to the Friends of the Public Garden will be used for the installation and maintenance of a remembrance grove as part of the restoration of the Brewer Fountain Plaza on Boston Common. The Beacon Hill Garden Club’s eleven-tree remembrance grove will honor deceased members including Jeanne Muller Ryan, Alex Norton, and Vera Innes. The grove will serve as a memorial for all the achievements that members, past and present, have and will accomplish during their lifetimes.

“The Remembrance Grove will allow us to honor our members, who work so hard to beautify and educate the community and provide a fund for deceased members' families to remember their loved ones,” explained Trudi Fondren, President of the Beacon Hill Garden Club.

The donation represents the Beacon Hill Garden Club’s involvement in the Garden Club of America’s centennial celebration in 2013. With trees as the theme of the celebration, each participating club began a 5-year program in 2008 to work with community organizations in planting new trees. The Beacon Hill Garden Club Remembrance Grove is a significant planting within the Brewer Fountain Plaza project, which will transform this southeastern gateway into the park and add trees to an area of the city heavily used by Boston residents, commuters, and visitors.

Henry Lee, President and founder of the Friends of the Public Garden stated, “Park care ebbs and flows. With the economy as it is today and the drastic cuts endured by the Parks Department, we have entered another ebbing time for parks and non-profits alike. But all is not dark. The generosity of the Beacon Hill Garden Club demonstrates that we can still improve the parks through fostering great relationships such as ours with the Beacon Hill Garden Club.”

The Friends of the Public Garden is a non-profit citizen's advocacy group formed in 1970 to preserve, protect and enhance the Boston Common, the Public Garden and the Commonwealth Avenue Mall in collaboration with the Mayor and the Parks and Recreation Department of the City of Boston. A model public-private partnership and the first modern parks advocacy group in the Commonwealth, the Friends number over 2500 members and many volunteers.

The Beacon Hill Garden Club is committed to encouraging the love of horticulture and urban gardening, and to promoting the cultivation, preservation, and improvement of the urban landscape through educational programs and direct financial support for organizations dedicated to environmental conservation and civic improvement.

By Carol Stocker
Globe Garden Writer

The Gardner Museum’s interior courtyard is adorned with winter berries, dozens of red poinsettias, flowering jade, jasmine trees, white azaleas and lady’s slipper orchids.

On December 16, the Gardner opens its doors to celebrate the season—and herald the arrival of the museum’s new Renzo Piano-designed wing, currently under construction and slated to open in early 2012—with an evening of music, cocktails, informal talks, gallery games, and more in the museum’s uniquely atmospheric courtyard and galleries. Acclaimed multidisciplinary artist and Gardner Artist-in-Residence Adam Pendleton returns to the museum to present the premiere of three scenes (variation two), a new work that incorporates musical performance and spoken text.

After this event, Gardner After Hours will take a hiatus for 2011 as the museum prepares for the opening of its new wing. However, from January through August 2011, the museum will continue to hold Extended Evening Hours (5-8pm) on the third Thursday of each month.

Both the Café and Shop offer special holiday fare this month. And both will be closed during all of 2011 as construction is completed, and will reopen in new and improved facilities within the museum’s new wing in early 2012. Building On a Legacy: Learn more about the Gardner Museum’s new wing, designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Renzo Piano, at http://www.buildingproject.gardnermuseum.org.

Each New Years Day, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum offers a free day of museum admission in conjunction with Boston’s First Night celebration, inviting Bostonians and visitors to kick off the new year in style. This annual event honors the late Frank Hatch, former board member and President of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, for his lifelong dedication to public service and the arts. On January 1, the museum is open to all from 11am to 5pm.

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum • 280 The Fenway Boston MA 02115 • Tue.-Sun., 11am-5pm; plus After Hours events, 5:30-9:30pm on the third Thursday of the month, through December 2010 • Admission: $12 adults; $10 seniors; $5 students; FREE members, children under 18, everyone on their birthday, and all named “Isabella”; full list of discounts at http://www.gardnermuseum.org/specials.asp • $2 off regular admission with a same-day receipt or membership card from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston • Box Office 617 278 5156, boxoffice@isgm.org • www.gardnermuseum.org • Modeled after a 15th-century Venetian palazzo surrounding a flowering courtyard garden, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum houses one of the most remarkable art collections in the world, featuring works by Rembrandt, Michelangelo, Raphael, Degas, and Sargent. Concerts, seasonal garden displays, lectures, and special events enrich the collection and continue to fire the imagination of all who visit.

Anne Hawley, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum director announced on Dec. 6 the appointment of landscape scholar and educator Charles Waldheim, principal, Urban Agency as the Museum’s new consulting Curator of Landscape, effective January 2011.

Charles Waldheim is a leading thinker, educator, and scholar in the field of landscape architecture. Waldheim coined the term “landscape urbanism” to describe emerging design practices at the intersection of landscape and contemporary urbanism, which is his primary research focus. He has written extensively on the topic, and has lectured across North America, Europe, and Asia. Waldheim is John E. Irving Professor of Landscape Architecture and the current Chair of the Department of Landscape Architecture at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design. Waldheim is a licensed architect and a principal of Urban Agency, a consulting practice advising public and private clients on a range of issues relating to contemporary urbanism. In 2006, Waldheim received the Rome Prize Fellowship in Landscape Architecture from the American Academy in Rome.

Rooted in the Gardner Museum’s connections to the urban landscape and building upon the accomplishments of the first Curator of Landscape Patrick Chassé, the appointment of Charles Waldheim/Urban Agency will further highlight and expand the importance of landscape scholarship at the Gardner and to elevate the Gardner as a center for discussion of contemporary issues related to landscape and community. The Curator of Landscape position is unque among cultural institutions and museums like the Gardner. Waldheim will join the Gardner Museum as its new consulting Curator of Landscape in January 2011—about one year before the expected opening of a new wing designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Renzo Piano to include new dedicated areas for programming across the museum’s five cornerstones, expanded gardens, and restoration work in the historic galleries.

Waldheim will bring new thinking, research, lectures, and exhibitions to the landscape program at the Gardner Museum. This appointment reflects a commitment by the Gardner both to engage the landscape community more directly within the context of the Gardner’s landscape history, innovation, and importance and to help the public think more deeply about the link between landscape at the Gardner Museum and the surrounding urban fabric. New programming will support emerging thinkers in the area of landscape—much like the museum’s Artists-in-Residence program, which is now in its eighteenth year and supports contemporary artists by inviting them to work, live, create, and draw inspiration for new work and new ways of thinking amidst thirty centuries of art and inspiration

“An urban gardener and thinker herself, Isabella Stewart Gardner advanced the value of landscape as a means to enrich urban life—first in her Beacon Street home and later in the Fenway with the creation of her museum,” said Anne Hawley, the Norma Jean Calderwood Director of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.

“Stimulating new ways of thinking in our key programming areas is central to the Gardner Museum’s mission. Charles Waldheim’s appointment will challenge us to expand our thinking about landscape and its importance in the urban fabric of Boston. He will also help us to engage our public in new ways through exhibitions, scholarship, and public programs that will set a new direction for this ‘cornerstone’ at the Gardner. We welcome Charles to the Gardner Museum as our new Curator of Landscape,” Hawley continued.

“I look forward to contributing to the Gardner’s ongoing renewal through the development of its public programs on contemporary landscape,” said Waldheim. “Given the Gardner’s historic commitments in this area, and their extraordinary investment in new programming associated with the opening of the new venue in 2012, this is an important moment in the life of this singular institution. I look forward to making some modest contribution to keep contemporary landscape central to the life of the Gardner and to its many audiences. Given the centrality and relevance that contemporary landscape plays in design culture, urbanism, and the arts today, we are particularly fortunate that Anne Hawley and the Gardner’s leadership team have rededicated themselves to landscape as a cornerstone of their programs going forward. I look forward to working with them toarticulate the sites and subjects associated with contemporary landscape design, and to construct opportunities for audiences to interact with the medium in its multiple and various forms,” added Waldheim.

The museum’s founder Isabella Gardner believed in the value of horticulture. Her street-side conservatory at her Beacon Street home was a profusion of blooms and greenery, and she regularly supported landscape beautification projects in the Fenway. Gardner was also an urban pioneer—choosing to build her museum at the turn of the century in the Fenway neighborhood, a new section of Boston that had recently been transformed by Frederick Law Olmsted from a tidal marsh into the parks of the Back Bay Fens. The Gardner Museum was one of the first buildings in the newly formed Fenway, a landscape that defines the community for residents and visitors alike and an area which today remains an important and vibrant example of the value of urban landscape.

THE ISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM, BOSTON (www.gardnermuseum.org) at 280 The Fenway Boston MA 02115, is open Tue.-Sun., 11 am-5 pm. Admission: Adults $12; Seniors $10; Students $5; Free for members, children under 18, everyone on his/her birthday, and all named Isabella. $2 off admission with same-day Museum of Fine Arts ticket stub. Info: 617-566-1401. Box Office 617-278-5156. • The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum features 5,000 objects spanning 30 centuries and many cultures—including works by Botticelli, Titian, Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Degas, and Sargent, in addition to sculpture, furniture, tapestries, and manuscripts.

The “Horticultural History Tour” symposium, a series of five lectures, will be held at the Massachusetts Horticultural Society headquarters at Elm Bank, in Wellesley on Saturday. The day-long lecture series on Garden and Landscape History runs 9:00am - 4:00pm at Hunnewell Carriage House in The Gardens at Elm Bank 900 Washington Street Wellesley, MA Info and registration at www.MassHort.org. 617-933-4995.

In conjunction, The Massachusetts State Senate, on the Motion of Dover Senator James Timilty, has certified that November 13 is Garden History Day in Massachusetts.

The symposium will be hosted by John Furlong, FALA, emeritus director, Landscape Institute, Arnold Arboretum, faculty member Boston Architectural College.

At 9:00 AM Gerry Wright as Frederick Law Olmsted presents a biography of the landscape architect who was influenced by the natural landscapes of New England throughout his life. In 1850, at age 28, he traveled to England and was smitten with the countryside and a “democratic park” in Birkenhead . Omlsted’s two styles of landscape architecture were the creation of the “pastoral” and the “picturesque”. Beyond the creation for beauty, there was a sense of “service deeply rooted in his planning of public places. N.Y. City ’s Central Park, Harvard’s Arnold Arboretum and to the two 200 acre country estates on the Charles River in Wellesley and Dover are among the legacies of Olmsted and his firm.

At 10:30 AM Allyson Hayward , garden historian and author of Norah Lindsay: The Life and Art of a Garden Designer will deliver a new talk on two important New England estates, the Hunnewell estate, known as Wellesley, and Elm Bank, the Cheney/Baltzell estate which is now the home of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. Today, these landscapes reveal a layering of New England ’s garden history. Ms. Hayward will take you on an armchair tour of these exciting gardens with an illustrated lecture tracing the landscapes dating from 1850 to the present. You will revel in the beauty of the initial vision of Horatio Hollis Hunnewell and his Italian Garden and Pinetum at Wellesley . The lecture will continue with images of Elm Bank from its Victorian grandeur to its transformation into a 1920s grandiose playground for Boston society, complete with theme gardens that portrayed the owners’ sense of taste and style.

At 11:30 AM David Barnett, PhD., President and CEO of Mount Auburn Cemetery, will present Wilson’s China: A Century On, published by The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew , 2009. Wilson was the Arnold Arboretum’s principal plant collector from 1906, and in 1927, on the death of Director Charles Sprague Sargent, was appointed the self-styled “Keep” of the Arboretum. In addition to introducing over 1,200 plants, Wilson was a popular author and lecturer and a Mass Hort Trustee . His remarkable achievements are a continuing inspiration to botanists, horticulturist and landscapers. The slides have been loaned to Mass Hort through the courtesy of the English authors, Tony Kirkham and Mark Flanagan, respectively Head of the Arboretum at Kew and Keeper of the Royal Gardens in Windsor Great Park .

12:30 PM Lunch – Catered by Cuisine Chez Vous

1:30 PM Elizabeth S. Eustis is a garden historian and guest curator, former Trustee of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, past President of the New England Wild Flower Society and faculty member of The Landscape Institute. She will speak on Romanticism in the landscape, the subject of a 2010 exhibition that she co-curated for the Morgan Library in New York , Romantic Gardens: Art, Nature and Garden Design, with a catalogue published by David R. Godine. Following the transition from formal classicism to more naturalistic garden design, Romanticism added a new emphasis on emotional and spiritual response to the landscape. The pervasive influence of Romanticism inspired artificial ruins, garden cemeteries, wild gardens, and contributed powerfully to the public parks movement. This talk will be extensively illustrated by recent photographs and historic works of art.

3:00 PM Local author Meg Muckenhoupt will lead attendees through the verdant world of her book, Boston’s Gardens & Green Spaces (Union Park Press, 2010). She examines the role of public spaces throughout Boston ’s historic and contemporary landscape.

Framingham, MA – Each year at its annual meeting New England Wild Flower Society honors organizations and individuals who have demonstrated creative vision and exceptional achievement in furthering the Society's conservation goals. On Sunday, November 6, the Society recognized the following individuals through the awards listed:

The Education Award is given to an individual or a group for original and significant work that promotes public understanding and appreciation of temperate North American
plants. William Cullina of Southport Island, ME, was recognized for his life-long dedication to promoting public understanding and appreciation of temperate North American plants and their immeasurable value for our earth’s biodiversity. New England Wildflower Society could once claim Bill Cullina as one of its own when he was Director of Nursery and Plant Propagator from 1995 to 2005. Now Bill’s official title is Director of Horticulture and Plant Curator at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens. However, Bill wears many professional hats; consultant, photographer, freelance author, lecturer and teacher. Today, we honor his extraordinary contributions as an educator. Bill is an outstanding speaker, addressing diverse audiences about the ecology, growth and propagation of woody and herbaceous native plants. He is the also author of several award-winning books and most recently won the 2009 American Horticultural Society’s Book Award.

State Awards are given to an individual, group, or organization within a New England state for a significant contribution to the preservation of native plants and/or their habitats within that state. Preference is given to work that has impact throughout a state.

The Connecticut Award was given to John Picard of Clinton, CT, for his leadership at Willard Island, working with more than 100 volunteers from throughout CT converging in Hammonasset State Park to do battle with a 10-acre tangle of invasive species, including oriental bittersweet, Japanese honeysuckle, autumn olive, barberry, and others.

The Maine Award was given to Andrew Cutko, ecologist, of Augusta, ME, who co-authored the recently published Natural Landscapes of Maine and worked with larger timber companies in ME to survey their lands for uncommon or exemplary natural communities and rare plants, thereby protecting many of Maine’s outstanding botanical features.

The Massachusetts Award was given to Kathy Wilensky of Concord, MA. As a dedicated volunteer for the Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program for 7 years, she coordinated the state plant watch list of over 150 species, keeping staff aware of uncommon plants that may be of conservation concern in the future. The list is also important for keeping global tallies of plants which have their greatest abundance in MA but are limited in their global range.

The New Hampshire Award was given to Joann Hoy of Auburn, NH, mentor, educator, editor, collaborator, peer, and ultimately “a botanist’s botanist”. She is the host of “Lunch with Joann” where she moderates the discussion of a topic of interest or a recent scientific article or publication. She is a long-standing member of the New England Plant Conservation Program’s New Hampshire Task Force and volunteers to monitor numerous rare plant locations. She also volunteers for numerous activities with The Nature Conservance and the New Hampshire Natural Heritage Bureau. She is also a scientific editor and does contract work for the MA and ME Natural Heritage programs.

The Rhode Island Award was given to Carl Sawyer of Wakefield, RI, Research Associate in the College of the Environment and Life Sciences at the University of Rhode Island, where he quietly and unselfishly shares his knowledge and skills in plant science, taxonomy plant communities and conservation with students, colleagues, non-profit conservation organizations and state agencies.

The Vermont State Award was given to Arthur Gilman of Marshfield, VT, who has just completed a new Flora of Vermont, “the most scholarly and professional flora in the history of the state of Vermont.” He is also a nationally renowned expert on ferns and fern allies especially grape fern. He is past president of the New England Botanical Club, a member of the Vermont Endangered Species Committee, Flora Advisory Group, Vermont Natural Resources Board, and New England Plant Conservation Task Force, to name a few. He is a principal in the firm of Gilman & Briggs Environmental and is noted for his expertise on the distribution of plants relevant to biodiversity conservation.

The Kathryn S. Taylor Award for Private Gardens is given to a privately owned garden of any size displaying significant use of wildflowers and other temperate North American native plants. The garden must be at least three years old and must exhibit excellence of design and maintenance in all seasons. Mrs. Thelma Hewitt’s outstanding home garden in New London, New Hampshire features a masterful combination of New Hampshire natives and regionally listed plants. This large garden, sited on a hill overlooking the mountains, is home to a thriving collection of alpine plants native to New Hampshire and a prodigious patch of Chamaepericlymenum canadense (formerly known as Cornus Canadensis). In addition to native plants, the garden’s impressive design incorporates New Hampshire native stone along its many winding paths. Polygala paucifolia cascades over the native stone creating a breathtaking show in spring. Newer paths wind their way through the wooded edge of the yard. This exceptional garden serves as an educational laboratory where Mrs. Hewitt enthusiastically shares her horticultural knowledge with local garden clubs, the Garden Conservancy, New England Wild Flower Society and other organizations.

Service to the Society Awards are given to individuals who have aided the Society in furthering its mission through devoted service in one or more capacities. Betty Wright and Deborah Hellmold were honored this year.

Betty Wright of Marlborough, MA, wears many hats at New England Wild Flower Society, working for the conservation department as a plant conservation volunteer, surveying rare species and removing invasive plants. She also serves as an adult guide at Garden in the Woods; collects, cleans, and packages seeds for the seed bank; and “will do just about anything for the conservation department.”

Deborah Hellmold of Framingham, MA, volunteers at Garden in the Woods, donating her time and talents for the weekly bloom board where she collects the data and helps organize the scheduling of new and seasoned volunteers. She also volunteers as a children’s guide and designed most of the costumes which one sees at Earth Day, Fall Family Festival, and other special events in the Garden. The bumble bee, lady bug, ant, butterfly, and tree were all her creations.

The mission of New England Wild Flower Society is to conserve and promote the region’s native plants to ensure healthy, biologically diverse landscapes. Founded in 1900, the Society is the nation’s oldest plant conservation organization and a recognized leader in native plant conservation, horticulture, and education. The Society’s headquarters, Garden in the Woods, is a renowned native plant botanic garden in Framingham, Massachusetts, that attracts visitors from all over the world. From this base, 35 staff and more than 1,000 volunteers work throughout New England to monitor and protect rare and endangered plants, collect and preserve seeds to ensure biological diversity, detect and control invasive species, conduct research, and offer a range of educational programs. The Society also operates a native plant nursery at Nasami Farm in western Massachusetts, which grows plants for retail customers and for landscaping and restoration projects, and has eight sanctuaries in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont that are open to the public.

There is a strong possibility of the dreaded first frost tonight in Boston suburbs. Plants that survive a cold night can carry on for weeks, so it's worthwhile to try to protect your tenderer vegetables, annuals, herbs and container gardens by covering with a sheet or moving indoors.

But do not dig your dahlias too early. We recommend waiting to dig your dahlias until 2 weeks after a killing frost. If you have not had a frost by November 15, then it is safe to dig at that time. The tubers need time to harden off and prepare for winter storage. If you dig too early they will be "green" and will not store properly and may not survive storage.

Historic New England recently restored the main driveway and historic ha-ha wall at the Codman Estate in Lincoln, allowing visitors to once again experience the formal entry to the property from Codman Road as it was originally intended.

Over time, the formal driveway at the Codman Estate leading from Codman Road to the front of the main house had strayed from its original lines, and curves obscured the view to the main house that visitors were intended to experience. Before work on the roadway or ha-ha wall could begin, it was necessary to prune several trees along the drive and to straighten and resurface the driveway. Historic New England property care staff used existing piers at the western entrance and historic photographs to determine the roadway's original location. Once the road work was complete, restoration of the wall began. Some areas were raised to create a consistent height across the entire length of the wall. Other sections were repaired. Missing stones were replaced with matching stones found on site.

The final stages of the project recreated the ha-ha earthwork detail with new topsoil and then seeding the area to create a grassy "shoulder" angled from the road bed to meet the top of the wall. For more details on this project, and to see before and after images as well as photographs of the work in progress, view our ha-ha wall slide show.

This project is part of a larger multi-year effort to restore many features of this important historic landscape. The project was made possible by Historic New England's Preservation Maintenance Fund, established in 2009, when Historic New England received the largest grant in its history, a total of $3 million over three years, to address preservation maintenance needs for its historic properties.

About Historic New England

The Codman Estate is one of Historic New England's thirty-six sites throughout the region. As the oldest, largest, and most comprehensive regional heritage organization in the nation, Historic New England brings history to life while preserving the past for everyone interested in exploring the New England experience from the seventeenth century to today. The organization shares the region's history through vast collections, publications, public programs, museum properties, archives, and family stories that document more than 400 years of life in New England. For more information visit HistoricNewEngland.org.

What is a ha-ha wall?

A ha-ha wall is an eighteenth and nineteenth-century landscape device made, popular in English country estates and intended to create a visual illusion. The wall itself is a retaining wall separating two levels of lawn space. The upper level is usually the formal side with the country house, while the lower level is often a meadow or field with animals grazing. From the house, the view into the field is uninterrupted as the grassy lawn runs right to the top of the retaining wall and the eye is then carried without interruption into the field. But the cows or sheep in the meadow cannot access the upper level because the elevation change and retaining wall stand in their way.

Historic New England is celebrating its centennial. Discover all that's happening across the region this year at http://www.HistoricNewEngland.org/Centennial

Fifty years ago, Lisette deLisle O'Shea, a talented artist, looked up from the landscape she was painting in her garden. She put down her brush, and picked up a spade. Her new palette became spackeled with living color: orangey poppies, midnight purple iris, lavender stalks, rougey red rose petals, creamy golden peonies, lemon lillies, or siberian blue starflowers scattered under pale pink magnolia blossom cups.

Fifty years ago, Alexander Kennedy looked out his window in the seaside village of Seaview. He was dreaming about planting a nursery on a piece of land nestled next to the North River. It had a small outbuilding heated by a pot-bellied stove, and fertile black soil on the acreage, enriched by salt marsh hay delivered by moon tides.

But dreams are just visions without the investment of sweat equity.

Lisette’s children helped her haul rocks in her their red flyer wagon. They watched their mother transform an unsightly drainage ditch into a magnificent rock garden. Strangers often stopped their cars and took pictures of the mounds of cascading flowers that changed color with the seasons.

Alexander Kennedy’s grandson, Robert, watched as he rolled up his sleeves and staked his claim to the property overlooking the tidal river. He saw his grandfather fill his nursery with species of plants that could thrive and survive in New England’s coastal tempests.

In time, Alexander’s grandson, Robert, was ready to till the family dream. After finishing his studies at the University of Massachusetts, he came equipped to expand the little seaside enterprise. He added the first greenhouse, a dismantle one that he re-assembled. Robert had a knack for growing the business of growing things. Local residents began to notice that Kennedy’s was beginning to look like "one of those English country gardens."

Lisette and her daughter, Jeanine Graf, made many joyous excursions to Kennedy’s back then. They were working together to awaken an old garden in Seaview and needed sturdy plants and sound advice. Clumps of iris flourished on top of a ledge facing northeast toward the sea.

A lot of happy memories have been cultivated over the years and Kennedy’s Country Gardens will be commemorating fifty years of service. Alexander Kennedy’s great-grandson, Chris, now carries his family’s legacy. And Lisette deLisle’s daughter has placed into those able hands a new generation of iris from that ledge in Seaview. The new hybrid has been officially registered by the American Iris Association, and named Lisette deLisle. Lisette’s daughter has entrusted Mr. Chris Kennedy with the introduction of the lovely pale lavender blue, orchid-like iris that blooms on her mother’s birthday (Mothers' Day). “My mother’s little namesake will prosper in the Kennedy’s field of dreams.”

This month Kennedy’ Country Gardens celebrated fifty years of service to New England, and the Lisette deLisle iris was tucked into the display garden. Iris lovers can place their orders for the new hybrid at 781-545-1266.

Wellesley - The Hunnewell Family Arboretum became the first garden in the United States to receive a plaque from the prestigious International Dendrology Society last Sunday.

"This is the only private estate garden I know of in the country that has been in the same family for four generations," said Peter del Tredici of the Arnold Arboreum Sunday as he led a tour of some its oldest and rarest trees.

H.H. Hunnewell started planting the trees in 1852. He named the estate Wellesley after his wife Isabella Welles. (The town and adjacent college both later appropriated the name.)

The IDS Plaque recognizes an exceptional tree collection and emphasizes the importance of its preservation,said Charlotte Feldman of Philadelphia, an IDS vice president. "This may be the most important collection of old conifers in the U.S.," she added.

Arabella Killander of Cambridge, England, presented the plaque (and a young dawn redwood tree) to Willard Hunnewell and Luisa Hunnewell, widow of the late Walter Hunnewell, representing the family members of three generations in attendance.

Luisa Hunnewell hosted a luncheon for the family and for horticulturalists including Prof. John Palmer, Gary Koller, Stephen A. Spongberg of the Polly Hill Arboretum, del Tredici, and David P. Barnett of Mt. Auburn Cemetery.

By Carol Stocker
Globe Garden Writer

Newport, RI. - Ronald Lee Fleming of the Townscape Institute in Cambridge is creating an important classical garden at Bellevue House, his Newport summer home, which is celebrating its centennial this year. It was built in 1910 by celebrated designer Ogdon Codman for his aunt Martha Codman Karolik, whose collection of painting, furniture and silver forms the hub of the Museum of Fine Art's American collection. A reproduction of an 18th century Samuel McIntire tea house was built in the garden in 1926. Since purchasing the house in 1999, Fleming has added two more full scale reproductions of McIntire's Federal period architecture as garden follies, an Oriental garden and formal hedges, fountains and a central axis to create a network of garden rooms that reference historic landscape design.

Fleming hosted a fundraiser for The Island Moving Company here Sept. 18. The dance troupe specializes in "site specific" performances, and have performed on an aircraft career and a beach as well as some of Newport's most spectacular mansions. At twilight last Saturday a half dozen nymphs in blue togas frolicked barefoot in fountains and danced their way through Bellevue House's new classical gardens. They chimed finger cymbals to lead about 50 supporters from one garden room to the next, each outfitted with outdoor speakers providing music. Attendees included Margot and Richard Grosvenor, Ellen Barnes, Sunne Savage, Sidney Williams, Theodora Aspergren, Kate Spinell and company artistic director Miki Ohlsen and its executive director Dominique Alfandre

Dancers performed vignettes from the company's own "Dracula" ballet in Fleming's new Oriental Fantasy Garden and around a new copper domed reproduction of a church cupola designed by McIntire. Dancers pantomimed a nourishing blood feast as darkness fell on the garden.

The Island Moving Company has two full scale "site specific" ballets scheduled for other Bellevue Aveune mansions: "The Nut Cracker," at Rosecliff Mansion Nov. 26-Dec. 3, and "Dracula," Oct. 20-24 at Belcourt Castle. Dracula was created to fit the Gothic mansion, and progresses through its library, gallery and two ballrooms with audience in tow.

After watching the garden performance David Grant of Newport said his old school chum Dominic von Habsburg, who now owns the famous 13th century Bram Castle in Transylvania, "went to the Dracula ballet last year at Belcourt and loved it!"

For more information on "site specific" performances visit www.islandmovingco.org.