MHS Leaflet, April 2023

Leaflet

A MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY PUBLICATION

APRIL

I am delighted that, this spring, our members and guests will find a resurgence of activity taking place. I want to highlight a few of these for you.

In the Garden at Elm Bank, two of our three greenhouses have been renovated and working hard over the late winter producing plants for the Garden and Plant Sale. The thousands of plants there will, over the next six weeks, find homes in replanting’s of Weezie’s Garden for Children and Bressingham Garden, in addition to the seasonal displays in the Italianate Garden. Before these have a chance to shine, a glorious burst of color will come and go in three weeks as we enjoy our first Tulip Mania, starting April 14. Even as plants are planted, others come out or are rejuvenated. We have done some fairly radical pruning in some areas, willing to have plants fail and be replaced if needed, to accomplish the longer term goals we have. Our aim this year is not to present perfection in every case, but to walk with our guests through the process of creating and caring for a garden.

With the same aim, we are thrilled with the response to our enhanced and expanded education programs, with over 70 students currently undertaking an intensive 10 week horticulture class for the first time. Do look out for a greatly increased tempo of educational and recreational opportunities this year.

And, as the season progresses, we are so pleased to be hosting a series of wonderful events and exhibits. Seeing the Invisible returns for a second year with new activities, a new Ribbit the Exhibit sculpture trail launches in May, and our packed events schedule includes our Honorary Medals Dinner (open to all) as well as educational events focused on the Manor House.

There are more opportunities than ever to be inspired, learn and contribute to the work of improving people’s lives through horticulture, and I hope to welcome many of you to the Garden in coming weeks. Thank you for your support and interest.

James Hearsum President & Executive Director

Introduction to Bonsai

Thursday, April 6 6:30-8:30pm

Bulbs 101, Drop-in Program

Saturday, April 8 11am-1pm

Floral Design: Spring Blossoms

Thursday, April 13 7-8:30pm

Dried Spring Arrangements

Saturday, April 22 1-2:30pm

Guided Spring Tour –Arnold Arboretum

Wednesday, April 26 10-11:30am

Bulbs 101, Drop-in Program

Saturday, April 29 11am-1pm

Introduction to Forest

Bathing: Healing with Nature

Wednesday, May 17 10am-12pm

Floral Design: Color Burst — America the Beautiful

Thursday, May 18 7-8:30pm

Out of the Box Container Gardening

Saturday, May 20 10-11:30am

SOLD OUT! Introduction to Tulip Ikebana

Saturday, April 15 1-2:30pm

Creating a Succession of Bloom in the Native Garden

Tuesday, April 18 6:30-8:30pm VIRTUAL

Introduction to Bonsai

Saturday, April 22 10am-12pm

Floral Design: Made for Mum – Teacup Flowers

Saturday, May 6 10-11:45am

Origami Tulips, Family Program

Saturday, May 6 11am-12pm

Great Native Plants for Containers

Tuesday, May 16 6:30-8:30pm

VIRTUAL

Jazzing Up the Garden with Color, Contrast and Movement

Tuesday, May 23, 6:30-7:30pm

Native New England Flora

Wednesday, May 24 7-8pm

Floral Design: Sweet Summer

Saturday, June 3 10-11:45am

&PRESALE TICKETS RELEASED!

Reserving admission in advance is required to ensure your entry to the Garden during Tulip Mania. Included with paid admission is a bunch of 5 fresh-cut tulips!

MHS members receive free admission for their number of cardholders (1 for Individual, 2 for Dual, 4 for Supporter). Any guests accompanying membership cardholders will have to purchase admission tickets. Admission is free for youth 12 years and younger. MHS Members will receive one bunch of free tulips on their first visit during Tulip Mania.

Bunches of fresh-cut tulips will also be available for purchase at the Gatehouse.

LOOK & LEARN

The first chance to take a peek inside the Manor House! While we can't give you a tour just yet, you'll get to enjoy a look inside the French doors on the terrace with hors d'oeuvres drinks in the spring Italianate Garden!

The Garden at Elm

Streetscape

One complimentary drink with ticket!

VIEW EVENT INFO & PURCHASE TICKETS!

The Massachusetts Horticultural Society community is sad to announce the passing of our dear friend and Trustee, Lynne MacDowell. As noted above, she was due to receive a silver medal this May and we are consoled by the fact that she was aware of this prestigious honor. She will be missed.

PLANT SALE

Tuesday, April 4: Plant Sale list released Click here for the newly released list!

Saturday, April 22: Online sales open to MHS Members via email

Saturday, April 29: Online sales open to nonmembers

Wednesday, May 10: Online sales end

Saturday, May 13: Order pickup at the Garden at Elm Bank

As MHS Members, you will get the first opportunity to shop our plant availability! Be on the lookout for an email on Saturday, April 22 for the first chance to purchase some of our 150 types of plants! SEE OUR

Spring Park Care in the Emerald Necklace Keeps it Vibrant Year-Round

By Declan Battles with Alyx Britton and Jack Schleifer

Spanning 1,100 acres from Dorchester to the Back Bay, the Emerald Necklace is a linear park system of meadows, urban forest, pathways and waterways designed in the late 1800s by Frederick Law Olmsted, linking more than 15 neighborhoods in Boston and Brookline. Several dedicated teams care for the Emerald Necklace parks, which encompass portions of Boston, Brookline and even segments managed by the Commonwealth’s Department of Conservation and Recreation. Emerald Necklace Conservancy staff complement our public partners’ parks maintenance efforts through a variety of land stewardship activities. As winter recedes and the first blossoms of spring begin to unfurl, Emerald Necklace Conservancy staff and volunteers are already hard at work restoring, maintaining and improving these historic greenspaces for the one million users who visit the Emerald Necklace each year. We are excited to share a peek into some of the stewardship activities that take place each spring to ensure that

the parks are healthy, safe and vibrant – this year and for decades to come!

This spring, the Conservancy will ring in Arbor Day on April 28 by planting 10 new trees along the Fenway Victory Gardens in Boston’s Back Bay Fens. These plantings have been designed to highlight the historic features of the park, influenced by both Frederick Law Olmsted and his protégé Arthur Shurcliff, who redesigned the Fens following the damming of the Charles River in 1910.

The Fenway Victory Gardens are the oldest continuously operating victory gardens in the United States, dating back to World War II, and the new trees were selected to complement the functionality of this popular community garden. Six flowering dogwood trees (Cornus florida) will be planted along Boylston Street, and two flowering crabapple trees (Malus Var. Donald Wyman) will replace removed crabapples. Further south of the Victory Gardens, two

elm trees (Ulmus americana Var. Valley Forge) will be planted to fill noted gaps in the canopy. The planting locations were specially selected to buffer the park from street noise and bring seasonal flowers and wildlife benefits, without growing too tall to shade out the beautiful garden plots. Specific cultivars of each species were chosen based on their aesthetics, tolerance of urban conditions and resistance to pests and pathogens documented in the region such as fire blight and Verticillium wilt.

More than simply planting these trees, the Conservancy is committed to their care and maintenance throughout root establishment and beyond. This includes seasonal watering

provided by our recently acquired watering truck, which waters brings hundreds of gallons of water to fledgling trees throughout the hottest months of the year. Protective fencing is also installed and maintained, and trees are mulched and staked for support. Community education about the newly planted trees and their benefits rounds out the Conservancy’s planting program. With 1,100 acres of parkland and more than 9,500 trees in the Conservancy’s tree inventory, planting plans span the Necklace, including Franklin Park and sections of the Riverway in the coming year. These plans are designed to anticipate changing climate conditions and invest in plants that will succeed in living long lives at their selected sites.

As new trees are planted, mature trees receive care and through a continuous cycle of pruning, watering, pest management and soil amendments. This comprehensive regimen keeps the canopy healthy and the parks green, and we are excited to kick off our planting season this Arbor Day!

Coming right before Arbor Day, the largest park volunteer day in the Necklace is the annual Muddy River Cleanup, taking place on or around Earth Day. Hundreds of volunteers work simultaneously in each park of the Emerald Necklace removing trash, brush and invasive plants. One of the primary goals for our volunteers is the removal of harmful invasive plant species throughout the parks.

The Conservancy prioritizes invasives management based on three key criteria: soil and water health, diversity of native flora and fauna and park visitor experience. Our field operations team monitors and manages approximately a dozen invasive plant species throughout the Necklace, but three species get the most attention and elbow grease from the in-house team: glossy false buckthorn (Frangula alnus), common burdock (Arctium minus) and Japanese knotweed (Reynoutria japonica). Conservancy staff and volunteers manage buckthorn, burdock and knotweed year-round by removing the plants and as much of their root system as possible to prevent regeneration, with a focus on removal before their respective fruiting seasons. Why such a strong emphasis on battling these species in an urban park system? Read about some of the harms caused by these species and why it is so important to manage them in

public parks below:

Glossy false buckthorn spreads rapidly in woodland environments, crowding out understory plants and creating a monoculture, which decreases plant diversity. The shrubs can grow in dense clusters and reach a height of up to 20 feet, crowding woodland trails and clearings, creating a less welcoming space for park visitors.

Common burdock is a fastgrowing ground cover plant with large leaves, so it easily crowds out other low-growing plants, decreasing plant diversity. This plant is biennial, and in its second year, it produces a tall, 3-5 foot flowering stalk that later develop into burred seed pods. The stalks can obstruct views, and, when they dry out in the winter, further mar the park’s appearance and detract from visitor experience.

other understory plants. The large and dense root networks formed by knotweed negatively impact both soil composition and structure, making it nearly impossible for any other species to grow in an area colonized by knotweed.

This year’s Muddy River Cleanup takes place on Saturday, April 22— Earth Day—and volunteers will be hard at work removing invasives like these, picking up litter and more. All are invited to join for a day of giving back to the parks that provide so much to Boston and beyond! More information and registration for the Cleanup is available on our website, www. emeraldnecklace.org.

Japanese knotweed is one of the most pervasive invasive plants found in the Necklace. It grows and spreads extremely rapidly via seeds, rhizomes and cuttings, easily crowding or shading out

It takes a whole community of park stewards and volunteers to keep the Emerald Necklace clean, accessible and verdant, and the Conservancy is grateful to work alongside public partners in the City of Boston, Town of Brookline and the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation in caring for these expansive parks. We invite you to plan your visit to Boston’s largest park system and see for yourself how these efforts benefit the Emerald Necklace!

By John R. Tschirch

Reviewed by Patrice Todisco

John Tschirch’s motto is “everyplace has a story to tell.” And while the award-winning architectural historian has spent more than thirty years traveling the globe studying and preserving historic landmarks, it his passion for Newport, Rhode Island that has been a mainstay and is the focus of the comprehensive cultural landscape history, America’s Eden: Newport Landscapes Through the Ages.

The title derives from 1789 when, in the first geography of the United States, Jedediah Morse described Newport as “the Eden of America,” a place both “exceedingly pleasant and healthful.” Situated on the southern tip of Aquidneck Island and warmed by the Gulf Stream, Newport’s landscape of glacial outcrops punctuated with rolling hills that afford dramatic wind-swept views, has been in constant evolution, both shaping and being shaped by those who settled there.

It is perhaps inevitable that Newport’s combination of poor soils, propitious climate, and extraordinary scenery would make it a magnet for the affluent whose gilded mansions and gardens define the city today. For cultivating Eden was an expensive proposition, only possible through “an immense amount of care and money” as noted by landscape critic Maria Griswold Van Rensselaer in the article “Newport I” published in Garden and Forest in November 1888. But there is much more to the story.

Tschirch traces Newport’s landscape history from its early settlement as a colonial seaport modeled on English precedents with its rich horticultural heritage made possible by trade with Europe and the Caribbean. The love of horticulture evidenced itself in the prorogation of fruits and flowers, invention, and a propensity for display, attributes which continue today. Few physical remnants survive from the colonial period, which was followed by the city’s transformation into a seaside resort, replete with romantic villas, scenic drives and refined views exemplifying the picturesque.

By the turn of the century, Newport was engaged in “a dance between illusion and reality” as the development of opulent private estates necessitated public improvements in the city’s landscape infrastructure. Among the many designers and artists who worked in Newport during this period was the Olmsted Brothers firm, who practiced in both the private and public realms, impacting all aspects of the city. With more

than thirty Newport projects in their portfolio, their work ranged from large scale estates and intimate gardens to a 1913 project for the Newport Improvement Association, studying traffic congestion, the management and propagation of street trees, the need for public access to natural resources via parks and beaches and the preservation of scenic resources.

This commitment to civic engagement and the preservation of cultural and natural resources remains at the core of Newport’s identity. As the former Director of Education and Museum Affairs for the Preservation Society of Newport County, Tschirch coordinated the curatorial, conservation, education, and research activities at the organization’s eleven historic house museums and gardens. He has written America’s Eden as a research and publication initiative of The Newport Tree Conservancy, a non-profit founded in 1987 to support the health and resiliency of Newport’s trees, connect the community with their citywide arboretum, and plant the next generation of Newport’s urban forest.

Dedicated to those who have shaped, celebrated, and preserved Newport’s landscapes throughout time, American Eden is extensively Illustrated with rare period maps, historic photographs, paintings by well-known artists, and site plans by architects and landscape architects. Case studies written by others provide perspectives on seeing or recording the land, horticulture and those who practiced it, floral culture and fashion during the gilded age, and an arborist’s view of Newport and its trees.

All too often garden history is defined through a narrow lens, confined by the boundaries of individual properties. As a cultural landscape history, America’s Eden, is so much more. Beautifully executed, exhaustively researched, and compellingly narrated, it tells the story of Newport’s landscape evolution in an accessible and engaging manner, setting a high standard for other landscape historians to emulate.

In “The Sense of Newport,” written in 1906, American novelist Henry James describes Newport as, “A thousand delicate secret places……small, mild points and promontories, far away little lovely and sandy coves, rockset, lily-sheeted ponds, almost hidden, and shallow Arcadian summer haunted valleys with the sea just over stony shoulder; a whole world that called out to the long afternoons of youth.” His vision is but one of the many that have romanticized, imagined, and reimagined the landscape of Newport throughout time in an ongoing process that continues to this day.

Patrice Todisco writes about parks and gardens at the award-winning blog, Landscape Notes

Beacon Rock, Newport Harbor by John Frederick Kensett, 1857. Courtesy of the National Gallery of Art

A Plan of the Town of Newport, 1777 by Charles Blaskowitz, Library of Congress.

Queen of the Night

By Catherine Cooper

Among the many things I look forward to at this time of year - spring flowers, fresh new foliage and the general promise of another growing season - the thing I most look forward to is the flowering of my favorite houseplant. Mind you, it won’t happen in spring, this particular plant needs the warmth of summer to develop the flowers which will open late summer, and if I’m particularly lucky it will produce a second flush of flowers in early autumn just before the colder nights force me to bring it indoors for winter.

The plant in question is an orchid cactus, a night blooming cereus, commonly known as Queen of the Night cactus. As all these names can be applied to more than one species, the cactus in question is Epiphyllum oxypetalum. It is not a plant often sold in greenhouses in New England, as not only does it grow large but out of bloom it doesn’t win any beauty contests. Instead you will more readily find its more petite and demur relatives such as zig zag cactus (Epiphyllum angulier) or curly locks cactus (Epiphyllum guatemalense monstrosa).

Let me tell you some more about this plant, so maybe you will also see what its appeal is to me. It is a tropical epiphyte found in South American rainforests where it can sprawl to its heart’s content over the branches of the trees on which it perches. It produces rounded, spineless stems, and from these it will grow flattened secondary stems, which more resemble leaves. This plant is a monster in that it can grow 8-10 feet tall, and while no one individual stem has reached that size for me, it can regularly obtain an overall span approaching these dimensions. This results in it aggressively competing for space in my finished basement with other large houseplants. It resides behind a large zygopetalum orchid, which currently is outshining it as the orchid has three long stems of beautiful, fragrant purple and mauve flowers. The basement has enough light and warmth through the winter that my cactus will still produce new, long stems despite my having had to prune it back somewhat late fall in order to make room for it indoors. Sometimes I also need to prune it somewhat to get it outside for the summer months.

So most of the time my Queen of the Night sits like some gangly teenager, sprawling left and right, doing very little to charm anyone. However, it has one quality that makes up for all its faults: large, beautiful and exquisitely fragranced white flowers. It is these I look forward to each

year, and they are all the more anticipated due to their ephemeral nature. The flowers of this particular orchid cactus only open at night and will have withered come sunrise the next day, but for a brief moment they are beautiful, delicate stars glowing in the dark, and even with your eyes shut you will know that they are blooming from the strong, sweet perfume they emit.

Epiphyllum oxypetalum flowers are around 6” in diameter, and hang from long curved stalks, which give rise to another of its common names: Dutchman’s Pipe Cactus. Given the right conditions this cactus will bloom on plants that are around 2-3 years old, and blooms are more prolific on mature plants if they are somewhat pot-bound. My plant is several years old and has regularly bloomed for me for a few years. Although I can now feel fairly confident I will see flowers each year, there is still the questions of how many and when.

Flowers form along the notched edges of the clades, and at their very beginnings they are so small I am not sure whether these are flower or leaf buds. Within a week to ten days, the buds will look like pink pimples, and the pink color indicates that these are indeed flowers. Over the next couple of weeks these buds will grow in length, and with time start to swell. The stalk will be about six inches long and the nearer it gets to blooming, the more it will take on the Dutchman’s pipe shape. The buds will hang in their final position for several days as the pink sepals slowly start to separate, revealing hints of the white petals underneath. It then becomes a case of trying to judge when they will actually open, which means making mental notes to go outdoors after dark each evening in order to catch the moment they do open.

And when that moment comes I am rewarded with these beautiful white star-like flowers that have an etherial beauty. The stigma and rayed style are both white and quite pronounced and they are ringed by many feathery, stamens with yellow anthers. The scent is strong, and I will spend time just sitting observing the flowers until I go “noseblind”, which happens after about 15 minutes or so. In the wild these night-flowering epiphyllums are pollinated by moths and bats, but pollinated or not, come morning the flowers will have closed and hang as sad withered forms of themselves. I have had a couple of occasions when I mis-timed the opening of a flower and missed it, but mostly I get to witness these elegant flowers in all their glory. Last year I was

lucky enough to see the last flower of the season fully open during daylight, and this was due to the fact that the overnight temperature was low enough to delay opening and thus the flower bloomed for a few hours in daylight.

I have a few other epiphyllum and related orchid cacti, and I am looking forward to seeing them flower. Some are still immature plants, so patience is needed, others are classified as shy to bloom, so if they set flower, my feelings of anticipation will know no bounds!

Born in England, Catherine learned to garden from her parents and from that developed a passion for plants. Catherine is in charge of the greenhouse at Weston NurseriesChelmsford. When not at Weston Nurseries, she can often be found in her flower beds or tending to an ever-increasing collection of houseplants.

In First Person

James Hearsum President and Executive Director of Massachusetts Horticultural Society

For ‘In First Person,’ Leaflet Editor-in-Chief Wayne Mezitt interviews people in horticulture and adjacent fields by asking a standard set of questions about their work. The column offers an opportunity for people in these fields to share with readers about their passions, what motivates them, and how they define and measure success. Based on the idea that we’re often reluctant to talk openly about ourselves because of the potential for miscommunication or misinterpretation, Wayne transforms his conversation with interviewees into a personal story from the interviewee’s first-person perspective.

My career at the Massachusetts Horticultural Society started rather ominously in January 2020, just as the Covid-19 epidemic was beginning, soon to evolve into a worldwide pandemic, delaying my original plans. As challenging as this was for my first year here, some of the outcomes from this unprecedented scourge help validate the principles I hold dear.

Among my first endeavors at MHS was proposing a project of organizational change laying the foundation for our growth and

impacting strategy towards our 200th anniversary in 2029 that I called “Every Human Growing: The Pathway to 2029”. While this initial idea was not implemented in its original form, its elements have evolved and continue to be a foundation for a lot of our programs. The mandated Covid isolation enabled people to examine what really matters in their lives; it facilitated the opportunity for many of us to pay more attention to our family, home, gardens and the environment. In recent memory, appreciating the value of plants to the quality of their lives has never been more obvious to so many people.

Physically working as a gardener in my teens and 20’s initiated my entry into the working world, and to this day I continue to enjoy the unique satisfaction that hands-on gardening activities offer. Recognizing the value that plants provided for me personally, I worked at Cambridge University Botanic Garden and soon started visiting public and botanical gardens, learning about the scientific aspects of gardening and how diverse gardens can be. I was awarded a prestigious British scholarship that enabled me to travel to the USA where I visited numerous nurseries

and horticultural organizations. My travels were instructive in helping me learn new ways that plants help people in various communities and how the benefits of horticulture could be scaled-up as potential solutions for solving broader ecological and social problems.

Being a natural business thinker, my interests led me to enroll in the Graduate Program in Public Horticulture at Longwood Gardens. This is where I garnered additional ideas, not only for making gardens and plants immediately rewarding in themselves, but also offering unique platforms for addressing a broader range of longer-term societal challenges: underemployment, loneliness, self-esteem, and educational needs among them. Although other endeavors like music, crafting, theater and art can also offer significant rewards, none connect so overarchingly with the natural world or include so many aspects of food and nutrition so crucial for human wellbeing.

My experiences at the Royal Botanic Garden of Jordan and St. Andrews Botanic Garden challenged me to fulfill the immediate needs of each institution, while concurrently developing longer term horticultural programs to carry the organization forward. These responsibilities were a perfect business-focused counterpoint to the scientific horticultural background I’d built. They helped me develop a peoplecentered leadership style and boost my understanding how plants provide a supportive role. Because they encompass both my technical and entrepreneurial interests, these experiences also deepened my insight about how respected, thriving institutions can create social interventions that foster meaningful systemic change. I came to understand that I had reached a more stable point in my career where I could start giving back and that I could offer specific leadership skills that I saw needed strengthening at some other horticultural institutions.

I chose to accept my current position at MHS largely because I could see it offering promise to leverage both my horticultural and entrepreneurial interests and skills. Learning about the history and heritage of MHS, I recognized that here I could build upon the strength of this organization’s unique institutional legacy and apply innovative approaches for making plants the vehicle for solving social problems. Here I can leverage the significance of creating long-term systemic improvements rather than defaulting to financially centered, year-byyear planning process many organizations typically apply.

James Hearsum

With inputs from MHS’s leadership and staff, I set out to establish a 20-year view of where we want to be, enabling us to work backwards and identify interim steps as milestones for accomplishing the needed outcomes. Using long-term priorities as a guide, we’re not so focused on immediate financial accomplishments. We’re willing to invest in trying various supportive short-term projects, some of which will likely be less successful than anticipated; but unless they are attempted, we forfeit opportunities that would not occur without taking the risk. We fully appreciate that a failure can become a learning experience that reveals previously unrecognized opportunities. And each success strengthens motivations for greater accomplishments going forward.

To measure success for our activities at MHS, we’ve established a program we call “Meaningful Horticultural Interactions (MHI)”. Meaningful activities are those that have the genuine potential to change people’s perspective through use of plants. While interactions of any kind—such as views on social network platforms or attendance at on-site weddings—are valuable in their own right, we ask our staff to measure how members of the public specifically interact with MHS by participating in activities that are horticulturally related and require effort: garden visits, teaching and attending horticultural classes, even taking the time to read the MHS Leaflet.

I meet weekly with our staff to set expectations for each activity and track the actual results that occur. We start measuring progress from the beginning of each program or horticultural event, using the results as a catalyst for determining potential next steps. We’re currently exploring a significant number of projects that utilize plants and horticulture to create meaningful changes in people’s lives. These include horticulture training, workforce development projects, networking with schoolteachers and communities, urban food, horticultural and environmental programs. Working with volunteers at the Garden at Elm Bank restoring and rebuilding our historic Olmsted gardens is another current top priority.

Because my daily activities focus on engaging with people, I’m rarely at my desk. If you have comments or ideas that you think might be helpful for MHS, please contact me by email: JHearsum@masshort.org.

Walking the Walls...

By John Lee

John shares stories of Bert and Brenda and their gardening wisdom. These chronicles feature recipes, tried-and-true gardening practices, and seasonal struggles and successes. Bert and Brenda were first introduced in the March 2022 issue of Leaflet.

Every spring there is a small panic in the gardens because every spring is a little different – some are early, some are late; some dry, others sodden. It always difficult to predict, although in his lifetime, The Old Farmer’s Almanac was right more often than not. If past performance was an unreliable indicator of future result so planning on the unknowable was a fool’s errand. Perhaps this was an indication of what might be considered becoming a mature gardener. More likely it was a sign of insipient fogginess. He did

note, however that over the past thirty years, the growing season had increased by two weeks on either end. Was this something to cheer about? The ramifications of a longer growing season were weighing upon him. Getting out into the garden was always something to look forward to in the dark days of January and February, needing to be ready to get plants in the ground on (or before?) April 1st seemed a little harsh if only because it was only he and Brenda doing all the chores in and out of the garden. Besides, preparation

for planting always pushed other thoughts aside, thoughts about competing ‘work’ that needed to be done concurrently if it were to be done at all this year.

Many, if not most, evenings after Brenda had put food on the table and Bert had cleaned his plate and done the dishes in the old soapstone farmer’s sink (that occasionally doubled as a laundry tub in the summer) Bert read to Brenda by the light of the old iron standing lamp. Often Frost came to mind not simply because of the cold mornings to come but for both of them Robert Frost seemed to articulate the life they lived. “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall” was certainly a favorite opening line.

In Bert’s case, walls were less barriers than monuments to the back-breaking work of generations long-since passed. Today, there was usually no need to alert the neighbors. They had walls running hither and yon out back yet in plain sight of the parlor windows. A stone out of place simply aggrieved Brenda who liked things to be tidy inside and out. When everything was in good order, she felt that she could function better - both her to-do and honey-do lists were more manageable. Bert was grateful for her modest necessity for

neatness; he felt the same way despite his inattention at her level. “No one else had seen them made or heard them made…” the poem read. Their walls were seemingly eternal although now there was no one to take care of them were he not to do it himself. So, as the days lengthened and the weather warmed, Bert walked the walls each spring as if he were the Fence Viewer - a position formally elected or designated by the Board of Selectmen of every New England town to keep neighbors out of trouble and cattle from trespassing where they were neither wanted nor intended.

The newer walls in town were not terribly attractive in Bert’s humble opinion. They looked characterless and contrived. The thrown walls of yesteryear were free-style engineering marvels. Bert’s nephew, Freddie B. said that a good stone mason would listen to the stones. They would tell him where they were to be laid up so as to feel comfortably bedded and could rest there for an eternity. Certainly, this was truer of dry walls which were harder to build than thrown walls which were often the result of clearing land for pasture. ‘Dry’ walls were just that. They were built without the benefit of cement which was like getting someone else to do the hard work. Come a warm March day, Bert

and sometimes Brenda, pulled on their galoshes and walked out to set their walls right again. It was always remarkable how the winter weather’s alternate freezing and thawing could upset the balance that only a few months previous seemed immovable. They would walk each on opposite sides and ‘mend’ having taken note and made judicious judgements about what was out of balance, out place or tumbled to the side. Their job was not to rebuild their walls but to perform minor maintenance in order to preserve their historic character (since functionality was no longer important) and by so doing made them feel closer to their land thus a part of its history. It was a day to look forward to and a harbinger of still warmer days to come.

Some springs when there had been unusual freezing and thawing and thus an unusual amount of work to do to set their walls right, Brenda would pack a picnic and the two of them would make a day of it. If there were stretches where much had tumbled to one side or the other, it would take time to reset the larger stones so’s they snuggle into to their rightful places again. If they needed to palaver about their individual senses of form or function, a sandwich and a swallow of iced tea might be required to settle their differences before moving on. At the end of the day when they had done as much as they could manage, each would take note of their labors and remark (only to themselves) that next year maybe they could use a little help in this department albeit that this was a labor of love.

John Lee is the recently retired manager of MHS Gold Medal winner Allandale Farm, Cognoscenti contributor and president of MA Society for Promoting Agriculture. He sits on the Governor's Food Policy Council and UMASS Board of Public Overseers and is a longtime op-ed contributor to Edible Boston and other publications.

Planting, watering, and weeding are not enough. You have to prune if you want growth.

Ron Brackin (b. 1945)

We are doing our spring cleaning at the Library. Just like the gardens outside, that includes pruning and weeding our collections to make room for new acquisitions. Weeding is important to the Library’s collection management system and is related to the goals and mission of the Society. Weeding involves the removal of books from the collection. Here at the Library, duplicate books are deaccessioned and worn books are replaced. In addition, relevance, edition, format and physical condition are considered when evaluating which books to deaccession or replace. We have unique challenges in undergoing this process, since unlike public libraries, we have a unique and valuable historical collection that reflects the horticultural heritage of our country. The historical collection is not considered for weeding.

Just like in the garden, we want to be ecologically conscious and recycle the fruits of our labor. We sell our books or offer them for free in our Little Free Library on campus. This year after a major effort to deaccession and replace worn editions, we have a wealth of books to offer for sale. Books offered are deaccessioned books and books donated by

generous patrons. Subjects include horticulture, history, design, specific plants and enjoyable reads. Some are old books, some are contemporary. All are valuable for their content, if not their bodies. Help us reuse our books by visiting the Library, open by appointment and when the lights are on. Contact Maureen O'Brien, Library Manager.

Book Club

Contributed by Jennifer Tebbe-Grossman

On Tuesday, March 21, a lovely sunnier and warmer day than usual for the month of March, the Club gathered to discuss Douglas W. Tallamy’s The Nature of Oaks: The Rich Ecology of Our Most Essential Native Trees (2021).

An entomologist and professor in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware, Tallamy’s primary intention in The Nature of Oaks is to “pique” the reader’s “interest in oak communities” or at the very least generate appreciation of the “central role oaks play in ecosystems.”

The book is organized by months starting with October (the month in which he decided to write the book) so that the reader can “follow what is happening on your oak trees month by month through all four seasons.” Tallamy also explains how to grow an oak tree from an acorn. He presents useful references, a listing of North American native oaks and the best “options” for what to plant, where. The group agreed that the cover art, an acorn and the beginnings of an oak tree, clearly communicates the book’s themes.

While the group zeroed in on various happenings in different months our discussion also included proposing a few words that came quickly to mind about the book and sharing our personal experiences with oak trees.

In early 2023, Tallamy’s Nature’s Best Hope was adapted for kids, news that reflected the group’s belief that the earlier children learned more about nature the more they can embrace it. Tallamy believes everyone can make a difference in “sustainable earth stewardship.”

The book club welcomes new members. Here is the line-up of books and dates for the next few months:

Tuesday, April 18: A Clearing in the Distance: Frederick Law Olmsted and America in the 19th Century by Witold Rybcznski.

Tuesday, May 16: Fifty Plants That Changed The Course of History by Bill Laws.

Tuesday, June 20: We Are The Ark by Mary Reynolds. July: No meeting

Meetings take place at 1:30 in the Crockett Garden and if the weather is poor, the meeting will be in the Education Building. All are welcome to attend.

The Windows – Books on Tulips

Our Collections are Growing

We thank author and historian Judith Tankard for her generous donation of books that fills many holes in our collection. Also thank you to Maureen Horn for her donation of her copy of Tallamy’s The Nature of Oaks.

Consider making a donation from the Society’s Amazon Smile Wishlist. It is just a click away! The list is searchable or you can browse to see what the Library and other departments are wishing for.

COME VISIT!

The Library is open by appointment and when the lights are on. Please email Library Manager Maureen O’Brien at mobrien@ masshort.org for an appointment if you want to schedule a visit.