Leaflet
A MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY PUBLICATION
TABLE OF CONTENTS
3 Notes from the President's Desk 6 Poppy Love By C.L. Fornari 9 Time to Rest and Recuperate By John Lee
11 Adaptive Gardening: Adapt your Mindset Sooner than Later By Cris Blackstone 14 January Book Review: Frederick Law Olmsted & Humphry Repton Reviewed by Patrice Todisco 16 From the Stacks By Maureen T. O’Brien, Library Manager
CONTACT
EDITOR Wayne Mezitt waynem@westonnurseries.com MARKETING Meghan Connolly mconnolly@masshort.org
MEMBERSHIP Zee Camp membership@masshort.org DEVELOPMENT Elaine Lawrence elawrence@masshort.org
Interested in contributing to Leaflet? Email Wayne Mezitt, Editor, at waynem@westonnurseries.com
NOTES FROM THE PRESIDENT'S DESK
F
or gardeners January is a time of reflection and planning, or as John Lee beautifully writes in his later article, to rest and recuperate. As we do in the garden, so too for Massachusetts Horticultural Society. This past year has been one of wonderful growth thanks to our wonderful members and guests. The Gardens at Elm Bank has become the center of a greatly expanding community. We welcomed over 18,000 of you as guests during the regular season, 70% more than in 2020 and three and half times the 2019 season. An additional 12,500 joined us for Festival of Trees, also up 70% from the prior year. Combined with educational programming and events we have welcomed more than 39,000 guests in total. Thank you for giving the Garden a place in your life. As we each consider ways to meet with friends, create space for our family, learn or simply enjoy moments in nature, we are grateful that you have found the Garden to answer to some part of these needs.
We have been delighted with the response to new programs and exhibits in the Garden. Ribbit the Exhibit was both the quirkiest and most loved sculpture exhibit for many years and we were thrilled that, with generous support, two sculptures are staying permanently. Our major exhibit in 2022, Seeing the Invisible, had a trial run in late fall to global acclaim for the partnership of which we are a part. This will be fully relaunched in April and remain for the 2022 season. Personal highlights were the success of the 119th Honorary Medals dinner and the relaunch of the Leaflet. Over 170 people joined us in November for a formal event to recognize and celebrate horticultural luminaries on the national stage and dedicated MHS members who have served our Society in extraordinary fashion, in some cases for over 50 years. It was a timely reminder of the importance of horticulture in society. Similarly, under the guidance of our new editor, Wayne Mezitt, the Leaflet is undergoing a revival in style and substance that we trust is of increasing interest
to our members. Both of these are greatly assisted by the library and archive team, led by Maureen O’Brien, who have a refreshed mandate to celebrate and interpret our history and library.
Internally, we have focused on our infrastructure and equipment. We have been able to replace roofs on two buildings, refurbish one internally and undertake extensive de-leading in our educational facilities. Through generous support we have replaced our largest gas mower with an electric one and have a new garden tractor arriving any time, with further fleet replacement planned as funding allows. We have had a magical year, and it is possible because of you—supporting us by being our guests, learning with us, sharing your time as volunteers and opening both your hearts and pockets to the Garden. We appreciate you joining us. As the New Year lies before us I have been inspired by a gift from one of my team. On the wrapper of a Tony’s Chocolonely chocolate bar (thanks Zee!) it says ‘crazy about chocolate, serious about people.’ While Tony’s makes great chocolate, its mission is to end slavery in the chocolate industry. At MHS we look forward to a full and growing calendar of horticultural events, exhibits and educational opportunities. While many of these will be in the Garden, 2022 is also the year that we get serious about outreach in our wider community. Why? Because like Tony’s, we are crazy about horticulture, serious about people. Thank you for walking with us as we seek to be the help we can this New Year. Warm Regards, James Hearsum President and Executive Director
UPCOMING CLASSES G A R D E N I N G F O R E V E RYO N E W I T H A D R I A N B L O O M M A RC H 2 0 , 2 P M * V I RT UA L*
From his own long experience in creating gardens on both sides of the Atlantic, Adrian Bloom will go through time to show what can be achieved in any size of garden. Adrian’s intention is to inspire and motivate you to bring out your creative side.
From 1967 at the Bressingham Gardens, in Norfolk, England (including his own Foggy Bottom Garden) to 2007 where he designed and created the Bressingham Garden at Massachusetts Horticultural Society Wellesley, MA. You will get ideas and recommend plants for your own garden. NG
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REGISTER NOW!
Designing the Ornamental Pollinator Meadow January 19, 10am-2pm Virtual
Small Plants, Big Bang! February 16, 7-8pm Virtual
Winter Pruning Series February 26, 10-11:30am
Early Training of Young Trees March 2, 7-8pm Virtual
Six Week Spring Ikebana Course March 15-April 19 6-8pm
Hydrangeas 360: The Straight Talk on Hydrangeas for New England April 9, 10-11:30am
VIEW ALL
We’re participating in the Target Circle program! You can vote for us and help direct Target’s giving to benefit MHS. For full program details and restrictions visit Target Circle.
LEARN MORE
Live Well. Live Inspired.
Massachusetts Horticultural Society is a proud sponsor of Utopia, New England's Premier Outdoor Living and Culinary Show coming to Boston Seaport in March! Utopia features exhibitions full of garden displays and Tiny Houses; speakers and workshops by experts in the fields of mixology, design, culinary, horticulture and more; and high-quality vendors ranging from outdoor kitchen appliances to cosmetics and everything you'll need to live well and live inspired!
As MHS members you get discounted tickets to New England's Premier Outdoor Living and Culinary Show. More info coming soon! Get ready to immerse yourself in inspiration, shop Utopia's curated vendors, and learn from the best!
Learn More
GREEN PARTNER SPOTLIGHT Flash your memberhsip card for a 10% discount with any of our Green Partners.
Poppy Love
By C.L. Fornari
Don’t let your love of these flowers go d
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In this garden I always plant some annuals when the corn poppy seedlings are small. Then from mid-June to mid-July, the poppies striking when lit by the early morning or evening sun. If you think that you don’t like red flowers in your garden, I encourage you t Papaver rhoeas seeds and be prepared to fall in love.
f you go into most garden centers, you won’t find an abundance of poppies. They are some of the showiest flowers on earth, so appealing to customers, but they’re not easy for retail sales. First of all, many members of the Papaveraceae family have tap roots. As such, they are more difficult to grow in pots, and are not easy to transplant. Secondly, their beauty is fleeting: poppies don’t flower all summer. Finally, the most popular varieties can be tricky since they either die or go dormant after flowering. If you love poppies, however, don’t let any of that stop you. Their flowers are glorious, and are totally worth growing. My favorite members of this family for Massachusetts gardens are the California poppy
(Eschscholzia californica), Oriental poppy (Papaver orientale), bread poppy (P. somniferum), and the corn poppy (P. rhoeas). Given the right conditions, these plants are easy to grow and when they flower, it’s as if New York Fashion Week, Marti Gras, and the Holi Festival have coalesced in your garden. My first experience with poppies was in my garden in Spencertown, NY, on the New York/ Massachusetts border. A friend grew a large garden filled with perennial Oriental poppies. She gave me some of the small, self-seeded plants, carefully digging deeply so as not to damage their roots. Several of those plants survived, and I soon found that they would live through the coldest winters
(hardy in Zone 3-9) and would continue to seed and spread. In June, their blossoms were visible from several yards away. Swaying on their slender stems, it seemed like these flamboyant flowers were saying, “Let’s dress in ruffled skirts, put on lipstick, and go out!” I also discovered that after their revelry, the plants fairly quickly went into a dormant state for the summer. “Sleeping off their hangovers,” I would think. I began planting tall zinnias in this bed as the poppies faded in late June. The zinnias provided color but wouldn’t crowd out the Papaver orientale foliage when it made its reappearance in the fall.
Over the years I’ve purchased these poppy plants at garden centers in late-spring, ordered them in bare root form, and grown them from seeds scattered on the surface of the soil. Oriental poppies have thrived for me in the clay soil of the Berkshires and the sand of Cape Cod.
dormant…
s’ flowers are particularly to throw out some
My next foray into the Papaveraceae family came after the purchase of some California poppy seeds. Since these north American natives germinate best with light, I tossed the seed onto the ground in a rocky slope near the driveway. This proved to be the perfect place for this annual, since it loves good drainage and tolerates the heat of the rocks.
These early-summer flowering poppies have become one of my go-to plants for seeding in gravel or mulched areas. They are great in new, sunny gardens because they provide a quick burst of color while waiting for perennials to mature or annuals to fill in. And because they play well with others, you can let their self-seeded offspring mingle other plants for years to come. Although California poppies are usually gone by late July, their foliage is fine enough that it isn’t unattractive as it shrivels
in the heat. I seldom have to clean the fading leaves and stems after their slender pods have opened and spread seeds in that area. Two other annual poppies are as easy to grow from seed as Eschscholzia californica, but may require more in the way of mid-season cleanup. The first is the corn poppy, Papaver rhoeas. Native to Europe and Asia, this poppy often fills fields with hundreds of 2” diameter red flowers. It became known as the Flanders poppy after World War I, because soldiers remembered the bright red flowers that flourished in war-torn fields. To this day the poppy is a symbol, honoring veterans who have died in war or have served in the military.
Corn poppy seeds should be scattered in fall or spring on bare ground, and watered in well. Seeds generally sprout in late April to mid-May in Massachusetts, and the flowers bloom until mid-July. In a wildflower meadow or field-style perennial garden, the plants can be left in place as their seed pods develop and the plants turn brown. If grown in a more cultivated garden, however, dying plants should be removed once the seed pods begin to turn tan. Those pods can either be put in a paper bag or envelope to dry, or thrown into the garden. I plant other annuals in the area where corn poppies grow, and then edit out the browning Papaver stems, saving some of the seeds to scatter the following spring. There are assorted varieties of Papaver rhoeas; in addition to finding seeds for pinks, oranges, reds, yellows and sometimes violet, you might find single and double flowers, or petals edged in white. These can cross and self-hybridize in your garden. This variability is a delight for those who love to be surprised from year to year, but might be frustrating for people who like predictability.
Anyone who remembers the thrill of having a new box of crayons or markers will love another annual poppy, Papaver somniferum. The first time your beds are filled with these bold and brilliant flowers, you’ll want to dance, create art, or at the very least hold cocktail party in your garden. P. somniferum is known as the bread or opium poppy, since it’s the source of poppy seeds used in baking and the drugs made from the milky latex in the seed capsules. It
is legal to grow this poppy for the flowers or seeds, but not for opium production. Like the other poppy varieties mentioned here, bread poppy seeds should be scattered where light can assist in their germination. Once established, the gardener is likely to find that some editing is needed since the abundance of seeds can result in plants that are so crowded that the flowers aren’t as large.
Bread poppies can be single, semi-double or full, double pompoms and their petals might be smooth, fringed or almost tattered looking. I’m partial to the single flowers because the bees love them so. There is nothing like watching a frenzy of bees working a stand of poppy flowers in June.
As Papaver rhoeas flowers open, you’ll have the pleasure of watching pendulous buds, developing seed pods, and the pollen-rich flowers that attract honey bees.
inches tall. At that point an inch of mulch can be carefully spread between the plants, and yes, it’s time consuming and a bit more tedious. Heavy mulching at any time of year isn’t conducive to a good poppy crop. Another deterrent to the show of annual poppies is a dry spring. April showers bring May poppy seedlings.
Deer and rabbits generally leave all of these poppies alone, although the I’ve watched chipmunks gleefully devour the ripening corn and bread poppy pods. Some years it can be a bit of a competition to see who gets the most seed. Fortunately, each pod contains dozens of seeds, so as long as I pay attention to cutting pods just as they are getting mature, there are enough to satisfy critters and gardeners alike.
Even double bread poppies produce enough pollen to attract bees. In my garden, the honeybees go for the single flowers, leaving the powderpuff blooms for the bumble bees.
Like the corn poppies, the Papaver somniferum foliage isn’t attractive from after the middle of summer, so removing it from the garden is part of my normal mid-summer maintenance. I save some of the seed pods every year, drying them first in a paper bag and storing that in a plastic tub kept in the cold garage. In March or April, I scatter seeds for the coming season. In order to have a great show of poppies, the gardens where they grow shouldn’t be mulched until after the plants germinate and grow to a few
If you grow Oriental poppies near your peonies, it just might change your mind about the old myth that orange and pink don’t go together. These two plants were made for each other, and they’ll provide an outrageous celebration of extravagant bloom in June gardens.
If you want predictable, long blooming plants in your gardens, these poppies may not be for you. But those looking for a few weeks of joyous celebration, with attendees dressed in the most colorful regalia, should be sure to order some annual Eschscholzia and Papaver seeds, or perennial plants this winter. Poppies may not be easy plants for the garden centers, but they are guaranteed to get the garden party started.
C.L. Fornari is the author of 8 books about gardens, the host of GardenLine on WXTK, and a co-host of the Plantrama podcast. She speaks about plants and gardens to audiences nationwide, and her favorite thing is to go into her front-yard
TIME TO REST AND RECUPERATE
By John Lee
The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you. Don’t go back to sleep. You must ask for what you really want. Don’t go back to sleep. People are going back and forth across the doorsill where the two worlds touch. The door is round and open. Don’t go back to sleep. 'Bright Lights' Swiss Chard, photo courtesy of Johnny's Selected Seeds
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f I can transport myself to another time and place, maybe ‘zone out’ now that the blessed (dreaded?) holidays are behind me, I start to think that spring is almost at hand; this is only because when one reaches a certain age, time has a way of collapsing upon itself like a dark hole. I find this a curiously conflicted time because usually about now I start to realize that I am faced with all the little things that I put off when I was too busy over the past year and the expectations of getting the next growing season off to a salubrious start. I find these competing adumbrations vexing more often than not. Most of what is left over from the previous year are tasks that lacked urgency then but may be pressing now. Sadly, they often yet pale as I sit sifting through a blizzard of floral fantasy while I wade ever more perilously into the drift of seed and plant catalogues which now clutter my floors and desk. I must confess a self-serving petty pleasure riding in the saddle of unfortunate circumstance. In the thirty-five or forty years that I have been a grower in the Boston area. My growing season has
Rumi, Sufi poet 1207-1273
effectively increased by thirty days or about two weeks at either end of the growing season. This is all well and good now that I am retired and I potter for pleasure. There are two reasons for the increase in expectable frost-free days. One, of course, is climate change which has wrought other onerous in-season climate-related problems (viz. flooding rains). The second reason is improved plantprotection technologies. In either case, the interval between getting into and out of the fields is longer, recharge is abbreviated. In my business, an extra thirty days of revenue development seems like a good thing except for the wear and tear on the land, the equipment and those who toil mightily to bring in crop after crop. Frankly, having a month’s less time to rebuild, repair, restock and recuperate with family is a farmer’s Hobson’s choice. Now that I am officially retired and much more comfortable with the vagaries of the seasons, I have ample time to consider not just the exigencies of the ‘off season’ but how best to make good use of the grown glories of the summer just past and resultant harvest this winter. While I muse over
why (again) I did not build the long-intentioned root cellar where I might have stored the beets, parsnips and carrots, etc. (still buried now under several feet of leaf mold), I am sipping a lovely warm vervain (Aloysia citadora, aka lemon verbena) tea. We harvest most of the foliage before the first killing frost and then dig the plant and repot to over-winter in the winter pantry alongside the rosemary, bay, and other culinary treasures. To make the tea, simply steep a few dried leaves in just off the boil water and enjoy. The dried foliage makes a great house present for anyone who appreciates a warming tisane on a wintry day (and for no trouble!).
Top: Indian Pudding, photo courtesy of Elise Bauer on Simply Recipes Right: Turkish Orange Eggplant, photo courtesy of superseeds. com
In the warm cellar and awaiting attention are a lot of ears of well-cured and mouse-proofed ‘indian’ corn which we will grind to make corn bread as the need arises. If we are unable to have enough from the garden, we cadge the neighbor’s fall door décor. Divide the corn meal portion of your recipe between yellow and fresh hand-ground indian corn for a slightly cornier, coarser, more flavorful corn bread. Of course, Indian Pudding is the classic dessert originally made with freshly ground Indian corn. It is delicious in any season but especially satisfying on these wintry days with a dollop of freshly whipped heavy cream were one to gild the lily. Of course, there is garlic for curing what plagues you, shallots for salad dressings and potatoes for bulking up our dinners. All this and more to be savored as the days
lengthen slowly and the seed catalogues begin to sort themselves out. Will you stick to the inveterate standards or go out on a limb? Recommended: Kitazawa Seed Company for unique Japanese seed, Baker Creek Heirloom Seed for truly unique seed stock and Johnny’s Selected Seeds for what may be the best selections for New England. Sitting in a sunny window this time of year I can look forward and back: another summer without the much-discussed pizza oven (never mind the erstwhile root cellar). Likely they won‘t see the light of day next summer either. The main concern, at the moment, is whether to grow more French
Breakfast radishes (they make wonderful hors d’oeuvres if we ever entertain friends again) or more watermelon radishes. As time and energy wane, why am I even considering a bigger garden? Should I flip the flower garden for the veggie garden? Why not grow some of my greens in the annual and perennial beds? If you want stand-out foliage, it is hard to beat ‘Bright Lights’ Swiss Chard or Red-veined Sorrel. Both are hardy and a feast for the discerning eye. Garlic scapes will bring added interest to taller perennial beds (and, of course late summer bounty in the form of garlic pesto). While ‘foodscaping’ may be a bit esoteric, it still might be worth sticking in a couple of Turkish Orange eggplant here and there just for fun. I know I am making more work for myself. But that’s the joy of every garden season in or out of the ground.
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 long-time op-ed contributor to Edible Boston and other publications.
A D A PT I VE G A R D E N I N G :
Adapt Your Mindset Sooner than Later
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traight to the point, “adaptive gardening” means making small changes in gardening habits to accommodate the gardener’s physical needs. In the adaptive gardening mindset, small changes are equated with doing things in ways benefitting the natural world. A motto of the avid adaptive gardening movement is “Garden smarter, not harder.”
Some of the adaptations are familiar and readily accepted now. For instance gardening in raised beds or containers may be some common ways the first adaptations are made when a gardener is facing the limits arthritis may bring. Limiting standing in one place or facilitating gardening in a small container rather than in a large patch directly in the ground is easy to understand. But what are some ways to help facilitate that approach? Selecting containers could result in large, heavy containers, and while gorgeous, may be difficult
By Cris Blackstone
to move or to water. Consider what a “container” garden may look like, and most of all, how to place it for the plants’ benefits and your own joy in watching the plants mature, ripen, bloom or bear fruit. Containers made of cloth or various fabrics are common—and be creative in selecting or repurposing cloth containers you may have on hand. Double up on the benefits of soft sided bags as container gardens. Plants in these bags will have strong roots, since the fabric breathes and will naturally aerate them. Using cloth containers leads to a need for more frequent watering, so consider placing them closer to water sources or consider a nicely balanced watering jug which has a wide handle so lessen the tightness your grip needs to be to carry it. Smaller container = less water to carry. Once you latch on to some adaptive considerations, you will find a lot of ways you’ll feel creative implementing adaptive gardening techniques. For those modifying their gardening practices and restyling their gardens, it may seem new tools are
necessary and replacement expenses incurred. This is a great time to let your creativity soar and consider practical aspects of our anatomy and good ergonomic practices. Letting your wrists and elbows work from neutral positions, limiting twisting motions in our arms from our shoulders, and modifying handles of tools with the body in mind means you can work in twenty-minute spurts, take a break, and return to your garden tasks without pain you may have previously felt when using straight-handled tools. Check PVC pipe modifications you can make to help put an extended grip on a rake handle, for example, to help one arm help another more effectively if one side of the body is compromised. PVC parts are inexpensive and readily available in local hardware stores or nationally recognized building supply stores. PVC bits and pieces can be fun to explore and consider the curved pieces as additions to many of your tools! Taking a look at your overall garden and plan for the future and our changing bodies should feel like an opportunity to think of what is good for the environment and for our physical limitations. Where you may have planted annuals, change your mindset and consider planting perennials— especially native plants—to attract beneficial insects, butterflies and birds. While we feel that early spring color is giving us joy, the downside of too many annuals means we neglect the needs of the natural world. Designing with perennials, we are also giving ourselves more time to enjoy the garden by removing the tedious attention the annuals need.
Consider replacing patches of lawn with shrubbery, to reduce the need to mow, and increase the habitat needed for a healthy environment. With shrubbery, you will discover some songbirds nesting areas, pollinators will appreciate the bloom times being varied from early season to late in the autumn. A whole new world of winter interest is seen in the shape of shrubs or bushes, minus their leaves. With evergreen plants, you will see their striking shapes against the white snow. Working with your favorite garden centers, or university cooperative extension services, you can find recommended plant lists to help you rethink your
The garden suggests there might be a pla
PVC pipe modifications made to help put an extended grip on a r
garden for the tasks you can complete and beneficial wildlife you’ll attract.
You may think there will be more work with perennials or herbaceous plants needing pruning. While some of these will need periodic pruning, consider the tools which will make that job easier and safer. Get ahold of an extended arm reaching tool, to grab a branch you are trying to prune. Don’t overreach or stretch anymore to get the cane or branch you are concentrating on, use an inexpensive reaching tool, and see how easily that
ace where we can meet nature halfway. Michael Pollan
trips back and forth to your house, garage or tool shed. Pack sunscreen—as we age our skin has less natural moisture and becomes thinner. Protect it! Pack water. Staying hydrated is important for everyone, but as we age or recover from surgeries or injuries, it is more important than ever. Fresh, cooled water is best for your gardening sessions. If you have over iced your drink, your body uses valuable energy to warm it up as it goes in your digestive system. Save that energy to enjoy your iced drinks as you sit down and enjoy your garden! Pack a ruler, measure which seedlings are growing how much week-by-week. This data collection will help you continue to plan your plant selections based on what grew well, what you enjoyed watch grow, deadhead, or eat!
Planning a sitting area, accessible on a straight firm pathway, will offer you the place to relish views of what you are watching grow throughout the year as well as a place to get to safely on your own or with a walking aid.
rake handle.
pruning task is accomplished! Be creative thinking of this armature’s other uses—as you sit or stand over a raised bed, keep it handy and let it do the reaching for your garden gloves which you may have in your gardening bag or you left on the chair you were sitting on.
What about that gardening bag? What do you think you’ll need? Consider your tasks and limit your
This winter, while you are planning your garden, think ahead about what you are capable of taking care of, realistically and comfortably. Take some of your snow stakes for marking the sides of your driveway or sidewalk and go mark out the area you’ll plant this year. Remember seed packets recommend spacing for the plants’ benefit but you need to also visualize space for your benefit. Marking the area with realistic goals and accurate measurements will get you prepared for the reality of a garden you can manage with adaptive tools and planning your garden tasks with your body’s needs in mind. Adaptive gardening opens the door for you to say you are happy to appear lazy as a gardener because you know you are gardening smarter, not harder!
Cris Blackstone is a NH Certified Landscape Professional, UNH Master Gardener, UNH Cooperative Extension Natural Resources Steward, and Garden Communicators International Region 1 Director. Cris is the owner of Make Scents, located in Newmarket, NH.
January Book Review
Frederick Law Olmsted: Designing the American Landscape
by Charles E. Beveridge and Paul Rocheleau, Edited by David Larkin 300 pp. Rizzoli International Publications. $95.00.
2022
Reviewed by Patrice Todisco
Humphry Repton: Designing the Landscape Garden by John Phibbs, Photographs by Joe Cornish. 288 pp. Rizzoli International Publications. $75.00.
marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Frederick Law Olmsted (1822-1903). Acknowledged as America’s first landscape architect, the firm he founded undertook more than 6,000 commissions designing every kind of landscape imaginable, including parks, parkway systems, recreation areas, academic campuses, residential communities, cemeteries, arboreta, and public lands including Yosemite, Niagara Falls and the grounds of the U.S. Capitol. To commemorate the occasion, Rizzoli International Publications has published an updated edition of the classic work, Frederick Law Olmsted: Designing the American Landscape (1995) by Olmsted scholar Charles Beveridge and distinguished photographer Paul Rocheleau. Designed and edited by David Larkin, its 300 pages are illustrated with 250 color photographs and plans, including new images of Central and Prospect parks. A new introduction and concluding chapter examine Olmsted’s ongoing influence and legacy.
PREVIEW THESE BOOKS BY CLICKING ON THE COVERS!
According to the National Park Service, who owns and operates the Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site at Fairsted in Brookline, Massachusetts, a property profiled in Frederick Law Olmsted: Designing the American Landscape, the professional gardener who most influenced Olmsted was Humphry Repton (17521818), a founding theorist of the English school of landscape design.
Widely acknowledged as the last great landscape designer of the eighteenth century, Repton’s publications, most notably Sketches and Hints on Landscape Gardening (1795) and Fragments on the Theory and Practice of Landscape Gardening (1816), directly informed Olmsted’s design philosophy. His work provided an important transition between the picturesque landscapes of Capability Brown and the pastoral scenery so beloved by Olmsted. Like Olmsted, Humphry Repton celebrated an important anniversary recently, the bicentennial of his death in 1818, just four years before Olmsted
was born. Commemorated with a series of events and publications in Great Britain and the United States, the occasion inspired garden historian John Phibbs to write Humphry Repton: Designing the Landscape Garden. Also published by Rizzoli International Publications in 2021, it is a fitting companion to Frederick Law Olmsted: Designing the American Landscape. Containing more than 200 color illustrations, including photographs by award winning photographer Joe Cornish and maps and images from Repton’s famous ‘Red Books’ for each of the gardens profiled, Humphry Repton: Designing the Landscape Garden is 288 pages in length. It is divided into six sections, each coinciding with a phase in Repton’s career. These are placed within historical context in introductory essays.
Phibbs describes Repton as an unlikely genius on the very first page, reminding the reader that he, like Olmsted, had no formal training in landscape design. He acknowledges Olmsted’s debt to Repton, who struggled with two important questions throughout his career: what type of architecture most suited the country house and how best to design the ordinary landscape to accommodate those houses. His solution, a model for the design of housing for working people throughout the English-speaking world, informed Olmsted’s approach to the design of residential communities and homesteads. These he designed to improve the quality of life for their residents to ensure healthfulness and rural beauty.
Olmsted believed in the transformative impact of the landscape on human nature. He also believed, as Beveridge notes, “that it was beyond the purview of the landscape architect to create the sublime,” and it was the role of the landscape architect to provide access to such scenery without destroying it. This is evidenced in his work at Yosemite Valley where his report on the property, presented in 1865, acknowledged its special combination of scenic values which merged the pastoral, picturesque and scenic. Phipps proposes that Repton foresaw, and most likely influenced, Olmsted’s work at Yosemite,
Niagara Falls and the Adirondacks, in projects he designed at Pentile Castle, Endsleigh Cottage, Stanage and Brightling, all of which are profiled in Humphry Repton: Designing the Landscape Garden. In these properties, the reintroduction of natural landscape elements Phipps describes as “the scenery of Britain before the intervention of man and the beginning of farming” are described as the “seeds” of Olmsted’s plans for the conservation of Yosemite, Niagara Falls and the Adirondacks, as well as precedents for John Muir’s Sierra Club and Britain’s current rewilding movement. Olmsted’s impact on the creation of an American landscape identity, rooted in democratic principles, is beyond doubt. While his work was informed by the teachings of eighteenth-century English, including those of Humphry Repton, his theory of landscape design became distinctly American in outlook and application. Beveridge notes that Olmsted’s firm conviction that art should perform a social service, combined with his psychological theory of the unconscious influence of nature, devised a set of fundamental beliefs about the practice of his art. In an age of climate change, pandemic living, and social unrest, these beliefs are more important than ever.
As we look forward to celebrating Olmsted’s bicentennial year, there will be many events and opportunities to learn more about his impact, including the usual scholarly symposiums, lectures, and papers. Let’s hope that a conversation about how Olmsted’s legacy intersects with the current global discussion about preserving the natural world against the great odds that lay before it also occurs. The London Gardens Trust will host the webinar ‘The translation of landscape: Brown to Repton to Olmsted, Kirkharle, London and the New World’ on January 11th through this link. For more information about the Olmsted Bicentennial visit: Olmsted 200, Olmsted Now and Olmsted Bicentennial
Patrice Todisco writes about parks and gardens at the award-winning blog, Landscape Notes.
From the Stacks
By Maureen T. O’Brien, Library Manager
The world before us is a postcard, and I imagine the story we are writing on it. Mary E. Pearson, b. 1955
In 1938, the world was on the brink of World War II, but no one really knew what lay ahead. In the United States, the New Deal started the bumpy road out of the Great Depression and the Fair Labor Standards Act raised the minimum wage to 25 cents an hour and mandated a 44-hour workweek. The airline industry was making many advances in aviation and Howard Hughes set a new around-theworld record. The tape-recorder, ballpoint pen and instant coffee were invented. We recently rediscovered an archival box entitled “Flower Markets of the World.” The box was filled with correspondence and ephemera from United States Consulates during the first half of 1938 that relate to flower markets around the world, primarily in South America and Europe.
Featured Collection ― The Flower Club
The archival box titled “Flower Markets of the World” and the contents of the file on Switzerland. This file contains a letter from the American Consulate in Bern, Switzerland dated February 25, 1938, stating “… this office takes pleasure in transmitting herewith four photographs of the Flower Market which is held twice weekly in the city of Bern. There is also enclosed a general view of the market which is held in the square in front of the Federal Parliament Building.”
In January 1938, Mrs. Willard (Margaret) Helburn (1888-1980) of Cambridge, Massachusetts embarked on a project for “The Flower Club” to collect postcards of flower markets around the world. Initially she tried to get information from travel agents but then turned to United States Consulates. Their responses provide a glimpse of a moment in the world as reflected in postcards and other images. MHS Volunteer Kathleen Glenn is working on this project. She sorted and rehoused the papers in the box and contacted Annette Lamond, a local historian and member of the Cambridge Plant and Garden Club. Lamond was able to fill in the blanks on just what was “The Flower Club.” It turns out
The Flower Club was a commercial venture initiated by Helburn in 1933. Clients would join the club and Helburn would visit their homes and provide floral arrangements that complemented their interior design.
Kathleen provides this preview of some of the contents in the files:
• The project undertaken by Helburn, includes correspondence, post cards, pamphlets, and other “illustrative material” forwarded to her from American Consulates around the globe that was collected from January through July 1938. At some point, these documents were passed on to Dorothy Manks, Librarian at Massachusetts Horticultural Society. This project survived in its red, archival storage box. When we recently it dusted off at Elm Bank, we saw it contains a unique body of material that offers sometimes charming and sometimes sobering anecdotes. • From Belgium, for example, we learn that “In
1772 for the first time a citizen of Ghent sells six flowers, six pots on the Botermarkt and the humble debut of the Sunday Flower Market.” • From Ceylon, we have this: “...a few tragiclooking blooms such as carnations, gladiolas and Easter lilies are sold in the lobby of the hotel next door (to the Consulate), but there is certainly nothing picturesque in this limited trade.” • France trills: “It gives me pleasure to enclose a number of cards which, I believe, will give you a very good idea of the culture and gathering of flowers used in the manufacture of perfume, as well as showing in what profusion flowers grow in the public and private gardens...” • In contrast, we are reminded of scarce resources in this letter from Bucharest: “The cost of the postcards was 24 lei or approximately 18 cents. It will be appreciated if you will remit this amount in postage stamps.” We hope that a wide and eager audience will treasure a view into past ideas and practices of gardeners around the world. This Collection is presented without judgment, interpretation or comment. It is a window into history. Some of these places no longer exist or have changed dramatically.
Our goal is to publish the entire collection on the Library’s webpage with a Research Aid. Meanwhile, each month in Leaflet, we will provide a glimpse of what is in the box. This month we feature Belgium and Bermuda here. In the Windows – Our “Antiques” & Books for Sale
Last month we featured “Antiques” from our Collections. If you happen to be at Elm Bank in January, you can see them in the Library’s window. The Library has used books for sale, most in the $1 to $5 range. These books cover a wide range of horticultural topics, such as plants, culture, design, floral arranging, inspiration and history. Many are out of print but the information in the books is still relevant and provide reliable information. Consider dropping by and picking
out a book for yourself or for a gift. Buying used is part of the environmentally focused trend to only give gifts that have been used, are made from recycled materials or will reduce the recipient’s environmental footprint. Used books fit that bill perfectly!
Our Collections are Growing… Thank you to McLean Library of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society and Diana Conroy for their donations in kind. Also thank you to Diane Bullock who donated from our Amazon Smile Wishlist.
Consider donating a book or two to the Library from the MHS Amazon Smile Wishlist. Many of them reasonably priced children’s books. Make sure you leave your name and we will thank you in the next Leaflet. Then come to the Library and borrow some books—one of your membership benefits! Borrowing books from a Library is a great green way to reduce your consumption. Thanksgiving The Library cannot function without the invaluable assistance of our volunteers. We thank the following weekly volunteers who inventory, rehouse, research and care for our collections: Nancy Agler, Diana Conroy, Sarah Cummer, Kathleen Glenn, Iva Hayes, Heidi-Kost Gross, Maureen Horn, Tess Tomlinson, Jennifer Wilton
Thank you also to the numerous remote volunteers who worked on our Transcription Project and as editors for our Research Aids. Congratulations to Sarah Cummer and Heidi Kost-Gross, long time volunteers who received 2020-2021 Honorary Medals for their long-time service to the Library. Congratulations to former Library volunteer Roz Hunnewell, who was also an honoree. Come Visit… The Library is open by appointment and when the lights are on. Please email Library Manager Maureen O’Brien mobrien@masshort.org for an appointment if you want a scheduled visit.
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