MHS Leaflet, March 2023

Leaflet

A MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY PUBLICATION

MARCH 2023

John Lee

By Marie Chieppo

By Catherine Cooper

By Wayne Mezitt

By Maureen T. O'Brien

Every winter around this time I am reminded forcefully of one of the reasons I work in a garden. Although I have found purpose in my horticultural career preventing plant biodiversity loss, inspiration in the beauty of nature and the ingenuity of human design, and joy in the work itself, these did not come first. First came the need for physical work, for prolonged sunlight, for simple repetitive tasks and a sense of progress day by day. At 20 years old, a college dropout, ‘smart but directionless’, I learned that working as a gardener made me feel better. Everything else came later.

Today, I know how to manage the heaviness of winter, the darkness that tries to creep from the outside in. Sometimes it finds me back in the garden here, taking on a simple, repetitive, physical tasks, something that now brings me joy, but still also fulfils a fundamental need.

This time of year I try to take a full day to just experience the garden fully. To be absorbed in it, to consider its details and its capabilities. To see what it can be as I sit in it and wander, without notes, without agenda. As I did so this week, as I thought through phase by phase of possibilities, it was the many people like 20-year-old-me that I thought about. Ones we could work with who need direction and discipline, perhaps a route back into work or society, others that would just benefit from company and purpose, or perhaps just regular physical work and sunlight.

In 2023 we are working to make it much easier to come and work with us, as a volunteer, mentor, community partner or service provider. Every single person reading this knows someone who is lonely, or needs community, someone who would feel better for being outdoors with others, who needs to feel they still have skills and expertise that is valued. We want to hear from you. Pass this on, let your service providers know - we want to learn how to partner with you. We know that gardening together is a great joy, but is also for some, a fundamental need. Our mission is to help with this – get in touch, we would love to work with you.

James Hearsum President & Executive Director

CLASSES: get ready

Introduction to Bonsai

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

Saturday, April 22, 10am-12pm

Floral Design: It's A New Day

Saturday, April 8 10-11:45am

Guided Spring Tour –Arnold Arboretum

Wednesday, April 26 10-11:30am

Floral Design: Made for Mum – Teacup Flowers

Saturday, May 6 10-11:45am

ready for spring!

Floral Design: Spring Blossoms

Thursday, April 13 7-8:30pm

Creating a Succession of Bloom in the Native Garden

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

Great Native Plants for Containers

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

Introduction to Forest Bathing: Healing with Nature

Wednesday, May 17 10am-12pm

THE TAP & SAP SOCIETY

By John Lee

Usually come mid-March, ‘old John’ Atwell down the road would rally the venerable Tap and Sap Society for an end of the season last boil. The Tappers had met up in old John’s sugar house ever since Bert

was old enough to remember such things. Used to be that most every farmstead around had at least a small sugaring operation and the money made from sugaring was just about enough to make a

quarterly tax payment or two. In their salad days, each farmer broke out roads in their sugar bushes so’s they could hang buckets and gather the sap more easily. Most every bucket had to be emptied every day or at least every other. Once as much sap as could be gathered in a day was collected, each would fire up his evaporator in the sugar house and boil down the sap to make maple syrup and finally tin it up for sale. Boiling sap was sometimes a social occasion. City folk thought it was like watching paint dry but extreme care had to be taken to manage the heat under the pan which sat over an ‘arch’ atop a roaring fire. If the fire was too hot or unevenly distributed the pan scorched and the syrup was ruined. Some folk were particularly good at managing the fire. Some weren’t. So sometimes boiling might be shared between sugar-makers and in the process the sugarers

got to know each other better after what might have been a long, lonely winter. Hence the origin of the Tap and Sap Society. The annual convening of the Society was an opportunity to gather treasured memories, occasionally align them with remembered reality and have breakfast around a fire. (Some folk still believed that Old John ran a still out behind the evaporator making use of the excess heat to have a little corn liquor for the following season. It was said that anything in a Four Roses jug was probably not what was on the label.)

Brenda, as did many other wives, chipped in to feed ‘the boys’. She annually produced enough batter to make several dozen blueberry and corn meal griddle cakes on their big old soapstone griddle. In keeping with how things used to be, she always had Bert grow a small stand of calico or ‘Indian’

BLUEBERRY CORNMEAL GRIDDLE CAKES

2 cups unbleached flour

1/2 cup (or a bit more) stone-ground corn meal

1 1/2 Tbsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp salt (or a little less)

1/3 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups boiling water

1 1/4 cups whole milk

1 fresh egg

2 Tbsp butter, melted

Add the meal to the boiling water and cook for five minutes; turn into a large bowl and add remaining dry ingredients mixing thoroughly before adding in the wellbeaten egg and melted butter. Cook on prepared griddle as you would any other griddle cake after stirring in one cup more or less frozen blueberries.

corn. Come fall they stripped the ears and hung them to dry somewhere safe from the mice. When the kernels were too hard to dent with a fingernail, they scrubbed them off the cobs for a bit more final dry before jarring for future use. When opportunity knocked, Bert ground the corn into a colourful, coarse texture which was perfect for making cornbread, griddle cakes and cornmeal mush (now known as ‘polenta’). Brenda always saved more than enough meal to make blueberry (from her freezer) cornmeal griddle cakes for the Tap and Sappers. She preferred Fannie Merritt Farmer’s original Boston Cooking School recipe from 1922.

Old John still boiled enough sap to have enough syrup for the breakfast. He actually preferred raspberries in his griddle cakes but always said he could wait for raspberry season and his own fresh fruit.

Rabbit season having run its course, talk usually quickly came around to who actually had a successful growing season last summer. While there was always a lot of self-deprecating humor and humble kindnesses about the gardening acumen of fellow preppers, everyone knew who was a really good gardener and who really needed a little help

(despite years of practice). There was never any fingerpointing or finger-wagging. It was clear that one or two of the Tap and Sappers clearly were not blessed with the proverbial green thumb. Finding good started seedlings had always been challenging so this year Bert took it upon himself to offer tomato, pepper and eggplant starts if folks weren’t too fussy about varieties - he had only so much time and space. He saved seed every year and, as a result, he nearly always had more seed than he needed. So, why not share and sow some good will? He was of the opinion that shared knowledge and resources was a good idea up to a point. He drew the line at sharing space. There was a community garden in the village (which he disparagingly referred to as the ‘weedy wonderland’) for anyone who wanted a communal experience.

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.

A Mind Shift

By Marie Chieppo

Many are wondering how our gardens and the phenological events we depend on will be impacted by the lack of snow and above average temperatures we are experiencing this winter. Without the insulating layer of snow our soils are susceptible to erosion and the plants are receiving less moisture. Last summer’s severe drought already compromised them; sections of roots died off and nutrient uptake was minimized. We will soon find out which plants survived. Make note of them and consider planting more. How we respond to and prepare for such events moving forward will affect the overall health and sustainability of our landscapes. Shifting our thinking away from solely what aesthetic can be achieved to what will work well in the conditions we have, changes the dialogue. An emphasis on sustainability (ability to replenish) and our ecosystems, takes into account how plants interact with each other and the wildlife that depends on them as well as the overall health of the environment we plant them in.

Our native flora gives us a sense of place. We associate plants and wildlife with areas we visit and live in. Since moving to Cape

Cod, I’ve acquainted myself with plants that I never saw in the natural environment close to Boston. With good reason – the geography, climate, flora, temperatures, and soil are very different in a marinebased ecosystem. Our native flora and wildlife co-evolved and formed symbiotic relationships integral to their life cycles – food, habitat and ability to reproduce. The familiar Monarch butterfly is one such example: it relies on the butterfly weed plant for food and habitat in order to complete full formation. The majority of insects are specialists:

they require particular native species for habitat, growth and food. Dr. Douglas Tallamy refers to the native plants that host and feed 90% of butterflies and moths as Keystone Plants. Our oaks, members of the cherry family, birches, sunflowers, and goldenrod plants are amongst those he identifies.*When we create a landscape high in biodiversity, we invite a tremendous diversity of wildlife such as our butterflies, bees, moths, and birds. Up to 93% of all flowering plants require pollinators, and 96% of terrestrial birds rely on caterpillars to feed their offspring. Dr. Douglas Tallamy suggests we aim to have 70% native vegetation on our properties to help support as much wildlife as possible. A system that is often overlooked is based on the biodiversity of life that for the most part is not visible to the naked eye: the microorganisms and organisms that support and live in the soil.

The soil food web as it is often referred to, is a factory of producers, consumers, and decomposers that live above and below the soil line. Microorganisms like bacteria and fungi not only consume living matter aiding in its decomposition, but also the exudates (sugars, starches, proteins, carbon, and nitrogen) plants produce. These tiny creatures help ward off pathogens, retain nutrients, build soil structure, and improve root intake capacity. This is only the beginning of how living soil supports our plants; there are many more players. The roots of native species typically grow between 3-16 feet, which offers them a tremendous advantage sequestering water and nutrients. When sections of roots die off, they contribute to the organic matter that is quickly used to maintain this invaluable cycle.

Which brings us back to how we move forward in the face of more extreme weather patterns. When faced with such questions I return to natural settings like the woodlands for insight to into how nature can be so self-sustaining. Environmental pressures like drought, pathogens and infestations most certainly impact a woodland’s health, at times on a large scale. The soil that exists is alive;

chemicals have not wiped them out. Plants are capable of maintaining fertility within soils and improving it, the roots have established and capable of obtaining what is needed, the plants themselves evolved and adapted to the conditions, a diversity of wildlife supports and relies on them, and material dies off creating an opportunity for another to take its place. Granted, the scenario isn’t always so pristine, but it gives us inspiration for how we can interact with our landscapes.

Knowing our soils and what we have to work with is of the utmost importance. How well does it drain, what type of soil is it, how much organic matter already exists, what are the PH levels? A good soil test provides us with a foundation of information we can use to make informed decisions. Choose plants that will work with the conditions you have. Mother Nature is very adept at winning.

The genetic diversity inherent in straight native species gives them resiliency. They have the best chance of adapting to the everchanging weather, and like the woodland, some will make it and others will not. I believe the nursery industry will begin offering a greater number of straight native species along with cultivars and other ornamental plants that are up to the challenge. Many of our non-native plants have proven their toughness and vigor, like daylilies, hostas, Russian sage, to name only a few. Creating landscapes with a healthy foundation, supports all of the living flora and fauna we have. Shifting our thinking to how we can help foster health and beauty naturally will reconnect us with nature, give us more time to enjoy what is present, provide us with beautiful aesthetics, and add life to our landscapes.

*The National Wildlife Foundation provides a listing of keystone plants native to you region. Go to nwf.org.

Marie Chieppo is an ecological landscape designer who graduated from the MA Master Gardener program in 2000.

native plant for every of ornamental and

SPRING preparation

By Catherine Cooper

March is a month which can have me on horticultural tenterhooks, hoping to have opportunity to get out and get going, so to speak. It’s a time of planning and prepping for the upcoming growing season, which in turn requires that I finish what clean up I didn’t complete the previous fall. If Massachusetts’s groundhog was accurate with her prediction of an early spring I will be able to get a jump start on things and be ready to hit the ground running come May. If she’s wrong and we have six more weeks of winter, I’ll be mostly marking time as far as outdoor chores are concerned.

Depending on your gardening style, your plans for late winter/early spring might not be like mine, but this is what this in-between period looks like for me. My lingering clean up mostly consists of perennials left standing throughout winter. They fall into one of two camps: those such as coneflowers (Echinacea) and those such as blue mistflower (Conoclinium coelestinum), which also happens to be a native plant. I leave the coneflowers because their seed heads are visually interesting, along with things like pearly everlasting (Anaphalis margaritacea) which snuck into my garden a number of years ago. I also leave the coneflowers to provide seed for birds, although through winter I think they benefit ground foragers such as sparrows and juncos rather than finches, who fed on them back in August. Perennials such as blue mistflower bloom late and I end up not wishing to cut them back until the flowers are truly faded, by which time they have set prolific amounts of seed. At that point in time I give up hoping to curb their spread by seed and tell myself I might as well enjoy the bleached tan seed heads throughout winter. Nothing like a bit of procrastination as

winter approaches! This is just one of the things on my to-do list before new season’s growth starts, and mild March days are perfect for that. Ornamental grasses I usually leave until I see new growth emerging in April, as certain grasses such as little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), feather reed grass (Calamagrostis spp.) and Little Bunny pennisetum remain attractive until the bitter end.

Along with cutting back there is always weeding. I always have plenty of weeds due to my interpretation of cottage garden style borders. Allowing desired plants to self-seed also opens my borders to undesired interlopers, and makes for a labor intensive way of gardening. Mulch and a different planting approach are definitely a far less back breaking experience, but I find there is an element of mindfulness to pulling weeds. Pulling weeds is even more dependent on mild weather. They cannot be removed from frozen or waterlogged soil, but I usually get a handful of warm days where the soil is in a Goldilocks ‘just right’

Montauk daisies (Nipponanthemum nipponicum)

condition, allowing me to walk on it and remove weeds. Experience has taught me that winter weeds with tap roots, such as Queen Anne’s lace, evening primrose and dock are easier to pull at the end of winter. This is due to the effects of winter heave, to which these deep rooted plants have often succumbed, and they are therefore easier to pull at this point in time as they have yet to firmly anchor themselves back into the ground. Some weeds I do leave as I find them ornamental, and in the right place evening primrose will also provide seed for finches.

In tandem with cleaning up dead stems goes the preparation for this year’s plantings. While my borders do have a backbone so to speak of shrubs and repeating groups of perennials, there is a yearly ebb and flow of filler plants, particularly annuals. I am also often making room for some new perennial or other either as an addition or as a replacement for some horticultural experiment that didn’t work in my particular garden. This leads to the acquisition or saving of a wide range of flower seeds. I have things like hollyhocks and rudbeckia from my own plants, along with packets of Colorado wildflower seeds bought on vacation last year, and I’m excited to see if I can make them work in New England soil.

Planting requires me to find appropriate pots and seed trays from my gardening stash, and most importantly, clean them before re-using them. I have already researched the germination requirements of my Coloradan seeds (for once being ahead of things) and my fridge contains sealed plastic bags of penstemon and columbine seeds undergoing moist cold stratification. I know I will not be alone in sowing seeds at this time of year, as it is a busy time at Weston Nurseries with customers coming in for supplies and seeds to start certain veggies and flowering plants indoors. I don’t

often start seed indoors, and the annuals I have are best direct sown, so they will wait for warmer days.

Other forms of spring clean up that I might find necessary include the removal of broken branches that winter weather can create, as well as ensuring winter pruning is completed before buds start to break. Included in this pruning will be neatening my Montauk daisies (Nipponanthemum nipponicum). Having a sort of sub-shrub growth habit, their stems remain throughout winter, and without cutting them back by about half at the beginning of spring they would become leggy and splayed. As they are such a useful late fall blooming plant, attractive to lingering pollinators, I make the effort to ensure they remain neat and mounded. And lastly, my planning for the coming season also includes reminding myself of what plants need moving. Some things have grown even larger than I envisaged (yes, giant fleece flower (Persicaria polymorpha), never thought you would become a magnificent 6’ tall and wide!), and certain smaller plants in their vicinity need to be moved or they will be smothered. This is one of the great things about gardening - it is never static. Even meticulously planned gardens will change over time, and the vagaries of weather can force changes on even the best of plans.

These are the things I know I need to do soon. There will possibly be additional tasks that come to light, but whatever form your gardening prep takes I hope you enjoy the prospect of another gardening year as much as I do!

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.

Apractice I initiated in my early years at Weston Nurseries is keeping a daily written record of my activities in a calendar book. This was a carryover from my days at Cornell, when I needed to make sure that I remembered all those details that seemed to become so cloudy in my mind once the next day dawned. Each morning, I jot down notes recalling the previous day’s events, including details regarding the weather, horticultural observations, and items of personal concern. The notes I record are not so much about my personal thoughts (although some items seem worth mentioning) but are generally more factual and transactional in nature.

Over the past

Getting

Getting Ready for Spring

By Wayne Mezitt

several decades I’ve made this task something I rarely neglect to accomplish every morning. Interestingly, I find that delaying my notetaking even a single day often results in the need to add additional items remembered only later. I’ve sometimes found that forgetting to record an event that turns out later to have been important requires a significant effort to accurately recall and to then insert it at the actual date it occurred.

Being able to refer back to these daily records has proven to be a significant resource for recollecting those occurrences that would surely have been forgotten otherwise. I often now regret being so inconsistent with this practice earlier in my career when I thought I was “too busy” to bother.

My wife Beth and I are writing a book about our gardening experiences as we embark upon our nursery’s 100th anniversary. It is gratifying for us to accurately recall so many important details recorded in my past years’ notes and incorporate them in our book.

Each winter I always set aside time to review the past year, relying upon my calendar book to compile a list of notable events and accomplishments. I further refine this list by selecting those key items that have defined the significance of that year. It’s remarkable how vital these notes have proven for detailing facts regarding events that could otherwise evaporate from memory. So often, reviewing past years’ lists helps put into perspective accomplishments that only reveal their significance over time.

Reviewing each previous year’s notes provides a fine opportunity for me to prepare and plan for upcoming activities. I can see when the Hamamelis and Adonis first opened their bloom and judge how our current season is progressing. I can see what the next items of importance were in previous seasons to anticipate what we should be now preparing to do next. As humans, we all tend to judge upcoming weather based upon what’s currently happening, so being able to refer to past years’ statistics helps incorporate a more realistic perspective to our current hopes.

I heartily recommend that anyone who’s involved with the horticultural aspect of their life start keeping records like this. My experience can attest that doing this requires significant personal commitment and discipline to accomplish consistently, day by day. But the benefits of knowing what happened in past years and using this information as a tool to prepare for the current year is invaluable. Of course, more readily available historical information about temperatures, precipitation, day length and other facts can be integrated with our own experience to result in more assured success in our current horticultural endeavors. I am always thankful for having my past years’ notes to review: it will be only a few weeks until springtime once again bursts its joys into our lives!

Wayne Mezitt is a 3rd generation nurseryman and a Massachusetts Certified Horticulturist, now chairman of Weston Nurseries and owner of “Hort-Sense”, a horticultural advisory business. In addition to serving as editor-in-chief for the MHS Leaflet, he chairs the Massachusetts Invasive Plant Advisory Group (MIPAG). Parts of this article are excerpted from his upcoming book scheduled to be released in Spring 2023 to celebrate Weston Nurseries’ 100th anniversary.

Buildings should serve people, not the other way around.

John Portman (1924-2017)

Sometimes we receive unexpected items in the mail that give us joy! The Public Library in Canton, Massachusetts sent us a small, handcrafted booklet with photographs of the interior of the Society’s second Horticultural Hall. Its halls provided a safe and reliable venue to fulfill its mission of encouraging and improving the practice and science of horticulture.

Featured Collection ― Society's History

The Society soon outgrew its first Horticultural Hall at 40 School Street (1845-1865.) Its second Horticultural Hall became its headquarters between 1865 to 1901. It was located at 100-102 Tremont Street, at the corner of Bromfield Street, opposite the Granary Burying Ground.

The three story granite building was graced by granite goddesses designed by renowned sculptor, Martin Milmore (1844–1883.) Stores occupied the street level and the Society’s Rooms were on the second and third stories. The 50 by 20 foot Library occupied the entire front of the second floor, facing Tremont Street. An exhibition hall and offices in the rear. The third floor was an auditorium. You can find a description of the Hall beginning here. While our Transactions provide a detailed description of the building and Library, the images in the booklet depict the Library’s interior with its occupants and gives life to the well-loved space. By the turn of the nineteenth century, the Society outgrew the hall and began to build the third Horticultural Hall on Massachusetts Avenue opposite Symphony Hall.

Book Club

Contributed by Eileen Kramer

A cloudy January day outside didn’t slow down the discussion inside Eight members of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society book discussion group met on a rainy Tuesday, February 21. With the weather a bit bleak, we were all happy to be in the cozy Dearborn Conference Room discussing Barbara Paul Robinson's book about British garden designer, Rosemary Verey. In 1991, Robinson took a sabbatical from her New York law firm to serve as an apprentice to Verey, and subsequently wrote Rosemary Verey: The Life and Lessons of a Legendary Gardener.

We began our discussion by sharing what message and inspiration we got from reading about Verey's life and work. One common theme was our admiration for this self-taught woman who came to gardening later in life and who wrote the first of her 17 books at the age of 62. Several members of the group brought copies of Verey's books to share with all of us. We discussed Verey's principle of giving full attention to the task at hand, the opposite of multitasking. Based on some of the interviews done by Robinson, we concluded that Verey may have been a perfectionist and perhaps a challenging boss. One of the group members who volunteers in the Elm Bank Library reminded us that in 1999, Verey received an award from the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. Verey was also awarded the Victoria Medal of Honor from the Royal Horticultural Society.

Another theme from the book was a quote that called Rosemary Verey "the great encourager." Although Verey had celebrity clients, such as King (then Prince) Charles and Elton John, she was beloved both in England and the U.S. because she believed that everyone, with any size property, can have a beautiful garden. One of the most enchanting

Second Horticultural Hall at 100-102 Tremont Street in Boston. Its richly ornamented façade is graced by the Goddesses Ceres, Pomona and Flora, the goddesses of grain, fruit and flowers, respectively.

stories in the book is about Verey’s 80th birthday celebration, which the author attended, as did Prince Charles who graciously left early so his presence would not distract from the festivities. Robinson’s book is rich with such stories as well as a wonderful collection of photos.

There was unanimous agreement that Robinson is an excellent writer who told Verey's life story in most delightfully accessible and respectful prose.

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

The Book Club’s next meeting will be Tuesday, March 21: The Nature of Oaks by Doug Tallamy.

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

July: No meeting

COME VISIT: The Library is open by appointment Please email Library Manager Maureen O’Brien at mobrien@masshort.org

Mary Reynolds.

The photograph on the left shows large windows that provided a view to the Old Granary Burying Ground, the Tremont House and Park Street Church; the large vases that would later grace the main hallway at the third Horticultural Hall on Massachusetts Avenue, and a decorative balcony on the left to access the second level of books. The photograph on the right shows secretary Robert Manning, the longtime Librarian for the Society. A spiral staircase provides access to the second level of books. The books are protected behind stacked glass doors separated by the card catalog.

Meetings take place at 1:30 in the Putnam Building if the weather is poor; otherwise, meetings are in the Crockett Garden. All are welcome to attend.

Meetings take place in the Education Building if the weather is poor; otherwise, meetings are in the Crockett Garden. All are welcome to attend.

The Windows – New Books

Our Collections are Growing

We thank historian Jennifer Wilton for her donation of two children’s books relating to Frederick Law Olmsted: The Man Who Made Parks by Frieda Wishinsky and Parks for the People by Elizabeth Partridge. We also thank author and historian Judith Tankard for her generous donation of books from her library.

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.

appointment and when the lights are on. mobrien@masshort.org for an appointment if you want to schedule a visit.

The goddesses from the Second Horticultural Hall now preside over the Maple Grove at the Garden at Elm Bank.