A SEASON RECAP: Trial Garden
By Karen Daubmann Director of Garden and Programs
Writing today, November 1, at the moment when the Garden has closed for the season, just days after we sustained a frost which zapped many of our annuals, we write this seasonal wrap up. We are grateful for the 2022 gardening season. One of our most colorful gardens at MHS is the All American Selections Trial Garden. We are grateful for the partnership with AAS and love being a site that showcases emerging plant cultivars and tests them to see if they compare and possibly exceed the standards set by cultivars already sold in the trade.
The 2022 growing season at MHS was difficult because of the extreme heat and humidity as well as the lack of rain. We struggled initially with getting our irrigation up and running. We were able to hand irrigate during the driest spells and get our system working in late July. We had wonderful success with plants that like it hot and dry. Peppers thrived in the Garden, we had a record yield
Many plants didn’t miss a beat and looked amazing for the entire season, these include: Begonia ‘Surefire White’ – it is compact, bright white, and flowered continually through the season. The leaves stayed bright green, they are sturdy and were not impacted by any nibbling insects.
Gomphrena ‘Truffula Pink’ – a wonderful performer for the entire season. It is possibly a little too pink for those that aren’t pink lovers. Our plants grew full, and they are covered in flowers.
Helianthus ‘Suncredible Yellow’ – our helianthus is COVERED in pollinators. These plants quickly grew wider than their planting bed and are a favorite of the
children that visit the garden because of their stature and bright coloring.
Heliotropium ‘Augusta Lavender’ – I’m a fan of heliotrope but always have trouble keeping it going through the summer. This cultivar is tough. It is full and hasn’t languished like I expected. I also love the lavender, which is a little different than the old fashioned dark purple.
Looking Forward
At this point in the season, going into winter, we begin pulling and disposing of the plants in the trial garden and think about what we can do differently next season. One of the main differences going into spring 2023 is a big bang! for our garden opening on April 1. In the coming weeks, our team, assisted by volunteers will plant more than 50,000 tulips in the trial garden. We plan to open for the season with more color than ever before!
Another difference in the trials program next season will be a concerted effort to plant long-term trials in the beds closest to Weezie’s, and to organize the heights and colors of the annuals with an eye to the design of the entire garden.
Our new Horticulturist – Growing and Sustaining, Will Leonard, started his tenure at MHS on October 3, his responsibilities include growing and maintaining all greenhouse crops, and managing the trial garden. We look forward to hosting regular tours of the garden as he walks weekly to evaluate each crop. Join his tours to see how he judges each plant, and see if it makes the cut!
We look forward to seeing you for Festival of Trees, and again when the Garden opens on April 1.
Check out a bunch of beautiful blooms from the Trial Garden on the next
page!
UPCOMING IN THE GARDEN VIEW NOVEMBER CALENDAR 4 MHS Book Club NEXT MEETING: Tuesday, November 15 1:30pm Authors on Stage Wellesley College Alumnae of Boston November 2, 10:30am-12pm Purchase Tickets Wilding your Perennial Garden: Designing the Naturalistic Pollinator Flower Garden 3 Session Workshop Starts January 25, 2023 10am-2pm
5 TRIAL GARDEN 2023 GARDEN SEASON
Begonia ‘Surefire White’
Gomphrena ‘Truffula Pink’
Helianthus ‘Suncredible Yellow’
Heliotropium ‘Augusta Lavender’
Jalepeño peppers
Salvia ‘Rockin' Blue Suede Shoes’
Salvia ‘Unplugged Purple'
Hibiscus ‘Dark Mystery’
Antirrhinum majus 'Liberty Bronze'
Our annual Festival of Trees opens on November decorated and donated trees, our model train decorations all throughout the Garden. Tickets selling fast!
Keep your family traditions going or create a Society's 14th Annual Festival of Trees, November the Garden at Elm Bank in Wellesley, MA.
PURCHASE 6
PURCHASE TICKETS HERE 7 November 25! Come experience dozens of beautifully train exhibit Snow Village, and festive lights and Tickets for this magical holiday event are on sale and a new one at Massachusetts Horticultural November 25 (Black Friday) - December 31, 2022 at
APPRECIATE
might have been quite different. “I’m a lucky boy”, he mused fully cognizant that, in his case, one without the other would be an unhappy circumstance. If, as was widely asserted, it took two to tango, Bert and Brenda still danced well together. Certainly, Bert helped out in the kitchen but it had never been his forte. Mercifully, he was good at doing what he was told although he vastly preferred the independence of the gardens where he could be the one welcoming the help. There he felt a deeper relationship with the spiritual and cultural wonderments of Mother Nature than he did the goddess of putting food by despite his undying gratitude for her favors.
Every year as the seasons unfolded, both of them occasionally had passing thoughts and remarked quietly to themselves that time was passing temporally as well. Bert felt the changes realizing that almost every plant in the garden which have its life for his pleasure would be dead and gone by the time spring rolled around again. At the tender age of 75, the arrival of Autumn began to feel visceral and the thought that ‘spring is just around the corner' took on a certain longing. Brenda's autumnal anxieties tended to revolve around the question of ‘is enough ever enough?’. However, if the future were to be relative to the past, their mantra
of ‘if he grows it, I will can it' will carry them (and a few other folks most likely) through the wintry weather soon to come. For nearly forty years, their capacity and capability had grown with their perceived needs to the point that their larder looks like it could feed the neighborhood. Some years and in misfortunate moments’, Bert and Brenda's remarkable industry had saved the day for one distressed neighbor or another. One might wonder (and many did) how two aging ‘fuddy-duddies’ managed so many gardens nevermind how they put by so much food: so much that their weekly trips to Price Chopper didn’t require a cart.
Often at this time of year, Brenda would call up from the cellar because she could not properly close the cover on the chest freezer. They had reached peak production and would need another freezer were she to freeze anything else. How much more could be canned or processed was about to become a question of how much canning closet space remained. Therefore, it was time begin stocking the local community food pantry down street and to start replenishing the root cellar.
These days almost no one used a root cellar largely because almost no one grew enough cellarable produce to
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need one. Some of the neighbors, if they lived in an older home, could store a few potatoes or winter squash in the cellar bulkhead if they had an unfinished basement. There they had room enough to put by but a few bushels; most didn’t bother preferring to simply eat up whatever end-of-the season produce was left out before the first killing frost laid waste to the best of intentions. The earliest root cellars weren’t cellars at all. New Englanders of modest economy would dig a sizeable pit in the ground setting aside any (and there was usually plenty) stones they came across. The pit might be four feet across, maybe a bit more. It was then lined with the saved stone and amount more to wall up the inside of the pit. Then it was filled with whatever cold-tolerant produce as could be late-harvested. The pit was then covered with boards and a
foot or so of hay or leaves. Pit cellars went out of style pretty quickly as better excavating equipment became available.
The root cellars began to look like foundations or ‘cellars’ built into a hillside. Bert’s cellar was about 8’x12’ with a pitched roof and a double door on the open end. It had a dirt floor and was about twelve feet into the hillside; it was banked up on three sides. Here he stored beets, potatoes and carrots in sand (cabbages were stored loose) because they kept the best. He did not store apples unless they were dried in which case they were on a clothes hanger behind the woodstove in the parlor. Brenda thought cellared apples got mushy (she needn’t say more). Root crops were stored in sand which, come spring, he annually used to amend some of his wetter garden
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soils. Potatoes and cabbages were ordinarily stored loose in the ‘cellar’ as were onions and their kin. Bert believed, and easily convinced anyone who disagreed, that particularly beets, carrots and parsnips were sweeter when wintered over. Potatoes, being tubers, simply rotted if left in the garden. Bert told his neighbors who had no root cellars that they could heavily mulch (usually with straw) carrots, beets and parsnips in their rows just before the ground froze. If mulched properly, they could be dug as desired well into the winter.
So, having arrived all too quickly at the end of the agricultural year, Bert and Brenda were pretty well
set up for whatever winter may conspire. Brenda and Mrs D made not one but two extra trips to the hardware for more canning jars. The late elderberries had produced generous hands of ripe purple fruit –more than enough for Mrs D and the birds also preparing for winter. Mrs D boiled down the berries and then strained out the pits through some cheesecloth. The remaining juice she boiled down to a syrup to be used later on pancakes or as the cough syrup she preferred. Brenda preferred ‘honegar’, a fifty fifty mixture of local honey and cider vinegar as prescribed by Dr D.C. Jarvis in her well-thumbed edition of Vermont Folk Medicine.
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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.
By Joanne Caccavale
Founded in 1970 by seven members and chartered in 1972, Sogetsu Massachusetts Branch celebrated their 50th anniversary in October 2022. Twenty years ago, SoMA membership hovered around 35; ten years ago around 65; and presently we have 115 members. The slow and steady growth is attributable to all the dedicated teachers who not only teach at home but in various botanical gardens, at Massachusetts Horticultural Society and at Garden Clubs. Through workshops, outreach to schools and communities and participation in Flower Shows and the Museum of Fine Arts Art in Bloom, doing arrangements for the Japanese Emperor’s birthday reception, many people were made aware of Sogetsu Ikebana.
Characteristics of the Branch –Chapter members have fostered a kinship and closeness through the years of doing Ikebana together. With eight workshops a year, a Christmas luncheon and a year-end June luncheon, the chapter activities have become the highlight and source of enjoyment for many SoMA members
On September 21-24, Headmistress, Iemoto Akane Teshigahara and her entourage of five came to Boston from Tokyo, Sogetsu Headquarters. She conducted three workshops attended by 210 participants from all over the USA and Canada. Her demonstration on September 24, 2022 was beyond imagination and brought the audience to a standing ovation.
Stage arrangement by Iemoto Akane
Teshigahara
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Arrangement by Iemoto Akane Teshigahara
Arrangement by Iemoto Akane Teshigahara
△ Consul General of Japan in Boston Mr. Setsuo Ohmori presenting Ikebana International Boston Chapter with Japan Foreign Minister's Commendation Award.
▷ Iemoto Akane Teshigahara presenting her self made glass container to Aya Kagawa.
▽ Sogetsu MA Branch Members
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This month of Thanksgiving gives us an opportunity to extend our appreciation to our dedicated Library volunteers. They enliven the Library, our history and its collections and work diligently to preserve and share them with you.
Featured Collection ― Members
Women played an active role in the Society since its inception, albeit often in the background. While women could not be official members in first half of the 19th century, the Society offered Honorary membership to exceptional women. One of the first women granted honorary membership was Mary Corré Griffith (1772-1846) from “Charlieshope” in New Brunswick, New Jersey. She was so highly regarded by the Society that at its First Anniversary Festival on September 19, 1829, she was honored by this toast: “Mrs. Mary Griffith, the scientific Apiarian of New Brunswick.” i
We discovered Griffith while working on the Society’s early correspondence. She was a woman before her time. She was an early feminist, scientist and author, who was outspoken about the social mores of her day and the subservient role assigned to women.
As with any new discovery, we often pursue additional research to explain and add dimension to the discovery. Kathleen Glenn, manager of the Historical Correspondence Project discusses Griffith’s correspondence and with the Society’s president Henry A. S. Dearborn and background information we discovered.
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We must find the time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives.
John F. Kennedy (1917-1963)
" "
Thank you to this great team: Nancy Alger Anita Blain-Dzialo Diana Conroy Sarah Cummer Kathleen Glenn Maureen Horn Jennifer Wilton
Mrs. Mary Griffith developed an active correspondence with General Henry Dearborn, the first president of the Society. The Library is fortunate to have several of their original letters in which Griffith’s innovative bee hive design comes to light. For example, in a letter dated July 14, 1829, Dearborn asks Griffith to send one of her improved hives to the Society. On August 12, 1829, Dearborn thanks Griffith for a model hiveii and instructions for using it. He then requests Griffith’s advice on the management of bees. Griffith’s paper “On the Treatment of Bees; and Observations on the Curculio” was read before the Society in 1829.
On January 18, 1831, Griffith writes about her book in progress, to be titled “Our Neighborhood…” that she will dedicate to the Pennsylvania and Massachusetts Horticultural Societies. In the May 4, 1831, edition of the New England Farmer, General Dearborn praised Griffith for her application of scientific theories to practice, and her dissemination of her findings. He also noted her literary accomplishments and efforts to elevate women. In a manner typical of the period, Dearborn proclaimed “Well may the mothers and daughters of this republic, emulate the independence and industry of this accomplished matron of New Jersey.”
Working on the correspondence project is especially satisfying, leading to further research and discovery, such as the remarkable Mary Griffith.
Book Club Contributed by Jennifer Tebbe-Grossman
At its meeting on Tuesday, October 27, the MHS Book Club discussed Reginald Arkell’s Old Herbaceous: A Novel of the Garden, considered “a classic British novel of the garden,” and the initial book chosen by editor Michal Pollan to be included in the Modern Library Gardening series begun in 2003.
First published in 1950 and described as a “sensitive portrayal of village and garden life through seventy years of social change,” from the late Victorian era through the early years after WWII, the book told Herbert Pinnegar’s story from his own perspective of life as a gardener (eventually as head gardener) at the English manor house of Mrs. Charlotte Charteris. Book Club members shared their reflections on why the book is considered a “classic,” earning re-issuing; how various illustrations in the different re-prints of the book connected to the periods in which they were published; why group members found themselves so engaged in Old Herbaceous’s life story; his humorous anecdotes about forcing early strawberries and growing blue morning glories from seeds obtained from the curator of Kew Gardens; the complex relationship between he and his employer, Mrs. Charteris; and the meaning of the novel’s closing
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words that defined Bert Pinnegar as “a gardener…just a gardener…” The group was also impressed with how the novel inspired a successful one-man play that began touring in 1979 and is still being performed, including in garden settings.
All MHS members are welcome to attend the MHS Book Club meetings and we meet in the colder months inside the Education Building starting at 1:30 on Tuesdays as shown below. In the warmer months the group meets outside.
The line-up for books to be read for the next five months: Tuesday, November 15: The Gardener’s Bedtime Book by Richardson Wright Tuesday, December 13: Hands On The Land, by Jan Albers Tuesday, January 17: My Garden Book by Jamaica Kincaid Tuesday, February 21: Rosemary Verey: The Life and Lessons of a Master Gardener by Barbara Paul Robinson Tuesday, March 21: The Nature of Oaks by Doug Tallamy
In the Windows – Books on Harvesting
Our Collections are Growing
We thank local Ikebana instructor, Kaye B. Vosburgh for her contribution of her new book, Creations from the Garden (2021.) In this book, she features trees, shrubs, vines and grasses that she grows in her garden alongside flower arrangements created from these plants. Vosburgh teaches Japanese flower arranging in the Sogetsu School of Ikebana, where she holds the highest rank, Riji.
Donate a Book!
Support our mission by donating a book to the Library from the Society’s Amazon Smile Wishlist, just a click away! Make sure you leave your name and we will thank you in the next Leaflet. You can search by title or book name. Or just browse to see what the Library and other departments are wishing for.
Here are some recent publications we would love to add to our collections.
▶ Fen, Bog and Swamp: A Short History of Peatland Destruction and Its Role in the Climate Crisis by Annie Proulx (2022). Just released, this book will have you looking at our wetlands in a whole new way and you will
COME VISIT: The Library is open by appointment
email Library Manager Maureen O’Brien at mobrien@masshort.org
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Please
appreciate their importance. Read this article about the peat bogs in Ireland to understand what they mean to us. You may reconsider using peat in your gardens and look for alternatives after reading this book.
◀ Summer Wildflowers of the Northeast: A Natural History by Carol Gracie (2020) won the 2022 Council on Botanical and Horticultural Libraries (CBHL) 2022 Award of Excellence for Natural History and Field Guides. CBHL noted that it is an exceptionally well-illustrated work. It delves into the natural history of more than thirty-five summer flowering wildflowers and their relatives and details the plants’ habitat, range, pollinators, etymology and medicinal uses.
◀ Herbaria: A Guide for Young People by Kelly LaFarge and published by Missouri Botanical Garden (2021.) This book received CBHL’s 2022 Award of Excellence for Children & Young Adults. It features historical plant collectors and botanists and explains why dead plants are important. It has an interactive format that provides a virtual tour of an herbarium. For grades 1 through 8.
◀ The Lives of Bees: The Untold Story of the Honey Bee in the Wild by Thomas D. Seeley (2019). Seeley, a world authority on honey bees, is a retired Cornell University professor who studies the behavior and social life of honeybees. This book relates what scientists are learning about the behavior, social life and survival strategies of honey bees living outside the beekeeper’s hive―and how wild honey bees may hold the key to reversing the alarming die-off of the planet’s managed honey bee populations.
Festival of Trees ― "Santa Brings a Read"
The Library volunteers are donating a tree constructed of horticultural books to this year’s Festival of Trees. It has a wide variety of books, from the serious to fanciful. You can win this beautiful tree—useful in all four seasons as a resource for gifts and pure enjoyment—by stuffing our raffle box with your tickets! This year, Festival of Trees is running for over a month, from November 25 to December 31, 2022!
i Three of the first 13 Honorary Members in the Society were women, Dorothy Dix of Boston, Rebecca Gore of Waltham and Mary Griffith of New Jersey.
ii The hive was for use of the members of the Society and was described as quite beautiful. It was constructed of bird’s eye maple with a silver plate on the front with a “suitable inscription.” New England Farmer, vol.8, No. 7: p. 55 (8/7/1829).
appointment and when the lights are on. mobrien@masshort.org for an appointment if you want to schedule a visit.
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Grandi Giardini Italiani: The Essence of Paradise by Delfina Rattazzi, Judith Wade and Caterina Napoleone Franco Maria Ricci | 276 pp. | $70.00 Reviewed by Patrice Todisco 22
The garden-magic of Italy. Perhaps no other country has practiced the art of garden making with such allure, producing gardens that respect the spirit of the place while becoming places of the spirit. For generations Italian gardens have captured the imaginations of visitors including American writer Edith Wharton whose Italian Villas and Their Gardens, first published in 1903, remains a classic.
Wharton’s explorations of Italian Gardens were followed by other garden writers and historians, including Rose Standish Nichols in 1928 and Georgina Masson in the early 1960s. However, as Italian gardens became increasingly popular, visiting them remained challenging, compounded by a patchwork of ownership that includes individuals, foundations, companies, regions, provinces, and municipalities. For the intrepid individual traveling solo, the result was often disappointment.
In the 1970s the contributions of Italy’s gardens to the country’s cultural heritage tourism sector became increasingly evident. A rise in garden tourism and the need to accommodate those who wished to visit generated interest in developing a cohesive approach to the sector. In 1997 Grandi Giardini Italiani was founded to enhance and promote the most beautiful gardens in Italy and introduce their artistic and botanical heritage to the public in Italy and abroad. Grandi Giardini Italiani: The Essence of Paradise commemorates the organization’s twenty-fifth anniversary.
Published by Franco Maria Ricci, renowned for books on art and design, Grandi Giardini Italiani: The Essence of Paradise is beautifully executed with lavish, full spread color-photos on every page. It chronicles the story of the founding and evolution of the Grandi Giardini Italiani network and its 147 gardens in addition to providing a history of gardens and
Todisco
Villa Arconati, Bollate.
Photo by Dario Fusaro
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landscapes, with an emphasis on those within Italy. A literary anthology by art historian Caterina Napoleone shares excerpts of letters and novels celebrating the Italian landscape and garden representing diverse perspectives ranging from Pliny the Younger’s letters to American novelist Mary McCarthy’s The Stones of Florence.
An introductory essay, ‘Bread and Roses, too’ is by Grandi Giardini Italiani founder Judith Wade. The title, which derives from the 1912 Lawrence, MA textile strike, is used by Wade to express the idea that, “apart from offering undisputed beauty, the gardens can become activities for economic development
and qualified work.” Her aim, to provide business value in the management of cultural heritage, is realized through the garden network’s shared knowledge base of best practices for management, maintenance, and interpretation.
Assuring that garden curators play a creative role in the life of the gardens is at the center of Grandi Giardini Italiani’s business model. Over 700 events are organized annually, including those designed to engage new audiences in the garden experience, such as a children’s botanical treasure hunt offered every Easter
Villa Lante. Photo by Dario Fusaro
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since the organization’s inception. Organized and promoted on their shared calendar, events are viewed not only as ‘long-term’ marketing opportunities but also as opportunities to support individual sites and provide showcases for nursery workers, artists, and artisans to share their work. Connecting local audiences to the gardens is viewed as critical to their viability.
Grandi Giardini Italiani, described as a “factory of creativity spread over the whole of Italy, where thousands of people are committed to enhancing Italian gardens all year
round to give added value to visitors,” is dedicated to assuring their success.
‘Itinerary amidst the Grandi Giardini Italiani’ by journalist Delfina Rattazzi provides a narrative of the country’s gardens classified by general categories such as botanical gardens, esoteric gardens, agricultural enterprises and vineyards, and royal and imperial villas. Not written as a traditional travel guide, each sub-section is in and of itself a selfcontained essay in which the history of individual gardens is integrated into the larger context. Woven within are both historical and contemporary accounts and stories of the families that created and continue to care for the properties. If you are looking to read about a particular garden, an
Giardini La Mortella
Photo by Dmitri Tereshchenko
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index of places at the end of the book provides a handy reference.
A mix of iconic and lesser-known gardens are included and while I was eager to virtually revisit gardens I know well, it is equally compelling to compile a list of those that are unfamiliar. The index of places is arranged by region so it’s easy to see what’s included. Reminding myself that the gardens in the book are only those in the network, I quickly realized that despite my belief I had visited a lot of gardens in Italy, I have a lot of ground to cover. It’s time to plan another trip.
Grandi Giardini Italiani: The Essence of Paradise is as ambitious an undertaking as the creation of the organization itself, whose many twists and turns are recounted by Wade. As a model, Grandi Giardini Italiani has inspired other countries to create similar networks; villages of like-minded individuals committed to preserving, promoting, and sharing their gardens for current and future generations.
In her concluding paragraph Rattazzi acknowledges how much is owed to the gardeners, nursery workers, landscape designers and the country people who continue to care for Italy’s gardens. quoting, from The Moon and the Bonfires by Cesare Pavese, “You need a village if only for the pleasure of leaving it. Your own village means that you are not alone, that there is something of you in the people and
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the plants and the soil, that even when you are not there it waits to welcome you.”
As previously noted, while comprehensive in scope, Grandi Giardini Italiani: The Essence of Paradise is not a traditional garden guide. If you are planning a trip to Italy visit Grandi Giardini Italiani where you can access information including directions, hours of operation, accommodations, dining, fees, and events.
Villa d'Este a Tivoli
Photo by Alexander Ramsay
Isola Madre
Photo by Dario Fusaro Courtesy of Terre Borromeo
Patrice Todisco writes about parks and gardens at the award-winning blog, Landscape Notes.
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