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News & Events April 2007
Dear Friend,

The Friends of Mount Auburn is pleased to present the April 2007 edition of our electronic newsletter. We invite you to join our email list to receive this mailing on a monthly basis. If you haven't done so already, click the link above to verify your interest in receiving our newsletter. To ensure that you continue to receive emails from us, add friends@mountauburn.org to your address book today.


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Mount Auburn: Celebrating 175 Years
Please join us on Tuesday, April 24, for a birding panel with moderator Wayne R. Petersen, Director of the Massachusetts Important Bird Areas for Massachusetts Audubon Society, as well as panelists Scott Weidensaul, natural history writer, and Norman Smith of Massachusetts Audubon Society.

The sixth presentation in our seven-part series "Facets of Mount Auburn: Celebrating 175 Years of a Boston Jewel," will concentrate on The Pleasure, Art and Science of Birding.

The program is free to the public and will begin promptly at 6:00 PM in the Rabb Auditorium of the Boston Public Library in Copley Square, followed by a reception with the moderator and panelists and a chance to enter to win Mount Auburn-related raffle prizes and a special item related to the lecture, which will be revealed later.

Co-sponsored with the Harvard Museum of Natural History and Massachusetts Audubon Society.

Also in April, celebrated horticulturist and author Daniel J. Hinkley will speak about The Asian Connection and the influence of Asian horticulture on Western landscapes such as Mount Auburn Cemetery. This lecture will be held on Tuesday, April 10, at 6:00 PM in the Rabb Auditorium of the Boston Public Library and is co-sponsored with the Arnold Arboretum, Massachusetts Horticultural Society, New England Wildflower Society and Wellesley College Botanic Gardens.

Space is limited for both events and registration is requested. Please call 617-607-1995 or visit www.mountauburn.org to register for these programs. To ensure a seat in the auditorium, please plan to arrive early for the lectures.

Learn more about Mount Auburn's 175th Anniversary .



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Horticultural Highlight
Located near the intersection of Beech Avenue and Linden Path at Mount Auburn Cemetery is the striking Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Arnold Promise’.

One of the earliest shrubs to bloom every spring at Mount Auburn, the Hamamelis x intermedia, or witch hazel is noted for bright, fragrant, star-like bursts of crisp yellow flowers which grow nearly one inch in length and unfurl like confetti against the clear blue skies of early spring.

The generic name Hamamelis derives from the Greek hama (together with) and melon (fruit) which refers to the fact that this year’s flowers bloom alongside fruit ripening from last year.

The common name, witch hazel is believed to come from the centuries old practice of using branches of the plant to dowse or divine for water. Extracts of witch hazel, a distant relative of the notable Sweet Gum tree (number 54 on the Mount Auburn Cemetery "Unusual Trees" map), have been used as herbal remedies for hundreds of years.

A hybrid between Chinese and Japanese witch hazel, the Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Arnold Promise’ was initially discovered at Harvard University’s Arnold Arboretum and was designated a cultivar in 1963.

Learn more about Mount Auburn's horticultural collections.



Arbor Day with Ben Cox
Arbor Day Celebration
Please join us on Sunday, April 29, as we celebrate Arbor Day at Mount Auburn! The Cemetery, acclaimed at its consecration in 1831 for its rural beauty and venerable woods, has over 750 varieties of more than 5,000 trees today - some dating from before Mount Auburn's founding and some planted just this year.

Arbor Day activities at the Cemetery are free and will include a walking tour focusing on "Mount Auburn's Magnificent Trees" at 1:00 PM and a Tree Planting Ceremony at 2:30 PM.

Location of the tree planting will be announced at the Entrance Gate on Arbor Day. Maps showing the locations of unusual and notable trees are also available.

Learn about programs and events at Mount Auburn.



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Mount Auburn Cemetery: In the News
“When is a cemetery not a cemetery?” Author Alan Emmet asks this very question in her article about Mount Auburn which begins on page 16 of the April 2007 issue of House & Garden magazine.

Emmet, author of So Fine a Prospect: Historic New England Gardens (University Press of New England), answers that, “Mount Auburn is a vast garden, arboretum, horticultural paradise, birders’ Elysium, and 175-acre open-air museum of historic sculpture and architecture.”

A photo essay of Mount Auburn by Maude Schuyler Clay with text from the Alan Emmet article can be seen online at the House & Garden website.



The Friends of Mount Auburn Cemetery was established in 1986 as a non-profit educational trust to promote the appreciation and preservation of Mount Auburn. Join the Friends of Mount Auburn. Learn about volunteer opportunities at Mount Auburn.

Mount Auburn Cemetery is still a unique choice for burial and commemoration. It offers a wide variety of innovative interment and memorialization options for all. Learn about Mount Auburn's many burial and memorialization options.


Friends of Mount Auburn Cemetery

phone: 617-547-7105
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