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Leaflet eNewsletter
January 2015 Edition
In This Issue
Letter from the President
Member Flower Show Tickets
Debut of a Kerry Mendez Book
Thank you Bill Meagher!
School Gardens Conference
Savory: A Simple Herb
January Hort Hints
Notes from the Vegetable Garden
Mass Hort's Botanical Print Collection
Flower Show Amateur Competition
Division II Looks Back and Forward
Essay: 50 Shades of...
Book Review
Upcoming Events
Thursday, Jan 15
7:00 PM-8:30 PM

Saturday, Jan 24
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Thursday, Jan 29
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Wednesday, Feb 18
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 Letter from the President

 

Dear Friends,

 

Happy New Year! It's time to start thinking about gardening and all things green!

To do just that, Mass Hort is hosting a conference to explore regional best practices for planning school gardens on Thursday, February 19th. Join us for a very informative meeting.

The Flower Show is just around the corner March 11-15, 2015. Our flower show committees are very busy with the upcoming amateur competitions at the show. We have had a wonderful influx of photographs for our Photography Competition. We are still looking for additional Floral Designers for Floral Design Divisions I and II competitions, and we hope both adults and children are getting their houseplants ready to compete in Amateur Horticulture.

Speaking of Amateur Horticulture, we are looking for a chair or co-chair team to join the Am Hort Committee, as Martha Clouse has moved to Florida. We have a hard-working committee that is very capable and the chair (s) would help with communications between the committee and Mass Hort. Please call me if you and a friend would like to help out with this leadership role.
  
Thank you again for your support.
  
Warm regards,
Kathy


 


 

2015 Boston Flower & Garden Show 

Member Tickets

 

Flower Show tickets Mass Hort staff is busy planning our exhibit and the amateur competitions at the 2015 Boston Flower & Garden Show, to be held on Wednesday, March 11 through Sunday, March 15th at the Seaport World Trade Center in Boston. We are also busy preparing to fulfill Member Flower Show tickets


 
 

This year, all members will be mailed their Member Flower Show tickets. Members will also have the opportunity to purchase additional guest tickets at a discounted rate. Please watch for your Member Flower Show tickets in the mail in mid-February. 

 

green-cars-icon.gifWe also hope to make it easier for Members to get to and from the Flower Show and to reduce our carbon footprint. We are thinking of shuttling members from a Metrowest location to the front door of the Seaport and back. Chartered bus would depart at 9 a.m. and leave the Flower Show at 2:00 p.m.

 

Would you consider using a chartered bus for $10-$15 to get you to and from the Flower Show? 

 

Please click here to answer our poll.

 

Debut of a Kerry Mendez Book                   

The expression "fresh off the press" could have been coined for the appearance of The Right-Size Garden: Simplify Your Outdoor Space with Smart Design Solutions and Plant Choices, when Kerry Ann Mendez comes to introduce her new book at the Hunnewell Building on February 18.  The book will have just been published in early February when the Mass Hort audience gathers for refreshments at 5:30 p.m. and Ms. Mendez's 6:30 p.m. illustrated lecture. A book signing will follow.

     

Ms. Mendez will come to us after having been awarded the Massachusetts Horticultural Society's Gold Medal in October. On that occasion, she was recognized for her successful media outreach, through magazine articles, television appearances and webinars. 

     

She has been a practicing gardener for over 25 years and promises to share her experience of making life easy for the gardener by creating custom-sized gardens. She recognizes that the desire for a beautiful garden does not go away even when a person is challenged by pressing obligations and age-related limitations.  Some chapter titles from The Right-Size Garden are: "Design Solutions for (almost) Auto-Pilot Gardens", "Contain Yourself, Please!", and "I Can See Clearly Now, The Pain Is Gone!".

     

To register for the evening, click here and come prepared for a witty lecturer with ideas to make you a successful gardener.

 

Festival of Trees: A Resounding Success

  
 

Thanks very much to all who helped make this year's Festival of Trees a resounding success.   The committee, chaired by Gretel Anspach and also consisting of April Daley, Penni Jenkins, Marisa McCoy and Holly Perry dedicated their time and talents to all aspects of the event. A special thank you to our Festival of Trees Sponsor, Bartlett Tree Experts. Thanks to the Mass Hort staff and the volunteers for their participation and those individuals and organizations who donated the trees created a varied and enchanting display.  Our local gift certificate donors covered the Giving Tree with a wide choice of offerings which attracted lots of interest.  And thanks also to the Wellesley Choral Society which has been an integral part of the event for all six years.  The special outdoor (and indoor) lighting as well as outdoor decorations expanded the visitors' experience on our property.  We are most grateful for everyone's contributions. 

 

We especially thank Bill Meagher and his wife, Ellen, for his Snow Village and the time spent creating and watching over it.  It was fun to see visitors break out with smiles and gasps when they entered the cottage where the old-fashioned trains plied the village tracks and wound through a variety of charming settlements.  We look forward to seeing another part of the village next year.

 

Over 6,000 visitors came to the Festival and the Snow Village.  It is geared to family participation with children eleven and under being admitted for free.  Other attractions included: horse-drawn wagon rides for about 900 people;  visits from Santa; a wreath decorating workshop and wreath-making demonstrations.  The visitors took many photographs - some were posted on social media and some may have graced holiday greeting cards.

 

Plans are underway for next year.  We hope to have even more donors and visitors.  

School Gardens Conference 
February 19, 2015                             

You're invited to

 The Massachusetts Horticultural Society's 

School Gardens Conference

 "Sowing the Seeds of Change"

 

On Thursday, February 19, Mass Hort will host a conference to explore regional best practices for planning a school garden that will endure seasons and administration changes, meet educational goals and serve generations of healthy, growing children. 

   

This conference is intended for school teachers, administrators, garden club members, librarians, parents, preservationists and civic organizations. We are excited to offer this conference in partnership with co-sponsoring organizations: the Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts, Mass Ag in the Classroom, Massachusetts Master Gardeners, Slow Food Boston, and Slow Food USA.

 

You can learn how to champion a successful garden program in your school district from speakers, workshops on a variety of topics,   including volunteer involvement, curriculum and garden planning, and from a panel of presenters of school volunteers, staff and organizational supporters.

 

For a complete schedule, list of speakers and to register, click here. 

Member Registration (Mass Hort, co-sponsoring organizations and students)

$25 on or before January 20 

$35 after Tuesday January 20, 2015


 

Non-Member Registration $35 on or before January 20

$45 after Tuesday January 20, 2015

 

Registration includes coffee and lunch generously provided by Chipotle Mexican Grill and Starbucks Wellesley.

 

This conference builds upon a long history of leadership in the movement.  In 1891, Mass Hort established a committee on school gardens, leading the school garden movement through Boston, and growing resilient communities throughout the nation.

 

School gardens encouraged students to work in the open air, work together across different ages and cultural influences, observe the wonders of plant science, and develop life skills as they collectively decided how to raise their gardens and eat healthier food.

 

Recent studies show that on average, kids today know fewer than 10 animals and plants in their own backyards at the same time that they recognize over 1,000 corporate logos. To help reverse that trend, 2015 is "The Year of the Child" at Mass Hort.

 

In the year ahead, our non-profit will grow our efforts to create a free online school gardens template, educational programs and an on-site family learning guide. Our goal is to help communities rediscover their local horticultural and culinary traditions.

 

Together, with your help, we hope to cultivate outdoor classrooms and seed libraries that will enrich each town's understanding and stewardship of its horticultural inheritance for generations to come.    

 

- John Forti - Director of Horticulture and Education

 

Savory: A Simple Herb                              

Karen O'Brien

Co-chair, The New England Unit of The Herb Society of America

 

Each year, the International Herb Association highlights an herb for its members to study and promote. For 2015, that herb is savory, or Satureja. This herb is often overlooked, which is a shame, as it adds a new dimension and depth to culinary pursuits. It is favorably known as the "bean herb" as it is frequently added to bean recipes to reduce the flatulence that accompanies such dishes. It is also effective in keeping bean weevils and aphids away from bean plants, and so is an ideal companion plant.

 
 

There are two main types of savory that are easy to grow in our area. Winter savory, Satureja montana, is a shrubby perennial, 8-10 inches high, that can be used successfully as an edging in an herb garden. Its flavor is sharper and more pronounced than summer savory, Satureja hortensis. Summer savory is grown as an annual, and it is easy to grow from seed directly in your garden bed. It often re-seeds in the garden, and needs to be trimmed regularly to keep it from going to seed prematurely.


Both types are a little peppery, the summer type being milder in flavor. Wild game, stuffing, sausages, and most meats work well with savory, as its flavor is assertive and stands up to such hearty fare. Many vegetable dishes benefit from the addition of savory, especially cruciferous vegetables such as parsnips, cabbage, etc.  Savory is an important component of the herb blend Herbes de Provence, along with thyme, marjoram, rosemary, fennel and lavender. It is interesting to note that the original blend, from France, did not contain lavender, but was added because people associated lavender with France!


The ancient physicians and herbalists used savory for many ailments. The Roman poet, Virgil (70-19 BC), noted that bees loved the plant, and their honey tasted better when savory was near the hives. Pliny the Elder, Roman author and naturalist (23-79 AD), suggested that it was excellent for seasoning meat. The English botanist and herbalist, Nicholas Culpeper (1616-1654), found it useful as an ear or eye remedy, and good for the pain of sciatica. Summer savory was thought to be an aphrodisiac. Today, fresh savory, when rubbed on the skin, is an effective antidote to insect bites and stings. A tea made from savory is good for digestion, nausea and cramps.


Savory is an herb that deserves more attention. Try planting some summer savory in a little corner of your yard, and you will be pleasantly surprised at how it enhances your cooking and attracts the pollinators. And if you want a more permanent installation, plant a winter savory. You just might become enamored of this delightful herb of many uses.

January Hort Hints

By Betty Sanders
BettyOnGardening.com

 

 

January is the time for gardeners to spend on reading, writing and 'rithmetic.

 

Many wonderful books have come out in the last year.  Catch up on one or two during your indoor days.  My favorite this year was "The Living Landscape" by Rick Darke and Doug Tallamy.  Superb photos matched by insightful writing on how to create or recreate a garden that provides beauty and comfort for the homeowner, a place for the vital wildlife (micro and up) and a chance to make your corner of the world one that aids the environment instead of damaging it.

 

Don't even think about put a trowel in the ground until you have read one book on soil.  "Improving Your Soil" by Keith Reid isn't a title that promises an exciting read, but for the gardener it's a must read.  Along with old favorite "Teeming with Microbes", you will be reminded that there is no great garden without great soil.  It's the bacteria, fungi, worms and other creatures we aren't always thankful for that make our soil great-if we'll lay off the chemicals and let them.

Finally, if you always admire the flower arrangements at the Flower Show part of the Boston Flower and Garden show, but don't think you can arrange 12 roses in a vase, take a look at Judith Blacklock's "Flower Arranging, a complete guide for beginners".  She describes tools, techniques and how to keep flowers alive for more than a few days.  Her designs may seem intimidating, but her explanations make them possible for anyone.

 

Now for your writing.  I am encouraging everyone to start a garden journal-again.  If a pretty hardcover book will get you going, find one.  If you prefer to work online, type away.  If you are like me and take your notebook into the garden and don't care if your hands are dirty, use a spiral bound notebook from Staples.  Start today and don't stop.  If all you have to say is that it is too cold to go outside today, put that down.  Next time the temperature dips well below freezing you might note that the leaves on your rhododendron have curled into tight 'cigarettes'.  Note that.  Keep writing until it becomes an everyday habit like brushing your teeth. 

 

How large will the plants in your garden grow?

And now the arithmetic!  It's time to plan gardens for the coming season.  Is it time to add new shrubs to replace overgrown old one-or to get rid of invasive plants like burning bush?  Before you decide you what you will buy or how many, check the dimensions of the area and learn how large the plant you are considering will grow.  Mature rhododendrons in our yard, range from 30 inches tall and 30n inches wide to 15 feet wide and 12 feet tall despite frequent prunings.  Some dwarf trees are dwarfs only compared to the 'mother' tree's 80 or 100 feet.  Know before you plant.

 

What are you planning in your vegetable garden?  Did you have enough lettuce seed for your fall crop?  Did you have much more zucchini than you could even give away?  Make up your list of seeds from catalogs based on what your family can use.  And redesign your garden to make the most of it.  I have 600 sq ft and plant four different squash plants to keep Neal and I as well as our neighbors in zucchini.  Have a small garden?  You may need only one plant and can use the space for something else.

 

Finally, go visit a garden.  On a sunny day, visit Elm Bank to see Bressingham Garden, designed to be appreciated throughout the year.  You'll see tree bark, brightly colored or beautifully textured that is hidden by  foliage in the summer.  Stands of seed heads feed the winter birds and give you another way to appreciate perennials.

 

Other sites offer a step into the tropics.  At the Lyman Estate in Waltham, the greenhouses are open daily and filled with orchids, bouganvilla and a host of other blooming beauties.  In February, century old camellias will burst into bloom.  On the campus of Wellesley College, a series of greenhouses take you through the desert and then room after room of the unusual and the unique.  At Tower Hill Botanical Garden in West Bolyston, two magnificent spaces called the Orangerie and the Limonaia provide spaces to sit and breathe in warm air, the welcome scent of rich soil and the chance to imagine its next summer.

 

And plan ahead for the Boston Flower and Garden Show (March 11-15) and the Rhode island F& G show (February 19-22) where fantasy gardens and wonderful floral designs offer relief from the New England winter.

Notes from the Vegetable Garden               

By Susan Hammond

 

Does 4008 mean anything to you?

 

That's the final poundage of food that the Garden to Table Vegetable Garden grew and sent to local food pantries in 2014.

 

We're delighted with this total, and it could not have happened without the help of our donors, sponsors, and volunteers.    

 

Each season, volunteers put in hundreds of hours in making this garden happen. Some are experienced Master Gardeners; some are community groups; and some are folks who just want to learn more about vegetable gardening. While we work on Garden to Table year-round, our "outside" garden year started in March 2014 with cutting down cover crops, and ended in November with tucking our beds in for the winter. 

 

But this garden is more than just the harvest. Over the course of the year we gave countless tours to visitors of all ages, showcased new and interesting crops for the home gardener, ran educational programs for children, answered gardening questions, and had a lot of fun doing it!

 

Planning for our 2015 garden and related programs is well underway, and we'll discuss it more in next month's issue of Leaflet.   

 

Are you interested in learning more about vegetable gardening?  During the growing season we welcome volunteers of all skill levels, and we'll teach you as you work.   But if you would like to get a head start, there are several programs in this year's MHS educational offerings that you might like.  

 

On Thursday, March 26, I will be presenting a "Vegetable Gardening For Everyone" lecture, which is a great introduction to growing edibles whether you're branching out from ornamental gardening, or are a complete novice.    On May 14,  I will be presenting a new lecture, "What do I do NOW? (for my vegetable garden)", with specific advice on how to get your garden going.   And on July 11,  as part of Hands On Hort, we'll have "From Plan To Harvest", where we'll show you how we went from plans in the winter to a productive garden in the summer and let you get hands-on education in growing techniques.   As the dates near, you can get more information on all of these programs at www.masshort.org/Adult-Education.

 

Come and learn with us in 2015!

Mass Hort's Botanical Print Collection: Preparation for a "Permanent" Exhibition    
By Maureen Horn, Librarian

 

Samuel Holden,
Azalea indica 

The Massachusetts Horticultural Society was organized on June 12, 1829.  At a meeting of its Council on April 7 of that year, a Committee on the Library was chosen "to have charge of all the books, drawings and engravings and to recommend from time to time such as it may be deemed expedient to procure ..." Thus, our fruit and flower prints collection began in the Society's earliest days.

          

Two major exhibitions of the collection were presented to Boston audiences in 1968 and 1988.  Now, we prepare for what will become a permanent, Mass Hort website-based exhibition in the near future.  The prints will be transported to the Boston Public Library, where the Digital Projects staff will digitize them and store the images in Digital Commonwealth, an organization and, also, a repository of digitized materials which have been produced from physical items that reside in Massachusetts. Search www.digitalcommonwealth.org. Eventually, the Digital Commonwealth will send the objects to the Digital Public Library of America.    

     

A plant print can be either a page from a book or a folio and is valued because, in most cases, there was only a limited run of the original print, and the artist destroyed the plates. Mass Hort's floral prints represent a variety of production techniques, among them engraving, chromolithography, and aquatint.  After 186 years, the Society will be able to relinquish some of the responsibility for preserving and stabilizing them because the BPL staff will give us DVD's of the images, which can be published on our website, and the physical objects can spend most of their time in archival storage.

     

They will appeal to some viewers primarily for their design and color.  Others will look for scientific detail because many of the varieties are now lost to cultivation.  More current techniques are also represented, so they will attract the aspiring botanical artist.  Leaflet will inform our reading public when the project is completed.

 

Amateur Horticulture at the Flower Show
By Carrie Waterman, Past Chair of MassHort at the Flower Show

Who are all these people and what do they have to do with horticulture at the Flower Show?

 

These are the tireless volunteers of the Amateur Horticulture Committee who, year in and year out, work behind the scenes helping the exhibitors correctly name and present their plants for the judges and the public to enjoy. For many months, weeks, days and hours, through all kinds of weather and minor disasters, they work with smiles on their faces to make sure that the exhibits are at their best for all of you to enjoy when the Show opens.

 

Thank you to all the wonderful members of the Am Hort Committee!

 

If you would like to join this super group, or find out about exhibiting at the Show, please visit Mass Hort's website, www.masshort.org/Mass-Hort-at-the-Flower-Show.

 

Or Click here for the Amateur Horticulture Competitive Schedule. 

 

You and your plants will be welcomed with open arms and big smiles!

 

 

Division II Looks Back and Forward            By Jill Malcolm, Chair, Floral Design Division II

GCA Bowl, Shirley Minott, 2014

This Spring will be one filled with enchantment - at least at the Boston Flower & Garden Show! The show's theme for 2015 is "Season of Enchantment", and Floral Design Division II will be all about fairy tales and magic. The Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Anderson, Walt Disney, tales of fairies, beautiful princesses and even evil queens have influenced literature, music, and theater around the world. In this flower show, designers will share their own interpretation of the enchanted tales that have entertained children and their parents for generations.

 

Division II is a great way for new or less experienced floral designers to participate in the Boston Flower Show. While all entries are judged and awarded ribbons, the judging rules are more flexible and designers are permitted to work in a team on designs. Division II entrants are also eligible for a number of special awards, including two awards for novice designers. 

Novice Award, Julie Pipe


The seven design classes offer something for all levels of interest and ability, including a fairy garden, a miniature design  and an Asian-inspired design based on the lovely fairy tale, "The Nightingale".  


 

All of the classes are close to full, but there are still a few openings.  If interested, please contact Jill Malcolm ([email protected]) as soon as possible.

  

Click here for the Floral Design Division II Competitive Schedule. 

50 Shades of...Green

By Neal Sanders
Leaflet Contributor

 

Like almost every self-respecting male adolescent of my generation, I kept several copies of Playboy magazine tucked between the mattress and box spring in my bedroom.  Those well-thumbed magazines had the beneficial effect of ensuring that my bedroom was always neat and clean, so that prying adults would never stumble upon them. 

I mention this ancient memory because, last week, I chanced upon my wife and a female friend sitting side by side at our kitchen table; so intently poring over the pages of a magazine-sized periodical that they did not hear me come in.  As they turned pages, they would say 'Wow' in unison and make breathless comments about the photos on the page.

I do not normally interrupt such interludes.  My wife is entitled to her private interests and her friendships.  But after one particular joint 'gasp', I felt I needed to investigate.  And, unlike that one time when my mother unexpectedly came into my bedroom while I was admiring some Mississippi  beauties, they did not quickly kick the publication under the kitchen table and pretend to be thumbing through a stack of 45 rpm records.

No, instead, they brazenly smoothed down the page so that I could see a Bergenia ciliata 'Sunfur', described as "a hardy African Violet on steroids."  The breathless copy went on to say, in the early spring, you can expect an explosion of spikes of pink and white flowers that arise from the center of the plant, creating a sensational floral show.

Betty and her friend agree, "While everyone else is looking forward to seeing the film adaptation of 'Fifty Shades of Gray', gardeners prefer 'Fifty Shades of Green'."  Each year at this time, catalogs arrive (sans brown paper wrapper) bearing photos of new and exotic plants, heavy with flowers and mixing color palettes that are the antithesis of the relentless browns in the 'real world' of a winter New England landscape.

These catalogs come from many sources, but two that get a lot of attention in New England come from Logee's and White Flower Farm.  Both are based in Connecticut and both are masters of both marketing and plant selection.  Like the Playboy of old, these catalogs don't hesitate to put the good stuff right on the cover.  White Flower Farm's Spring 2015 catalog grabs you with a voluptuous 'Texas White' tree wisteria. 

Horticultural catalog writing is an art.  Really good catalog writing can be downright enticing.  White Flower Farm calls tree wisterias, "a treasure beyond price" and then follows up with this:  "The spectacular beauty and astonishing vigor of Wisteria are best employed by growing it in the form of these small trees. Long racemes of flowers drape down from the deep green heads of foliage shaped by pruning, and the blooms shift gently with every breeze. The effect is graceful and stately..."

"Astonishing vigor"?  Flowers that "drape down from deep green heads" and blooms that "shift gently with every breeze"?  I'm not sure what it is but, boy, I'm ready to buy.

Betty double-dog-eared the page in the catalog for Agastache 'Summer Love', a new introduction to a family of plants that just keeps getting better and better.  Once upon a time, agastache was notable principally because you could throw it into the driest corner of your garden and it would thrive.  It wasn't very pretty to look at and the flowers were 'meh', but, once it was established, you could forget about it. 

But here's what White Flower Farm writes about 'Summer Love':  Generous clusters of large, reddish violet blossoms stand tall above mounds of fragrant foliage. Exceptionally heat tolerant.  Careful breeding and selection have given us newcomers that offer exceptional garden performance and a long season of bloom. In full sun and well-drained soil, they happily shrug off summer heat and early frosts.

Not to be outdone, Logee's offers up a Colocasia (Elephant Ear) called 'Pink China'.  They describe it thusly:  "...brilliant pink stems and rich green leaves with a pink dot in the center add vibrant color to any container or garden. Possibly the hardiest of all colocasias... the perfect tropical plant for people in colder zones who don't want to move plants inside for the winter...."

Weigela Variegata

Shrubs, too, are the stuff of winter daydreams about spring.  Take Weigela florida variegata.  The catalog describes it as having "midgreen leaves bordered in yellow to creamy white. Plants are quite a sight in late spring, when the funnel-shaped, deep rose flowers line up in pairs along every branch... easy-to-grow... showy flowers attract hummingbirds and butterflies...worth growing in shrub borders or lightly shaded gardens for their foliage effects."

Plant seduction?  Yeah.  But unlike the bygone Mississippi beauties, you can bring these home to stare at next summer.  And Mom not only won't mind, she'll be pleased.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Neal Sanders is a frequent contributor to the Leaflet. Neal's most recent mystery is Murder at the Flower Show.  That book, plus his seven other mysteries, can be ordered through Amazon.com.

 

 

Book Review:              

Arthur A. Shurcliff: Design, Preservation, and the Creation of the Colonial Williamsburg Landscape


 

Elizabeth Hope Cushing

Library of American Landscape History, 2013

 

By Pamela Hartford

 

Arthur Shurcliff (1870 - 1957) was a significant landscape architect whose career spanned a critical time in the transformation of the American landscape.  The familiar terrain of towns, villages and farmlands connected by dirt roads populated by horse-drawn carriages rapidly changed to a car -centric universe, populated with overhead electric and telephone lines. The transformation advanced at astonishing speed, as waves of immigrants and a burgeoning middle class spread out over the landscape, their houses and industries rapidly replacing the gentle rural landscape.

 

Shurcliff witnessed all this, and was deeply affected by it even while he had to design in accommodation of it.

 

Ms. Cushing is the first to wade deeply into the extensive Shurcliff archives and office records (only recently made available), producing a biography that sheds considerable light on the many ways his work as a landscape architect in the first half of the twentieth century was influential - in the design of parks, in town planning, road and highway building, and in the nascent field of preservation. In Boston alone, his hand is seen in the design of the zoo and rose garden in Franklin Park, the rose garden and lagoon at the Back Bay Fens, the connection of Commonwealth Avenue to Beacon Street, with the Charlesgate bridge and ramp to the Fenway, the Boston Prado in front of Old North Church, and the Charles River Esplanade and boat basin. 

 

A product of an insular upper class upbringing (although in a middle class economic strata), Arthur Shurcliff hung out on West Cedar Street on Beacon Hill with many of the best and brightest Brahmin scions.

 

From age four to twelve, Arthur's family and entire household (including the grand piano) was packed onto two horse-drawn wagons, and trundled to the bucolic 100 acre Riddell farm on Trapelo Road. In this bucolic setting, the young Shurcliff spent unhampered time with the sons of local farmers, exploring the beautiful woodlands, become acquainted with the majestic Waverly oaks, learning the habits of flora and fauna and developing a deep reverence for nature's beauty, and for rural settings.

 

The formation of Shurcliff's remarkable personality and his deeply felt value system is told in the first chapters of Cushing's book - his upbringing, his education and early career, and his lengthy and complex courtship of the singular and spirited woman who held beliefs as deeply and fervently as Shurcliff.   The chapter on the evolution of their summer home on the Ipswich marshes - furnished entirely by objects made by both Mr. and Mrs. Shurcliffe - is fascinating.  Imbued with the spirit of Arts and Crafts from an early age, the house in Ipswich is the embodiment of Shurcliff's dedication to self-reliance and craftsmanship.  

         

When the opportunity to work alongside Rockefeller to develop an eighteenth century version of Williamsburg presented itself, he was well disposed to create a thorough vision. While seldom mentioned in the critiques of this extremely influential preservation project, Shurcliff was responsible for creating the total environment - from roads to gardens to streetscapes.  

 

His pioneering use of archaeological research and comparative studies supported the Williamsburg Restoration effort, resulting in its role as a prototype for landscape preservation in historic national and state parks.

 

Cushing's biography of Shurcliff is a tale of the life of a unique visionary, as well as a contribution to scholarship on the Colonial Revival movement and on American Park design. Readers will not fail to look anew at Storrow Drive, as well as at boxwood.

                    

Pamela Hartford is a landscape historian and preservation planner living in Salem, MA.