Eolia Mansion in Waterford, CT. Image courtesy of William H. Johnson.

Featured in New England's Historic Homes & Gardens by Kim Knox Beckius and William H. Johnson, Eolia Mansion is a stunning 230-acre seaside villa located in Waterford, Connecticut. It was one of six homes owned by philanthropists Mary and Edward Harkness, and every April through October, the couple brought New York City children suffering from polio or tuberculosis to the Connecticut shore and entertained and cared for them. The house itself is breathtaking, but the sweeping lawns and surrounding lush gardens are the bigger draw in the early spring. Prominent landscape gardener Beatrix Farrand designed the gardens, which are split into various factions. The East Garden, which is laden with Japanese maples, has a distinct oriental feel, while the West Garden is draped in grapevines and wisteria. The finishing touch is an Alpine Rock Garden, which serves as a tribute to Farrand’s Maine childhood. The property offers a variety of activities for spring visitors, who can stroll among the gardens or fly kites on the nearby beach.

IF YOU GO:

Eolia Mansion
275 Great Neck Road
Waterford, Connecticut
(860) 443-5725

To learn more about the property, pick up a copy of New England’s Historic Homes & Gardens at the mansion's gift shop or at one of these bookstores:

Bank Square Books, Mystic, CT
Harbor Books, Old Saybrook, CT
Breakwater Books, Guilford, CT

After a long day of wondering the beautiful gardens, recover some of your energy by stopping by one of these delicious local eateries:

• Filomena's inviting ambience and reasonable prices are a hit,  but it's the restaurant's savory Italian fare that makes it popular among locals.
• When Pigs Fly Cafe is great for a quick coffee break, but we recommend taking the time to order the veggie quesadilla or taco wrap.
• The Dock offers the area's best lobster rolls. Take advantage of spring's mild weather by grabbing a drink and a cup of chowder and setting  up camp on the restaurant's deck.

This post is part of a larger series celebrating the sites included in our latest title, New England's Historic Homes & Gardens, by Kim Knox Beckius with photography by William H. Johnson. See the recent Hildene post and last week's Wentworth-Coolidge Mansion post, and keep an eye out for fun spring getaway ideas throughout the month!

Pink lady's slipper orchids (Cypripedium acaule), May 14, 2012, Lexington, Massachusetts. There are lady's slippers growing on public land all around Boston, blooming roughly from Mother's Day to Father's Day. Look for shady woodlands with acidic soils. Forests with plenty of white pines, oaks, blueberries or huckleberries are good bets. Try the Middlesex Fells, Stony Brook Reservation, or the Lynn Woods.

But whatever you do, don't pick lady's slippers. They're astonishingly bad at producing seeds—on average they set seed only once every ten years— so a few bouquets can make them go locally extinct. And forget about transplanting them. They'll just die if you don't have a special sterile lady's slipper propagation lab.

No, you'll just have to enjoy them in a park. Aren't you glad we have public land?

***

Part of an ongoing series from Meg Muckenhoupt, author of Boston's Gardens & Green Spaces, where she shines light on what's currently blooming around Boston. Looking to grow your own garden? Check out Meg's recent blog post on plant sales around Greater Boston this month.

Meg Muckenhoupt is a freelance environmental and travel writer. Her articles have appeared in The Boston Globe, the Boston Phoenix, Boston Magazine, the Time Out Boston guide, and many other publications. She holds a certificate in Field Botany from the New England Wild Flower Society. Meg is available to give talks on topics related to the history of Boston's parks and other garden-related subjects. Visit her website for more information or contact shelby@unionparkpress.com. 

1756 Map of Boston by Jacques-Nicolas Bellin

May is National Historic Preservation Month, and considering Boston's unique and illustrious past, it's no surprise that there are plenty of ways to get involved. This year, the National Trust for Historic Preservation encourages us to seek the hidden gems out there—a theme that we focus on throughout our books.

The Boston Landmarks Commission has pulled together a helpful calendar of events to teach residents about the city's history, architecture, and historic neighborhoods. Likewise, historic organizations throughout New England are celebrating with their own events. With two weeks left in May, there are still many opportunities to partake in Preservation Month activities in Boston and throughout the entire region. Check out our picks and let us know if we've missed anything in the comments below. Get out there and celebrate—before Preservation Month is history! (See what we did there?!)

GREATER BOSTON

Walking Tour: The Archaeology of the North End
Most Bostonians are familiar with the North End's famous cannoli and other Italian fare, but this free walking tour will shed light on more obscure topics, like the history of bowling and divorce in the 17th century. City archaeologist Joe Bagley will lead the tour along Boston's ancient shoreline and through the alleys of this historic neighborhood. Participants will meet at the Samuel Adams statue in front of Fanueil Hall and should RSVP to joseph.bagley@cityofboston.gov. Saturday, May 19th, 2:00-3:00 p.m.

Walking Tour: Beacon Hill
Learn about Beacon Hill's earliest residents on this two hour walk around one of Boston's prettiest neighborhoods. The tour, which is being hosted by Historic New England, will depart from Otis House, the neighborhood's oldest intact manison. The cost is $6 for Historic New England members and $12 for nonmembers. For more information or to purchase tickets, call (617) 523-2338. Saturday, May 26th, 11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.

Back Bay Fens. Image from Boston's Gardens & Green Spaces by Meg Muckenhoupt

Walking Tour: The History, Gardens and Changing Landscapes of the Back Bay Fens
The Emerald Necklace Conservancy docents will lead visitors through the area's historic gardens and parklands. Highlights include the Kelleher Rose Garden, which boasts more than 15,000 roses, and victory gardens dating back to World War II. The tours, which are free and open to the public, leave from the Shattuck Emerlald Necklace Visitor Center, and registration isn't required. Don't forget to bring your copy of Boston's Gardens & Green Spaces! Sunday, May 27th, 1:00-2:30 p.m.

NEW ENGLAND
It just so happens that the following events are located at sites featured in New England's Historic Homes & Gardens by Kim Knox Beckius and William H. Johnson. The book, which profiles the region's 36 most influential and picturesque homes, is filled with stunning photography and compelling stories about these important historic landmarks. Buy a copy and bring it with you to supplement your tour!

Walking Tour: Morrill Homestead and the Village of Strafford, Vermont
This country estate is the former home of Justin Smith Morrill, one of the forces behind the Land-Grant Act of 1862. The walking tour, which costs just $10, includes stops at the homestead, his general store, the Morrill Memorial Library, the Morrill Mausoleum, and the 1799 Strafford Townhouse. Sunday, May 27th, 1:30 p.m.

Walking Tour: Architecture of Historic Deerfield, Massachusetts
Historic Deerfield is offering walking tours that  focus on the architectural history of its picturesque mile-long street. With a unique collection of buildings that span the last 300 years of history,  Historic Deerfield offers a unique New England experience. Visitors will learn to recognize elements of some architectural styles, and will gain a greater understanding of the region's architectural heritage.  The tour repeats every Friday and Saturday in May from 3:00-4:00 pm, and is included with general admission. More information about the tour can be found on their website.

Roseland Cottage, photograph by William H. Johnson

Open Houses: Roseland Cottage and Hamilton House
Though these events fall just outside of Preservation Month, they're certainly worth attending. On June 2nd and 3rd, Roseland Cottage in Woodstock, Connecticut and Hamilton House in South Berwick, Maine, invite visitors to tour the properties at no cost. Saturday, June 2nd and Sunday, June 3rd, 11:00 a.m-5:00pm

Image courtesy of Armenian Heritage Park (www.armenianheritagepark.org)

In the last week, two different groups have offered up, shall we say, contrasting visions for the Rose Kennedy Greenway. One, the Armenian Heritage Park at the intersection of Atlantic and Cross Street, is almost complete, according to the North End Waterfront. Meanwhile, a block away, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (Mass DOT) is considering four different proposals for Parcel 9, the odd triangular strip along Blackstone Street. As the Boston Globe puts it, there are "two [proposals] for commercial and residential buildings; one for a hotel; and one for the Boston Museum, the long-planned gateway to historical Boston and New England."

Let's consider the juxtaposition. The Armenian Heritage Park—which, as the supporters are careful to point out on their website, "is being constructed at no expense to the taxpayer," has two parts:

- "The Labyrinth, a circular winding path paved in granite set in stone, celebrates life's journey."

- "The Abstract Sculpture, a split dodecahedron mounted above a reflecting pool, commemorates the immigrant experience... The Sculpture is dedicated to lives lost during the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923 and all genocides that have followed."

Image courtesy of armenianheritagepark.org

Then, we come to Parcel 9, where we could have commercial and residential buildings, a hotel, or a museum that would explain the "city’s ever-changing religious foundations, its intellectual leadership, its immigrant traditions, and its storied politics," as the Globe put it. Let's take a look at the fantastically varied, strikingly original plans proposed for the site!

Blackstone Market mixed use commercial/ residential. Image courtesy of MassDOT.

Look, a two-story building with roof gardens. And a giant glowing red cow. I guess there wasn't enough room for a Citgo sign.

Normandy Partners Hotel proposal. Image courtesy of Mass DOT.

Look! It's a box, with another box on top of it! And more trees on a roof.

Image courtesy of greenspaceboston.com

A large box with a shorter box next to it. The trees are on the ground this time.

... and a glass box with trees on top, with colored walls to give it a vague resemblance to an Ikea showroom.

Look, Parcel 9 is public land, no matter how long and skinny and awkward (and profitable) it might be. In the past, Boston has decided that the area around Faneuil Hall is an appropriate place for memorials: in addition to the Armenian Heritage Park, the New England Holocaust Memorial is just a block from Parcel 9 at the corner of Congress and Hanover streets.

None of the various proposals are going to change the cityscape around Parcel 9 much; they're all low and brown and boxy (except for the Boston Museum, which would be glassy and boxy). Some of them would be a lot more profitable than others, I'm sure.

But out of the four proposals, only the Boston Museum continues a major Rose Kennedy Greenway theme: celebrating Boston's heritage and honoring the people who have been here since all of our revolutionary hullaballoo. The Greenway's North End "Leaning Rail Timeline" and the immigrants' quotes at Rowes Wharf are particularly interesting; find out more about them here.

Remember, Parcel 9 is part of our front yard; it's what Boston shows the world (and a very large percentage of the world seems to visit Faneuil Hall in the summer.) We have the Freedom Trail, and Faneuil Hall's mall with occasional colonial accents, but we don't have institution that tells visitors about what's happened in Boston since 1800. A lot has changed in the past 212 years.

We're talking about developing public land alongside one of Boston's most visited tourist attractions and most visible parks, near memorials to millions of people who were murdered and starved because of their heritage. A Boston museum would honor the heritage of all Bostonians; a glowing red cow won't.

The Armenian Heritage Park will be dedicated on Tuesday, May 22, at 11 am. It will be beautiful.

Meg Muckenhoupt is the author of Boston's Gardens & Green Spaces.  She is a freelance environmental and travel writer. Her articles have appeared in The Boston Globe, the Boston Phoenix, Boston Magazine, the Time Out Boston guide, and many other publications. She holds a certificate in Field Botany from the New England Wild Flower Society.

Dorothy Swift large leaf rhododendron (with a Blue Baron small leaf rhododendron), Alan Payton Rhododendron Display Garden of the American Rhododendron Society Massachusetts Chapter, Elm Bank, Wellesley, May 7, 2012.

***

Part of an ongoing series from Meg Muckenhoupt, author of Boston's Gardens & Green Spaces, where she shines light on what's currently blooming around Boston. Looking to grow your own garden? Check out Meg's recent blog post on plant sales around Greater Boston this month.

Meg Muckenhoupt is a freelance environmental and travel writer. Her articles have appeared in The Boston Globe, the Boston Phoenix, Boston Magazine, the Time Out Boston guide, and many other publications. She holds a certificate in Field Botany from the New England Wild Flower Society. Meg is available to give talks on topics related to the history of Boston's parks and other garden-related subjects. Visit her website for more information or contact shelby@unionparkpress.com. 

Wentworth-Coolidge Mansion, image courtesy of William H. Johnson

Featured in New England's Historic Homes & Gardens by Kim Knox Beckius and William H. Johnson, the Wentworth-Coolidge Mansion is the former home of the wildly corrupt and scandal-ridden Benning Wentworth, first royal governor of New Hampshire. The forty-room home, which dates back to 1755, overlooks Portsmouth’s beautiful Little Harbor. A visit to the sprawling hundred-acre gentleman’s farm almost guarantees a spectacular view. In May, lilac bushes imported by Wentworth in the 1750s flourish, mixing their sweet, floral scent with the salty air.

If you don’t get your history fix from the Wentworth-Coolidge Mansion, the nearby Strawbery Banke Museum is sure to whet your appetite. The 10-acre site is one of America's oldest continuously occupied neighborhoods, and it offers a look back at Portsmouth over the last four centuries.

IF YOU GO:

Wentworth-Coolidge Mansion
375 Little Harbor Road
Portsmouth, New Hampshire
(603) 436-6607

To learn more about the property, pick up a copy of New England’s Historic Homes & Gardens at the site's gift shop or at one of these bookstores:

River Run Bookstore, Portsmouth, NH
Water Street Bookstore, Exeter, NH
Barnes & Noble, Newington, NH

Portsmouth is one of our favorite cities in all of New England. Full of independent stores and great restaurants, it is a great place to spend a day or two. Refuel after the long day of exploring at a few of our favorite local places:

• Breaking New Grounds is centrally located, making it a great place to grab a specialty coffee and bakery treat. On warm days, be sure to order the gelato.
• Black Trumpet Bistro is the perfect date spot following a day of sightseeing. The intimate dining room and cozy wine bar offer pretty views of the Piscataqua River.
• Portsmouth Gas Light Co. has an extensive menu that's sure to please everyone in your party. Take advantage of the nice weather by sitting on the deck, which often features live music.

This post is part of a larger series celebrating the sites included in our latest title, New England's Historic Homes & Gardens, by Kim Knox Beckius with photography by William H. Johnson. See the recent Hildene post and last week's Adams National Historical Park post, and keep an eye out for fun spring getaway ideas throughout the month!

Roseland Cottage, photograph by William H. Johnson

Moms, books, springtime, gardens, history: these are a few of our favorite things.  Put them all together, and what do you get? A really great Mother’s Day giveaway from Union Park Press and Historic New England!

The Prize

This fantastic package will include two books from Union Park Press and a special membership from Historic New England.

New England’s Historic Homes & Gardens, by Kim Knox Beckius

Featuring 36 historic homes and gardens across New England, this beautiful book profiles two Historic New England properties: the exquisite Roseland Cottage in Woodstock, CT and the beautifully designed Hamilton House in South Berwick, Maine. A fantastic gift for the history buff or garden lover in your life.

Boston’s Gardens & Green Spaces, by Meg Muckenhoupt

This guide to Boston area parks and gardens highlights the city’s historic parks, hidden urban wilds, healing gardens, and unique places made from reclaimed land. Boston’s Gardens & Green Spaces also features the beautiful Lyman Estate, where one can visit some of the oldest—and loveliest—greenhouses in the nation.

Garden and Landscape Membership, from Historic New England

This membership includes all the wonderful benefits of their individual membership, but also goes to support the conservation and restoration work required to keep the gardens and grounds of the Historic New England properties maintained and flourishing.

Historic New England members at the Garden and Landscape level will also enjoy special events including hands-on workshops, private garden tours, talks, walks, and early admission to popular plant sales at the Lyman Estate Greenhouses.

See the Historic New England site for even MORE benefits of membership.

Contest Details

• Visit the Union Park Press Facebook page – be sure to “like” us!
• Vote in our Union Park Press/Historic New England poll and let us know which Union Park Press featured property you’d like to visit with your mom this summer (properties open on June 1 for the season).

The contest will close at 5:00 PM on Wednesday, May 9, so that we can deliver your prize in time for Mother’s Day on Sunday. Good luck!

*****

Special Offer From Union Park Press

We liked this pairing so much, we decided to offer them up as a discounted set for Mother’s Day.  To sweeten the deal, we are taking care of the shipping costs for you. After all, you deserve a little something for being so good to your mom, right?

These two titles, plus shipping, retail for around $50.00. We are offering them together for $35.00!

Purchase via PayPal:

Plant Sale

All right, plant fans: May is here, and it's time to go buy some plants. Below are listings for every plant sale in May and early June around Boston inside of Route 128 (with a few outliers) which had information that I could reliably locate on the internet. If a sale is missing, please post it in the comments! Most of these sales are run by local garden clubs and will offer perennials from members' gardens; a few sales simply offer hanging baskets, cut flowers, or seedlings from local garden centers. They support good causes, and they deserve your money. Go outside and spend! Make your life more green!

Wednesday, May 2-Thursday, May 3

Petunias

Danvers: North Shore Community College Annual Plant Sale  Annuals, perennials, vegetables, hanging baskets and house plants grown by NSCC horticulture students

Friday, May 4 

Waltham: Lyman Estate Spring Herb Sale

Wenham: Bessie Buker Elementary School Spring Plant Sale  Pansies, impatiens, hydrangeas, hanging baskets, tomatoes

Saturday, May 5

Cambridge: Fieste for the Finca Plant Swap  Plant cuttings, seeds, tomato plants, kombucha/kefir starters. Fundraiser for Finca Guanacaste; $10 donation suggested.

Groton: Groton Garden Club 2012 Plant Sale

Norfolk: Federated Church of Norfolk Perennial Plant Sale  Perennials divided by members of the congregation

Roxbury: The Food Project Dudley Greenhouse Plant Sale

Somerville: Somerville Community Growing Center Spring Garden Day  Seedlings, garden supplies exchange

Waltham: Lyman Estate Spring Herb Sale 

Sunday, May 6

Cambridge: Grow Native Massachusetts Festive Floralia  Native plants, landscape professionals on site to answer questions

Waltham: Lyman Estate Spring Herb Sale 

Friday, May 11

Boston: MSPCA Angell Mother's Day Flower and Plant Sale Arranged and cut flowers, potted plants

Saturday, May 12: The BIG Day

Daylilies

Andover: Spade and Trowel Garden Club Mother's Day Weekend Plant Sale

Arlington: Arlington Garden Club Plant Sale  Perennials, annuals, trees, shrubs, garden tools

Ashland: Ashland Garden Club Sale  Beautiful, healthy perennials contributed from the gardens of club members, Mother’s Day arrangements

Bellingham: New England Bonsai Gardens Spring Celebration

Billerica: Billerica Garden Club  Perennials for sun and shade, daylilies, hostas, groundcovers, herbs, shrubs, geraniums, impatiens, hanging baskets, annuals

Boston: MSPCA Angell Mother's Day Flower and Plant Sale Arranged and cut flowers, potted plants

Boxborough: Boxborough Garden Club Plant Sale, Raffle, and Bake Sale  Perennials for sun and shade, herbs, shrubs, groundcovers

Chelmsford: Open Gate Garden Club of Chelmsford Plant Sale  Herbs, annuals, perennials, planters, vegetables, curiosity shop

Concord: Garden Club of Concord Annual Plant Sale 

Framingham: Framingham Garden Club Plant Sale  Plants from members' gardens

Georgetown: Country Gardeners of Georgetown Plant Sale 

Littleton: Tahattawan Lodge Plant Sale    A wide variety of annuals, hanging planters and flats, and vegetables

Lincoln: Lincoln Garden Club Plant Sale  Prized perennials from local Lincoln gardens, herbs, annuals, planters

Lynn: The Food Project City Farm Fest   Plants, seeds, gardening supplies, children's activities, food, workshops on pests and diseases

Marblehead: Driftwood Garden Club Annual Plant Sale  Nearly 1,000 local perennials, annuals, herbs, unusual and reare perennials

Marlborough: Marlborough Colonial Garden Club Plant Sale

Mattapan: Boston Natural Areas Network Spring Plant Sale and Perennial Divide  Trees, shrubs, perennials, vegetable seedlings

Medway: Milford Humane Society Plant Sale  Annuals, perennials, hanging baskets, Mother's Day arrangements

Milton: Amateur Milton Gardeners Plant Sale  Annuals, hangers, herbs, vegetables

Norwood: Norwood Evening Garden Club Annual Plant Sale  Hanging baskets, perennials, annuals, organic vegetables, and herbs, all locally grown

Roxbury: The Food Project City Farm Fest   Plants, seeds, gardening supplies, children's activities, food, workshops on pests and diseases

Roxbury: The Food Project Dudley Greenhouse Plant Sale

Southborough: Southborough Gardeners Annual Plant Sale  Unique and rare plants, annuals, perennials, hanging baskets

Sudbury: Sudbury Garden Club Plant Sale

Tewksbury: Tewksbury Boy Scout Troop 47 Plant Sale  Vegetable and flower seedlings; can be ordered in advance on Scouts web site

Wakefield: New England Daylily Society Plant Sale and Auction  Rare daylilies, hybrids of different colors, daylily experts on hand to answer squestions

Westwood: Westwood Historical Society Annual Spring Plant Sale   Locally-grown perennials, herbs, annuals and shrubs including parsley, chives, oregano, thyme, sage, dill, hosta, may apple, veronica speedwell, peonies, iris, sedum, phlox, hemerocallis, columbine, jacob's ladder, achillea, vinca, monarda, lady's mantle, nepeta, ginger, coreopsis, coral bells, evening primrose, muscari, lily of the valley, yucca, aster, ajuga and spirea, and many more, annuals and houseplants.

Monarda didyma, a native perennial

Sunday, May 13

Andover: Spade and Trowel Garden Club Mother's Day Weekend Plant Sale

Boston: MSPCA Angell Mother's Day Flower and Plant Sale Arranged and cut flowers, potted plants

Wednesday, May 16

Lexington: Lexington Field and Garden Club Plant Sale  Perennials, annuals, herbs, hanging baskets, house plants, garden tools

Thursday, May 17
Natick: Natick Garden Club Annual Plant Extravaganza Auction  Potted plants, garden items, gift certificates

Friday, May 18

Tomato seedlings

Waltham: Gore Place Plant Sale  Annuals, perennials, heirloom tomatoes and vegetables

Weston: Country Garden Club of Weston Gardenmania Annual Plant Sale  Annuals, “interesting and harder to find perennials”

Saturday, May 19 

Acton: Acton Garden Club Plant Sale  Locally grown hybrid daylilies, more than 1600 perennials, trees and shrubs dug from local gardens

Amesbury: Whittier Home Annual Plant & Bake Sale  Prize irises and hostas, plants and garden supplies, vases, tools , pots, garden decor, “All plants are indigenous to New England soil,” books, jewelry, home-baked sweets, pies to take home.

Bedford: The 59th Annual First Parish Plant & Craft Fair  Ornamental and bedding plants, vegetable and herb seedlings, shrubs, native plants, music, baked goods, lunch, children's activities, crafts

Beverly: The Friendly Garden Club of Beverly 2012 Plant Sale  Hardy perennials dug from members’ gardens, a selection of annuals, organic vegetables, herbs and indoor plants

Beverly: 21st Annual Long Hill Plant Sale  Unusual plants, trees including tulip trees, Japanese showbells, dove trees, Japanese maple. Horticultural experts available to answer questions

Brighton: Brighton Garden and Horticultural Society Plant Sale

Burlington: Burlington Garden Club Annual Plant Sale  Members' own perennials and annuals from Griggs Farm.

Canton: Brookwood Community Farm Annual Seedling Sale  Vegetable, herb and flower plants available for purchase, all grown on the farm using organic practices.

Cohasset: Community Garden Club of Cohasset Plant Sale  Perennials

East Bridgewater: East Bridgewater Garden Club Huge Plant Sale

Foxboro: Foxboro Garden Club Annual Plant Sale

Gloucester: Gloucester Education Foundation Plant Sale

Haverhill: Haverhill Garden Club's Annual Plant Sale  Perennials from members' gardens, flowering annuals, herbs, vegetable plants

Holliston: Holliston Garden Club Plant Sale  Perennials, large hanging baskets, annuals

Hopkinton: Hopkinton Garden Club Plant Sale  Member garden plants and herbs, select hardy perennials from local wholesaler, colorful ceramic pots

Ipswich: Ipswich Garden Club Plant Sale  Perennials, vegetables, heirloom tomatoes

Marblehead: Marblehead Garden Club 81st Annual Plant Sale Wildflowers, perennials, annuals, herbs, rock garden plants, groundcovers

Marblehead: Marblehead High School Freshman Class Plant Sale  Annuals, hanging plants, perennials, vegetables

Maynard: 18th Annual Plant Sale hosted by Maynard Community Gardeners  Colorful perennials annuals, & vegetables, garden-related items

Medfield: Medfield Garden Club Spring Plant Sale  Perennials

Medford: Medford Garden Club Spring Plant Sale  Perennials, vegetables, annuals, shrubs, house plants

Newton: Newton Community Farm Seedling Sale Vegetable and herb seedlings

North Reading: North Reading Garden Club Annual Spring Plant Sale  Hanging plants, annuals, perennials vegetables, herbs

Pepperell: Pepperell Garden Club Annual Plant Sale  Annuals, perennials, ground covers, shrubs, trees, locally grown vegetable plants, herbs

Quincy: Wollaston Garden Club Spring Plant Sale  Perennials

Reading: Reading Garden Club Plant Sale  Annuals, hanging baskets, geraniums, garden accessories, baked goods

Reading: Sister Plants Sale  “Lovingly nurtured” perennials, shrubs, trees, herbs

Rowley: First Congregational Church of Rowley Plant Sale/Yard Sale/Bake Sale  Vegetables plants, perennials, annuals—all from Country Gardens

Roxbury: The Food Project Dudley Greenhouse Plant Sale

Salem: City of Salem Beautification Committee Plant Sale Home grown perennials, annuals, hanging baskets

Salisbury: Sea Spray Garden Club's Annual Plant Sale  “Wonderful plants at great prices”

Sharon: Sharon Garden Club 2012 Annual Plant Sale  Herbs, perennials (full sun, part sun, shade), trees, shrubs, ground cover, petunias

Topsfield: Topsfield Garden Club Plant Sale

Waltham: Gore Place Plant Sale  Annuals, perennials, heirloom tomatoes and vegetables

West Newbury: West Newbury Garden Club Annual Plant Sale

Weston: Country Garden Club of Weston Gardenmania Annual Plant Sale  Annuals, “interesting and harder to find perennials”

Wilmington: Wilmington Garden Club Plant Sale  Perennials, trees, and shrubs provided by members

Wrentham: White Barn Farm Fourth Annual Plant Sale 

Sunday, May 20

Iris

Amesbury: Whittier Home Annual Plant & Bake Sale  Prize irises and hostas, plants and garden supplies, vases, tools , pots, garden decor, “All plants are indigenous to New England soil,” books, jewelry, home-baked sweets, pies to take home.Belmont: 11th Annual Herb Sale, Habitat Herb Study Group

Newton: Newton Community Farm Seedling Sale Vegetable and herb seedlings

North Andover: North Andover Garden Club Annual Plant Sale  Proven perennial plants from garden club members’ gardens and annuals from Paisley’s in Boxford, maple products from Turtle Lane Maple in North Andover, fresh produce from Gaouette Farm of North Andover

Reading: Sister Plants Sale  “Lovingly nurtured” perennials, shrubs, trees, herbs

Wellesley: Mass Hort Gardeners' Fair at Elm Bank  Society Row Plant Sale, White Flower Farm's Great Tomato Celebration

Wrentham: White Barn Farm Fourth Annual Plant Sale

Thursday, May 24

Stoneham: Stoneham Garden Club Annual Plant Sale & Lobster Roll Luncheon

Friday, May 25

Cambridge: MIT Endicott House Annual Spring Plant Sale  Flowering plants, perennials, herbs ,vegetables, earth boxes, planters

Saturday, May 26

Waltham: Gore Place Plant Sale  Annuals, perennials, heirloom tomatoes and vegetables

West Roxbury: Fifth annual Theodore Parker Church Leaf and Petal Lovers' Plant Sale  Baked goods, vegetable seedlings, hebs, perennials, shrub raffle

Monday, May 28

Rowley: Great Marsh Garden Club of Rowley's Weekend Plant Sale  Specialty sun and woodland plants, flowering annuals, hardy perennials, vegetables, organic herbal hand creams

Thursday, May 31

Framingham: New England Wild Flower Society “Go Wild!” Plant Sale/Auction

Friday, June 1

Waltham: Lyman Estate Perennial Sale Hundreds of varieties of perennials

Saturday, June 2

Dedham: Fairbanks Garden Club Plant Sale

Groveland: Groveland Garden Club Annual Plant Sale  Wide variety of plants, fresh cut flowers, garden related items

Rockport: Rockport Garden Club Plant Sale  Annuals, perennials, shrubs, herbs, bulbs, house plants, vegetable seedlings

Waltham: Lyman Estate Perennial Sale Hundreds of varieties of perennials

Weymouth: Weymouth Garden Club Plant Sale 

Sunday, June 3

Marshfield: Mass Audubon South Shore Sanctuaries Native Plant Sale  Native shrubs and perennials that attract birds and butterflies

Topsfield: 15th Annual Nature Festival Sunday, Mass Audubon ipswich River Sanctuary  Perennials and other plants that attract butterflies and hummingbirds

Saugus: Saugus Garden Club Plant Sale

Waltham: Lyman Estate Perennial Sale Hundreds of varieties of perennials

Saturday, June 9-Sunday, June 10

Newburyport: 33rd Annual Garden Tour and Plant Sale, Historical Society of Old Newbury  Varietals propagated in the museum's garden beds

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A Note About Those Plants You've Bought

Most areas around Boston have their last frost date by May 10 (if you're not sure when your last frost is, you can check here.) That means you can put anything in the ground—once you've hardened it off if it was was grown in a greenhouse. Hardening off strengthens the delicate hothouse flowers and protects them from transplant shock, a big problem for some seedlings

That's the glory of plant sales run by garden clubs, churches and libraries; their plants have just been dug out of local gardens! They're tough as dandelions and twice as healthy.

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Meg Muckenhoupt is the author of Boston's Gardens & Green Spaces.  She is a freelance environmental and travel writer. Her articles have appeared in The Boston Globe, the Boston Phoenix, Boston Magazine, the Time Out Boston guide, and many other publications. She holds a certificate in Field Botany from the New England Wild Flower Society. Meg is available to give talks on topics related to the history of Boston's parks and other garden-related subjects. Contact shelby@unionparkpress.com for more information. 

Adams National Historical Park, image courtesy of William H. Johnson

The birthplace of the nation’s second and sixth presidents, Adams National Historical Park is perfect for Bostonians looking to make a quick day trip to a historic property. The park, which is featured in New England’s Historic Homes & Gardens by Kim Knox Beckius and William H. Johnson, is located in Quincy, Massachusetts, and its fourteen acres include a handful of notable structures: the former houses of both John and John Quincy Adams, the Georgian-style Old House at Peacefield, and the nation’s first presidential library. Beginning in mid-April, trolleys chauffer visitors from downtown Quincy to the site. Visitors can also stroll through the property’s formal garden, which are filled with lilacs, roses, sweet bay magnolia, and a yellowwood tree, which was brought back from Washington, DC, by John Quincy Adams.

IF YOU GO:

Adams National Historical Park
135 Adams Street
Quincy, Massachusetts

(617) 770-1175

Visit their website.

To learn more about the property, pick up a copy of New England’s Historic Homes & Gardens at the park's gift shop or at one of these bookstores:

Barnes and Noble, Braintree MA
Buttonwood Books & Toys, Cohasset MA
Front Street Book Shop, Scituate MA

Round out your day of sightseeing by stopping by one of these local restaurant favorites:

• Fat Cat Restaurant offers great, fresh fare. Its diverse menu—and the accompanying range of prices—is sure to please any palate, regardless of budget.
• The Four's Restaurant & Sports Bar is perfect for grabbing a pint after a long day of sightseeing. The cozy atmosphere and the excellent clam chowder make for an ideal end-of-day treat.
• The Inn at Bay Pointe provides diners with a gorgeous view of the surrounding bay, and the restaurant's patio is a great way to enjoy the rising spring temperatures.

This post is part of a larger series celebrating the sites included in our latest title, New England's Historic Homes & Gardens, by Kim Knox Beckius with photography by William H. Johnson. See the recent Victoria Mansion post and last week's Hildene post, and keep an eye out for fun spring getaway ideas throughout the month!

May Day, photograph by Mike Goren

All right, what are you doing on May 1, at 5:30 a.m.? I understand that you may be booked later on; after all, it's one of the last days you can see "Geckos: Tails to Toepads" at the Museum of Science, and the siren song of the Boston Food Truck Tour is hard to resist. But what you really need to on May day is visit a park—specifically, the Charles River Basin. At dawn, the Cambridge cognoscenti will be on the banks of the Charles at the Weeks Footbridge, getting damp and slurping up caffeine and dancing in the annual May Day celebration.

For more than 35 years, the Newtowne Morris Men have been gathering Morris dancers, pagans, Cambridge folkies, and random passers-by to honor the coming of spring. For those of you unfamiliar with Boston's folk dance scene, the Morris dancers are the people who dress up in white with jingle-bells around their shins and sort of hop around in dances "generally traced back to the Cotswold region of England," as Muddy River Morris puts it. I'm not really sure why there are so many Morris dancers around here, but at least three different teams are planning to come to May Day this year. They're just the sort of people you want around a Maypole, and someone always brings one to May Day.

Morris Dancers at Wells Cathedral

If you do go, you'll have a chance to dance around the Maypole yourself and sing rousing songs with obscure pagan imagery. Keep in mind that for many pagans, May Day on the Charles is a religious holiday, not just an outburst of Cantabridgian eccentricity. Along with the dancers and shivering onlookers there will be women in long cloaks with blossoms in their hair, and men masked as the Green Man, and trees blooming by the water, and sunshine and grass, and blue sky. It's odd and beautiful—unless it's raining, in which case it's drizzly and gray. It's still awe-inspiring.

Meg Muckenhoupt is the author of Boston's Gardens & Green Spaces.  She is a freelance environmental and travel writer. Her articles have appeared in The Boston Globe, the Boston Phoenix, Boston Magazine, the Time Out Boston guide, and many other publications. She holds a certificate in Field Botany from the New England Wild Flower Society.