Since 2005: More than you really want to know about Wellesley, Mass.
The yellows and whites on Daffodil Hill at Wellesley College (not far from the Rte. 16 entrance, with Lake Waban in the background) have signaled spring’s start.
Thank you to Wellesley College student Iris Zhan for these beautiful photos.
DATE: Sunday, October 19th
TIME: 3:30-5pm (rain or shine)
LOCATION: 20 Crown Ridge Rd, Wellesley
DESCRIPTION: The Wellesley Conservation Land Trust invites you to an afternoon at Cronk’s Rocky Woodland for hot cider and donuts (courtesy of Wellesley Whole Foods).
Explore the Hansel and Gretel cottage, say hello to your College Heights and Wellesley neighbors, learn about the family that donated this property to the Land Trust for preservation in perpetuity, explore the rocks of the Rocky Woodland, and participate in the future of the Wellesley Conservation Land Trust—your trusted voice for protection of natural space in Wellesley.
The WCLT has begun a multi-phase restoration of platings at Cronk’s. Come join us as we work to restore this beautiful neighborhood treasure.
Elizabeth Seton residents can now enjoy increased active outdoors time thanks to a grant of $2,300 from the Wellesley Hills Junior Women’s Club (WHJWC) in support of an Adaptive Gardening Initiative. This wheelchair accessible program allows residents of the skilled nursing and rehabilitation center to engage in gardening opportunities and the enjoyment of home-grown vegetables and flowers.
Gardeners of all ages and fitness levels get it—sometimes those flowers we want to plant, those weeds that need pulling, just seen so very, very far away. Maybe, on a good day, we can get down there on ground level to commune with the nature. But will we ever get up? Knees, hips, back all have a say, and the answer isn’t always favorable.
So instead of the gardener going to the ground, why not bring the ground to the gardener? With raised beds purchased with the grant money, that’s exactly what the Elizabeth Seton staff did. Seniors now have another avenue through which they can remain active, connected, and productive while also achieving a sense of achievement, purpose, and tranquility.
“Nurturing plants helps maintain existing skills that provide pleasure and confidence at a time when memory loss or physical decline can affect people’s self-esteem,” Executive Director & CEO Lori Ferrante said. “Gardening has emerged as a powerful therapeutic tool that promotes socialization, physical exercise, and activity engagement while enhancing mood and stimulating multiple senses.”
Past grants to Elizabeth Seton Residence from the WHJWC include funding an accessible games table, patio furniture for residents’ comfort and safety, big-screen television sets for the resident living rooms, and a digital wireless sound system. Ferrante adds, “We are most grateful for the Juniors’ generosity and commitment to Elizabeth Seton Residence. They are an amazing group of women whose support enhances the enjoyment our residents glean from everyday activities that benefit the body, mind and spirit.”
By Erica Noonan
Local plant enthusiasts wasted no time in getting to Wellesley, and by the time gates opened for the first set of timed tickets at 8 p.m., nearly 100 people were in line, including some from as far away as Worcester.
Her bloom is estimated to last just 24-32 hours, and the decision was made to move her to Elm Bank which had more capacity for public visitation during the summer months, said Amanda Bettle, Wheaton’s Greenhouse Manager.
Eliza had bloomed before, but only partially, about two years ago, Bettle said.
But Sunday night’s opening was the real deal, she said. Beetles and flies were already crawling on her partially opened leaves, which true to Titan Arum (Amorphophallus Titanum) form smelled like garbage and rotting meat.
Because its eager pollinators won’t easily find another corpse flower in Swellesley, Elm Bank managers got pollen from a handful of the other rare corpse blooms in the U.S. shipped in to try to help the bugs complete their mission.
Tickets to see Eliza at The Garden at Elm Bank, 900 Washington St. can be found here. Tickets are $14 for adults, $5 for children, MHS members may enter free of charge.
The Natural Resources Commission is accepting requests from homeowners who would like to have a tree planted on their property this spring, for free. Many types of trees are still available (such as red maple; sugar maple; downy serviceberry; sweetgum; white spruce; pin oak; and American Elm).
Trees are planted by the Department of Public Works and cared for by homeowners. Email the NRC to be considered for this program.
Help expand and protect Wellesley’s Tree Canopy and replace trees lost due to construction or natural causes.
SPONSORED POST: Bartlett Tree Experts always look forward to spring, especially when their arborists are asked to provide species-specific scientific tree care for the much-loved European Beeches at Massachusetts Horticultural Society’s Garden at Elm Bank in Wellesley.
Bartlett Arborist Representative Harrison Shaw and a team of his fellow Bartlett arborists recently pruned the spectacular
hardwood hedge that surrounds Elm Bank’s beautiful Italianate Garden. The pruning was completed by trained Bartlett experts who meticulously used hand tools for precision. In addition, the team provided soil care and treatments to the trees, to keep them in optimum health.
Such diligent care is essential to help ward off beech leaf disease, which can be lethal to both American and European beech trees. In the years since its discovery, beech leaf disease has spread to 15 states, affecting beeches throughout New England, and further north including Ontario, Canada, to as far south as Virginia.
Shaw, who grew up in Grafton and makes his home in Wellesley, works closely with MassHort to provide scientific tree and shrub care to ensure the health and beauty of the organization’s wide collections of trees and woody plants.
Founded in 1907, Bartlett Tree Experts is the world’s leading scientific tree and shrub care company.
The best approach to caring for beech trees is multi-dimensional with a focus on improving overall tree health and vigor. Research scientists at the Bartlett Tree Research Laboratories continue to develop groundbreaking treatment strategies that have proven to be highly effective.
If you have beech trees on your property, contact your local Bartlett arborist to discuss treatment options and scientific tree care solutions to ensure the health and vitality of these beautiful trees.
Learn more about beech and beech leaf disease at the video linked here, European Beech (Fagus sylvatica)
As MassHort gets ready for its Tulip Mania event in April and May at Elm Bank Reservation on the Wellesley/Dover/Natick line, park users are wondering how the prep for that event might affect their ability to walk, run, and bike around the ring road. New fence posts arose this week, only to be removed not long after that.
This all comes in the aftermath of this past winter’s drama at the park, where MassHort initially prevented people from using the popular sledding hill before fencing was torn down by parties unknown and sledders prevailed. People had already been complaining about the fencing (and boulders), which not only made this beautiful park less so, but squeezed pedestrians and cyclists too close to moving vehicles.
The high fencing, along with smaller electric fencing within it, was put in place by MassHort to protect its flower beds at the bottom of the hill from deer and perhaps other interlopers. Elm Bank has become an increasingly fenced off park over the years in the name of better monetizing the gardens—and avoiding liability (change in the name of liability has been a big theme in this area, including further west in South Natick, where the town of Natick plans to remove the iconic dam/spillway in large part due to what it says are liability concerns).
As was the case over the winter during the “Let Them Sled” episode, we’ve been in contact with MassHort, the Department of Conservation & Recreation (property owner), and State. Rep. David Linsky. DCR told us it is looking into the situation and I spoke with Rep. Linsky, who has spoken to MassHort Director James Hearsum.
Linsky relayed that MassHort said a contractor put fence poles where it shouldn’t have, and has since removed them. The organization is in the process of applying for a permit to put back fencing to protect its flowers, but has agreed to install the poles further back from the road, he said.
We haven’t heard directly from MassHort on the immediate situation or on its longer-term intentions regarding access to the hill. Though Linsky said he has tried to inform DCR of “the wishes of my constituency who use the property for recreation and sledding. It’s an important community resource… DCR is going to have some decisions to make, I think.”
EVENT: Wellesley Gardeners’ Guild meeting
DATE: Wednesday, Feb. 12
TIME: Meeting starts at 9am with coffee and light refreshments. The WGG business meeting begins at 9:30am, and Quentin Prideaux’s talk runs 10am-11am
LOCATION: Wellesley Free Library, 530 Washington St.
COST: Free
DESCRIPTION: The Wellesley Gardeners’ Guild invites any interested Wellesley residents to join its Wednesday, Feb. 12, meeting, which will be held in the Wakelin Room of the Wellesley Free Library.
The meeting’s speaker will be Quentin Prideaux, a Board member of Sustainable Wellesley. Quentin began studying climate change in the 1990’s and has been speaking on the subject since 2012.
Quentin will focus on the impacts and causes of climate change, the actions we need to take, and the implications to Massachusetts and the northeast. He will discuss why some have been confused about the science and, although the subject is serious, will keep the discussion positive and lighthearted where possible. There will be time for a Q&A session.
Quentin is a partner in the management consulting firm Alder Associates. He lives in Wellesley with his wife, Delissa, and two daughters, and holds degrees in physics, business, and sustainability.
QUESTIONS: Contact Kate Martin at kpmartin77@comcast.net. If those who plan to attend would RSVP via email, that would help WGG plan for enough refreshments.
