Environment

Stop and Smell the Ginkgoes

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If you've been walking around parts of Jamaica Plain, you've no doubt come across the smell of gingko trees' berries. Ned Friedman, the director of the Arnold Arboretum wrote about the trees in a recent email newsletter:

The following is by Friedman:
When I look at these pictures, I can practically smell them! And my hope is that you will take my advice and go smell for yourself. Because no one can be said to truly know the ginkgo without experiencing the aroma/stench of the seeds right about now. Ginkgo biloba is a dioecious species, with separate seed-bearing trees and pollen-producing trees.

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Environment

Remember to Check for Ticks, Even in Jamaica Plain

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Hours after having strolled through the Arnold Arboretum this past weekend, one of my family members discovered a tick on his body that was already trying to embed itself. It's easy to think that ticks aren't in Boston because we're in an urban setting, but it is tick season, and Jamaica Plain is one of the most wooded neighborhoods. While not all fully in JP, the Arnold Arboretum is approximately 281 acres, Franklin Park is 485 acres, and the Forest Hills Cemetery is 250 acres. Through the years, I've seen deer in all three locations. Usually it's just one or two deer at a time, although the most I've was four deer enjoying the arboretum together.

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Environment

Jamaica Pond Closed Due to Dangerous Algae Bloom

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It's happened before, and it's happened again, a dangerous algae bloom has closed Jamaica Pond. That means no boating, no fishing, and don't let your dogs go in or near the water, or on shore. The Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC) announced the closure on Oct. 6 due to a suspected bloom of blue-green algae, also known as cyanobacteria. The blooms may produce toxins that can make people and pets sick.

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Environment

Return to the Field: Arnold Arboretum Staff Goes Plant Collecting in Japan

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For more than a century, the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University has conducted plant collecting expeditions across the temperate world to study biodiversity and amass a first-rate collection of trees, shrubs, and vines in Boston. This autumn, the Arnold Arboretum resumed this historic work with a collecting expedition to Japan, resuming international field work for the first time since the global pandemic. The two-week trek through forests across seven Japanese prefectures yielded 20 species of woody plants representing important research and conservation targets for the Arboretum. The expedition was planned and organized by the Arboretum’s assistant curator Miles Schwartz Sax, who joined Keeper of the Living Collections Michael Dosmann on the journey. Starting off in mid September, Michael and Miles were joined by Mineaki Aizawa, Associate Professor in the Department of Forestry at Utsunomiya University and undergraduate student Yoshinari Hata.

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Environment

Bridle Path Reimagined: 2023 Hunnewell Internship Project

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The following article was originally published on the Arnold Arboretum's website, and has been republished on JamaicaPlainNews.com with permission from the arboretum. The 2023 cohort of Hunnewell horticulture interns at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University spent some of their summer restoring and renewing a historic pathway between the Hunnewell Building lawn and Leventritt Shrub & Vine Garden. The Arboretum’s first bridle path, named so because it was created as a thoroughfare for horseback riders, was laid out in 1928. Over the past century, as institutional priorities shifted, maintenance and use of the path declined. Revitalizing the bridle path offered the interns the opportunity to improve visitor access, restore areas damaged by poor traffic control, and re-envision planting designs to align with the Arboretum’s current curatorial practices.

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Environment

Emerald Necklace Conservancy Wants to Hear From You

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The Emerald Necklace Conservancy wants to know about your parks experience and insights to help plan for its future. How do you use the Emerald Necklace? Do you bicycle, walk, play on athletic fields, walk your dog? Take this brief anonymous survey (about 5 minutes) to say what you want to see in the parks. Through the survey, the Emerald Necklace Conservancy is hoping to learn about how Boston area residents – ages 15 and older – use the park and how it can be even better. The Emerald Necklace Conservancy is a non-profit that works with communities, government and funders to improve the Olmsted-designed Emerald Necklace parks for all.

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Environment

Renewing Olmsted’s Promise with New Arborway Entrance at Arnold Arboretum

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A recent forum at Weld Hill explored the history, philosophy, and future of the Arboretum’s entrances. A gate is much more than a piece of infrastructure. It’s also an archetype, and an ambivalent one—a portal that’s also a barrier, an impediment masquerading as an entrance. The Arnold Arboretum features nineteen entrances situated around its three-mile perimeter—entryways to the landscape that come in a variety of shapes and sizes, from backyard stiles in Roslindale to the broad, swinging, wrought-iron gates that open on the Arborway and South Street. The Arboretum’s Entrance Improvement Project seeks to renew and improve the Arboretum’s many entrances to provide a safe, accessible, and welcoming experience for all visitors.

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Business

Spontaneous Celebrations Receives $25,500 Grant for Solar Panels; Friday Fundraiser to Help Match Grant

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Spontaneous Celebrations received a $25,500 grant to install solar panels on the roof of its Danforth Street community center, and needs help from the community to match the grant. The $25,500 is coming from a TernSOLAR challenge grant from the Tern Foundation. The Tern Foundation’s TernSOLAR challenge grant program's purpose is to expand renewable energy use in Massachusetts communities, and make solar technology more accessible to nonprofit organizations like Spontaneous Celebrations. Spontaneous Celebrations must match the grant, and is holding a Sol Fest fundraiser on Friday to help raise funds (please see flyer below for more info). The remaining cost of the project will utilize the Direct Pay 30% reimbursement provision of the newly implemented federal Inflation Reduction Act, according to a press release.

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Environment

Arnold Arboretum August Events: Caterpillar Lab, Meditations, Hikes and More

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The Arnold Arboretum is a living, breathing, event-holding tree museum. There are numerous events in August at the arboretum -- and they're all free. Here is a list of the events:
Meditation Mondays
Every Monday in August, 6:30 pm
Unwind with this weekly evening meditation under the shade of the maple collection. Facilitator Bob Linscott will guide the group through 30 minutes of mindfulness and meditation designed to help you de-stress and connect with the natural world. FREE.

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Environment

Plant Hardiness Zone Maps and the Arnold Arboretum

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This article was originally published on the Arnold Arboretum's website, and has been republished here with permission from the Arnold Arboretum. Picking the right plant for the right spot requires getting into the “zone.” Professional horticulturists, nursery operators, and home gardeners alike rely on plant hardiness zone maps to help them choose plants with the best chance of survival in their regions. Over the past century, the Arnold Arboretum and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in particular have produced maps charting estimations of plant hardiness which have been periodically revised to reflect on-going changes in environments due to global warming and climate change. The story of hardiness zones begins at the Arnold Arboretum. In 1927, Arboretum taxonomist Alfred Rehder published the Manual of Cultivated Trees and Shrubs Hardy in North America.

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