I am in Boston now and the garden tour starts tomorrow, September 13 with dinner. Our first day of touring is September 14. The tour is sponsored by The Hardy Plant Society of Oregon. We will be visiting about 30 gardens in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.

I arrived a day early so I spent the day visiting Arnold Arboretum at Harvard University, Boston Common and Boston Public Garden.

ARNOLD ARBORETUM

The Arnold Arboretum is 281 acres of very well maintained trees and gardens. There are 8 full time gardeners, 4 lawn maintenance people and others that make 21 people on the summer crew.

There are several small lakes and many acres of lawns.

Many of the trees are over 150-200 years old and are very well maintained.

The rose garden has many plants that have hips this time of year.

The Leventritt Shrub & Vine Garden has many of the common shrubs and vines used in residential landscaping.

The following is a 360 degree video of the garden.

Here are a few of the vines displayed:

Yellow Trumpetcreeper (Campsis radicans ‘Flava’)

Goldflame Honeysuckle (Lonicera heckrottii ‘Goldflame’)

Climbing Hydrangea (Schizophragma hydrangeoides ‘Moonlight’)

Here is a short video of a portion of the vine garden:

The Larz Anderson Bonsai Collection has some of the oldest bonsais in the United States:

Japanese Maple started in 1887.

Hinoki Cypress started in 1737.

Hinoki Cypress started in 1799.

The Expedition Garden had many plants found in their native habitat by Harvard and other scientists and explorers.

The Franklinia Tree (Franklinia alatamaha) was discovered in 1765 along the Alatamaha River in Georgia. It has since disappeared in the wild and Arnold Arboretum has the oldest 2 specimens in the world. The Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides) was found in China in 1947. The seed was brought to Arnold Arboretum and these trees are the oldest and largest Dawn Redwoods outside of China.

THE BOSTON COMMON

And

BOSTON PUBLIC GARDEN

The Boston Common is the oldest park in the United States. It was established in 1634 and in 1768 the British Redcoats started an eight year encampment here. In 1776 the colonial militia mustered here for the revolution. This is a statue of George Washington in the public park.

The Boston Common and Boston Public Park are next to each other and are now in the center of the city of Boston. They are heavily used by musicians, joggers, walkers, but so far, no homeless encampments.

Seasonal flowers, brick walkways and old iron fences make it a nostalgic place to eat your lunch during the workday.

Tomorrow – 4 beautiful Massachusetts gardens