Spring Lawn Aeration & Treatments Begin
Today, Wednesday, May 6, 2015, The Greenway Horticulture team continues the Spring time Lawn Aeration and fertilization process. Our Horticulture foreman, Anthony, is on the Greenway tractor using our fracking aerator (it’s a good thing) to loosen our lawns, while our Seasonal horticulture staff (Mike, Tori, Alaina and Gary) aerate the lawn in and around […]
The Earliest, but Fleeting, Spring Ephemerals in Bloom
Greener and greener! Finally, spring is here and the plants along the Greenway are responding to sun, warmth and longer days. Some of my favorites will be blooming soon, and they go fast when the weather is like it has been lately – hovering near 60 degrees. Spring ephemerals are the delicate, colorful, unusual plants […]
Anticipating Spring
We are waiting with bated breath – waiting for the snow to melt. I was so encouraged last week on that one sunny, fifty degree day. The refrain of the Wicked Witch of the West was playing over and over “I’mmm meelllting, I’mmm mellllting!”in my head. Now the temperature has dropped back to the low […]
Along the Winter Greenway
The temperatures have dropped below freezing, the leaves are gone from all the trees, and someday the snow will fly. It is winter on the Greenway. Horticulturally, it is a vastly different time. The herbaceous perennials, the annuals, and many of the shrubs and trees have lost their green. Leaves, stems, flowers, and seeds are […]
Opuntia – the only native New England cactus
Opuntia humifusa, or Eastern Prickly Pear is our only native cactus. It is surprising we have even one, and it is blooming right NOW on the Greenway. The specimen on the Greenway is planted in the Wharf district – close to the art installation titled Harbor Fog. Our plant came as 5 single, rooted cuttings […]
Early Summer Color
Make way for the peonies and iris. The first of what I consider summer flowers are starting to bloom on the Greenway. The luscious tree peony flowers, full, loose and frilly have already passed by in a flash but the Peaonia lactiflora, and other hybrid peonies, are fully budded and just about to pop open. […]
Narcissus and early Tulips Blooming
The early round of narcissus and tulips are blooming in the Fort Point Channel Parks. My very favorite Tulipa praestans ‘Shogun’ has started blooming under the maple allee, near the corner of Oliver and Purchase streets. This wonderful multi flowering wild tulip, opens in a range of sunset yellows and rich, but gentle oranges […]
Our Trees are Blooming
The magnolias, cherries and even early dogwoods are starting to bloom now. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the cold, probably below freezing temperatures tonight will not cause the delicate flowers to shatter and drop their petals. The Magnolia stellata (Star magnolia) is the earliest magnolia to bloom here, while the hybrid yellow Magnolia […]
Blues on the Greenway
The spring bulbs are beginning to bloom. The recent warm weather has encouraged the early small bulbs to get moving – growing and blooming. The crocus, followed by the Chionadoxa, are just about in full bloom, especially on the sunnier slopes and south facing locations. In the Wharf district we have a mix of both […]
Spring Equinox is here
The Greenway is thawing out! Today’s current temperature of 41 degrees is a great improvement from Monday’s chilly high of 26. The Spring Equinox marks the moment when the day and night are of equal length – giving us a full 12 hours of daylight today. From now until the Summer Solstice in June the […]
The Earliest Flowers
They are not in evidence yet but I am waiting and watching for these – the earliest of spring blooms. As the days lengthen, and the temperature warms, (and Monday’s new snow melts), these flowers will start blooming in all the parks in the Greenway. Gold and yellow crocus in the lawns, white snowdrops tucked […]
Before the Warm – the Bones of Trees
While we wait for more promises of spring we continue to have blankets of snow coating the gardens, lawns and paths along the Greenway. Without the distraction of the soft green layers and riots of colorful plants it is the structure and architecture of the trees, and shrubs too, that stand out in the park […]
A Sure Sign of Spring
It may be 5 degrees outside in the morning, and there may be another snow storm around the corner but the seasons are changing. Spring is on its way. I was reassured of this, the certainty of seasonal change and a lengthening day, just this morning when I found the first silvery buds on the […]
Gardens in Winter; New Blooms Already
With the ground bare from melting snow you can see the earliest of flowers emerging on the Greenway. Mostly found in the Fort Point Channel Parks, these are true winter bloomers. The very first to appear are on the Witch Hazel, a small native tree. The flowers of the Hamamelis vernalis are just now emerging, […]
Gardens in Winter; Protecting our Plants
We have a number of broadleaf evergreen shrubs that provide texture and color to the Greenway all winter including Ilex, Buxus, and Rhododendron. While we select plants because they are well suited to our climate and conditions, these leafy plants, the hollys, the boxwoods and shrubs in the rhododendron family, benefit from added protection and […]
The Gardens in Winter
Winter is here! Two snow events in a week mean that winter is a reality. That these snow storms occurred right in time for the winter solstice may be coincidence, or serendipity. As with everything we do, we want the parks and garden beds to look great all winter long. This means considering what happens […]
Organic Turf Maintenance on the Greenway
Note: This article appeared in a recent issue of the Ecological Landscape Association newsletter and was written by Anthony Ruggiero, our Horticulture Foreman. The Greenway is a mile-and-a-half-long public park that stretches from Chinatown to the North End in downtown Boston. It is a linear series of small parks that sit above the I-93 tunnel […]
Close Ups in November
Aster Jindai has past its peak bloom but is still adding interest and color to the Demonstration Garden beds in Dewey Square. The petals are curling in an attempt to protect the flowers from the drying winds and cold temperatures as it stores food in its overwintering roots. The Cotinus leaf has lost almost all […]
Going, going …..
But not yet gone. We count our colorful fall foliage, grasses and seed pods as “blooms” at this time of year. As winter sets in – it certainly feels like it today! these displays become quiet with softer colors as the structure and texture are more pronounced. One last rose blossom holds on in front […]
The Fruits of our Labor
It is well past Labor Day, and while the Greenway Conservancy Horticulture Staff would love to take credit for these fall fruits, it’s really been all up to nature. Ilex virginiana (Winterberry ‘Red Sprite’), the luscious purple Callicarpa dictoma (Beautyberry), and the red, red hips of Rosa virginiana (Virginia Rose) are some fruits that are […]
An Aster by any other name
As autumn creeps closer to actual winter there are fewer bright colors throughout the Greenway garden beds. The billowing, breezy masses of Symphotrichon oblongifolium ‘Raydon’s Favorite’ (Aster ‘Raydon’s Favorite’) are a shining hold-out of summer colors. Combined wonderfully with the aging bronzy golden foliage of Amsonia hubrectii (Blue Star), these asters are a welcome addition […]
The late, late flowers of hardy chysanthemums
The delicate, blush pink buds and blossoms of the hardy chrysanthemum are still blooming profusely in the Chinatown Park. This one is Chrysanthemum x rubellum ‘Clara Curtis”.
Cool weather brings brighter colors
This colorful close up of the nutlet, or seed cluster, of the Carpinus caroliniana, (American Hornbeam) shows even the smallest leaves will take up the challenge of remaining useful as the temperature drops. The oranges and golds, the carotenoids in the leaf structure, protect the leaves from sun and wind damage, and provide some nutrition […]
Shining Bright, a Quick Autumn Stroll
From tip to tip the Rose Kennedy Greenway offers a huge variety of fall colors and textures. Starting in late September and stretching nearly into December, a full spectrum of colors are on show. Gold, burgundy, orange, copper, bronze, yellow and full-on red are everywhere – from small-leaved shrubs to our tallest trees. In the […]
Reliable Fall Bloomers
Asters and Goldenrod are native plants we have easily wooed into our gardens. You can see them both walking the woods on the weekends and then again, in refined versions, here in the parks.