News Archive

3/27: March Stone Soup: Sharing Anecdotes from Family History

Monday, 18 March 2019 11:50

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Estate co-sponsors 3/9 event about NE Women in Landscape Design

Monday, 25 February 2019 16:03

The Mary M. B. Wakefield Charitable Trust is proud to be a collaborator for a special event sharing the personal legacies of extraordinary women influencing New England landscape design at the turn of the century.

This seminar will illuminate the lives of Mary (Polly) Wakefield, Eleanor Cabot Bradley, Martha Brooks Hutcheson, Marian Roby Case, and Marjorie Russell Sedgwick, who designed and developed exceptional professional and personal landscapes and garden spaces and maintained significant roles in the conservation and preservation of appreciable New England open space. Learn about the Arnold Arboretum’s role in their endeavors, how the women’s legacies are carried on through charitable organizations, and how we can continue to raise the visibility of these special places.

The other co-sponsors are The Trustees of Reservations and the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University.

The program includes an associated exhibition in the Arnold Arboretum’s historic Library Reading Room and light refreshments.

Saturday, March 9, 9:30am–1:00pm, Arnold Arboretum Hunnewell Building. Fee $50. 

For more information and to register, click here.

MARY (POLLY) WAKEFIELD’S lifelong dedication to the environment and horticulture can be found in her legacy of beautiful land, trees, and gardens at her estate in Milton, as well as the Public Garden in Boston, as a founding member of the Friends of the Public Garden.

MARJORIE RUSSELL SEDGWICK was a propagator of rare plants, and in collaboration with the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University introduced new plants to her home, Long Hill and Sedgwick Gardens, in Beverly.

MARTHA BROOKES HUTCHESON studied gardens throughout Europe, then in 1900 enrolled in the original Landscape Architecture program at MIT. In 1935, she was named a fellow in the American Society of Landscape Architects, the third woman to receive this honor.

When ELEANOR CABOT BRADLEY inherited her family’s 90-acre Canton estate in 1945, she preserved the turn-of-the-century natural surroundings, maintaining a commitment to the elegant gardens, fields and woodlands.

MARION ROBY CASE operated an experimental fruit and vegetable farm in Weston from 1909 until 1942 to study the science of agriculture. The Case Estate, now owned by the Town of Weston, was once managed by the Arnold Arboretum as a 65-acre botanical garden containing rare plant specimens.

3/30: Backyard Homesteading: Grow Your Own Mushrooms!

Monday, 25 February 2019 15:33

Take home your own gourmet mushroom log for years of mushroom harvesting!
Don't miss the Wakefield Estate's annual mushroom growing workshop on Saturday, March 30th from 9:00-11:30 am! After an introduction of different mushroom growing methods, we will teach you how to inoculate logs with mushroom spawn and send you home with your own "seeded" log which can provide mushrooms for up to 5 years. This is a great family-friendly event. Please bring your own drill and half-inch drill bit if you have one. All materials provided. Space is limited, pre-registration is required. Cost: $20/members; $30/non-members; $50/Family. Call 617-333-0924 to register today.

Learn to Create Your Own Orchard! Workshop 3/16

Monday, 25 February 2019 15:11

Become a backyard orchardist and grow your own fruit! Even with a small yard, you can enjoy fruit from your own trees with minimal effort and cost. This step-by-step workshop, to be held March 16 frrom 9:00-11:00 am, will teach you all you need to know to plan and create a compact orchard for years of enjoyment.

Participants will spend part of the workshop outside in the orchard for a pruning demonstration, so dress accordingly. $30; $20 for members of Wakefield Estate or Arnold Arboretum. Space is limited; pre-registration required.

Register through the Arnold Arboretum at http://my.arboretum.harvard.edu or call 617-384-5277. Offered with the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University.