Elm Bank Horticulture Center
Encyclopedia
The Elm Bank Horticulture Center is the home of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society
, located at 900 Washington Street (Route 16), Wellesley, Massachusetts
, U.S.
. The former estate grounds includes open fields and meadow
s, streams and pools, wooded areas and formal gardens.
. The site was later occupied by the Loring, Broad, and Otis families before being sold for $10,000 in 1874 to Benjamin Pierce Cheney
, founder of a delivery company that became American Express
. At the time of Cheney's death in 1895, the property contained over 200 acres (80 hectares), and passed to his eldest daughter Alice in 1905.
In 1907, Alice and her husband, Dr. William Hewson Baltzell, engaged the architectural firm of Carrère and Hastings
to design a neo-Georgian
manor house. They also commissioned the Olmsted Brothers
firm, the most prominent landscape design
ers of the era, for the estate's site planning
and to design new garden
s and improve existing ones.
In the 1940s, the property became a seminary
housing a group of Stigmatine Fathers, who constructed a school building and ran a summer camp in the 1960s and 70s. Later, Elm Bank served as the home of the Quinobin Regional Technical School.
as Elm Bank on July 10, 1987 , and is currently owned by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
. In April 1996, the site was leased to the Massachusetts Horticultural Society
for its headquarters. The society began to charge a visitor fee to support the garden's preservation and the organization in 2010. Special events use, such as garden weddings, supplement this also.
Weezie’s Garden for Children
A series of small spiraling gardens, each giving visitors the opportunity to plant, water or interact in some way with the garden’s elements. Children’s classes are held throughout the spring, summer and fall in this special garden.
New England Trial Garden
A cooperative effort between the University of Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Flower Growers’ Association and the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. Breeding companies from all over the world contribute annuals
for viewing by amateur and professional gardeners. This garden also tests unreleased varieties competing for All-America Selections
awards, displays previous winners, and grows hundreds of cultivar
s submitted for evaluation by commercial plant breeders.
Italianate Garden
Restoration of the 1926 Italianate Garden was based on the original plans from the Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site
, together with a numbered plant list - and even receipts - for the original trees and flowers planted in the garden.
Display Gardens and Tree Nurseries
The Noanett Garden Club, the New England Chapter of the Herb Society of America, and the American Rhododendron Society
maintain collaborative demonstration and display gardens at Elm Bank. The Day Lily
Society installed a garden in 2004.
Massachusetts Horticultural Society
The Massachusetts Horticultural Society, sometimes abbreviated to MassHort, is an American horticultural society based in Massachusetts. It describes itself as the oldest, formally-organized horticultural institution in the United States...
, located at 900 Washington Street (Route 16), Wellesley, Massachusetts
Wellesley, Massachusetts
Wellesley is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of Greater Boston. The population was 27,982 at the time of the 2010 census.It is best known as the home of Wellesley College and Babson College...
, U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The former estate grounds includes open fields and meadow
Meadow
A meadow is a field vegetated primarily by grass and other non-woody plants . The term is from Old English mædwe. In agriculture a meadow is grassland which is not grazed by domestic livestock but rather allowed to grow unchecked in order to make hay...
s, streams and pools, wooded areas and formal gardens.
History
Elm Bank was given its name in 1740, when Colonel John Jones acquired the land and planted elms along the banks of the Charles RiverCharles River
The Charles River is an long river that flows in an overall northeasterly direction in eastern Massachusetts, USA. From its source in Hopkinton, the river travels through 22 cities and towns until reaching the Atlantic Ocean at Boston...
. The site was later occupied by the Loring, Broad, and Otis families before being sold for $10,000 in 1874 to Benjamin Pierce Cheney
Benjamin Pierce Cheney
Benjamin Pierce Cheney was an American businessman, and a founder of the firm that became American Express.-Early life:Cheney was born in Hillsborough, New Hampshire on August 12, 1815, to Jesse and Alice Cheney. The family were descended from John Cheney, who was recorded in Roxbury,...
, founder of a delivery company that became American Express
American Express
American Express Company or AmEx, is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Three World Financial Center, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. Founded in 1850, it is one of the 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is best...
. At the time of Cheney's death in 1895, the property contained over 200 acres (80 hectares), and passed to his eldest daughter Alice in 1905.
In 1907, Alice and her husband, Dr. William Hewson Baltzell, engaged the architectural firm of Carrère and Hastings
Carrère and Hastings
Carrère and Hastings, the firm of John Merven Carrère and Thomas Hastings , located in New York City, was one of the outstanding Beaux-Arts architecture firms in the United States. The partnership operated from 1885 until 1911, when Carrère was killed in an automobile accident...
to design a neo-Georgian
Colonial Revival architecture
The Colonial Revival was a nationalistic architectural style, garden design, and interior design movement in the United States which sought to revive elements of Georgian architecture, part of a broader Colonial Revival Movement in the arts. In the early 1890s Americans began to value their own...
manor house. They also commissioned the Olmsted Brothers
Olmsted Brothers
The Olmsted Brothers company was an influential landscape design firm in the United States, formed in 1898 by stepbrothers John Charles Olmsted and Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. .-History:...
firm, the most prominent landscape design
Landscape design
Landscape design is an independent profession and a design and art tradition, practised by landscape designers, combining nature and culture. In contemporary practice landscape design bridges between landscape architecture and garden design.-Design scope:...
ers of the era, for the estate's site planning
Site planning
Site planning in landscape architecture and architecture refers to the organizational stage of the landscape design process. It involves the organization of land use zoning, access, circulation, privacy, security, shelter, land drainage, and other factors...
and to design new garden
Garden
A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the display, cultivation, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The garden can incorporate both natural and man-made materials. The most common form today is known as a residential garden, but the term garden has...
s and improve existing ones.
In the 1940s, the property became a seminary
Seminary
A seminary, theological college, or divinity school is an institution of secondary or post-secondary education for educating students in theology, generally to prepare them for ordination as clergy or for other ministry...
housing a group of Stigmatine Fathers, who constructed a school building and ran a summer camp in the 1960s and 70s. Later, Elm Bank served as the home of the Quinobin Regional Technical School.
Conservation
The entire estate site was added to the National Register of Historic PlacesNational Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
as Elm Bank on July 10, 1987 , and is currently owned by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. In April 1996, the site was leased to the Massachusetts Horticultural Society
Massachusetts Horticultural Society
The Massachusetts Horticultural Society, sometimes abbreviated to MassHort, is an American horticultural society based in Massachusetts. It describes itself as the oldest, formally-organized horticultural institution in the United States...
for its headquarters. The society began to charge a visitor fee to support the garden's preservation and the organization in 2010. Special events use, such as garden weddings, supplement this also.
Features
The distinct gardens featured at 'Elm Bank' include:Weezie’s Garden for Children
A series of small spiraling gardens, each giving visitors the opportunity to plant, water or interact in some way with the garden’s elements. Children’s classes are held throughout the spring, summer and fall in this special garden.
New England Trial Garden
A cooperative effort between the University of Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Flower Growers’ Association and the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. Breeding companies from all over the world contribute annuals
Annuals
Annuals is a six-piece indie-pop outfit from Raleigh and Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The band was started by Adam Baker in 2003 as a side project of the still active sister band Sunfold, formerly known as Sedona and headed up by lead guitarist Kenny Florence....
for viewing by amateur and professional gardeners. This garden also tests unreleased varieties competing for All-America Selections
All-America Selections
The mission of All-America Selections is “to promote new garden seed varieties with superior garden performance judged in impartial trials in North America.” To accomplish this, the All-America Selections organization oversees a collaborative testing program involving horticulture professionals...
awards, displays previous winners, and grows hundreds of cultivar
Cultivar
A cultivar'Cultivar has two meanings as explained under Formal definition. When used in reference to a taxon, the word does not apply to an individual plant but to all those plants sharing the unique characteristics that define the cultivar. is a plant or group of plants selected for desirable...
s submitted for evaluation by commercial plant breeders.
Italianate Garden
Restoration of the 1926 Italianate Garden was based on the original plans from the Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site
Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site
Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site is a United States National Historic Site located in Brookline, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. Frederick Law Olmsted is recognized as the founder of American landscape architecture and the nation’s foremost parkmaker...
, together with a numbered plant list - and even receipts - for the original trees and flowers planted in the garden.
Display Gardens and Tree Nurseries
The Noanett Garden Club, the New England Chapter of the Herb Society of America, and the American Rhododendron Society
American Rhododendron Society
The American Rhododendron Society is a non-profit organization whose mission is to encourage interest in, and disseminate information about, the Rhododendron genus...
maintain collaborative demonstration and display gardens at Elm Bank. The Day Lily
Daylily
Daylily is the general nonscientific name of a species, hybrid or cultivar of the genus Hemerocallis . Daylily cultivar flowers are highly diverse in colour and form, as a result of hybridization efforts of gardening enthusiasts and professional horticulturalists...
Society installed a garden in 2004.
See also
- Walter Hunnewell ArboretumWalter Hunnewell ArboretumThe Walter Hunnewell Arboretum is a arboretum in Wellesley, Massachusetts, containing over 500 species of woody plants in 53 families. The former estate also contains the renowned and distinctive topiary garden, called the 'Italian Garden' by creator Horatio Hollis Hunnewell, with 140-year-old...
- in Wellesley - Hunnewell Estates Historic DistrictHunnewell Estates Historic DistrictThe Hunnewell Estates Historic District is a historic district between the Charles River and Lake Waban in Wellesley, Massachusetts, near Boston on the west...
- adjacent in Wellesley - Arnold Arboretum
- List of botanical gardens in the United States
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Norfolk County, Massachusetts