More than you really want to know about Natick, Mass.
We’ve been out and about, marveling over the prettiness that is a Natick spring. We feel wrapped in freshness every time we step out the front door.
For more beautiful pictures, check out our Natick Instagram page. We update it several times a week with everything from iconic spots that scream out “Natick!” to unusual sights we come across (trout stocking at Dug Pond, anyone?). Don’t forget to like our Natick Insta account while you’re enjoying the pics. It makes us feel loved.
Last July Natick Common was a scene of planned destruction. At that time, North Eastern Tree Service, with the Natick Department of Public Works on hand to oversee the job, cut down 10 ash trees that had been part of the downtown green scene for over 20 years. The reason: Emerald Ash Borer beetles had moved in, feeding on tissues beneath the trees’ bark. Despite remediation attempts, the beetles won. Tree Warden Art Goodhind made the tough call that the trees were a hazard that needed to be removed, and the Natick Select Board agreed with his recommendation.
Nine months later, on a beautiful spring day, new trees were brought into the part of the world that is Natick Common. The metaphors abound. Make a visit to the Park Street nursery and welcome the bouncing baby saplings named Magnolia Elizabeth; Wildfire Tupelo; Cherokee American Sweetgum; and more. No monoculture planting this time—the smart money says mixing up species is the way to go. That way if one tree is attacked by disease or insects, it’s not a forgone conclusion that all the trees will succumb.
It’s going to be so exciting to watch Natick’s newest deliveries grow and thrive.
It was daffodil season on a sparkling spring morning at Blithewold Mansion in Bristol, Rhode Island, an enchanting 33-acre estate on Narragansett Bay, just over the beautiful Mount Hope Bridge. A little girl in a pink tutu twirled along the woodland path, thousands of daffodils nodding in approval, and looked up at us. “This is my favorite place in the whole world,” she enthused, before exiting stage left into the bamboo grove.
Blithewold can have that effect on people. Built as a summer place in the 1890s by Augustus and Bessie Van Wickle, the couple purposely placed themselves at a distance from the Newport Bellevue Avenue mansions scene with its gold-leaf this and marble that. They moved into their estate, country-casual by the standards of their peers, with their 10-year old daughter Marjorie in 1896. Augustus died two years later at the age of 42 in a skeet-shooting accident when his gun accidentally fired, mortally wounding him in the chest. Five months later his second daughter and namesake, Augustine, was born.
The mansion Augustus and Bessie built was destroyed by fire in 1906, and Bessie and her second husband, William McKee, replaced it with the 45-room English Country Manor-style home that stands today. Along the way, gardening continued at a steady clip. The wide-open spaces of Bristol allowed Bessie and landscape architect John DeWolf to plan and put in place the 10-acre Great Lawn, along with garden room upon garden room—the rose garden, the rock garden, the water garden, and more.
DeWolf’s vision included not just perennial borders, specimen trees, and shrubs, but a general air of informality that comes through to this day. “The Bosquet” (French for “woodland”), for example, boasts not only thousands of daffodils, but remnants of last fall’s leaves and a gravel pathway that is left un-edged. The landscaping crew has not been permitted to aim their leaf blowers into every corner of the property and aggressively tidy it within an inch of its life. The woods are left to feel like the woods, and the land is all the better for it. Beneficial insects remain tucked into the leaf litter, which in turn breaks down and feeds the woodland, all without compromising the beauty of the spring scene.
And what a scene. Under the tree canopy look for a wide variety of daffodils such as Little Gem, Ice Follies, King Alfred, Rijnveld’s Early Sensation, and more. In all, there are over 50k daffs blooming throughout the property in a 6-week succession. Grape hyacinths are everywhere also, as are fritillaries, and squill, all having their moment before they give way to the wildflowers and ferns of summer.
“Blithewold” is Old English for Happy Wood, and the name is apt. There is a distinct lack of “no” around the place. Signs don’t demand that visitors keep to the path and not stomp through the daffodil clumps. One is trusted to know this and comport oneself accordingly. Even (or especially) the high-spirited children visiting this family-friendly place fall under Blithewold’s spell, its magic rendering them unable and unwilling to traipse through the beds or step on a single flower.
If there are docents around and about, they are busy tending to their tour groups, not casting side-eye at those who chose a free-range experience. Picnicking is encouraged, and stern signs about cleaning up afterwards simply don’t exist. Of course you’re going to clean up afterwards. This is Blithewold, darling, a place where everyone does the right thing and a good time is had by all.
Not to be missed: the stroll along the bay with its sweeping views, the rose garden with its stone archway, and the specimen trees, especially the giant 100+ year-old Sequoia. Give yourself a couple of hours to tour the gardens. Unfortunately, the mansion and the greenhouses are currently closed to the public due to the pandemic, but you can visit the small gift shop, and the indoor restrooms are open.
Special programs and activities such as nature sketchbook journaling; garden design classes; and the popular tea and scones seatings on Blithewold’s expansive porches with views of the bay are starting to resume. Check the website for more information.
101 Ferry Rd, Bristol, RI 02809
(401) 253-2707
Tuesday to Sat., 10am-4pm & Sun., 10am-3pm. Visit www.blithewold.org for tickets and info.
Distance from Natick Center: approximately 65 miles
Drive time: about 1 hour, 15 minutes
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Natick Garden Club members will design floral arrangements inspired by the public art in Natick. There are many fantastic public art pieces to choose from like The Unconventional Garden, Wings of the Butterfly, various electrical boxes, the bus stop mural, and mosaics.
The event will take place on Adams and Court Street and will allow visitors to walk through and view these works of art with the corresponding floral arrangements. Other works of art that are not in the immediate area will be set on tables with a photo of the art next to the arrangement.
Natick’s Art in Bloom will be taking place during the Natick Center sidewalk sale. The Natick Garden Club will also have an information table and some sidewalk sale items, including wildflower seed packets, DIY sunflower seed pots, and notecards.
This will be an outdoor event and all social distancing protocols will be in place requiring masks and 6 feet of distance between groups.
Beyond Natick: a visit to see the Monet exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
You’ve got through Sunday, December 20 to check out the Massachusetts Horticultural Society’s Festival of Trees, an annual holiday event that has been kept going this year due to the tireless efforts of masked-up volunteers and loyal supporters. They’ve moved heaven and earth to ensure that there are plenty of decorated trees to see (about 70); the always-popular snow village model train exhibit; and more. Outside there are decorations in The Gardens at Elm Bank, and visitors can keep warm and cozy melting s’mores at the fire pit.
Try your luck at the raffle and maybe you’ll win one of the trees, decorations on it, presents under it, and all. The raffle takes place on the last day of the Festival, and you will be contacted if you’re a winner.
When I stopped by to enjoy the display, volunteer Elaine Lawrence told me, “The Festival is a little smaller this year, but we are keeping everything very safe for everyone.” That means, in part, that timed-entry tickets must be purchased in advance.
In strict observance of all COVID protocols, visitors will be escorted through the Festival in small groups. You can get all the latest info on their website. Both the Festival of Trees display in the Hunnewell building and the Snow Village are accessible.
Natick was well-represented at the event, with residents and business contributing their time and talents to the Festival by donating decorated trees:
Berkshire Hathaway; Catherine Clifford, Elizabeth Carol and Kate Grzesink; Friends of the Bacon Free Library; Monica Carlsson Foley; Natick Garden Club; Occasional Magic; and Tom and Christine Bolsvert.
