New England

We visited New England. We were there for eight days. Other than the horrific costs and god awful traffic around Boston I likeee very much!This was the first trip to New England for both of us.

We stayed in Needham, Massachusetts, an older close- in suburb of Boston. We were too busy with Lily society activities to visit Boston proper, and that is tragic! I am sorry about that and don’t lecture me about whatever opportunity I missed because I know that I did.

We did see the Harvard Arboretum that hosted our lily convention. We also visited two horticulture sites, one Tower Hill (a modern place) and one something Elm, a Victorian place.

At the convention we heard from the primary researcher of The Red Lily beetle that decimated lily plants in the 1990’s - 2010. He says it is now under control, done with a selected predator. All of you NE gardeners need to go back to planting lilies!

After the Lily convention we drove up to the White Mountains in New Hampshire where our friend lives and our other friend came to visit so we had a little St. Louis reunion. We also darted over The Maine state line to say that we have been to Maine.

It was beautiful! Architecture was stunning. So many super duper old houses! Pretty trees and mountains!

Not once were my eyes assaulted with ugly things!

It's God's country.

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Originally Posted by oldhat

It's God's country.

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You've obviously never been to Alabama.

We have taken several trips back to explore the East. I loved every inch of New England.

I do have a few lilies in my yard. I also like Tower Hill.

I'm a member at Tower Hill! I'm guessing the Elm place is the Gardens at Elm Bank in Wellesley- its the home of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society.

When traveling to the Maritimes so many times over 45+ years, DH and I always enjoyed our trips through NY, NH, VT and Maine especially the off the beaten track routes through old towns with gorgeous houses and stately trees. I miss doing that!

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Originally Posted by herbgeek

I'm a member at Tower Hill! I'm guessing the Elm place is the Gardens at Elm Bank in Wellesley- its the home of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society.

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Yes! elm Bank. The demonstration garden of ornamental annuals and perennials was nice. The big area of herbaceous perennials was great, as was the children’s garden. Their daylily collection was old and boring. Had some nice trees. Big walls of dark beech were fab.

My favorite place in New England for architecture is Newport RI. Highly recommend a trip down the next time you are in the neighborhood.

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Originally Posted by Yossarian

My favorite place in New England for architecture is Newport RI. Highly recommend a trip down the next time you are in the neighborhood.

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Yeah if you skip that gaudy Vanderbilt mansion. In New England I prefer the simpler, colonial examples of architecture.

IL, I wish you could have come to VT!!! Next time.

Boston is a great place to visit for a love of old architecture. So much history.

It sounds like you had a very busy agenda! Congratulations on your accomplishments.

We have been to Boston twice. Both times we went 4 days before our cruise left to explore. Not sure why you didn’t plan to see the town. We lived in upstate New York 40 years ago. The East is beautiful but also gets a lot of snow in places, very damp and winter is the longest season. All of this is probably not true of Boston but obviously very expensive and not sure I would want to live around that many people. Maine is beautiful also.

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Originally Posted by Teacher Terry

We have been to Boston twice. Both times we went 4 days before our cruise left to explore. Not sure why you didn’t plan to see the town...

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If you want to explain to him why Mommers is gone so long and will take even longer to sightsee in Boston, go ahead! I‘m not doing it.


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He’s very cute but we have left our dogs with my son for 2-3 weeks at a time. They do live:))

Funny about leaving your pet. I am struggling with the idea of leaving my little boy. I left him at daycare and to get his nails trimmed. He had lots of dogs to play with and loves being with other dogs but when I arrived, he whimpered and chattered loudly for about 10 minutes once he saw me. Even the kennel owner/operator was laughing about the report of the day that i was getting from this little character. I wonder what he was really saying in dog language.:D

My previous dog which I loved was at peace about being on his own for reasonable hours with a dog walker if needed or in the local kennel. This little timid beagle is being a typical beagle, I am told, by being very attached. I do leave him after taking him for a long walk and with a treat but there is still wailing for 5 minutes. The treat is untouched until I return and then eaten. They are all unique creatures just like us.

I have lived here all of my life, but I am in love with New England and could never imagine living anywhere else. So glad you got to see the Arboretum and Tower Hill. DH and I took lots of mini classes at the Arboretum many moons ago, and some of our instructors were horticultural greats. A walk through the Arboretum with Michael Dirr was a once-in-a-lifetime joy. We have a FB friend who is a botanist (and Deadhead!) from Colorado, and she got us a permit to collect pine cones for her from the Arboretum several years ago. That was fun, like a treasure hunt! We finally got to Tower Hill this summer and we loved it! It was on my list since 2000 or so, but I tell myself the garden had time to mature.
If you do return to New England, I would also recommend Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens and Garden in the Woods. The Boston Public Garden is also lovely if you ever decide to do the city.

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Originally Posted by razz

Funny about leaving your pet. I am struggling with the idea of leaving my little boy. I left him at daycare and to get his nails trimmed. He had lots of dogs to play with and loves being with other dogs but when I arrived, he whimpered and chattered loudly for about 10 minutes once he saw me. Even the kennel owner/operator was laughing about the report of the day that i was getting from this little character. I wonder what he was really saying in dog language.:D

My previous dog which I loved was at peace about being on his own for reasonable hours with a dog walker if needed or in the local kennel. This little timid beagle is being a typical beagle, I am told, by being very attached. I do leave him after taking him for a long walk and with a treat but there is still wailing for 5 minutes. The treat is untouched until I return and then eaten. They are all unique creatures just like us.

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awwww, he is sweet! He loves his mommers.

Part of my problem in leaving my dog for long periods is that it is MY problem. He’s nearly 10 years old he won’t make it to 12. These are the last 24 months of his life. He’s a special dog. I can go on long vacations after he is dead.

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Originally Posted by rosarugosa

I have lived here all of my life, but I am in love with New England and could never imagine living anywhere else. So glad you got to see the Arboretum and Tower Hill. DH and I took lots of mini classes at the Arboretum many moons ago, and some of our instructors were horticultural greats. A walk through the Arboretum with Michael Dirr was a once-in-a-lifetime joy. We have a FB friend who is a botanist (and Deadhead!) from Colorado, and she got us a permit to collect pine cones for her from the Arboretum several years ago. That was fun, like a treasure hunt! We finally got to Tower Hill this summer and we loved it! It was on my list since 2000 or so, but I tell myself the garden had time to mature.
If you do return to New England, I would also recommend Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens and Garden in the Woods. The Boston Public Garden is also lovely if you ever decide to do the city.

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I can see that if one was born in New England you wouldn’t want to leave it. I always knew I would like it even though I had not visited there.

Our Lily society was given a greeting lecture by the director of the Arboretum who is very enthusiastic about his job. And then another person from the Arboretum spoke later about plants in the collections and the relationship the Arboretum has with botanists in China for collecting, A relationship that has been going on for a century. I didn’t get to see nearly as much of the Arboretum as I would’ve liked, but the two vistas I saw were absolutely stunning. Their selection of trees took advantage of that part of the world to support deciduous and conifer specimens, and the variety was lovely.

I came away with a tick stuck in my back that I got either in Tower Hill or Elm Bank.

IL, you are worse than me:)). My husband makes fun of how I get homesick for the dogs but we go at least once a year and sometimes two. Sometimes we take the dogs with us.

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Originally Posted by iris lilies

It was beautiful! Architecture was stunning. So many super duper old houses! Pretty trees and mountains!

Not once were my eyes assaulted with ugly things!

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Good thing you skipped Boston, then:

https://www.architecturalrecord.com/...795&width=1200

Boston City Hall. Brutalist architecture has its place. IMHO Boston is not one of those places...

That is not representative of the city as a whole.

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Originally Posted by SteveinMN

Good thing you skipped Boston, then:

https://www.architecturalrecord.com/...795&width=1200

Boston City Hall. Brutalist architecture has its place. IMHO Boston is not one of those places...

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I have seen uglier things. Brutalist style is just old enough to be retro cool now. And funny you should mention this because I had a conversation while in the Boston area with a fellow lily person about Brutalist aesthetics. We were talking about the CY Stephens complex at Iowa State, which you know. That whole giant cement complex which I hated back in the day is now sort of interesting to me.

When we were in Boston they were doing a reenactment of Paul revere. The food was delicious too. As far as leaving the dogs I am 65 and who knows how much time I have left to travel so that’s how I look at it.

I had to Google Brutalist. It seems the best of it is interesting (like the City Hall building), and the worst of it (like a dormitory on the campus of my alma mater) best resembles a parking garage.Attachment 2872

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Originally Posted by JaneV2.0

I had to Google Brutalist. It seems the best of it is interesting (like the City Hall building), and the worst of it (like a dormitory on the campus of my alma mater) best resembles a parking garage.

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I’ll tell you who does Brutalist best, or worst, depending on what we mean by those words: the brutal regime of the communists.

Their architectural footprints in Bucharesti are horrific. Those giant cement towers!

Bucharest is fairly blah to visit (with the exception of the Village Museum, an open air collection of peasant homes all authentic and trucked in from all over the region) and the communists who destroyed a perfectly fine European city are to blame for that. The world largest government building is in Bucharest, again a communist tribute to themselves.

I’m currently interested in Brutalist pottery and I scan Etsy and eBay for it.

Today it is cooler in St. Louis than in the White Mountains of NH. I think I will text my friend with that news! Haha.

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Originally Posted by iris lilies

Today it is cooler in St. Louis than in the White Mountains of NH. I think I will text my friend with that news! Haha.

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Yesterday I had a connection through Newark on my way home from Los Angeles, and I threw in a quick trip to see the NJ kids/grandkids. Sitting on the plane before taking off to Burlington we were all cooking--sweat pouring out--the pilot apologized but said there wasn't much they could do. When I visited the family, the grandkids had a slip-and-slide and it was all I could do to resist running and jumping with them, in my business attire.

Up here we don't have AC and I'm fine. The ceiling fans and the lake provide a nice breeze on top of the 10 degrees difference we typically see between NJ and VT. It's so nice up here, and I'm so happy to be away from the heat island effect of the NY/NJ Metro area.

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Originally Posted by iris lilies

Today it is cooler in St. Louis than in the White Mountains of NH. I think I will text my friend with that news! Haha.

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We're expecting a brief respite from our 90 plus degree temps tomorrow with a forecast high of 75*.

It's been a cool to middling summer here so far. Today, it's supposed to get to 84 degrees. It rarely gets above 90. I don't have AC; I didn't even use a fan last year. Projected climate change maps make it look like this is one of the better locations to be.

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Originally Posted by JaneV2.0

It's been a cool to middling summer here so far. Today, it's supposed to get to 84 degrees. It rarely gets above 90. I don't have AC; I didn't even use a fan last year. Projected climate change maps make it look like this is one of the better locations to be.

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Jane, it looks like you and I are both well-positioned for climate change: This article says that if you want to avoid climate change, Burlington VT is #1 and Seattle, WA is #2.

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Originally Posted by catherine

Jane, it looks like you and I are both well-positioned for climate change: This article says that if you want to avoid climate change, Burlington VT is #1 and Seattle, WA is #2.

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With the added bonus that they are both picturesque progressive bastions. We chose well. ;)

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Originally Posted by Yppej

That is not representative of the city as a whole.

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Don't I know that? (ex was from the Boston area; I logged a lot of time there in the 90s). Just pointing it out as an exercise in what even a Boston City Cop once told me was, "The ugliest building tax dollars could buy!" It is in distinct contrast to the Victorian-era buildings all over Boston (as well as what remains of Revolutionary-era building). Brutalist seems to be a form that people either love or hate. I admire the utility of it but find many architects can pursue utility without the blocky forms and rough textures of Brutalism.

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Originally Posted by JaneV2.0

With the added bonus that they are both picturesque progressive bastions. We chose well. ;)

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Yes, we did!

Maybe the architecture reflects that the city is run by the Democratic machine.

So glad you enjoyed your trip. Having lived in New England my entire life, it is easy to take it for granted. I do love living in New Hampshire.

Sounds like you had a good time here. I'll have to look up the Gardens at Elm Bank. Never heard of it! We're always looking for new, worthwhile places to go in New England, not necessarily tourist traps.

Glad you had a great time hereabouts!

I went to college in Mass, as did my two brothers and one of my sons. I also went to college in Vermont. I have always thought Vermont to be one of the five most beautiful states. I was going to say the most beautiful, but I also find Wisconsin and South Carolina to be equally lovely.

I could happily live in any of those.

I lived in VT for a year as a child. I absolutely loved it. My 3rd grade class went hiking on a local mountain, the school had cross country skis for us to use at recess, and the woods behind our house were beautiful - filled with ferns in the warm season, with a fragrant carpet of pine needles. Not only that, but there were no venomous snakes to create a hazard for tromping and fort-building. Now I live in the deciduous forest area of Minnesota, and although it lacks mountains, the abundant lakes compensate to some extent by providing beautiful sunrise and sunset views and lots of silent kayaking escapes. After that one year in VT, I spent almost 15 years in the midatlantic to south region and then 10 years in the Southwest. When I moved to MN, I felt like I had finally come home.

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Originally Posted by Rosemary

I lived in VT for a year as a child. I absolutely loved it. My 3rd grade class went hiking on a local mountain, the school had cross country skis for us to use at recess, and the woods behind our house were beautiful - filled with ferns in the warm season, with a fragrant carpet of pine needles. Not only that, but there were no venomous snakes to create a hazard for tromping and fort-building. Now I live in the deciduous forest area of Minnesota, and although it lacks mountains, the abundant lakes compensate to some extent by providing beautiful sunrise and sunset views and lots of silent kayaking escapes. After that one year in VT, I spent almost 15 years in the midatlantic to south region and then 10 years in the Southwest. When I moved to MN, I felt like I had finally come home.

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I agree that there are similarities between VT and MN. Both are beautiful. When I was in NJ, I was envious of my brother and SIL who live in MN. Their town was adorable (population 687 at last count), and they lived a simple life in a great community with great people. They still live in MN but have downsized to a condo. My Minnesota-envy evaporated when I moved to VT. So I get what you're saying, Rosemary.