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GARDENS & PARKS

Back Bay Fens
Park Drive
The Fenway
Boston 02115
617-635-4505
HOURS: Daily 7:30am-dusk
FEATURES: Wheelchair accessible
PARKING: Street

The Back Bay Fens is considered an oasis of peace by many Bostonians. Beautiful plants and trees liven its landscape year round and in May, flowering dogwoods offer truly spectacular scenery. The park also features a splendid rose garden enclosed by a hemlock hedge. Thousands of colorful roses are clustered along the garden's borders. Colorful roses climb on arches scattered around the circular pathways, which lead to an elegant fountain in the middle. The visual and aromatic splendor will make your visit here worthwhile. Nearby, you'll also find some 300 gardens that began in World War II as a Victory Garden. For an urban park, the Fens has an unusual range of bird species. Go on a summer afternoon and you may see a Baltimore oriole, a purple finch or a snowy egret. But, if birdwatching is too mellow for you, reserve one of the ball fields for an afternoon game (you can do it through the Boston Park Department) or take a run along the jogging circuit. For more information on this and other parks making up Olmsted's park system, which stretches throughout Boston. www.emeraldnecklace.org/fenway.htm

The Kelleher Rose Garden
The Rose Garden, located in the Back Bay Fens across from the MFA is the setting for the annual Rose Garden Party, a fundraiser held each June. The Garden is also used for weddings.

Richard Parker Memorial
Victory Gardens
Located in The Back Bay Fens, near Fenway Park. The Victoy Gardens are run by the Fenway Garden Society--established in 1944. They represents the last remaining WWII Victory Garden in Boston. Divided into more than 500 plots, including a new Special Needs garden, a Children's Garden, a Japanese garden, a nursery and a plot gardened by the Massachusetts Horticultural Society Green Team.

Courtyard Garden
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
280 The Fenway
617-566-1401
info@isgm.org
Tuesday - Sunday 11 am - 5pm
In the spring, one will see jasmine, cineraria, freesias, orchids, camellias, and orange trees. In the summer, an array of hydrangeas, geraniums, oleanders, begonias, and campanula pyramidallis fills the Courtyard. Fall provides a beautiful exhibit of chrysanthemums, cape primrose, pyracantha, and crape myrtle. And in the coldness of winter, one can find respite in a Courtyard accented with cyclamen, heather, poinsettia, azalea, and jade plants. Of all the flowers displayed in the Courtyard, it is the South American nasturtium vines, rich with salmon-colored flowers, that attract the most attention. The nasturtiums are draped down the walls of the central courtyard from the third floor balconies during the month of April.

Museum of Fine Arts Japanese Garden
Avenue of the Arts
465 Huntington Ave.
617-267-9300
Open to the public Spring-Fall
Monday and Tuesday 10am-4:45pm;
Wednesday through Friday, 10 am-9:45 PM

The Christian Science Center Garden
Avenue of the Arts
175 Huntington Ave
tel: 617-450-3790
Open daily 24 hours; Admission is free
The grounds of the Christian Science Center were designed by Araldo Cossutta in partnership with I.M. Pei in 1970 at the same time the Colonnade, Administration and Sunday School buildings were added to the complex. The most spectacular feature of this garden is the huge reflecting pool located in front of the Romanesque Mother Church--it's over 600 feet long. Along the length of the pool, red begonias, yellow marigolds, orange columbines, dusty millers and many other gorgeous flowers are arranged in formal beds. A beautiful linden tree arcade extends the garden on The Avenue of the Arts and around the fountain where summer after summer Boston children have enjoyed a reprieve from the heat. At the end of the season, the plants are given away to the local community. There are lights for night viewing.

Symphony Road Garden (BNAF)
Symphony Road off Hemenway St. off Westland off Mass. Ave.
Arose from the arson of the 1980's. Out of the ashes came a vibrant garden that serves a diverse group of over 50 residents of the East Fenway